Again, taking this from another journal entry ... January 26, 2009 :
So for training us 12 "small enterprise development" trainees we were each given a good deal of Guinean money, assigned teams, and told to find a way to generate income. My partner Ben and I had the brillant idea of making pineapple jelly. No, we'd never actually made jelly before, but we watched someone else do it the day before. And no, our town does not have access to pineapples.
So on Saturday Ben and I hopped into a taxi to drive to a town not too far away where we heard a pineapple plantation existed. Being my usual self, I had no other plan than to "show up, find pineapples, buy them, and figure out how to get home." I have a very strong faith in a lot of things, including the mantra that "things will always work out." So we're driving towards this town in a bush taxi, Ben and I sharing the front seat (that's just how its done here, 3 in front, 5 in back) and when I begin seeing pineapple plants on the side of the road I turn to the driver and tell him that he can just let us out here. Ben and I walk up to what we think is the plantation entrance and find this guy ... explain we want pineapples. He points us to this sad sole woman accross the street who's selling like, 5. We wanted 25 kilos of fruit. This would not do. As I begin explaining that we're Peace Corps Volunteers who want to buy some serious fruit, our friends/competitors Paul and Mike who decided they'd bike an hour to the same village, arrive. They are planning on buying 60 kilos of pineapples (that's like 60 pineapples) and BIKING BACK HOME WITH THEM, and selling them just as pineapples. They, unlike Ben and I, had done some prep work and had a phone number of someone. Meanwhile, just beacuse we're Americans, a commotion has stirred and, as if by magic, a guy who claims to be the owner of the plantation pulls up in a car and tells Ben and I to hop in. Do we know him? No. Do I want pineapples? Hells yes. Do we get in? Of course!
So Ben and I get in the car (Mike & Paul thought they wanted to go somewhere else, but eventually end up rejoining us later because the dude we found was the right one) and we drive 10 minutes into this huge plantation. We learn that this owner actually worked with the Peace Corps Volunteers last year and knew many of them well, he had studied business and had recently begun exporting his pineapples to Morocco and Paris. In sum, the random plantation I had decided to get out at was legit to the extreme. A rare find in Guinea, mind you. So as we being walking the fields, this ballin' Guinean starts ordering field workers to cut fruit for us, so we're eating the most delicious and fresh pineapples ever, learning about the different varieties, and basically having a hella good time. I mean, I arrive, say I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer, and instantly get treated like royalty. I'll hand it to the Guineans- they are unbelievably hospitable. I will be a better human being after learning from these folks. So after we get a really long tour of this guy's plantation, I'm thinking that I'll just be like "85 kilos of pineapples s'il vous plait" and be on my merry way. Nope, not at all. Instead he says he wants to show the 4 of us his friend's plantation. So back into the car we go, and he drives us a few minutes down the road to this HUGE plantation ... like 80,000 hectares huge. Apparently Libya send this dude over and it's his first crop. So we drive to this guy's house first and it's BEAUTIFUL. Oil money spent well. We're sitting on nice couches outside under this pavillion with a great view, drinking cold bottled water in glasses. (Note: nice couches, cold beverages, and glasses were all luxuries I had thought were inexistant in Guinea up until this point). We sit for a while, shoot the breeze, and then this mega-baller's servant-girl tells us that the mega-baller himself is ready for us. Ready for us? We approach this million dollar mansion, remove our shoes, and enter inside. So now sitting down on more nice couches, in air conditioning, are the Guinean plantation owner, me, Ben, Mike, Paul, this Libyan mega-baller and his translator. There are these super sexed Iraqi music videos playing on the flat screen TV in front of us, and we are served a huge array of nice coffee and cookies. I am taken back ... this was all done, for us? Again, we shoot the breeze some more, but things got a little serious. I mean, we're 4 Americans new to Guinea, all relying on my French skills, and conversation is getting translated into Susu and then Arabic. English, Susu, Arabic, French. Pretty baller. We're talking about economics, and the conversation is smoothly guided into the real reason we're here: We want some pineapples. The atmosphere becomes a little more rigid. It's business time. The price per kilo begins at 2.000 FG, but we quickly and easily negotiate it to 1.500 FG. Business is done, and we go back to talking about world markets and other interesting topics of conversation. There is this whole sense of surrealism as the backdrop to this whole day, because I feel like I get to play a very unique role in all of this. Being the only girl in a country that hardly recognizes women would normally place me in a non-important position. Furthermore, Paul has already started and managed his own business, Mike's lived all over the world working for really cool organizations, and here I am, this kid who just graduated with a Finance degree and has never had a real job. So the situation would normally dictate me to a position of "watch and learn" but because I speak the best French out of any of us, I become the integral piece to all of this. The translator, the negotiator, and person who cracks the jokes at the right time to ease any tension. It's awesome.
Anyways, after some stealth negotiating, we get a tour of this mega-baller's plantation and learn SO MUCH about agriculture in Guinea and pineapples in general. All facinating. So now at the close of the tour, I'm thinking "awesome ... get pineapples and leave." Wrong again! Now we get back into the car of the Guinean plantation owner who drives us to his family's house so we can eat lunch with his family! This is crazy! After another meal of rice and sauce with him and his family, we make our way back to the original plantation, and he then directs his workers to harvest 85 kilos of pineapples. After the transaction of pineapples for francs we load the pinapples to his car and he kindly drives Ben and I back into town to the taxi station and has a friend try to get us spots on the next taxi home. But by now it's gotten late, like nearly 5pm. Ben and I are tired, have probably 90 pineapples with us including the free gifts we were given, and decide that "today was such a ballin' day, let's just go all out and rent out the whole taxi" so we do just that. We're a part of this super competition where controlling costs and turning profit is the name of the game, but we decide to live it up regardless.
