le 11 decembre:
- Last night I dreamt that I was named the country director (for reasons unknown or forgotten upon waking). One of my students , Adama N'Galou Barry approached me after I was distinguished as the CD;
"Monseuir, with this change in role I think I can ask you: where is peace*?"
I was surprised by her question, but was able to respond,
"Peace is in every collaboration. Peace is not yet everywhere, but it spreads each time two new people work together for a common good. It comes little by little."
It's an interesting response, and I don't think it's the usual one I would have given if I was conscious, but I like it all the same. And I'm happy to be collaborating here in Guinea and with Lycee Porekire!
Thursday, December 27, 2012
The four fondamental forces of nature.
le 6 decembre:
- While correcting exams from my 11th grade physics class on the subject of forces I came across a pretty good response:
Q: Quelle sont les quatres forces fondamentales? // What are the four fondamental forces?
R: "Les 4 forces fondamentales, qui sont:
la force du sortir
la force de rentrer
la force de courir
et la force de jouer." //
- The 4 fondamental forces which are:
the force to exit
the force to enter
the force to run
and the force to play.
Tres bien, voici quelques forces fondamentales...
- While correcting exams from my 11th grade physics class on the subject of forces I came across a pretty good response:
Q: Quelle sont les quatres forces fondamentales? // What are the four fondamental forces?
R: "Les 4 forces fondamentales, qui sont:
la force du sortir
la force de rentrer
la force de courir
et la force de jouer." //
- The 4 fondamental forces which are:
the force to exit
the force to enter
the force to run
and the force to play.
Tres bien, voici quelques forces fondamentales...
le 5 decembre (Cold?!)
le 5 decembre (le matin/ the morning):
- I am legitimately cold... I did not see this one coming. I just never actually expected to be cold in Africa.
- With the cold, the dying of plant life with the start of the dry season, and the burning of things, it's really starting to feel like fall! Here we come Halloween! ...
- On the walk to school there was a woman raking leaves. After school, as a result, there were several leaf piles. You can't tell me it's not fall!!?!?!
- I am legitimately cold... I did not see this one coming. I just never actually expected to be cold in Africa.
- With the cold, the dying of plant life with the start of the dry season, and the burning of things, it's really starting to feel like fall! Here we come Halloween! ...
- On the walk to school there was a woman raking leaves. After school, as a result, there were several leaf piles. You can't tell me it's not fall!!?!?!
Saturday, December 8, 2012
le 2 decembre (a chameleon)
le 2 decembre:
- I've always thought myself to be somewhat of a chameleon, able to blend in to any environment in which I find myself. I easily adapt to cultures and customs, like a chameleon chaning the color of its skin to blend into its surroundings. But I now realise that I naively thought by changing the color of my skin to blend in with the grass that I was becoming the grass. In fact, I rest chameleon and do not become grass.
Now that I find myself in an environment where the color of my skin automatically and instatnly define me as different, as a chameleon and not as grass, although initially disapointed and frustrated, I now embrace and celebrate that I'm a chameleon and can live in the grass without being a blad among them. I'm a white American, and like the color white, I'm made up of many colors.
- I've always thought myself to be somewhat of a chameleon, able to blend in to any environment in which I find myself. I easily adapt to cultures and customs, like a chameleon chaning the color of its skin to blend into its surroundings. But I now realise that I naively thought by changing the color of my skin to blend in with the grass that I was becoming the grass. In fact, I rest chameleon and do not become grass.
Now that I find myself in an environment where the color of my skin automatically and instatnly define me as different, as a chameleon and not as grass, although initially disapointed and frustrated, I now embrace and celebrate that I'm a chameleon and can live in the grass without being a blad among them. I'm a white American, and like the color white, I'm made up of many colors.
Monday, December 3, 2012
le 19 et 20 novembre (mobilize the people)
le 19 et 20 novembre:
- Abdoulaye is owrking on writing now. And he can write, but for the moment, only in Arabic. This kid has drive no matter what anyone else here says! All along his arm and leg he practiced writing the alphabet. Also he has a great smile! :)
- Found out that Julie, our country director (Corps de la Paix), is coming Tuesday to observe my classes. Because everything in my village is on an everyone-needs-to-know basis, I promptly informed the cheif, who's currently in Conakry, of her arrival. He swiftly informed the Proviseur who informed the Math teacher to inform Maire Bobo to inform everyone at every prayer time at the Mosque and to inform Maire Dian (the Mayor of Madina-Telico, a neighboring district) so that we'd have a mobilization of people to greet her. My village is awesome! As my Proviseur says, "C'est une communaute vivant! (This is a lively community!)" Tigi tigi! ("truly" -Pular)
- Received a text of a short notice arrival... Julie came at night instead of in the morning. And all though I was happy to welcome her. No one and nothing was prepared. So I took her to see the Proviseur and informed her that preparation for a big welcome party for her was in full swing. En route we ran into the Imam who insisted that she come back again tomorrow morning, as initially intended. That's my village!
Next day:
- Julie came back. So i had to abandon my class of course to greet her. She was well welcomed even if it wasn't the big party that my village wanted to have (she was pressed for time - she planned to come last night en lieu of this morning). But she recieved the cola nuts wrapped in leaves and more bananas than you could imagine, and a bottle of water. We took pictures with everyone there.
Imam; villager; Maire Dian; villager (en haut et 2 en bas); Maire Bobo; le Proviseur; moi; You;
After she left and I returned to my class my students asked if that was my wife who came to visit me... haha nope. Not married. They of course asked why, and I told them I hadn't yet found the "madamoiselle parfaite pour moi" En tous cas, after school I saw my Proviseur on his way home carrying a chicken and some other things. Apparently elders kept coming after Julie had left with more gifts for her. They also told he she was the mother of our school and so she had to come back to see her children, but that she had to notify them at least a week in advance.
Love my village!
- Abdoulaye is owrking on writing now. And he can write, but for the moment, only in Arabic. This kid has drive no matter what anyone else here says! All along his arm and leg he practiced writing the alphabet. Also he has a great smile! :)
- Found out that Julie, our country director (Corps de la Paix), is coming Tuesday to observe my classes. Because everything in my village is on an everyone-needs-to-know basis, I promptly informed the cheif, who's currently in Conakry, of her arrival. He swiftly informed the Proviseur who informed the Math teacher to inform Maire Bobo to inform everyone at every prayer time at the Mosque and to inform Maire Dian (the Mayor of Madina-Telico, a neighboring district) so that we'd have a mobilization of people to greet her. My village is awesome! As my Proviseur says, "C'est une communaute vivant! (This is a lively community!)" Tigi tigi! ("truly" -Pular)
- Received a text of a short notice arrival... Julie came at night instead of in the morning. And all though I was happy to welcome her. No one and nothing was prepared. So I took her to see the Proviseur and informed her that preparation for a big welcome party for her was in full swing. En route we ran into the Imam who insisted that she come back again tomorrow morning, as initially intended. That's my village!
