So first of all, I am leaving tomorrow morning for Forecariah for my three month training. I won't have electricity (or internet, of course). So I can be reached my letters and by phone. I gave my phone number to some of you and I want you to know, if I gave you a number ending in 97, it's wrong! The correct number ends in 92!
Bon...
Also, we just saw some stuff on BBC.com about Guinea preparing for an attack from drug cartels. Don't worry about that, please. It's a lot of hype and I am very far from any of the allegedly involved borders. I will be completely out of harm's way. My biggest threats at the moment are water parasites and mosquitoes! And I am doing everything in my power to protect myself from those things :)
I will take care of myself to the best of my ability and the universe will do the rest. C'est bon!
I love you all!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
c'est bon!
"C'est bon" is one of the most common expressions here. It can be used as a question, "c'est bon?" means "is that enough?" "is that okay?" "is that cool?" or "do you get it?"
Then the answer is "c'est bon!" This can mean "it's enough," "it's all good," or "I get it."
I love the way French is spoken here, with different slang and a different accent. And I love the "franglais" mix that the current volunteers use.
And yes, everything is "bon" here so far. I am having a good time learning things about malaria, politics, local language greetings, parasites, and more. Yesterday we learned how to filter and bleach our water with the Peace Corps water filters. Today we learned how to prick our fingers to make microscope slides to send to the doctor for malaria tests. We also learned some local greetings in Susu, which is the main language for this region.
This morning I did yoga on the roof of the PCV house before breakfast. It felt great to stretch after weeks of not practicing yoga. One of my fellow trainees, an awesome girl named Scotty, came up with me and learned some sun salutations and stretches.
I just had a big fat lunch of rice and meat and a red Fanta, which tasted like bubble gum. I'm tired... After our break, we're going to learn some more Susu. So peace out, everyone. I love you all.
Then the answer is "c'est bon!" This can mean "it's enough," "it's all good," or "I get it."
I love the way French is spoken here, with different slang and a different accent. And I love the "franglais" mix that the current volunteers use.
And yes, everything is "bon" here so far. I am having a good time learning things about malaria, politics, local language greetings, parasites, and more. Yesterday we learned how to filter and bleach our water with the Peace Corps water filters. Today we learned how to prick our fingers to make microscope slides to send to the doctor for malaria tests. We also learned some local greetings in Susu, which is the main language for this region.
This morning I did yoga on the roof of the PCV house before breakfast. It felt great to stretch after weeks of not practicing yoga. One of my fellow trainees, an awesome girl named Scotty, came up with me and learned some sun salutations and stretches.
I just had a big fat lunch of rice and meat and a red Fanta, which tasted like bubble gum. I'm tired... After our break, we're going to learn some more Susu. So peace out, everyone. I love you all.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
first entry from Guinea
I am here. It's humid and beautiful and wet. The smells and the streets and the market and so many things remind me of Niger, but it is also very different and new and unique. More green. More wet. More people.
I wish I had time to sit and describe everything. It's indescribable, of course. I have that slight nausea that I pretty much always had in Niger, but nothing serious. Not dizzy anymore (for those of you who got my first email) because the medical officer gave me electrolytes and water and told me I was dizzy because of dehydration (from the airline people being stingy with water) and low blood sugar.
Just got back from the beach. Beautiful sunset. Dirty water. Dirty dog. No electricity at bar. Being called "fote" by all random Guineans. Guess what that means! Yep. "White person." I find it amusing, and not at all offensive. Much like being called "anasara" in Niger.
I won't have internet for much longer because I'm leaving for training in a few days, so snail mail me or text me. I got a Guinean cell phone... email me before the 12th for the number. Or get it from Joy.
You can text me anytime, but if you want to call, the best time is the weekends. It's 7 hours earlier here. Please text before calling to see if I can take the call. And the cheapest thing is to search online for African phone cards and find the best rate for Guinea.
I love you all!