(and we didn't let our friends bike home with 60 kilos of pineapples ... I offered to take them from them and transport them. and then they paid us. sweet.)
So Sunday was jam making day. Ben and I had grand plans to make lots of jelly, but here's a problem we didn't forsee: you can't buy things like JARS in countries like Guinea. So that kind of back fired, after 2 days of scouring the market we were only able to come up with four old mayonaise jars that were being sold. But, pas de probleme. We made four jars of jelly, which turned out AWESOME. Absolutely delicious. Good news for all of you back home: my time here is going to make me a professional jelly maker, and you will be the beneficiaries. So we sold our 4 jars of jelly, sold off the rest of the pineapples, and made a ridiculous amount of money. We killed the competition so hard no other group came close, renting out taxis and all. It was fun balling out in Guinea and still dominating ... it was a throwback to some of the good old days in Colli Park.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Television Appearance by Yours Truly. And Other Details You Might Want to Know.
Alright, so since some crazy things happen and I have no way to call you all or write you all a letter that you'd get by next year to tell you all about it, I write in a journal. So the following is more or less from a journal entry from January 11th ... we all left our training site to visit our new towns/homes/jobs. I am in a beautiful town called Mamou. This was on day one:
So this morning Soylemane (who is the Guinean guy who I will be working closely with these next 2 years and I LOVE this man) and I are driving around and he's explaining to me that the new governor in charge of the city (who was installed by the military following the coup d'etat) has declared this morning a time to clean up. All the citizens of Mamou have to clean the entire place, no business can be open, trash is burning everywhere. Then as we pass by the gas station we see 50 people, mostly women, around all these military men, singing, dancing, cheering and waving brooms. We get out of the car (note: when there are crowds of people surrounded by scary military men, leaving the safety of a vehicle goes against primal instincts) and before I know what's going on Souleymane begins introducing me to people, including one of the infamously scary red berets (special type of military guy ... red beret = don't mess). These military men turn to the mob and the governor begins to introduce me, Kiki, to the town and explain I'm going to move here for two years. Everyone then gets very excited and begin cheering wildly, and then start shaking, then grabbing my hand. They're arguing to shake it. One lady even reaches out to touch my face- I felt like Mother Theresa. I was a serious celebrity. Then the governor shouts out "someone! give her a broom!" and all the women in the mob throw up their brooms (which, I should add, are like a bundle of straw tied together with string at one end). The governor gives me a broom and tells me that I can help clean the city. Then the crowd really begins to go nuts. Not going to lie ... I wasn't excited at the idea of cleaning up trash on this particular morning. Especiallywith all these people staring at me. But then I realized it was just a symbolic gesture ... and I had just officially been declared and welcomed as a Citizen of Mamou. After I was given the broom (and visibly overwhelmed by this dancing cheering mob of broom-laden women) these scary military guys pull me over towards them and decide they want to do a photo shoot with me! Please, will you, imagine these tough badass dudes with guns and dark sunglasses posing with me, and being like "oh, Kiki, try holding the broom like this." LOVE IT. The whole time this one guy with a camcorder circa 1992 is taping, and as I'm walking away from one of my favorite moments of my life Souleymane turns to me and goes "Kiki, you will be on TV tonight!"
Declared an offical citizen on day 1 AND make it on national television? Needless to say, I fell in love with Mamou.
My house is beautiful. It's big, clean, lots of natural lighting (ha ... what other kind would there be? ) and is a soft yellow on the inside. It's got a great front porch with big steps to sit on, and when you do sit on them you have a great view of the mountains. It is such a cheerful place. --i forgot to mention (as it's so normal now) that there is no running water. And electricity is for a few hours every other day. but another big bonus is a well right outside my front door. Ballin'!!! O, and I have guards 24 hours a day too. Yes, just for me.
So you now know I love my city, I really love my house, but what I can't even begin to describe is how much I love my new job. I have been seriously hooked up with what I am willing to call my dream job. Granted, I had to come to Guinea for it, but if it turns out how I think it could, Guinea is worth it. So, I'm working for an American NGO based in Boston called World Education. www.WorldEducation.org . Check them out. Their overriding mission is to help people in the 3rd world receive an education so that they can rise up and change their country, from the inside out. They're in a few spots in Guinea, doing different projects, whether it's helping illiterate people learn to read, stopping child traffiking & putting kids in school, or other sorts of badass things. I get to help out on two fronts. The first is working with young people and educating them on all sorts of things ... it could be about how to get started in businesses here, or it could be HIV/AIDS awareness. I'd love to even do something about educating the youth on the dangers and consequences of Femal Genital Mutilation (fact: 99% of females here have been circumcised. it's pretty awful & terribly sad). The second sphere in which I'll be working is with these groups of women who are all mothers. The goal is that these mothers can somehow earn enough money to supplement their husband's income so that their children can go to school- otherwise they're stuck in the market/tailor shop working crazy long hours. So World Education does micro finance, and I'm going to get to be involved in lending these women money, and getting it repaid at a super low interest rate. Micro credit. It's genious. And it almost always works. But, it's not easy working with groups of women and money when accounting doesn't exist, especially when it can't because they're illiterate and can't count. So creativity has to come in ... and maybe I'll be teaching them how to repay back loans with pictures or colorful rocks instead of numbers. So I'm lending micro credit. BUT ON TOP OF THAT, I get to be on the receiving end of those funds, with the women, and teaching them how to best utilize the money. What should they sell in the market? How much should they charge? How should they do marketing? Where should they be purchasing their supplies? All sorts of really cool things. Income generation/cost benefit analysis/interest rates/credit/inventory ... all the stuff I tried to run away from by joining the Peace Corps? It's back! Only it's so much more "my style" over here doing business eating rice and sauce with my hands than in a fancy business suit in an office. I'm happy with this.