Next day:
- Julie came back. So i had to abandon my class of course to greet her. She was well welcomed even if it wasn't the big party that my village wanted to have (she was pressed for time - she planned to come last night en lieu of this morning). But she recieved the cola nuts wrapped in leaves and more bananas than you could imagine, and a bottle of water. We took pictures with everyone there.
After she left and I returned to my class my students asked if that was my wife who came to visit me... haha nope. Not married. They of course asked why, and I told them I hadn't yet found the "madamoiselle parfaite pour moi" En tous cas, after school I saw my Proviseur on his way home carrying a chicken and some other things. Apparently elders kept coming after Julie had left with more gifts for her. They also told he she was the mother of our school and so she had to come back to see her children, but that she had to notify them at least a week in advance.
Love my village!
Saturday, December 1, 2012
le 16 novembre (the Ole ear and Abdoulaye)
le 16 novembre:
- I'm lying in bed reposing "un peu" after school, listening to the Friday call to prayer, and I can't help but think "mmm... a little under pitch..." - Thanks St. Olaf.
- My heart breaks for my bud Abdoulaye. Today he came over for his French revision, and while we were learning some new verbs, some girls (some of his peers that go to school) came by and taunted him because he doesn't go to school and is trying to learn French now and also because of some skin blemish he has on his forhead. I should have done more but it's hard to know how to defend a kid in a language you don't know. After they left and we continued, two consecutive women (one who never went to school but knows a little French and the other who's a French tearcher "au college") came by and both said "he knows nothing." "Is he learning anything?" Yes! In fact, I'm very proud of how much he knows in just a handful of informal lessons! He can't yet rea but he knows/ understands over 50 words and can count to 100 easily (!) - in only a handful of leassons! He really wants to learn and he's very smart! Unfortunately he still doesn't have the French and I don't have the Pular yet to tell him that... How do you counsel a kid you can't communicate with? Not only that, but also today a petit had stepped on his had and so it was super swollen and he couldn't make a fist. Since words lacked, I did my best to show him I cared with my actions: continued the lesson in spite of what others had said, offered him fruit, and simply took the time to sit with him and be his friend.
- I've never been so interested in ants and termites, but wow they are incredible! Emense societies each member doing its part with all its strength and boy do they have strenght and determination. I feel physically weak and weak willed watching an ant pull something over 4x its size vertically up a wall (!), fall, and just get right back after it. And they fiercely defend their community - if you walk in their path they will attack with a furry! A lot to be learned from these tiny creatures - and I for one have so much respect!
Here's to you, ants!
- I'm lying in bed reposing "un peu" after school, listening to the Friday call to prayer, and I can't help but think "mmm... a little under pitch..." - Thanks St. Olaf.
- My heart breaks for my bud Abdoulaye. Today he came over for his French revision, and while we were learning some new verbs, some girls (some of his peers that go to school) came by and taunted him because he doesn't go to school and is trying to learn French now and also because of some skin blemish he has on his forhead. I should have done more but it's hard to know how to defend a kid in a language you don't know. After they left and we continued, two consecutive women (one who never went to school but knows a little French and the other who's a French tearcher "au college") came by and both said "he knows nothing." "Is he learning anything?" Yes! In fact, I'm very proud of how much he knows in just a handful of informal lessons! He can't yet rea but he knows/ understands over 50 words and can count to 100 easily (!) - in only a handful of leassons! He really wants to learn and he's very smart! Unfortunately he still doesn't have the French and I don't have the Pular yet to tell him that... How do you counsel a kid you can't communicate with? Not only that, but also today a petit had stepped on his had and so it was super swollen and he couldn't make a fist. Since words lacked, I did my best to show him I cared with my actions: continued the lesson in spite of what others had said, offered him fruit, and simply took the time to sit with him and be his friend.
- I've never been so interested in ants and termites, but wow they are incredible! Emense societies each member doing its part with all its strength and boy do they have strenght and determination. I feel physically weak and weak willed watching an ant pull something over 4x its size vertically up a wall (!), fall, and just get right back after it. And they fiercely defend their community - if you walk in their path they will attack with a furry! A lot to be learned from these tiny creatures - and I for one have so much respect!
Here's to you, ants!
Thursday, November 29, 2012
le 15 novembre (teacher talk)
le 15 novembre:
- In general, I had a really great day today. In the middle of my 12eme SS math class, it all of a sudden struck me, I'm a teacher. I'm an educator. Je suis un enseignant. J'enseigne en francais. Wow! I've got a rapport with my students and they're learning.
Life is good.
- I have a constant internal struggle between my pedagogic ideals and values. I have a very liberal/ laissez-faire approach to teaching. Ideally, I would create an atmosphere in which all my students would want to be there, learn, create, and explore. Motivation and drive would come from them and I would simply navigate. But that's an ideal and can at times not be the reality of the matter. But I still have a responsibility to these kids, even if they don't want to learn.
Sticking point one/Tough question #1:
If a student doesn't want to learn or doesn't want to try, should I make them? It's his or her own life and it's his or her own choice, n'est-ce pas? But if he or she doesn't have the foresight to realize that it's in his or her best interest to learn and succeed, does it then become my responsibility to make him or her learn? My goal is to impact people's lives for the better (against their will or not?) and that is the job.
Sticking point two:
I don't like negative incentivising, but if a student doesn't have the drive to be the best or at least be competitive, but instead, simply just get by, then positive incentivising doesn't work too well. de plus, penalizing is the norm here. If I don't penalize students, there will be those who won't have respect in the classroom (as I'm starting to see).
Tough question #2:
How do you penalize someone while still giving them the greatest access to success? Kicking a student out is a hindrance to learning - but if the student is hindering the learning of others is it justified - (yes, but make up that time with the student later?).
