2006.10.03: October 3, 2006: Headlines: COS - Guinea: Blogs - Guinea: Humor: Personal Web Site: Guinea Peace Corps Volunteer Andrea writes: Riding on Taxis
Peace Corps Online:
Directory:
Guinea:
Peace Corps Guinea :
The Peace Corps in Guinea:
2006.10.03: October 3, 2006: Headlines: COS - Guinea: Blogs - Guinea: Humor: Personal Web Site: Guinea Peace Corps Volunteer Andrea writes: Riding on Taxis
Guinea Peace Corps Volunteer Andrea writes: Riding on Taxis
The taxi pulls over, a few words are exchanged, I hoist my bike on top with the 2 other guys and I climb up the back of the car. The car takes off as I am finding a place to settle. I strike the pose of a cowboy trying to ride a bull. I grab the metal bar mounted on the top which happened to be in between my legs. As I am getting settled, I realize it is not a bull that I am sitting on but rather a live goat. The goat seems to agree with the situation so I settle in and enjoy the beautiful valley views for miles until I am forced out of my admiration to deal with the present.
Guinea Peace Corps Volunteer Andrea writes: Riding on Taxis
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Riding on Taxis
No, that is not a grammatical error. I had my first experience riding on top of a taxi. Before you determine that I am crazy and that it is not safe...read on. A US car that seats 8 has the great advantage of being an 11 place car plus children/babies and any random live animal that someone bought at the market. Often times it is safer to ride on top of the car as the risk of the door flying open and you falling out of the car to your death is greatly reduced. In addition, much more picturesque, airy and safer than you think as the car cannot go over 15mph due to the condition of the road. AND who has not tried car surfing before which is clearly more dangerous.
It has been awhile since I had ridden my bike from Lelouma to Labe. I guess it's true that the first thing to go is memory. I forgot how hard it was to bike up and down the mountains on the washed out road with big rocks and rain troughs. After 15 HARD k of biking, sweating, cursing and a quick calculation of 47k left, an angel appeared behind me in the form of a Guinean bush taxi puttering up the mountain. A few minutes earlier I pulled off my bike helmet, dismounted my bike and began the 20-30 minute push up the biggest mountain on the route. My site's beauty comes at a price.
The taxi pulls over, a few words are exchanged, I hoist my bike on top with the 2 other guys and I climb up the back of the car. The car takes off as I am finding a place to settle. I strike the pose of a cowboy trying to ride a bull. I grab the metal bar mounted on the top which happened to be in between my legs. As I am getting settled, I realize it is not a bull that I am sitting on but rather a live goat. The goat seems to agree with the situation so I settle in and enjoy the beautiful valley views for miles until I am forced out of my admiration to deal with the present.
The goat changed it's mind and is now making a fuss, trashing, screaming and generally unhappy. My 2 fellow toppers calm the goat but I wonder if it is trying to tell me that maybe it needs to stop to use the bathroom. So I decided to ask the question I really don't want to learn the answer to. My compatriots decide they don't understand the bleeps that the goat is making so they just press on it's stomach to determine if there is anything in the waiting tank. Not sure if goats work the same as humans but I learned from my very knowledgeable friends that if you are in fact constipated that running your stomach in a circlular manner will help to relieve the problem. I held my breath, endured the bumps and watched as my new friends stabilized my bike as it dangled over the edge of the car and the mountain. Knowing somebody was on my side that day, the car rolled to a stop at the next village and I jumped off without crap on my face or anywhere else. Biked the next 40k to Labe calmly and contenly.
Fortunately or unfortunately for the interest of this story my ride with PC from Labe to Conakry yesterday was much less eventful. Hope to have the same luck tomorrow when I head back up-country.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: October, 2006; Peace Corps Guinea; Directory of Guinea RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Guinea RPCVs; Blogs - Guinea; Humor
When this story was posted in December 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| All Volunteers Safe in Fiji All Volunteers in Fiji are safe and accounted for. The Peace Corps is monitoring the situation very closely. Volunteers are on standfast but there are no plans for evacuation at this time. Peace Corps is working closely with the US embassy and with host country partners to monitor the situation. Peace Corps is confident that volunteers are not in harm's way. The military seized control of Fiji on December 5 after weeks of threats. Subscribe to our news feed to read the latest breaking news. |
| Ron Tschetter in Morocco and Jordan On his first official trip since being confirmed as Peace Corps Director, Ron Tschetter (shown at left with PCV Tia Tucker) is on a ten day trip to Morocco and Jordan. Traveling with his wife (Both are RPCVs.), Tschetter met with volunteers in Morocco working in environment, youth development, health, and small business development. He began his trip to Jordan by meeting with His Majesty King Abdullah II and Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah and discussed expanding the program there in the near future. |
| Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps Senator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances, private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments. |
| He served with honor One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor. |
| Peace Corps' Screening and Medical Clearance The purpose of Peace Corps' screening and medical clearance process is to ensure safe accommodation for applicants and minimize undue risk exposure for volunteers to allow PCVS to complete their service without compromising their entry health status. To further these goals, PCOL has obtained a copy of the Peace Corps Screening Guidelines Manual through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and has posted it in the "Peace Corps Library." Applicants and Medical Professionals (especially those who have already served as volunteers) are urged to review the guidelines and leave their comments and suggestions. Then read the story of one RPCV's journey through medical screening and his suggestions for changes to the process. |
| The Peace Corps is "fashionable" again The LA Times says that "the Peace Corps is booming again and "It's hard to know exactly what's behind the resurgence." PCOL Comment: Since the founding of the Peace Corps 45 years ago, Americans have answered Kennedy's call: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Over 182,000 have served. Another 200,000 have applied and been unable to serve because of lack of Congressional funding. The Peace Corps has never gone out of fashion. It's Congress that hasn't been keeping pace. |
| PCOL readership increases 100% Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come. |
| History of the Peace Corps PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help. |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: Personal Web Site
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Guinea; Blogs - Guinea; Humor
PCOL35624
39