So that, in a nutshell, was my site visit to Mamou. I can also add that my 5 friends who came to sleep over the last night learned I'm a screamer when Jason walked into my bathroom and saw A GIANT RAT. I was curious so I ran to see, and then stood frozen, screaming. But wouldn't move. And actually got in the way as they tried to catch it. They knocked a chunk of concrete out of my bathroom wall in trying to catch Splinter (shout out to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!) with a giant bucket. They were successful, although I'm still getting made fun of for the screams. But seriously, who WOULDN'T scream if a giant rat was running around your bath/bedroom?
So this morning Soylemane (who is the Guinean guy who I will be working closely with these next 2 years and I LOVE this man) and I are driving around and he's explaining to me that the new governor in charge of the city (who was installed by the military following the coup d'etat) has declared this morning a time to clean up. All the citizens of Mamou have to clean the entire place, no business can be open, trash is burning everywhere. Then as we pass by the gas station we see 50 people, mostly women, around all these military men, singing, dancing, cheering and waving brooms. We get out of the car (note: when there are crowds of people surrounded by scary military men, leaving the safety of a vehicle goes against primal instincts) and before I know what's going on Souleymane begins introducing me to people, including one of the infamously scary red berets (special type of military guy ... red beret = don't mess). These military men turn to the mob and the governor begins to introduce me, Kiki, to the town and explain I'm going to move here for two years. Everyone then gets very excited and begin cheering wildly, and then start shaking, then grabbing my hand. They're arguing to shake it. One lady even reaches out to touch my face- I felt like Mother Theresa. I was a serious celebrity. Then the governor shouts out "someone! give her a broom!" and all the women in the mob throw up their brooms (which, I should add, are like a bundle of straw tied together with string at one end). The governor gives me a broom and tells me that I can help clean the city. Then the crowd really begins to go nuts. Not going to lie ... I wasn't excited at the idea of cleaning up trash on this particular morning. Especiallywith all these people staring at me. But then I realized it was just a symbolic gesture ... and I had just officially been declared and welcomed as a Citizen of Mamou. After I was given the broom (and visibly overwhelmed by this dancing cheering mob of broom-laden women) these scary military guys pull me over towards them and decide they want to do a photo shoot with me! Please, will you, imagine these tough badass dudes with guns and dark sunglasses posing with me, and being like "oh, Kiki, try holding the broom like this." LOVE IT. The whole time this one guy with a camcorder circa 1992 is taping, and as I'm walking away from one of my favorite moments of my life Souleymane turns to me and goes "Kiki, you will be on TV tonight!"
Declared an offical citizen on day 1 AND make it on national television? Needless to say, I fell in love with Mamou.
My house is beautiful. It's big, clean, lots of natural lighting (ha ... what other kind would there be? ) and is a soft yellow on the inside. It's got a great front porch with big steps to sit on, and when you do sit on them you have a great view of the mountains. It is such a cheerful place. --i forgot to mention (as it's so normal now) that there is no running water. And electricity is for a few hours every other day. but another big bonus is a well right outside my front door. Ballin'!!! O, and I have guards 24 hours a day too. Yes, just for me.
So you now know I love my city, I really love my house, but what I can't even begin to describe is how much I love my new job. I have been seriously hooked up with what I am willing to call my dream job. Granted, I had to come to Guinea for it, but if it turns out how I think it could, Guinea is worth it. So, I'm working for an American NGO based in Boston called World Education. www.WorldEducation.org . Check them out. Their overriding mission is to help people in the 3rd world receive an education so that they can rise up and change their country, from the inside out. They're in a few spots in Guinea, doing different projects, whether it's helping illiterate people learn to read, stopping child traffiking & putting kids in school, or other sorts of badass things. I get to help out on two fronts. The first is working with young people and educating them on all sorts of things ... it could be about how to get started in businesses here, or it could be HIV/AIDS awareness. I'd love to even do something about educating the youth on the dangers and consequences of Femal Genital Mutilation (fact: 99% of females here have been circumcised. it's pretty awful & terribly sad). The second sphere in which I'll be working is with these groups of women who are all mothers. The goal is that these mothers can somehow earn enough money to supplement their husband's income so that their children can go to school- otherwise they're stuck in the market/tailor shop working crazy long hours. So World Education does micro finance, and I'm going to get to be involved in lending these women money, and getting it repaid at a super low interest rate. Micro credit. It's genious. And it almost always works. But, it's not easy working with groups of women and money when accounting doesn't exist, especially when it can't because they're illiterate and can't count. So creativity has to come in ... and maybe I'll be teaching them how to repay back loans with pictures or colorful rocks instead of numbers. So I'm lending micro credit. BUT ON TOP OF THAT, I get to be on the receiving end of those funds, with the women, and teaching them how to best utilize the money. What should they sell in the market? How much should they charge? How should they do marketing? Where should they be purchasing their supplies? All sorts of really cool things. Income generation/cost benefit analysis/interest rates/credit/inventory ... all the stuff I tried to run away from by joining the Peace Corps? It's back! Only it's so much more "my style" over here doing business eating rice and sauce with my hands than in a fancy business suit in an office. I'm happy with this.