- I constantly wonder what I must do to have the biggest impact and in what domain - where is the biggest need or what's the most important issue. I'm currently leaning towards education and that that is the most important aspect of life as well as the best route to effect other domains. If I settle on education the question becomes, how can I have the biggest impact or how can I impact the most people within the realm of education? Qu'est-ce qu'il faut faire?
- In general, I had a really great day today. In the middle of my 12eme SS math class, it all of a sudden struck me, I'm a teacher. I'm an educator. Je suis un enseignant. J'enseigne en francais. Wow! I've got a rapport with my students and they're learning.
Life is good.
- I have a constant internal struggle between my pedagogic ideals and values. I have a very liberal/ laissez-faire approach to teaching. Ideally, I would create an atmosphere in which all my students would want to be there, learn, create, and explore. Motivation and drive would come from them and I would simply navigate. But that's an ideal and can at times not be the reality of the matter. But I still have a responsibility to these kids, even if they don't want to learn.
Sticking point one/Tough question #1:
If a student doesn't want to learn or doesn't want to try, should I make them? It's his or her own life and it's his or her own choice, n'est-ce pas? But if he or she doesn't have the foresight to realize that it's in his or her best interest to learn and succeed, does it then become my responsibility to make him or her learn? My goal is to impact people's lives for the better (against their will or not?) and that is the job.
Sticking point two:
I don't like negative incentivising, but if a student doesn't have the drive to be the best or at least be competitive, but instead, simply just get by, then positive incentivising doesn't work too well. de plus, penalizing is the norm here. If I don't penalize students, there will be those who won't have respect in the classroom (as I'm starting to see).
Tough question #2:
How do you penalize someone while still giving them the greatest access to success? Kicking a student out is a hindrance to learning - but if the student is hindering the learning of others is it justified - (yes, but make up that time with the student later?).
- I constantly wonder what I must do to have the biggest impact and in what domain - where is the biggest need or what's the most important issue. I'm currently leaning towards education and that that is the most important aspect of life as well as the best route to effect other domains. If I settle on education the question becomes, how can I have the biggest impact or how can I impact the most people within the realm of education? Qu'est-ce qu'il faut faire?
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
le 13 novembre (la pluie)
le 13 novembre:
- There's nothing quite like hearing the power and might of the inevitable rain as it crashes down on the mountain and the valley bellow, and watching its approach in anticipation jusqu'a l'instant qu'il est partout et il tappe dur!
- There's nothing quite like hearing the power and might of the inevitable rain as it crashes down on the mountain and the valley bellow, and watching its approach in anticipation jusqu'a l'instant qu'il est partout et il tappe dur!
le 2 novembre (a good day of repose)
le 2 novembre:
- Last night I dreamt that I lived/ worked in a construction compound, and upon waking up (within the dream) I started singing "It's been a hard day's night, and I've been workin' like a dog" and repeating just that line over and over. This then turned into a big musical number, with all the hundred or so other compound-mates joining in. And because of its ridged construction compound nature it was a very rough and tough dance, but including pirouettes. So good! Also the notables in the dream include the following: Dan Mark, Aly Ahrens, and Michael Jeffrey. Odd assortment, but still awesome!
- Went for a walk last night, a night-walk, which was awesome! Not being able to see the ground makes even walking an adventure! Then I came back and watched the lightning on the mountain for half an hour to an hour. Slow paced living.
- After this, being a monk wouldn't bee too hard. Not a lot to change...
- A great day of "repos" lifts the spirits! Woke up after an entertaining dream (see above) while sleeping until 6h10 (!), didn't have class to prepare for, but since I have the keys to the school I still had to go in. After opening up the school - doors, windows, and all - I spent class in the teachers' office doing work - which was nice and calm and a good place to work away from the house (finally). I also had the opportunity to talk with some of my students to get to know them a little bit more. I asked them such things as: what they would like to do after school, what they believed was the value of school, why they were there, who they were there for, and about their families. They really said some amazing things. They of course said they were there for themselves, but they also said that the importance of going to school included helping those who don't go to school and to help the future of their country and its people. They want to be doctors and mathematicians or even president! how awesome! However it did surprise me how long it took them to think of what it was that they wanted to be. then because the Proviseur had to leave early, he gave me more keys - the keys to "la direction" - his office. So I closed up all the school including lowering the flag, closing all the classrooms and windows and the teachers' office - tout et tout! Then did some peaceful reading, then ran about four miles. Upon return, I used my bench and some cinder blocks from around my house to lift weights! Exhausting but awesome! To feel like I have - or could have again- muscles, yes, feels good. I then ran another 2km into town to meet up with another teacher, for who knows what, but he decided he was too busy with other things, so sent me to buy myself some bread, and I returned home. I enjoyed a delicious Fanta impersonator, Fifa, that my host mom gave me!! Aw, so sweet - her and the drink. During that time of relaxing, my bud Abdoulaye came over for French lesson #2. He unfortunately doesn't go to school but he really does want to learn French. So we studied for about an hour- he's already picking up about 45 words! I'm very proud of him! :) ensuit, I finally took a shower - so refreshing! No matter how hot it is, that first gobelet of water is always cold! As soon as I stepped out of the shower I was greeted by an absolutely gorgeous sunset! - then a bunch of petits. Refreshed and feeling better prepared for the next two years!
- Last night I dreamt that I lived/ worked in a construction compound, and upon waking up (within the dream) I started singing "It's been a hard day's night, and I've been workin' like a dog" and repeating just that line over and over. This then turned into a big musical number, with all the hundred or so other compound-mates joining in. And because of its ridged construction compound nature it was a very rough and tough dance, but including pirouettes. So good! Also the notables in the dream include the following: Dan Mark, Aly Ahrens, and Michael Jeffrey. Odd assortment, but still awesome!
- Went for a walk last night, a night-walk, which was awesome! Not being able to see the ground makes even walking an adventure! Then I came back and watched the lightning on the mountain for half an hour to an hour. Slow paced living.
- After this, being a monk wouldn't bee too hard. Not a lot to change...
