October

10/13/2008
Good Bye to Old Friends and Hello to New Ones

Everyone in my training group went to Conakry to celebrate the fourth of July. We drank, we ate, and we were merry. It was great. Best of all I got Chinese food. I LOVE the Chinese restaurant. They have tofu that is good by even American standards and I made the trip more for that then anything else. There is also ice cream, air conditioning, and movies but I mostly just wanted Chinese food. As we were all getting ready to head back up country, I found out that my site mate wouldn’t be going back with us. She would stay behind to visit the Staff doctor. Good, I thought, she had been having problems for a long time. A week later I found out she wouldn’t be returning at all. Washington had decided to medically separator her as well as another dear haut friend. I was devastated. I had gone through a lot with Katie. She is the biggest reason I made it through my first few months at site. She was there for me during some of the most difficult times I have gone through and I will miss her and Melissa greatly. We love you guys. On the bright side July also brought a whole new group of volunteers, G16. The program is expanding and it will be nice to get to know this new group of volunteers. They finished there training at the end of September and are now all in there new villages. It has been a lot of fun meeting all of them. It is also interesting to realize for the first time how far we have all come. All the fears and uncertainties they have are now gone for us. We can navigate around Guinea like pros and are relied on as such by others. That confused look the new volunteers have whenever someone speaks to them in Monikaka is now gone form my face and I wasn’t aware until now that it left. I guess everyone was right when they told me it would get better. It just happened too slowly to notice. There are so many problems in guinea it just takes a while to see all the beauty this country holds and all the wonderful intricacies about a culture so incredibly different from our own. Good luck to G16 don’t give up, it does get better. Much better.Ramadan Well as some of you may know last month was Ramadan. I spent all of it in the village and I can’t believe how hard they worked, from sun up to sun down. They neither eat nor drank yet they went to the field every day. We picked corn, and nuts. The corn was a bit tricky at first. As it turns out corn is a favorite dwelling of the small black ants called Menominee. The fist ear I plucked, they all came pouring out onto my hand. I gave a little scream (just a little one) and said Menominee. My village mom Hola laughed and pulled it off the rest of the way. Same thing happened with the second ear. I called for Hola again, and she told me to go sit down. I told her no and after a short argument as to whether or not I would work that day I continued. I would eventually learn the trick to harvesting a field of corn by hand. Break it off fast, and away from you. Too slowly and the ants are quickly moving up your arm, pulled towards you too fast, and you spray yourself with the little guys like water from a hose. After ten ears of corn I had it down. We walked around the field, each with a rice sack in hand, picking corn. When the sack was full the nearest worker would help lift the sac onto your back and you would carry it to the big pile under the big tree. It was very hard and tiring work in the sun and they did it with out a drop of water or a bit of food. The next day we would shuck the corn and take it to where it would sit to dry. This day would not be so physically demanding, at times even entertaining. In the evening toads would find there way into the pile of corn and as most Guineans are afraid of toads my brother Moosa and I had fun picking them up and teasing Hola with them. The myth about toads is that they are sorcerers that control the snakes. Hence the uncontrollable fear. Most toads, like snakes, are killed on site. The next day we would go pick nuts. Same thing, Walk around with a rice sack and pull the nuts up. Not as many bug problems but without the shade from the corn stalks it was a bit hotter. You also spent the day hunched over. But I prefer picking nuts to corn. The days went like this; alternating between picking and cleaning corn and nuts. I had to drink water I don’t know how they did it. In truth Ramadan is a dangerous time. Heat stroke and kidney stones are a huge problem. Whenever someone asked me why I don’t fast I tell them I can go with out food but not water. Gjee ackinee!!! (Water is good) Ramadan ended October 2nd and all are much happier for it to be a full year away.

Banking Africa style

I thought you would get a kick out of my bank experience today. It is always a pain in the ass but today was just funny. Long story short I needed to close my account in Conakry and only use my account in Kankan. I had 655,500 I told him I would take 600,000 with me and transfer the rest into my Kankan account. This process took only an hour and a half, record time for me at the bank. The funny part was when it came time to give me the 600,000. The guy next to me, there is no line, had a large stack of money the teller looked at him and told him to give me 600,000. We both looked at each other and laughed. He gave me the money and I thanked him. Amy said it happens to her all the time. I have to say I have little faith in the banking system here.


06/04/2008 Let’s Talk About Bugs

I now have a new appreciation for a swarm. Although the rains have cooled things down they have also brought me an over abundance of new little friends. For about thirty minutes after every rain there are termites. Flying white devils that bite if I am not vigilant about shutting my door as soon as the rain stops, there are thousands in my hut attracted to the light of the candles. I have no choice but to jump in my net and hold
It closed tight. As they all have a suicide wish they head straight for the candles until so many have flown into them that they all go out. I am left to just listen for the sound of there wings to stop flapping before I can emerge from my cocoon to survey the damage. Of course closing the door before striking a match less I relive the horror once more. The termites are nothing compared to the ants although the ants have always been there in abundance and I must admit I have spent many hours playing with these little guys. You should all see the battle royal that ensues when a large cockroach is strategically placed between two ant hills. First, of course, you see the small scout ants. They discover the prize and shortly there after discover that a rival colony is also hot on the trail. Within minutes VERY large ants with pincher's emerge from both hills and engage in direct conflict until the food is in the sole possession of one of the colonies. Army ants are always a lot of fun to play with, but very intense and very aggressive. Of course that is the fun. They will attack a stick that falls in their path. I wonder what they are so pissed about. Play at your own risk. I have never felt a bite like one of these guys and the pain lasts for hours. When you are playing and get bit it’s your own fault but the sneak attack is the worst. Which brings me to my next swarm story, two nights ago there were so many of these ants in my hut I could actually hear them moving across the flour. Much like the termites they are attracted to light but these guys wouldn’t leave on their own. I mustered my courage; I had two house guests at the time of invasion and had to get them out, jumped out in front of them and guided them out with two flash lights and a candle. I left the candle outside and waited for most of them to leave the hut. I went back in and shut the door and stomped away. A survey of the damage the next morning showed a biblical bug battle scene. My floor was covered in corpses. Other less interesting swarms;
Caterpillars- look but don’t touch they sting
Cockroaches- still hand sized
Frogs- they eat other bugs but attracted snakes they had to go
Crickets- as it turns out they don’t like storms
Mice- Moose caught her first one yesterday- soon to be under control