So that, in a nutshell, was my site visit to Mamou. I can also add that my 5 friends who came to sleep over the last night learned I'm a screamer when Jason walked into my bathroom and saw A GIANT RAT. I was curious so I ran to see, and then stood frozen, screaming. But wouldn't move. And actually got in the way as they tried to catch it. They knocked a chunk of concrete out of my bathroom wall in trying to catch Splinter (shout out to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!) with a giant bucket. They were successful, although I'm still getting made fun of for the screams. But seriously, who WOULDN'T scream if a giant rat was running around your bath/bedroom?
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Slaying Chickens and Dodging Bullets
I'mmmm backkkkkkkkkkkkk!!
No, not in America. But to the only place in the country that I believe has internet. So, now I have to cram a month's passings into a blog post? I'll try.
I received an email that made me fall out of my seat laughing from Anne and Tiffany, asking me questions about Africa. I'll just post the answers up here:
Dearest Caitlin,
Hello from the homeland! This is Tiffany and Anne, we are in our English class right now and "working on our rough drafts for our research papers". Our teacher Kip Dynamite is sitting in the row of computers behind us...clueless. Mehehe. We just wanted to say hello, we miss you, we haven't heard that you made it okay so if you could PLEASE let us know you're alive, that would be a little nice. Also a few mandatory questions:
1) HOW IS AFRICA? Africa is flipping amazing. I love it and wake up every morning happy to be here, and then laugh because I live in a town that I can guarantee none of you even knows exist. But c'est la vie.
2) DO YOU FEEL LIKE A MINORITY? In terms of skin color, most def. There isn't a white person not affiliated with PC that I've seen yet. That said, I also feel like a celebrity. All the kids in my town (and women/men too) all know me because I made up a ridiculous African name for myself (Kiki) so everywhere I go people love to chase me down screaming "Kiki! Kiki! Ca va?"
3) HAVE YOU SEEN ANY LIONS YET? Negative. Hope it stays that way.
4) DOES THE AIR SMELL THE SAME? It smells like burning trash. But after being here for a month, the PC volunteers will agree with me that it smells like BBQ. Mmmm.
5) WHEN IS YOUR INAUGURATION TO THE OFFICE OF OFFICIAL GUINEA PRINCESS HAPPENING? That date is TBA, but I'll keep you posted.
6) HAVE YOU TAKEN APART A TV AND PUT IT BACK TOGETHER AND PRETENDED TO BE THE INVENTOR OF TELEVISION YET? No, because if I touched the TVs of these people they'd commit suicide. Prized posession, to the max.
7) HOW ARE THE DREAD LOCKS COMING ALONG? Decided against dreads, sadly, in the interest of making friends.
8) HAVE YOU TAKEN A BUCKET SHOWER YET? (WE WON'T TELL IF YOU HAVENT....) Considering there is NO running water where I live, I do it every day! It's actually my favorite part of Guinea so far, no lie.
9) HAVE YOU EATEN SAHARAN DIRT YET? Not on purpose...
10) IF NOT YOU SHOULD TRY IT I HEAR ITS TASTY, LIKE WITH A LITTLE LEAF ON TOP It actually tastes more like feces.
11) ARE YOU EVEN NEAR THE SAHARA DESERT? No.
12) HAVE YOU MADE ANY "GUINEA PIG" JOKES YET? I think someone tried ... I try to keep my coolness status higher than that. I'll send those off in private emails to you...
13) SUCH AS, "HEY, WHERE ARE ALL THE HAMSTERS? OH I FORGOT, THIS IS GUINEA!"
14) HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU HEAR THE PHRASE: HILARY CLINTON-NEW SECRETARY OF STATE? I forget what she looks like. And I hear a reporter threw a shoe at Bush? That's probably old news for y'all ... but for me, I'm still laughing over here!
15) WHAT IS YOUR NAME IN THE GUINEAN LANAUGE? Kiki!! Yes, sometimes it does make me feel like a stripper. But Guineans can't pronounce Caitlin, so I tried getting them to say Cait, but that didn't work either and all that was coming out of my 30 bro/sisters mouths was "Ki Ki Ki Ki" so I went with it and am now officially Kiki.
16) HAVE YOU HEARD ANYONE SPEAK IN CLICKS YET? Do grunts count?
17) WILL YOU PLEASE BECOME FLUENT IN THE CLICK LANGUAGE BEFORE YOU COME HOME? Send me the book on CD and consider it done. After the big swear-in ceremony on Feb 6 I'll have 3 months alone in a village to pick up all sorts of new hobbies.
18) WHY IS THE SKY BLUE? Because anything blue made in Guinea bleeds when you wash it with a wash board in some buckets. Something about indigo ... so when God first made the sky he let Guinean indigo bleed all over it, to match the color of any previously white clothing I had.