- A great day of "repos" lifts the spirits! Woke up after an entertaining dream (see above) while sleeping until 6h10 (!), didn't have class to prepare for, but since I have the keys to the school I still had to go in. After opening up the school - doors, windows, and all - I spent class in the teachers' office doing work - which was nice and calm and a good place to work away from the house (finally). I also had the opportunity to talk with some of my students to get to know them a little bit more. I asked them such things as: what they would like to do after school, what they believed was the value of school, why they were there, who they were there for, and about their families. They really said some amazing things. They of course said they were there for themselves, but they also said that the importance of going to school included helping those who don't go to school and to help the future of their country and its people. They want to be doctors and mathematicians or even president! how awesome! However it did surprise me how long it took them to think of what it was that they wanted to be. then because the Proviseur had to leave early, he gave me more keys - the keys to "la direction" - his office. So I closed up all the school including lowering the flag, closing all the classrooms and windows and the teachers' office - tout et tout! Then did some peaceful reading, then ran about four miles. Upon return, I used my bench and some cinder blocks from around my house to lift weights! Exhausting but awesome! To feel like I have - or could have again- muscles, yes, feels good. I then ran another 2km into town to meet up with another teacher, for who knows what, but he decided he was too busy with other things, so sent me to buy myself some bread, and I returned home. I enjoyed a delicious Fanta impersonator, Fifa, that my host mom gave me!! Aw, so sweet - her and the drink. During that time of relaxing, my bud Abdoulaye came over for French lesson #2. He unfortunately doesn't go to school but he really does want to learn French. So we studied for about an hour- he's already picking up about 45 words! I'm very proud of him! :) ensuit, I finally took a shower - so refreshing! No matter how hot it is, that first gobelet of water is always cold! As soon as I stepped out of the shower I was greeted by an absolutely gorgeous sunset! - then a bunch of petits. Refreshed and feeling better prepared for the next two years!
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
le 28 octobre
le 28 octobre:
- I just framed my service in a really self deprecating way; I was thinking about how people thank me for what I'm doing and say that it's so great or it's so nice, but then I thought, people should be just as respectful and thankful to the teachers here. They're the real heroes. They're here every day, every year. I'm selfish. I'm going to leave in two years. For what? - to further my own agenda. I'm here to serve a need and in two years I'm just going to up and leave. Two years is the end date, not when the need is met... That's kind of messed up. I kind of feel like a terrible person.
- I just framed my service in a really self deprecating way; I was thinking about how people thank me for what I'm doing and say that it's so great or it's so nice, but then I thought, people should be just as respectful and thankful to the teachers here. They're the real heroes. They're here every day, every year. I'm selfish. I'm going to leave in two years. For what? - to further my own agenda. I'm here to serve a need and in two years I'm just going to up and leave. Two years is the end date, not when the need is met... That's kind of messed up. I kind of feel like a terrible person.
Monday, November 26, 2012
le 27 octobre (school notes and memories)
le 27 octobre:
- Going back through one of my old notebooks (notes from Real Analysis II) wow that class was hard. I'm overwhelmed just flipping through the notes! (Shout out to Laura Smith and Johnny Graves!) Then to Algebraic Geometry!! So lost. (Wasif!) After a couple pages of that it goes to "Complex Analysis: I escaped!" SOOO much easier!!!
Wow. My last year at Olaf was actually pretty cool! So many great people, so many great ideas, so many great memories! Merci beaucoup a tous!
Some great quotes from Complex Analysis:
"Here's a bold claim, 7." - Zorn
"by hook or by crook" - Zorn
"Get your head outa your ass. We're doin' Math!!"
- Reading the World Resources 2005 Report The Wealth of the Poor: Managing Ecosystems to Fight Poverty, and then seeing poverty first hand in a rural village in a developing nation, I wan to alleviate the plague of poverty which affects some 3 billion people! The report talks about the ecosystems that the poor rely on and the governance necessary for their development, but then also about tapping markets, technological advances, and globalization. But it's hard to fathom that living in a tiny village that has no electricity no legitimate roads, the nearest big city is 130km away but it takes 5 hours to get there, and very few people seem to even know where the country is located on a map.
As I said the other day, my family apologized because they had no food. Similarly, when I asked another volunteer friend how her fete de Tabaski was she said, "okay." - Celebrating a Muslim holiday here in Guinea means putting on nice clothes, praying, and eating a lot of food. When I asked her why her fete was just "okay," she said it was because her family didn't have any food, not even rice! This country has great land and plentiful rain; to not have any food is a travesty. I really want to help, but it's an overwhelming problem. For the moment, je doit prendre courage (I must take courage) and believe that I'm making a difference here and somehow it will also tie back to poverty reduction and food security...
- A guy came over today playing some American rap music on his phone and he asked me if I knew that language... of course, but I really wish I didn't. Not that I wish I didn't know English, but that I couldn't understand what the rapper was saying. Maybe I was desensitized to those kinds of lyrics when I was in the US and now being here, not surrounded by music, I've become resensitized, but it was just awful! Then he showed me videos of what I was thankful to have avoided yesterday - the slaughter of goats... It was an unfortunate visit.
- Going back through one of my old notebooks (notes from Real Analysis II) wow that class was hard. I'm overwhelmed just flipping through the notes! (Shout out to Laura Smith and Johnny Graves!) Then to Algebraic Geometry!! So lost. (Wasif!) After a couple pages of that it goes to "Complex Analysis: I escaped!" SOOO much easier!!!
Wow. My last year at Olaf was actually pretty cool! So many great people, so many great ideas, so many great memories! Merci beaucoup a tous!
Some great quotes from Complex Analysis:
"Here's a bold claim, 7." - Zorn
"by hook or by crook" - Zorn
"Get your head outa your ass. We're doin' Math!!"
- Reading the World Resources 2005 Report The Wealth of the Poor: Managing Ecosystems to Fight Poverty, and then seeing poverty first hand in a rural village in a developing nation, I wan to alleviate the plague of poverty which affects some 3 billion people! The report talks about the ecosystems that the poor rely on and the governance necessary for their development, but then also about tapping markets, technological advances, and globalization. But it's hard to fathom that living in a tiny village that has no electricity no legitimate roads, the nearest big city is 130km away but it takes 5 hours to get there, and very few people seem to even know where the country is located on a map.
As I said the other day, my family apologized because they had no food. Similarly, when I asked another volunteer friend how her fete de Tabaski was she said, "okay." - Celebrating a Muslim holiday here in Guinea means putting on nice clothes, praying, and eating a lot of food. When I asked her why her fete was just "okay," she said it was because her family didn't have any food, not even rice! This country has great land and plentiful rain; to not have any food is a travesty. I really want to help, but it's an overwhelming problem. For the moment, je doit prendre courage (I must take courage) and believe that I'm making a difference here and somehow it will also tie back to poverty reduction and food security...
