"I don't like to think of them as worms. Instead, I prefer to think of them as little friends." The number of places you can pick up little things like worms and amoeba's is pretty ridiculous (water, food, and even petites) however it's just life here in Guinea. You learn to accept it and move on. It also turns out I have been worried about all the wrong things. No electricity? Pas grave. Squat toilets? Pas grave! Being sick? Pas tellement grave. Things I didn't worry about? All of the mold. Moldy clothes. Moldy books. Moldy everything. With the combination of rain and humidity, nothing here ever dries all the way out. The only times clothes do actually dry is when they are laid out on the road. However, at that point you are sacrificing clean clothes for dry clothes because your clothes are now on top of child and goat poop. I also didn't worry about how much I would miss the freedom to make my own choices and have some degree of control over my life. I can't wait to move into my house where I can cook for myself, get my own water, etc. I also hadn't worried that much about my interactions with other volunteers. However, I frequently find myself embarrassed to be an American, and am not sure how often I'll want to leave site to hang out with the other volunteers!
Given the downs, this weekend was still quite a treat. Some of the volunteers staying at the regional capital took a trip to Port Kamsar and let me tag along. Kamsar is where you find all of the foreigners who invest in the bauxite and iron industries. While I was warned that there were white people in the city, I was quite taken aback anytime I saw one that I didn't know. It's things like that that I never thought I would be surprised by! Probably the most exciting thing about Kamsar is the supermarkets. I found everything from Delallo's olive oil, to mountain dew, to cans of Great Value food, to Heath ice cream bars. While everything is pretty expensive, I can't wait to come back after moving to site and stock up on yummy things like chickpeas and lentils.
I'm about to pass several big milestones. Starting August 15th (which is also Blaze's birthday) every day I spend in Africa is one day longer than I've ever spent outside of the US! Secondly, tomorrow I'll teach in front of Guinean students for the first time! I'm very nervous because it's for 50 minutes and it's concerning co-linearity of vectors! Just like everything here in Guinea, on va voir! Finally, I braved the big market here, and amazingly enough found a shop I had been to before and bought my first bit of African fabric! It's pretty, but don't get too excited, because it's basically just a wrap. I'm saving the crazy outfits until I'm all comfy at site and have outfitted my house.
Until next time…and thanks to everyone who is still reading this! If you have any suggestions (eg. are more interested in certain choses/want me to stop talking about something, just let me know and I'll see what I can do). It's been thrilling to watch my stats grow exponentially with each post!
You actually were in France for eight months when you were 2.
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