Valerie Evans African Adventure in the Peace Corps in Guinea
Just The Beginning
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Wednesday, March 17, 2004
It's February 22nd and I'm here at my site, Korbe. I will be here for just a week to see the place and get to know the people and set up my house. It's been a typical African confusion to get here. I left Mamou (where I met the people from my village) at about 9:30 a.m. and just arrived~5:30 p.m.~so it was 8 hours of travel. It took 3 hours to Labe, then a 4 hour wait, then another 1 1/2 hours to go about a total of 200 kms. I am staying in the "guest house" in Korbe because my house hasn't been lived in for 2 years and we will clean it out in the next few days. This guest house is on the outskirts of the village, which doesn't mean much more than that the dirt path ends here, that's all. I am sitting ouside on the front stoop. It is beautiful. The weather is about 70 degrees, cool breeze, mountains, mud huts, chickens and goats chattering away. There is no electricity and no running water. I met the sous-prefect, the head honcho around here, kind of like the governor of the region. He is a very nice, jolly guy. I also met the guy who runs the health center in this village. I will be working with him. He came and took me on his motorcycle to see a local soccer game. We had dinner of rice and sauce (seems to be the staple around here) and a chocolate cookie (!) for dessert. Tomorrow is my big day: I brought some cola nuts (a traditional gift when you are new to a place). It symbolically means that I am a part of the village. Cola nuts, when chewed, have some sort of stimulant effect. So tomorrow, the sous-prefect is going to make a presentation of the cola nuts (and me) to all the important elders in Korbe.
I am reading Newsweek, a subscription compliments of the Peace Corps. So I am keeping up (though 2 weeks or more late) with the outside world.
Posted by: Valerie / 3:28 PM
Friday, March 12, 2004
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
Another eventful week. That seems to be the trend.
I can't believe I've been here a month already.
We go to our sites this week for the first time, just for a visit. This site is where we will be living for the next two years. If you have a map with any detail, Labe (with accent on the 'e') is almost in the center of the country. My village, Korbe, is about 50 kms north of Labe. It is much cooler there, I hear. I have started learning the local language, Pular. "Mioo yiidumaa" means "I love you" and is pronounced exactly as you read it. The French made it a written language when they arrived in Guinee.
I expect to be moving to Korbe about April 1st. I have totally adapted to the African way of life: time-irrelevant, day-irrelevant. There is a peanut brittle factory next door to our classes (we take our classes outside under the mango trees) and the family next door makes peanut brittle fresh every day when we ask for it. A handful for 100 F, about 4 cents. Life can't get better than that!
Posted by: Valerie / 12:45 PM
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Sunday, January 18, 2004
This is my second.....very abbrieviated....message from Guinee.
I go to my homestay family tomorrow where I will stay for three months. All the people are great. It is a beautiful country and even the food and water is still agreeing with me.
I will try to write soon...we don't get much access to email so I don't know how often I will get to do it. And mail only goes out once a month!
Posted by: Valerie / 11:28 AM
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
January 14, 2004
Bienvenue a la Corps de la Paix-Guinee
This is my first night in Guinee. There are 40 of us all together and we drove in buses from the airport through town (Conakry). It reminds me a lot of other large African towns I've been in: lots of people sitting or selling things on the side of the road, staring as we drive past. It is super hot and humid here. We are staying in cottages with running water, air conditioning and flush toilets; this will only be for a few days while everything gets sorted out. We were greeted by our Guineean teachers/medical personnel who performed dances for us. We all joined in. Then we had a great meal with food for vegetarians, so my first day has been long (Philadelphia to JFK to Paris to Conakry), but really great.
Posted by: Valerie / 7:51 PM
Monday, November 24, 2003
Welcome to Val's African Adventure....
So, I sit at my computer putting together my website (!!) and having just discovered 'blogs' and thinking what a drastic change I will undergo in just over a month. (!?!?) So, from here on out you will be following along with me as I join the Peace Corps in Guinea.
But, on these blog pages, I will be posting a bit of a journal. Thoughts, experiences, annoyances, travel logs, jokes, short stories...overall ramblings. So, if you aren't interested in knowing all the intimate details of my volunteering in Africa...the good, the bad and the potentially very, very ugly, please, close this window and never return. If, on the other hand, you are worried/concerned/excited for me or are just one of those with an insatiable morbid curosity, check back periodically for updates. They will come as conviently as possible (meaning if I have access to a computer or when someone else has a chance to post my letters). Either way, over the next 2.5 years, this is guaranteed to take you through a whirlwind...as I expect it will be for me. So, hold on and enjoy the ride!
Valerie Evans
Corps de la Paix Americain
B.P. 1927
Conakry, Guinea
West Africa
Posted by: Valerie / 3:46 PM