- A guy came over today playing some American rap music on his phone and he asked me if I knew that language... of course, but I really wish I didn't. Not that I wish I didn't know English, but that I couldn't understand what the rapper was saying. Maybe I was desensitized to those kinds of lyrics when I was in the US and now being here, not surrounded by music, I've become resensitized, but it was just awful! Then he showed me videos of what I was thankful to have avoided yesterday - the slaughter of goats... It was an unfortunate visit.
le 26 octobre (the goats)
le 26 octobre:
- One month of service and the fete des moutons. Successfully avoided seeing or having any of them being killed! Hurray. Unfortunately I was still served a meat sauce... Since I was eating by myself I avoided the meat and threw it out my window... I felt really bad about this.
- In a new place it's easy to be occupied with all the bumps, twists and turns in the path but once you know them, you can start to look up and realize the immense beauty around you.
- Tabaski brought in a lot of people from out of town who then accused me of being a stranger. Yes, but the dark dark blue pot is calling the kettle black, my friend. Frustrating.
- One month of service and the fete des moutons. Successfully avoided seeing or having any of them being killed! Hurray. Unfortunately I was still served a meat sauce... Since I was eating by myself I avoided the meat and threw it out my window... I felt really bad about this.
- In a new place it's easy to be occupied with all the bumps, twists and turns in the path but once you know them, you can start to look up and realize the immense beauty around you.
- Tabaski brought in a lot of people from out of town who then accused me of being a stranger. Yes, but the dark dark blue pot is calling the kettle black, my friend. Frustrating.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
le 24 octobre (It rains down in Africa! My friend Pitter-Pat)
le 24 octobre:
Pitter-Pat
- Ah that distinct pitter-patter, I know it well. It's that sound that you think, you hope, could be something else, but you know it's not. It's the sound of the inevitable - you knew it was coming before you even left. It makes itself known before it even arrives "chez toi," that's the pitter-patter part. It's the roar that comes next. But couldn't it just wait.? - you've almost made it back, back to the safety of your hut or house. It was only past the gate, up the hill, through the bush, an extended salutation to a neighbor here and a handshake there, around a corner, and you'd be home. But alas, welcome to the rainy season, where the greeter's the Pitter-Pat.
A sad reality:
- My host family gave me a bean sandwich today instead of the usual rice and sauce, and then said in broken French, "Sorry, we don't have any money today. I'm going to go work in the field and we'll buy rice tomorrow." Wow.
Students...
- Kids, they selectively choose to adhere to "l'heure."
"Oh class starts at 8h00, I can arrive at 8h15, 8h20, 8h30, right?"
"But Monsieur, it's 10h00. C'est l'heure!"
"Oh recreation is 15 minutes long and class starts again at 10h15, it's not a problem if I just stand outside until 10h30, 10h40, 10h45."
"Oh Monsieur, c'est 12h00! Il est l'heure!" - That's not even l'heure! If each class is 2 hrs long, the first class starts at 8h00 and goes until 10h00, then 15 min of recreation, then the second class starts at 10h15 (theoretically) and now you want to say class is over at 12h00! Eh Allah!
Teacher Talk:
-Got to talk school and development with a couple of teachers today, which was awesome! Unfortunately, it was while we were waiting to pay our condolences to a student who had lost her father. Mais ca c'est la vie. It's got its highs and lows all wrapped up in a bow...
Students (2)...
- There are some students that are just awesome; they care, they're smart, they listen, they try, but then there are the rest. I say something like, "try this problem on your own" or "what would the answer to this be?" Heads don't go down into the notebooks to start trying the problem, nor do they even turn to the board where I've written the problem, they just stare straight at me with the blankest faces I've ever seen. this leads me to rambling - "you are intelligent! TRY! THINK! I'll be happy with anything you say... Have respect for yourselves. Work for your proper success. I won't be here forever to help you, you have to be able to think for yourself. Problem solving is a skill you need to have no matter what you do in life!" ...more blank stares...
The earth is ALIVE:
- Just staring at a small area of the ground hundreds of ants working together, forging their way into the grass as a unit. A grand society of thousands of termites each one pulling its own weight for the progression of the community. Then even smaller all around this are even smaller ants going about the daily grind, grasses, flies, and other plants and insects all in less than 1/10th m^2. Incroyable!
Pitter-Pat
- Ah that distinct pitter-patter, I know it well. It's that sound that you think, you hope, could be something else, but you know it's not. It's the sound of the inevitable - you knew it was coming before you even left. It makes itself known before it even arrives "chez toi," that's the pitter-patter part. It's the roar that comes next. But couldn't it just wait.? - you've almost made it back, back to the safety of your hut or house. It was only past the gate, up the hill, through the bush, an extended salutation to a neighbor here and a handshake there, around a corner, and you'd be home. But alas, welcome to the rainy season, where the greeter's the Pitter-Pat.
A sad reality:
- My host family gave me a bean sandwich today instead of the usual rice and sauce, and then said in broken French, "Sorry, we don't have any money today. I'm going to go work in the field and we'll buy rice tomorrow." Wow.
Students...
- Kids, they selectively choose to adhere to "l'heure."
"Oh class starts at 8h00, I can arrive at 8h15, 8h20, 8h30, right?"
"But Monsieur, it's 10h00. C'est l'heure!"
"Oh recreation is 15 minutes long and class starts again at 10h15, it's not a problem if I just stand outside until 10h30, 10h40, 10h45."
"Oh Monsieur, c'est 12h00! Il est l'heure!" - That's not even l'heure! If each class is 2 hrs long, the first class starts at 8h00 and goes until 10h00, then 15 min of recreation, then the second class starts at 10h15 (theoretically) and now you want to say class is over at 12h00! Eh Allah!
Teacher Talk:
-Got to talk school and development with a couple of teachers today, which was awesome! Unfortunately, it was while we were waiting to pay our condolences to a student who had lost her father. Mais ca c'est la vie. It's got its highs and lows all wrapped up in a bow...
Students (2)...
- There are some students that are just awesome; they care, they're smart, they listen, they try, but then there are the rest. I say something like, "try this problem on your own" or "what would the answer to this be?" Heads don't go down into the notebooks to start trying the problem, nor do they even turn to the board where I've written the problem, they just stare straight at me with the blankest faces I've ever seen. this leads me to rambling - "you are intelligent! TRY! THINK! I'll be happy with anything you say... Have respect for yourselves. Work for your proper success. I won't be here forever to help you, you have to be able to think for yourself. Problem solving is a skill you need to have no matter what you do in life!" ...more blank stares...
