if you want to send a care package...

Here are some ideas:
-Soy protein powder
-Dark chocolate M&Ms
-Earplugs (I have some but they get old and crappy really fast because of the humidity)
-Crystal light packages to put in my water bottles
-Good deodorant (like prescription/clinical strength). The only deodorant they have here is that French roll on crap or spray. And I have to wear long sleeves while teaching and teaching makes me soooo sweaty and gross. Whew.
-Headscarves (I like the ones from Sally's beauty supply-- the big ones) I pretty much always cover my head here, and I will continue to do so in Timbo since it's a pretty conservative town.

That's about it for now. I actually got paid today (YAY!) and went to buy a bunch of stuff for my site installation. I bought another phone for my other SIM card, so you can always try to reach me at both of my numbers here in case one is not working. I bought some olive oil and vinegar for cooking, and some rice pasta at the Lebanese store. I bought some school supplies too. The day after tomorrow, we are going to shop more and buy gas stoves, pots and pans, hammocks and stuff like that.

Tomorrow is swearing in. It would be lovely to hear from any of you :)
I love you all...

photos, finally

I am uploading my much anticipated photos to my flickr account. Check them out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxie469/

The photo above is of me giving a thank you speech in Pular at the farewell ceremony in Forecariah.

swearing in on Friday!

Well the 11 week training in Forecariah is now over and I am in Conakry, preparing to swear in as a Peace Corps volunteer on Friday, the 25th.
We had a farewell ceremony in Forecariah today, where I gave a speech in Pular to thank the host families and community for hosting us and to thank the Peace Corps trainers for teaching us local languages and how to teach in Guinea. My Pular abilities are still pretty low, so I'm sure I massacred the speech, but it's the thought that counts, right?
I'll try to post pictures of the ceremony tomorrow.

I will be here in Conakry for the next few days. I'll be buying things for my house in Timbo and getting ready for site installation. I have to get things I won't find in the villages, like a gas stove and toilet paper! I am excited to be able to live on my own after having lived all this time with a Guinean family. They were wonderful, but I do miss my independence and being able to choose my food and cook for myself.

The last few weeks of training went by so fast because I was so busy teaching summer school review courses to Guinean students. It was incredibly exhausting and difficult, but rewarding and fulfilling as well. I am looking forward to teaching my students in my village in a couple of weeks when school starts.

The rainy season is coming to a rather sudden end. Last week it was pouring constantly and now it only gets cloudy. I got so used to bringing my umbrella everywhere, it feels strange being able to leave it behind when I walk.

Here is a six word summary of the last two and half months:
rain, rice, spiders, chalk,
yoga, sleep

Mmmm. Sleep. I'm tired, so I'll write more in the next few days.

Love you all.

two months in Guinea

Yesterday was the two month mark in country. I have about two weeks left in training in Forecariah before the swearing in ceremony.
Sometimes I feel like I’ve been here for much longer than two months. I remember my going away party—saying goodbye to all of my friends. I remember the day I stepped off the plane into the rain and then into the chaos of the small customs room in Conakry. All this seems so distant.
Now that I’ve grown accustomed to things in Forecariah, it is time to change it up. I’m moving to Timbo to teach for two years!
I have already started teaching here in Forecariah. Peace Corps has us do this ingenious thing we call “Practice School,” where we get to practice teaching Guinean students for three weeks of summer review courses. We are a week and a half in. I have to say that it’s incredibly exhausting, this teaching business.
The students are excitable and hard to manage. I have been teaching 8th, 9th, and 10th graders and for the most part, they struggle with basic arithmetic. Last Friday, when I was trying to give a quiz, on of my boy students hit a girl. She hit him back and I kicked both of them out of the class. The girl left, but the boy refused to move. He kept saying, “Pardonnez-moi madame. Pardonnez-moi.” I told the class that I wouldn’t start the quiz until he was out. The class yelled at him to leave and the ‘chef de classe’ or teacher’s aide, got up to force the boy out. Then the chef de classe and the boy fought. It was 20 minutes into the class before I gave the quiz. It was an easy quiz, but very few students passed. Many students tried to cheat, although I told them the quiz was open book.
Exhausting. But I feel that it will be rewarding overall. I also feel that I have a natural knack for teaching, and I remember something I read in A Course in Miracles: "Teach only love, for that is what you are"