19) HAVE YOU MADE ANY FRIENDS/LOVERS/ENEMIES? Well, my 23 year old brother (yes Claire, your email was accurate) was my friend. Then he tried to become my lover in a very creepy story, so I told him that I would never love him. To which he tried comparing our love to that of Jack and Rose from Titanic. To which I said he was ridiculous. To which he said he was going to become sick and not sleep well. To which I then said that if he didn't sleep well tonight, he wouldn't sleep well tomorrow night, or the next night, or any other night for the rest of his life because I will never love him. So now he avoids me in a 15 year old girl dramatic kind of way. Does that count as enemies?
20) WHY DON'T YOU BUY US TICKETS TO THE WORLD CUP/YOUR HUT? Because I'm making a few dollars a day. However, you will always have a place to stay in Guinea.
21) HAVE YOU MET A XXXXX IN GUINEA? Cannot answer.
22) CAN HIS NAME BE FOUND ON THE PERIODIC TABLE OF ELEMENTS? Sadly,no.
23) HAVE YOU MET SIMBA YET? (WE HEAR HE RESIDES IN GUINEA ON VACATION) Searching...
24) WOULD YOU LIKE US TO SEND YOU CHEESEBURGERS IN THE MAIL? Coming from a girl who doesn't even eat red meat, YES! The baguettes and rice diet is getting a little old.
25) HAVE YOU SEEN THE RARE TYRANNAYUATI? IT IS AN ANIMAL NATIVE TO GUINEA AND ONLY COMES OUT AT NIGHT. PLEASE ASK LOCALS ABOUT IT.
(just kidding this animal does not exist)
WE LOVE YOU!!!!!
So Anne and Tiff, there you go. Hope everyone else got a little sneak peak into what else is going on here. Also, where I live, there is no running water, electricity for 6 hours every other day, and definiately NO internet. So I get a lot of emails all at once, and don't have time to reply to them all because 28 other volunteers are ready to fight for computer time, so I'm going to try and hit on the main points.
1. The Military Coup
Yes, I can now say that I have been involved with a military coup. YOLO, right? So, here's the lowdown. Guinea had this whack president who did nothing. He was super sick. He died ... he may have actually died 3 weeks before news was even let loose. Fortunately or unfortunately, there was no Vice President (Sarah Palin, anyone?) so I was in a country on Christmas eve where there was no one in charge. So then this military captain punk took over and said "I'll be prez!" and threw out the constiution. However, the Guineans handled the 3 day period with grace, patience, and peace and welcomed this new guy. Amazingly, he is NOT one of the 3 major ethnic groups, which is great because that means that there won't be ethnic tensions. He's also a Christian in a Muslim country, which is also crazy that he was able to take over peacefully. Guineans like this new guy, and after much "happy gunfire celebration" and nation wide curfews, all is back to normal. I have hope this guy can make a difference here ... already I have seen a dramatic increase in the amount of hours we've been receiving electricity AND a 3rd beer is now in circulation here. Things are looking up.
2. Christmas
Christmas was awesome. Christmas Eve I was unable to come back to the capital due to the coup d'etat, so we stayed at the Peace Corps compound in our training-town. We celebrated there and dodged gun fire from drunk/celebrating military. No, the guns were not being aimed at people. Just in the air. But what goes up must come down, hence the dodging bullets. Again, YOLO.
3. Chicken Slaying
I can also now say that I know how to bargain a good price for, slaughter, prepare, cook, and eat a chicken. Unless I've seen that chicken been killed in front of me, it's pretty safe to say that I've gone vegetarian here.
4. Family
I'm living with a host family until the end of training. One husband, 3 wives, and between 15-30 kids. I really can't tell. It's been difficult trying to figure out the family dynamics, who's kid is whose, who likes who, who's my cousin or sister or aunt or brother. Basically, I've given up trying. All the little kids love me, I get tackled every day when I come home from school by kids screaming "Kiki! Kiki!" I have taught them the power pound (JrNYLC shout-out!) and it's been quite the hit. I have one sister who "takes care of me" but my friends and I have determined we don't like her. It's pretty funny how not-nice she is. But I have a king-size bed, so I don't care :) My brother and I hit a rough patch last weekend because he is deeply in love with me, but as it turns out, my French is good enough to solidly end relationships. Relationships, mind you, that never even began.
5. Mail
Beacuse Guinea doesn't really have a post office system, I've been sending mail back home with travelers going to the US. However, good news, I can receive mail! When all the volunteers came back to the capital last night for New Years I felt so lucky to have gotten 2 cards and 1 package. And I felt really sad for the volunteers who didn't get anything. They were sad too. So, what I'm saying is, please don't let me be that volunteer. Sending a letter, 94 cents. The happiness that washes over me, priceless. Also, I love all the blog comments/emails. Thanks everyone, I love you all!
So I gotta bounce, grab my backpack and pile into the Peace Corps vehicles (we have this awesome motorcade of white PC vans/SUVs) to head back to my town. Hope you all have a VERY happy new year!! I will be back here in Conakry (read: civilization) on Feb. 6 for my big swear-in as an official volunteer!! So, that is the next time y'all can expect updates. Love you all and miss you lots! Oh, and if you want to call me, I got a phone!!
011-224-67-20-99-68
It costs me the equivalent of 10 lunches to talk to you for 5 minutes, therefore I sadly cannot call you on my "salary." But calls ARE free for me! I'd love a call. Talk to you all in about a month, much much much much love!!!!