The earth is ALIVE:
- Just staring at a small area of the ground hundreds of ants working together, forging their way into the grass as a unit. A grand society of thousands of termites each one pulling its own weight for the progression of the community. Then even smaller all around this are even smaller ants going about the daily grind, grasses, flies, and other plants and insects all in less than 1/10th m^2. Incroyable!
Saturday, November 24, 2012
le 23 octobre (des commentaires)
le 23 octobre:
- The hardest part? Being without friends and for two years. It's not that I don't have friends here, but at least for the moment we don't hang out or spend time together outside of school and random passings. I'm either "trop" extroverted or not extroverted enough. I have a need to be around people but I haven't (yet) thrown myself at people. I want to go for a walk in this beautiful place with someone or just sit around and talk about "n'import quoi." ("whatever")
But all this would be more managable if I weren't to keep thinking, "and this is for two years!?" Two years without getting to see my friends!? Ah bon?! C'est impossible! Et puis meme quand je retournerai, ou se trouvera mes amis? Ce n'est plus facile. ("Oh really!? It's impossible! And then even when I come back, where will all my friends be? It's not easy anymore.") But I would never quit (the Peace Corps), soo... Ca va aller. Ca doit aller! (It'll come along, it's got to!) This is one of the reasons the first three months are the hardest, but the resolution to this problem is what makes leaving the hardest part.
- Today even more than yesterday I was told that they (the people in my village) are going to find me a beautiful wife here and that I'm going to bring her back to the US with me. On va voir (we'll see.)
- As homework today I gave my 11eme SE/SM physics class:
1) Trouver une exemple d'une translation rectiligne ou curviligne. Find an example of rectilinear or curvilinear motion.
2) Dans au moins 2 phrases decrire ce que le respect veut dire selon vous. In at least 2 sentences, describe what respect means to you.
Ils vont apprendre plus que la physique et les mathematique seules. They're going to learn more than just physics and math.
- The hardest part? Being without friends and for two years. It's not that I don't have friends here, but at least for the moment we don't hang out or spend time together outside of school and random passings. I'm either "trop" extroverted or not extroverted enough. I have a need to be around people but I haven't (yet) thrown myself at people. I want to go for a walk in this beautiful place with someone or just sit around and talk about "n'import quoi." ("whatever")
But all this would be more managable if I weren't to keep thinking, "and this is for two years!?" Two years without getting to see my friends!? Ah bon?! C'est impossible! Et puis meme quand je retournerai, ou se trouvera mes amis? Ce n'est plus facile. ("Oh really!? It's impossible! And then even when I come back, where will all my friends be? It's not easy anymore.") But I would never quit (the Peace Corps), soo... Ca va aller. Ca doit aller! (It'll come along, it's got to!) This is one of the reasons the first three months are the hardest, but the resolution to this problem is what makes leaving the hardest part.
- Today even more than yesterday I was told that they (the people in my village) are going to find me a beautiful wife here and that I'm going to bring her back to the US with me. On va voir (we'll see.)
- As homework today I gave my 11eme SE/SM physics class:
1) Trouver une exemple d'une translation rectiligne ou curviligne. Find an example of rectilinear or curvilinear motion.
2) Dans au moins 2 phrases decrire ce que le respect veut dire selon vous. In at least 2 sentences, describe what respect means to you.
Ils vont apprendre plus que la physique et les mathematique seules. They're going to learn more than just physics and math.
Des commentaires post election
I'm proud of my country.
I will admit, those aren't words that would have always expressed my opinion about my country, but one has to remember that my generation has grown up where a majority of our lives have been while our country has been at war - and not even a war against a people or a person but an idea, and unlike people ideas aren't conscious and thus can't retreat or give up. All that is to say, I haven't always been proud of my country's international presence. However, in the wake of Obama's re-election, in light light of my experiences here in Guinea and serving in the Peace Corps in general, and upon reflection of Obama's first electoral victory, I can say with conviction, I am proud of my country.
I'm proud to serve my country by serving another country. And I'm proud of my country to understand that wisdom.
Not being able go five steps outside my house without hearing someone - a Guinean, obviously - saying "OBAMA!" or seeing a shirt that says "Obama girl" or an umbrella that has Obama's name written on it or a flashlight with Obama's face or "Obama lube" - car grease, or my friend Yacine (the philosophy teacher at my school, a Guinean) reciting word for word various speeches of Obama, really makes me realize that I am a citizen of a special country. The people here love the United States, but their adoration of Obama indicates something more. People don't admire us because we have a powerful army or the biggest weapons, nor because we're one of the wealthiest nations, nor because we have some of the best schools, instead they admire our ideals. They admire our democracy - that when Obama won against McCain in 2008, McCain was the first to congratulate Obama, likewise this year in 2012 Romney again congratulated Obama on his victory. People - myself included - admire what Obama represents: a United States of America, where the American Dream is a reality, where an underlying humanity unites us in spite of differences in race or creed.
In 2008, Obama represented Change - in fact he was the beacon of hope that we, as a people national and global, had for change. Change - progress to a more united country and a world that's healthier, safer, and more equitable. This time in 2012 Obama's re-election shows that we're still hungry for that change, but that we realize it doesn't come over night, nor over 1461 nights, but that doesn't diminish our hope for change. We believe it can come, and if it can come, with our will and our action, it will come.
I will admit, those aren't words that would have always expressed my opinion about my country, but one has to remember that my generation has grown up where a majority of our lives have been while our country has been at war - and not even a war against a people or a person but an idea, and unlike people ideas aren't conscious and thus can't retreat or give up. All that is to say, I haven't always been proud of my country's international presence. However, in the wake of Obama's re-election, in light light of my experiences here in Guinea and serving in the Peace Corps in general, and upon reflection of Obama's first electoral victory, I can say with conviction, I am proud of my country.
I'm proud to serve my country by serving another country. And I'm proud of my country to understand that wisdom.