ready for Ramadan

Tomorrow is the first day of Ramadan and I will be observing it by fasting during daylight hours. During the day, people are not even allowed to drink water or coffee or anything. They are also not allowed to fight, insult others, think angry thoughts, engage in sexual activities, smoke, or beat their children. The point of this fast, as I understand it, is to clear and cleanse your heart from all hateful and negative thoughts and feelings. It is to forgive others and to forgive yourself and also to be forgiven.
I will make a conscious effort to remember to stay peaceful and patient and full of love, even when my stomach is screaming. Daily yoga and meditation will help.
I will, however, probably continue to drink water, discreetly, because I get dehydrated very easily and I sweat a lot in Forécariah.
My family will be fasting too, along with most of the country, so I will get up at 5 in the morning with them to eat before sunrise and I will eat dinner with them at about 7 pm, just after sundown.
Tomorrow, the first day, will probably be hard because I'll be spending 7 to 9 hours in a bush taxi on the way back from Labé to Forécariah. Bush taxis are incredibly packed and stinky and uncomfortable. But I am choosing to see it in a different light: bush taxis can also be a moving meditation, like yoga! Although I will not be free to stretch my limbs, I will be able to breathe freely and feel my heart beating. If I can concentrate on these things, rather than the outer discomfort, I will be okay. After all, I am peace and patience and love!

Please send me love and good energy for the last part of my training. Practice school starts after next week, so I'll be teaching some summer school math to prepare for the real thing in October. Feel free to send letters, too!
I send you all love every day.

post site-visit note

Just got back from my site visit in Timbo. I was in a city called Mamou for a few days for a supervisor conference, and on Sunday I went to visit Timbo-- the place that will be my home for the next 2 years. I went with a current Peace Corps volunteer, whose Guinean name is Alhassane. He has been in country for a year and he is a teacher in a nearby village called Poredaka. He was kind enough to accompany me all over the Fouta. We stayed two nights in my house in Timbo. During the days, we walked all over the village so that I could meet important people (the Sous-Prefet, the police, the principal, vice principal, the Imam of the mosque, and more) and so that I could situate the important things in town (the school, the water pump, the market, etc).
The nearest water pump to my house is about a 40 minute walk. My school is about 30 minutes. In order to get cell phone service, it's an hour walk up a mountain! Of course there's no electricity either! Timbo makes Forécariah look like a big city! But it's all good; I will be getting the real deal Peace Corps experience.

In other news, I've changed my Guinean name to a Peuhl name since I'll be living amongst the Peuhls. My name was M'Balou Camara, but in Timbo, I have introduced myself as Madame Fatoumata Binta Barry. But you can call me Binta for short! And yes, although I'm not married I do prefer Madame over Mademoiselle because it shows more respect.
Everyone in Timbo called me Madame automatically because I guess Timbo has a substantial history of Peace Corps volunteers. My host family, the Bah family of Timbo, is constantly talking about one of their old volunteers, a certain Monsieur Paul, who was apparently the best volunteer ever. Their last volunteer, a girl from Arizona, left in the 2007 evacuation after serving four months. They have been awaiting a new volunteer since.
Oh and I will be teaching 9th and 10th grade math at my school! My vice principal said that the kids at my school are "difficult." But most Fouta volunteer teachers say that the kids are pretty respectful. Alhassane said that the secret is you just have to kick someone out the first day to establish dominance!
The kids are different in the Fouta. I mentioned earlier that the "petits" in Forecariah and Conakry love to chase after white people, yelling "foté! foté!" Well the Peuhl kids are much more reserved, and are not so quick to address us as "porto."

So I am about to go explore Labe, my regional capital, so I must leave you now, my faithful friends and family. I might try to get online again tomorrow, so email me! Otherwise, my address is the same, so feel free to send real mail as well.
I love you all!
On jaarama! (That means goodbye as well!)

On jaarama!

That's a greeting in Pular, the langauge I have started to learn. I have been assigned to a town called Timbo, in the Fouta Djalon region of Guinea and I will beging teaching in October, after training for another 8 weeks.

For now, I am still in Forecariah but we came to Conakry for the day to use the internet and visit a museum.
Forecariah is an interesting town. Electricity comes on randomly for a few hours every other night or so.
I eat a lot of really spicy sauce with white rice. It's seriously soooo spicy that it is hard to eat sometimes. And you know me! I LOVE spicy food. But seriously, it's too much here.

Training is tough but I find the joy in small things like yoga, Coca-Cola and avocados. The avocados are huge here. I live with a Susu family and they have named me "M'Balou Camara." The Camara family is pretty nice, but I also spend a lot of time at the neighbors' house. My trainee friend Scotty aka "Alimatou" lives next door and I visit her a lot and eat her food! It's much less spicy! Her host sister braided my hair the other day and it looks pretty good. Only took her five hours! I will send pics next time I am in Conakry when I have more time, inshallah (God willing)
It rains a lot.
Lots of spiders.
Mouse in my room.
Chickens. Goats. Cats. Dogs.

Keep in touch! I have only got two letters so far! Thanks to Aunt Sharon and Joy!
Bon. I love you all! Bye!