No, not in America. But to the only place in the country that I believe has internet. So, now I have to cram a month's passings into a blog post? I'll try.
I received an email that made me fall out of my seat laughing from Anne and Tiffany, asking me questions about Africa. I'll just post the answers up here:
Dearest Caitlin,
Hello from the homeland! This is Tiffany and Anne, we are in our English class right now and "working on our rough drafts for our research papers". Our teacher Kip Dynamite is sitting in the row of computers behind us...clueless. Mehehe. We just wanted to say hello, we miss you, we haven't heard that you made it okay so if you could PLEASE let us know you're alive, that would be a little nice. Also a few mandatory questions:
1) HOW IS AFRICA? Africa is flipping amazing. I love it and wake up every morning happy to be here, and then laugh because I live in a town that I can guarantee none of you even knows exist. But c'est la vie.
2) DO YOU FEEL LIKE A MINORITY? In terms of skin color, most def. There isn't a white person not affiliated with PC that I've seen yet. That said, I also feel like a celebrity. All the kids in my town (and women/men too) all know me because I made up a ridiculous African name for myself (Kiki) so everywhere I go people love to chase me down screaming "Kiki! Kiki! Ca va?"
3) HAVE YOU SEEN ANY LIONS YET? Negative. Hope it stays that way.
4) DOES THE AIR SMELL THE SAME? It smells like burning trash. But after being here for a month, the PC volunteers will agree with me that it smells like BBQ. Mmmm.
5) WHEN IS YOUR INAUGURATION TO THE OFFICE OF OFFICIAL GUINEA PRINCESS HAPPENING? That date is TBA, but I'll keep you posted.
6) HAVE YOU TAKEN APART A TV AND PUT IT BACK TOGETHER AND PRETENDED TO BE THE INVENTOR OF TELEVISION YET? No, because if I touched the TVs of these people they'd commit suicide. Prized posession, to the max.
7) HOW ARE THE DREAD LOCKS COMING ALONG? Decided against dreads, sadly, in the interest of making friends.
8) HAVE YOU TAKEN A BUCKET SHOWER YET? (WE WON'T TELL IF YOU HAVENT....) Considering there is NO running water where I live, I do it every day! It's actually my favorite part of Guinea so far, no lie.
9) HAVE YOU EATEN SAHARAN DIRT YET? Not on purpose...
10) IF NOT YOU SHOULD TRY IT I HEAR ITS TASTY, LIKE WITH A LITTLE LEAF ON TOP It actually tastes more like feces.
11) ARE YOU EVEN NEAR THE SAHARA DESERT? No.
12) HAVE YOU MADE ANY "GUINEA PIG" JOKES YET? I think someone tried ... I try to keep my coolness status higher than that. I'll send those off in private emails to you...
13) SUCH AS, "HEY, WHERE ARE ALL THE HAMSTERS? OH I FORGOT, THIS IS GUINEA!"
14) HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU HEAR THE PHRASE: HILARY CLINTON-NEW SECRETARY OF STATE? I forget what she looks like. And I hear a reporter threw a shoe at Bush? That's probably old news for y'all ... but for me, I'm still laughing over here!
15) WHAT IS YOUR NAME IN THE GUINEAN LANAUGE? Kiki!! Yes, sometimes it does make me feel like a stripper. But Guineans can't pronounce Caitlin, so I tried getting them to say Cait, but that didn't work either and all that was coming out of my 30 bro/sisters mouths was "Ki Ki Ki Ki" so I went with it and am now officially Kiki.
16) HAVE YOU HEARD ANYONE SPEAK IN CLICKS YET? Do grunts count?
17) WILL YOU PLEASE BECOME FLUENT IN THE CLICK LANGUAGE BEFORE YOU COME HOME? Send me the book on CD and consider it done. After the big swear-in ceremony on Feb 6 I'll have 3 months alone in a village to pick up all sorts of new hobbies.
18) WHY IS THE SKY BLUE? Because anything blue made in Guinea bleeds when you wash it with a wash board in some buckets. Something about indigo ... so when God first made the sky he let Guinean indigo bleed all over it, to match the color of any previously white clothing I had.
19) HAVE YOU MADE ANY FRIENDS/LOVERS/ENEMIES? Well, my 23 year old brother (yes Claire, your email was accurate) was my friend. Then he tried to become my lover in a very creepy story, so I told him that I would never love him. To which he tried comparing our love to that of Jack and Rose from Titanic. To which I said he was ridiculous. To which he said he was going to become sick and not sleep well. To which I then said that if he didn't sleep well tonight, he wouldn't sleep well tomorrow night, or the next night, or any other night for the rest of his life because I will never love him. So now he avoids me in a 15 year old girl dramatic kind of way. Does that count as enemies?
20) WHY DON'T YOU BUY US TICKETS TO THE WORLD CUP/YOUR HUT? Because I'm making a few dollars a day. However, you will always have a place to stay in Guinea.
21) HAVE YOU MET A XXXXX IN GUINEA? Cannot answer.
22) CAN HIS NAME BE FOUND ON THE PERIODIC TABLE OF ELEMENTS? Sadly,no.
23) HAVE YOU MET SIMBA YET? (WE HEAR HE RESIDES IN GUINEA ON VACATION) Searching...