I wish I had time to sit and describe everything. It's indescribable, of course. I have that slight nausea that I pretty much always had in Niger, but nothing serious. Not dizzy anymore (for those of you who got my first email) because the medical officer gave me electrolytes and water and told me I was dizzy because of dehydration (from the airline people being stingy with water) and low blood sugar.
Just got back from the beach. Beautiful sunset. Dirty water. Dirty dog. No electricity at bar. Being called "fote" by all random Guineans. Guess what that means! Yep. "White person." I find it amusing, and not at all offensive. Much like being called "anasara" in Niger.
I won't have internet for much longer because I'm leaving for training in a few days, so snail mail me or text me. I got a Guinean cell phone... email me before the 12th for the number. Or get it from Joy.
You can text me anytime, but if you want to call, the best time is the weekends. It's 7 hours earlier here. Please text before calling to see if I can take the call. And the cheapest thing is to search online for African phone cards and find the best rate for Guinea.
I love you all!
Monday, July 6, 2009
last night in US
Today we had a long meeting/orientation with Peace Corps. I got to meet the group that I'll be traveling with. There are 17 of us, I think, and they are all pretty cool people. A high percentage of the group will be physics teachers, and there are a few chemistry teachers, physics teachers, math teachers, and English teachers. I definitely get a good vibe from all of them and I think that we'll grow to be good friends during training.
I signed up for a correspondence with an American classroom, and I requested that my good friend Taramal, who teaches in South Phoenix, be my counterpart teacher. I think it might be good for some kids at his school to see a bigger picture of the world.
Not much else interesting to say... the meeting went over anxieties, aspirations, Peace Corps policies, safety, and travel logistics.
We are meeting early tomorrow morning to go get vaccinations in Philadelphia, then we're boarding a bus to New York and we'll be flying out tomorrow evening.
For my last night in the US, I worked out in the hotel fitness center and swam on the pool on the hotel roof. Now I'm going to re-pack my stuff and go to sleep.
Next time I write, it will be from Guinea.
Goodnight, world!
I signed up for a correspondence with an American classroom, and I requested that my good friend Taramal, who teaches in South Phoenix, be my counterpart teacher. I think it might be good for some kids at his school to see a bigger picture of the world.
Not much else interesting to say... the meeting went over anxieties, aspirations, Peace Corps policies, safety, and travel logistics.
We are meeting early tomorrow morning to go get vaccinations in Philadelphia, then we're boarding a bus to New York and we'll be flying out tomorrow evening.
For my last night in the US, I worked out in the hotel fitness center and swam on the pool on the hotel roof. Now I'm going to re-pack my stuff and go to sleep.
Next time I write, it will be from Guinea.
Goodnight, world!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
travel notes
I wrote a lot in my journal today, mostly during my flight from Phoenix to Philadelphia. Now I am in my hotel room, and pretty tired after a brief workout and a shower.
Here are some of the things I wrote today on the way.
I am sitting on a B757 at Sky Harbor Airport, waiting to take off. Apparently there is a mechanical issue with the lavatory, so we're waiting on maintenance. I am sitting next to a quiet big guy whose foot keeps twitching.
In 4 or 5 hours, I'll be in Philadelphia. Peace Corps registration/orientation is tomorrow afternoon. We're leaving for Guinea the following morning, from New York.
I said my goodbyes at the airport a couple of hours ago. Samad, Diane, and my mom came to the airport to drop me off. I cried a little in the security line.
At Gate A-22, I met a tall thin bearded man with wild curly hair and a yellow yoga mat. I told him, "I wish I had my yoga mat, too." And we ended up talking for a while about yoga and Peace Corps, because it turns out that he served in Morocco in the early 90s. He now has a Bikram yoga studio in New York. He was pleasant to talk to, and he gave me some fresh blueberries.
"The light of consciousness is all that is necessary. You are that light."
-Eckhart Tolle in A New Earth (I was re-reading that on the plane)
also,
"You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge."
-Eckhart
I am flying! Finally... the bathrooms are working but the cabin smells like pee. I am listening to John Legend on my iPod and looking out the window.
