"I am not hopeful that we will return to Guinea, nor am I hopeful that anything else the Peace Corps offers me will be nearly as good as what I had in Gueckedou. But I also don't feel ready to come back home. I'm in a really hard place right now, and figuring out what I'm going to do will be difficult. Plus it's really hot here. But not everything is bad. At the Peace Corps training compound where we're staying at in Bamako, we get pancakes every morning. Pancakes?! That's right, pancakes. With syrup and everything."
Peace Corps Volunteer "Peace through Chemistry" writes: So Peace Corps Guinea has been "consolidated" (pretty much evacuated) to Mali
Thursday, October 8, 2009
this is not what I signed up for
Caption: Guinean police arrest a protester in front of the biggest stadium in the capital Conakry during a protest banned by Guinea's ruling junta on September 28. The United States condemned Tuesday the "brazen and inappropriate use of force" by Guinea's ruling junta, after scores were killed in a crackdown on an opposition rally. Photo: AFP/File/Seyllou
Greetings, from Bamako!
So Peace Corps Guinea has been "consolidated" (pretty much evacuated) to Mali. The situation in Guinea is, well, not good, despite how safe I felt at site. The Friends of Guinea blog has been doing a pretty good job of explaining what's been going on.
There are so many questions that have no answers yet. For example:
* How long will we stay in Mali? – No one knows, maybe two to four weeks
* Will we go back to Guinea soon? – Possible, but unlikely
* Will I come back to America and then go back to Guinea after it settles? – Maybe
* Will I go straight to another country and serve there? – Maybe
* Will I come back to America and wait and then go to another country? – Maybe
* Will I come back to America and just be done with the Peace Corps? – Maybe
All I know is that my site and my job were absolutely perfect for me. I was teaching chemistry. I was gaining fluency in French. I had a frickin' hot pink house. And then it was all taken away. I didn't even get to teach a single day at my school.
I am not hopeful that we will return to Guinea, nor am I hopeful that anything else the Peace Corps offers me will be nearly as good as what I had in Gueckedou. But I also don't feel ready to come back home. I'm in a really hard place right now, and figuring out what I'm going to do will be difficult. Plus it's really hot here.
But not everything is bad. At the Peace Corps training compound where we're staying at in Bamako, we get pancakes every morning. Pancakes?! That's right, pancakes. With syrup and everything.