24) WOULD YOU LIKE US TO SEND YOU CHEESEBURGERS IN THE MAIL? Coming from a girl who doesn't even eat red meat, YES! The baguettes and rice diet is getting a little old.
25) HAVE YOU SEEN THE RARE TYRANNAYUATI? IT IS AN ANIMAL NATIVE TO GUINEA AND ONLY COMES OUT AT NIGHT. PLEASE ASK LOCALS ABOUT IT.
(just kidding this animal does not exist)
WE LOVE YOU!!!!!
So Anne and Tiff, there you go. Hope everyone else got a little sneak peak into what else is going on here. Also, where I live, there is no running water, electricity for 6 hours every other day, and definiately NO internet. So I get a lot of emails all at once, and don't have time to reply to them all because 28 other volunteers are ready to fight for computer time, so I'm going to try and hit on the main points.
1. The Military Coup
Yes, I can now say that I have been involved with a military coup. YOLO, right? So, here's the lowdown. Guinea had this whack president who did nothing. He was super sick. He died ... he may have actually died 3 weeks before news was even let loose. Fortunately or unfortunately, there was no Vice President (Sarah Palin, anyone?) so I was in a country on Christmas eve where there was no one in charge. So then this military captain punk took over and said "I'll be prez!" and threw out the constiution. However, the Guineans handled the 3 day period with grace, patience, and peace and welcomed this new guy. Amazingly, he is NOT one of the 3 major ethnic groups, which is great because that means that there won't be ethnic tensions. He's also a Christian in a Muslim country, which is also crazy that he was able to take over peacefully. Guineans like this new guy, and after much "happy gunfire celebration" and nation wide curfews, all is back to normal. I have hope this guy can make a difference here ... already I have seen a dramatic increase in the amount of hours we've been receiving electricity AND a 3rd beer is now in circulation here. Things are looking up.
2. Christmas
Christmas was awesome. Christmas Eve I was unable to come back to the capital due to the coup d'etat, so we stayed at the Peace Corps compound in our training-town. We celebrated there and dodged gun fire from drunk/celebrating military. No, the guns were not being aimed at people. Just in the air. But what goes up must come down, hence the dodging bullets. Again, YOLO.
3. Chicken Slaying
I can also now say that I know how to bargain a good price for, slaughter, prepare, cook, and eat a chicken. Unless I've seen that chicken been killed in front of me, it's pretty safe to say that I've gone vegetarian here.
4. Family
I'm living with a host family until the end of training. One husband, 3 wives, and between 15-30 kids. I really can't tell. It's been difficult trying to figure out the family dynamics, who's kid is whose, who likes who, who's my cousin or sister or aunt or brother. Basically, I've given up trying. All the little kids love me, I get tackled every day when I come home from school by kids screaming "Kiki! Kiki!" I have taught them the power pound (JrNYLC shout-out!) and it's been quite the hit. I have one sister who "takes care of me" but my friends and I have determined we don't like her. It's pretty funny how not-nice she is. But I have a king-size bed, so I don't care :) My brother and I hit a rough patch last weekend because he is deeply in love with me, but as it turns out, my French is good enough to solidly end relationships. Relationships, mind you, that never even began.
5. Mail
Beacuse Guinea doesn't really have a post office system, I've been sending mail back home with travelers going to the US. However, good news, I can receive mail! When all the volunteers came back to the capital last night for New Years I felt so lucky to have gotten 2 cards and 1 package. And I felt really sad for the volunteers who didn't get anything. They were sad too. So, what I'm saying is, please don't let me be that volunteer. Sending a letter, 94 cents. The happiness that washes over me, priceless. Also, I love all the blog comments/emails. Thanks everyone, I love you all!
So I gotta bounce, grab my backpack and pile into the Peace Corps vehicles (we have this awesome motorcade of white PC vans/SUVs) to head back to my town. Hope you all have a VERY happy new year!! I will be back here in Conakry (read: civilization) on Feb. 6 for my big swear-in as an official volunteer!! So, that is the next time y'all can expect updates. Love you all and miss you lots! Oh, and if you want to call me, I got a phone!!
011-224-67-20-99-68
It costs me the equivalent of 10 lunches to talk to you for 5 minutes, therefore I sadly cannot call you on my "salary." But calls ARE free for me! I'd love a call. Talk to you all in about a month, much much much much love!!!!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
N xili Caitlin. That's grunt-speak for "my name is Caitlin."
Bonjour from the motherland!!
Yes yes yes, I am here in Guinea. After some hotel fun in Philly we made the journey through Senegal to arrive in the capital of Guinea, called Conakry. For the past few day's I've basically been in a Peace Corps frat house living in bunk beds covered with mosquito nets and just being ridiculous and having fun with the other volunteers. We're on the beach (no, you can't swim in the ocean- gross.) but there is a Beach Bar where we've been going to at night. Imagine sitting in plastic beach chairs in the sand, looking up at the moon, Venus and Saturn, kicking back a Guinean beer and listening to the Guiean cars blast their reggae while they drive and park in the sand. I love this stuff.
We've been doing training too though, so no your tax dollars have not gone to a pure vacation fund. We've had some people from the US Embassy come and basically scare the living daylight of us, telling us about corrput military and a president people are waiting to die. And if he doesn't die soon, we might have a military coup. Awesome. They evacuated PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) a little over a year ago from here, but we're back now. But forreal don't worry. The people here are incredible and welcoming. I love it so much, and feel so thankful to be here.