I see patches of shadows on the Earth, from the clouds. To the people down there, they must thing the whole world is gray. But they can't see that they're surrounded in light in all directions! They can't see the bigger picture. And who can blame them?
Light will come back when the clouds pass. It always does.
I have faith in people.
I know that inside of all of us, there is something divine. There is something good. and that thing is love.
I must remember to be patient with people, and with myself, because I too forget sometimes that I am love. And after all, life is about forgetting and remembering and forgetting and remembering again.
I'm still flying! I am flying over a part of the US that is green and fertile. There is frost outside of my window.
While it was hard to say goodbye to my loved ones, I am somehow glad to be free to re-create myself and re-invent myself. I am a river, always changing. In constant flux. When I return, I will be the same, but different.
My pen hits the paper and everything is different already--I wasn't writing much the last few months. Though I've been dry for years, the water is always in me, waiting to gush out. Even when I don't write, I'm still a writer!
Note to self:
Remember to breathe
Remember to meditate
Remember to be the space
Remember to be the light
Remember to love
Remember to laugh because nothing is that serious. Nothing!
Remember silence (in other words, don't talk all the time... listen!)
We will land in Philadelphia soon and I see green farmlands below. I almost remember seeing the same places on my way to France ten years ago (I stopped in Philly on the way there, too, when I was an exchange student.)
In a way, it's the same. My life will change in ways I won't know-- but it's completely different.
It's beautiful down there. The world is beautiful. And so small.
Here are some of the things I wrote today on the way.
I am sitting on a B757 at Sky Harbor Airport, waiting to take off. Apparently there is a mechanical issue with the lavatory, so we're waiting on maintenance. I am sitting next to a quiet big guy whose foot keeps twitching.
In 4 or 5 hours, I'll be in Philadelphia. Peace Corps registration/orientation is tomorrow afternoon. We're leaving for Guinea the following morning, from New York.
I said my goodbyes at the airport a couple of hours ago. Samad, Diane, and my mom came to the airport to drop me off. I cried a little in the security line.
At Gate A-22, I met a tall thin bearded man with wild curly hair and a yellow yoga mat. I told him, "I wish I had my yoga mat, too." And we ended up talking for a while about yoga and Peace Corps, because it turns out that he served in Morocco in the early 90s. He now has a Bikram yoga studio in New York. He was pleasant to talk to, and he gave me some fresh blueberries.
"The light of consciousness is all that is necessary. You are that light."
-Eckhart Tolle in A New Earth (I was re-reading that on the plane)
also,
"You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge."
-Eckhart
I am flying! Finally... the bathrooms are working but the cabin smells like pee. I am listening to John Legend on my iPod and looking out the window.
I see patches of shadows on the Earth, from the clouds. To the people down there, they must thing the whole world is gray. But they can't see that they're surrounded in light in all directions! They can't see the bigger picture. And who can blame them?
Light will come back when the clouds pass. It always does.
I have faith in people.
I know that inside of all of us, there is something divine. There is something good. and that thing is love.
I must remember to be patient with people, and with myself, because I too forget sometimes that I am love. And after all, life is about forgetting and remembering and forgetting and remembering again.
I'm still flying! I am flying over a part of the US that is green and fertile. There is frost outside of my window.
While it was hard to say goodbye to my loved ones, I am somehow glad to be free to re-create myself and re-invent myself. I am a river, always changing. In constant flux. When I return, I will be the same, but different.
My pen hits the paper and everything is different already--I wasn't writing much the last few months. Though I've been dry for years, the water is always in me, waiting to gush out. Even when I don't write, I'm still a writer!
Note to self:
Remember to breathe
Remember to meditate
Remember to be the space
Remember to be the light
Remember to love
Remember to laugh because nothing is that serious. Nothing!
Remember silence (in other words, don't talk all the time... listen!)
We will land in Philadelphia soon and I see green farmlands below. I almost remember seeing the same places on my way to France ten years ago (I stopped in Philly on the way there, too, when I was an exchange student.)
In a way, it's the same. My life will change in ways I won't know-- but it's completely different.
It's beautiful down there. The world is beautiful. And so small.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
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