Not being able go five steps outside my house without hearing someone - a Guinean, obviously - saying "OBAMA!" or seeing a shirt that says "Obama girl" or an umbrella that has Obama's name written on it or a flashlight with Obama's face or "Obama lube" - car grease, or my friend Yacine (the philosophy teacher at my school, a Guinean) reciting word for word various speeches of Obama, really makes me realize that I am a citizen of a special country. The people here love the United States, but their adoration of Obama indicates something more. People don't admire us because we have a powerful army or the biggest weapons, nor because we're one of the wealthiest nations, nor because we have some of the best schools, instead they admire our ideals. They admire our democracy - that when Obama won against McCain in 2008, McCain was the first to congratulate Obama, likewise this year in 2012 Romney again congratulated Obama on his victory. People - myself included - admire what Obama represents: a United States of America, where the American Dream is a reality, where an underlying humanity unites us in spite of differences in race or creed.
In 2008, Obama represented Change - in fact he was the beacon of hope that we, as a people national and global, had for change. Change - progress to a more united country and a world that's healthier, safer, and more equitable. This time in 2012 Obama's re-election shows that we're still hungry for that change, but that we realize it doesn't come over night, nor over 1461 nights, but that doesn't diminish our hope for change. We believe it can come, and if it can come, with our will and our action, it will come.
Friday, November 23, 2012
le 22 octobre (thoughts on culture and language)
le 22 octobre:
- Went for a walk. It was awesome! This place is SO beautiful and so tranquil. I was really close to being completely lost and possibly far from any road, or the only road I knew led home anyway, as night was quickly approaching. But heuresement (fortunately) my sense of direction and adventure/curiosity/determination got me back taking paths I had never seen before! Score!
- It's amazing how culture changes language, that is to say, communication, conversation, and interactions - but that's culture isn't it... The thought that brought this to mind was a comparison of casual conversation. Often in the US (in English), we start conversations with questions such as:
"how's it going?"; "how are you?"; "how was your day?"
The essential translation exist in French and even in Pular and Susu:
"Ca va?"; "Comment allez-vous?"; "Comment s'est passe la nuit?"; "Avez-vous bien dormi?" et tous ca. Ou en Pular:
"Tana aala ton?"; "On belike e jam?"; "On nallen e jam?"; "Golle nden no e jam?"; "Bhyngure nden no e jam?"; Ou en Susu:
"Tana mu xi?"; "Xeri xi?"; "Tana mu fenen?"; "Tana mu na?"
But for each expression there's a set response with the tiniest of windows for variation. It's always, "things are great" loosely translated from literally, "there is no evil" or "peace only." The wiggle is getting to say, "seedha" or "un peu" in response to "no marsude?" and "ca va?" respectively in Pular and French. And in passing that's the case for English in the US too, but they are also the gateway questions to talking about things that happened that day or in the recent past. Here in Guinea, they ask so many questions (how's it going, the family, the work, the night, the sleep, the wife, the kids, etc.) but never is there an insightful response. Rather for conversation as I've gleaned so far, they tell anecdotal stories from their lives, or movies they've seen...
Maybe it's just me clinging to my culture, but when I ask, "how are you doing?" I really want to know how you're doing. ( I'm also excited to discover more about the culture and conversation here; I realize "au debut" I have a very superficial understanding of the subject, but I'll learn more "petit-a-petit."
- Went for a walk. It was awesome! This place is SO beautiful and so tranquil. I was really close to being completely lost and possibly far from any road, or the only road I knew led home anyway, as night was quickly approaching. But heuresement (fortunately) my sense of direction and adventure/curiosity/determination got me back taking paths I had never seen before! Score!
- It's amazing how culture changes language, that is to say, communication, conversation, and interactions - but that's culture isn't it... The thought that brought this to mind was a comparison of casual conversation. Often in the US (in English), we start conversations with questions such as:
"how's it going?"; "how are you?"; "how was your day?"
The essential translation exist in French and even in Pular and Susu:
"Ca va?"; "Comment allez-vous?"; "Comment s'est passe la nuit?"; "Avez-vous bien dormi?" et tous ca. Ou en Pular:
"Tana aala ton?"; "On belike e jam?"; "On nallen e jam?"; "Golle nden no e jam?"; "Bhyngure nden no e jam?"; Ou en Susu:
"Tana mu xi?"; "Xeri xi?"; "Tana mu fenen?"; "Tana mu na?"
But for each expression there's a set response with the tiniest of windows for variation. It's always, "things are great" loosely translated from literally, "there is no evil" or "peace only." The wiggle is getting to say, "seedha" or "un peu" in response to "no marsude?" and "ca va?" respectively in Pular and French. And in passing that's the case for English in the US too, but they are also the gateway questions to talking about things that happened that day or in the recent past. Here in Guinea, they ask so many questions (how's it going, the family, the work, the night, the sleep, the wife, the kids, etc.) but never is there an insightful response. Rather for conversation as I've gleaned so far, they tell anecdotal stories from their lives, or movies they've seen...
Maybe it's just me clinging to my culture, but when I ask, "how are you doing?" I really want to know how you're doing. ( I'm also excited to discover more about the culture and conversation here; I realize "au debut" I have a very superficial understanding of the subject, but I'll learn more "petit-a-petit."
Thursday, November 22, 2012
le 21 octobre (des commentaires)
le 21 octobre:
- There are a bunch of vultures having a party on my neighbor's roof, and it's tin of course so it's making quite the raucous.
- This morning I had a giant bowl of buille, which is both awesome and dangerous. Dangerous soley due to my commitment to the clean plate (or bowl in this case) club. So full.
- There are a bunch of vultures having a party on my neighbor's roof, and it's tin of course so it's making quite the raucous.
- This morning I had a giant bowl of buille, which is both awesome and dangerous. Dangerous soley due to my commitment to the clean plate (or bowl in this case) club. So full.
Friday, October 19, 2012
le 17 octobre (des commentaires)
Le 17 octobre:
- Sang a musical number, a l'improvice, this morning on my way to school. It was about a man singing to his *sun... It was ridiculous... Ridiculously awesome!!
le 16 octobre (des commentaires)
Le 16 octobre:
- My Proviseur said I was a conformist... Even though he was saying it in a positive way - I eat what they eat, I dress similarly, in essence, I conform to the norms here - my time as a goth/anti-conformist made me cringe at the comment. Even though, of course, during that time of my life I was conforming to a subset of society, it left an impulse reaction to claims of conformity. Anyway, en tout cas, I'm happy to be a conformist now. :)
le 11 octobre (des commentaires) #olemoment
Le 11 octobre:
- With all the hair on my head (beard and usual mane), I feel either like a viking or a lion, either way I definitely feel like an Ole! Um Ya Ya!!! (Definiely, just sang the song out loud to myself in my room... FRAM FRAM!!!)
le 10 octobre (des commentaires)
Le 10 octobre:
- L’éducation, c’est essential! Une société n’est rien sans éducation. On ne peut pas avoir le progrès ni le sucées sans éducation. L’éducation et l’école forment des citoyens d’être capable de penser logiquement, de comprendre le monde et les phénomènes qui sont part tout. Ils leur rendent capable de communiquer avec le reste du monde, de découvrir, d’améliorer son pays et le monde en général. Franchement, l’éducation est toute !