A few current volunteers have come back to help us with our training and they've been such a wonderful resource to talk to. Apparently Guinea is in the "top 3" of hardcore PC countries. Basically, I will not have electricity. And have a 99% chance of using a latrine for the next 27 months.
Today I got a crash course in one of the local languages. It's called Susu.
N ng xili Mary. My mom's name is Mary.
Volontaire na n na. I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer.
I'd teach you some more of 1) I remembered it and 2) Computers existed with some crazy characters. It's a lot of grunting. No clicking, but grunting is much more practical.
Monday's some holiday so tomorrow we get to lay low. I think I'll leave the PC compound and learn to explore markets. I'm excited and a little bit scared, so let's get going! (Brian Fellows, anyone?) because this country is nuts. I'll let you know how it is. NOTHING like I have ever seen. And I've seen a good deal.
O, fun fact: Guinea is one of the only countries in the world whose capital city (Conakry) doesn't have relilable electricity. It might be the only. It goes out all the time, like during last night's dance party.
Okay well Tuesday I'm moving to live with a host family and won't have internet access/phone until I come back here for Christmas. So, send letters and packages. It's less than $1 for a letter. And I'll get them frequently through Feb 6. So s'il vous plait, write me.
Friends and Family, I love you all and am thankful for your support. I'm lucky to have people like you behind me every step of the way.
Yes yes yes, I am here in Guinea. After some hotel fun in Philly we made the journey through Senegal to arrive in the capital of Guinea, called Conakry. For the past few day's I've basically been in a Peace Corps frat house living in bunk beds covered with mosquito nets and just being ridiculous and having fun with the other volunteers. We're on the beach (no, you can't swim in the ocean- gross.) but there is a Beach Bar where we've been going to at night. Imagine sitting in plastic beach chairs in the sand, looking up at the moon, Venus and Saturn, kicking back a Guinean beer and listening to the Guiean cars blast their reggae while they drive and park in the sand. I love this stuff.
We've been doing training too though, so no your tax dollars have not gone to a pure vacation fund. We've had some people from the US Embassy come and basically scare the living daylight of us, telling us about corrput military and a president people are waiting to die. And if he doesn't die soon, we might have a military coup. Awesome. They evacuated PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) a little over a year ago from here, but we're back now. But forreal don't worry. The people here are incredible and welcoming. I love it so much, and feel so thankful to be here.
A few current volunteers have come back to help us with our training and they've been such a wonderful resource to talk to. Apparently Guinea is in the "top 3" of hardcore PC countries. Basically, I will not have electricity. And have a 99% chance of using a latrine for the next 27 months.
Today I got a crash course in one of the local languages. It's called Susu.
N ng xili Mary. My mom's name is Mary.
Volontaire na n na. I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer.
I'd teach you some more of 1) I remembered it and 2) Computers existed with some crazy characters. It's a lot of grunting. No clicking, but grunting is much more practical.
Monday's some holiday so tomorrow we get to lay low. I think I'll leave the PC compound and learn to explore markets. I'm excited and a little bit scared, so let's get going! (Brian Fellows, anyone?) because this country is nuts. I'll let you know how it is. NOTHING like I have ever seen. And I've seen a good deal.
O, fun fact: Guinea is one of the only countries in the world whose capital city (Conakry) doesn't have relilable electricity. It might be the only. It goes out all the time, like during last night's dance party.
Okay well Tuesday I'm moving to live with a host family and won't have internet access/phone until I come back here for Christmas. So, send letters and packages. It's less than $1 for a letter. And I'll get them frequently through Feb 6. So s'il vous plait, write me.
Friends and Family, I love you all and am thankful for your support. I'm lucky to have people like you behind me every step of the way.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Last Night in Ijamsvile
Alright, here it is. In about eight hours I'm getting in a car, saying goodbye to the fam, and meeting the PC crew.
So many emotions are pulsing through my veins, mostly excitement, and a little bit of apprehension because the magnitude of what I'm about to do has not hit me at all. Yet. I have been so nonchalant about this entire event- I never even read through all of the material. I'm just so confident in knowing that I am supposed to start service in Guinea right now that I figure I'll get there anyways- whether or not papers are read or if I packed the right things.
Yes, bags are packed. One rolling duffel and a hiking backpack. Not as bad as I thought, I'm happy with how smooth packing went. I went overboard on toilettries like good shampoo and face wash. But I want to smell good while living in the bush.
My last day in Ijamsville was a great one. Amanda came over and her and Claire made me pancakes for breakfast. Well, Claire continued cranking out CDs for the journey. DJ C-murda cranked out a total of 12. Needless to say, between all of my friends I will never be short of any music for any occasion. I ran some errands with dad and then convinced a stubborn cold-hearted lady at CVS to sell me 16 passport photos for $9 instead of $25. I came home to make some tofu for lunch (I am going to miss tofu), packed my bags with no problems, then went to go see Four Christmases, a new Vince Vaughn movie, with the family. The movie was pretty mindless, but good for the occasion. Enjoyed some Starbucks afterwards and came home to enjoy a last veggie burger with the sister. First I thought I would be missing "American" food like Chipotle and burgers. But no, it's definitely going to be tofu and veggie burgers. I think I'm more apt to find burritos in West Africa than soy protein.
Anyways it is time to sign off. Next time I'm on here I will be in Africa. Here we go :)
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