- On doit avoir l’espoir. L’espoir que demain sera meilleur, que l’on va réussir. Alors, j’espère . J’ai l’espoir, c’est écrit sur ma poitrine.
- I saw a camelion! So cool! First I saw him/her en route to my neighbor's house and we stared at each other for a long time. Then I found him/her again whe I cam back. I sat and watched him/her cross my yard, and change colors!! And eat a bug! Once he/she got to the tall grass he/she was nearly invisible! Fo' Real! Also, what a patient animal. It sits and sways before every step, for what I can only assume is to look like it's being blown along by the wind. Awesome.
le 9 octobre (des commentaires)
Le 9 octobre:
- Sort of gave my first class today! (1 eleve...)
- I don't know if I can live with these wasps any more... But that would mean so much killing... ugh! I do not like this dialema. Also, confession: I killed a wasp the other day when I was cleaning the high school classrooms my self. (Side note: under each desk was more dust than I have ever seen in my life!) I also probably killed several spiders in the process. :( Bugs in genereal are starting to get to me - whatever is biting me that itches so much that I can't help but scratch them raw, and then the flies that come for the sore spot, and then always having to watch out for the armies of ants that march around and attack as soon as you cross their path. But they're all just living their lives.
Le 8 octobre (des commentaires)
Le 8 octobre:
- First time we've had a meeting that was over 60% in French! It was probably at least 90% in French!! And maybe even 1% in English (although I don't prefer that - it's very hard to understand).
- Ate with my Proviseur (principal for high school) and the other professors in his office... all around a communal bowl of rice and sauce. And of course there was no silverwear. HANDS! #TIA (this is Africa)
- I'm not sure how I get things stuck in my head - never have - since my ipod has been dead for a couple of weeks - no electricity and such. But currently I'm singing "All I wanna do, is have some fun! Fun fun fun 'til daddy takes the T-bird away!"
le 5 octobre (des commentaires)
Le 5 octobre:
- I can't tell if the ants on my "porch" are playing Red-Light-Green-Light or Freeze Tag...
Le 4 octobre (des commentaires)
Le 4 Octobre:
- Standards change in Guinea. The first night in Conakry we were offered drinks – Coke, Sprite, or Fanta – since I don’t drink soda (in the US) I passed. Again each day we were in Conakry the same offer. I tried to drink a Fanta but only made it half way – waaayy to sugary and such. Today however, I had a cold Fanta in Telimele while visiting Richard, and boy was it delicious! Wow, it hit the spot (also context: biked about an hour to get to his village)! However, come to think of it, even at the farewell ceremony a la fin de Dubreka I had a hard time finishing a Coke. I guess standards change but they don’t disappear entirely. Wink.
- Standards change in Guinea. I received a hot bowl of rice and sauce to night and was soo excited. Evn without seeing what sauce it was, “A HOT bowl of rice?! Waahhoo!!!” (Context: I usually get a barely warm bowl of rice and sauce for… 15h -> 3pm… not quite lunch anymore (ie I’ve already gotten really hungry and eaten lunch), but way too early for dinner. Then in my excitement about having hot rice I thought back to my lunch with Richard at La Gousta and was quite content that I had lait caille (essentially a large bowl of plain yogurt) and about to have a hot bowl of rice – “Boy, I’m going to eat WELL today!!”
Le 1 octobre (des commentaires)
Le 1 octobre:
- - (Morning) Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between the kids reciting the Koran down by the Mosque and the buzz of the wasps that live in my house. (I have the utmost respect of Islam; this is simply to stat that the sound of these kids really has a buzzing quality to it, like the wasps that live all around and inside my house.)
- - En Rappelant le 29 Septembre « Tout le monde est malade. Même vous, Mr Principal, vous avez une maladie. » (Everyone’s sick. Even you Mr. Principal, you have a illness.), Mr. le DPE.
- C’est vrai, tout le monde ici est malade. J’ai lu la description d’un médicament d’un homme avec une maladie des yeux. Hier une femme qui peut peine marcher m’a donner des arachides. La femme qui me donne le déjeuner, a blesse sa main. Et même tard hier soir/ ce matin, une personne est décédée. C’est vraiment triste. Je ne sais pas ce que je peux faire. Il me semble que c’est rien, je ne peux rien faire… Mais peut-être ca, c’est seulement pour le moment. Peut-être après, même pendant, mes deux années ici, comme un membre de la communauté je serai capable d’aider ma communauté. J’espère.
- Starting to feel like home. (My house is starting to feel like a home.) Although I am missing friends from home more now…
- I swatted down a wasp’s nest that was in my room while the wasp was away. It seemed sad when it came back and I felt really bad about it. Buddhist moment.
- What is this life?!?! I was greated by a group of women in Susu (in Porekire mind you) then they asked about my wife (in Pular). What I said I didn’t have one (in Pular) she commenced to tell me why I need one (in French). Then another Frular conversation about food and she left. #daysix !Oh yeah, all while I was reading French poetry?!?
La commancement des Commentaires (le 30 sept)
Like this I will post random thoughts I have while at site. This will probably make up a majority of my blog posts. They will sometimes be comical happenings or thoughts or from time to time more serious reflections. I will also try to include in my blog actual update, updates. But enjoy! :)
Le 30 Septembre:
I don’t know what to do when little kids (who don’t know any French) come over. They just come, say “Bonjour Monsieur,” and then stare at me… I try to ask them things like “Vous allez bien?” (‘Are you doing well?’) ou “Qu’est-ce que vous faites?” (What are you doing ?). Staring contest ?
Le 30 Septembre:
I don’t know what to do when little kids (who don’t know any French) come over. They just come, say “Bonjour Monsieur,” and then stare at me… I try to ask them things like “Vous allez bien?” (‘Are you doing well?’) ou “Qu’est-ce que vous faites?” (What are you doing ?). Staring contest ?
Kickin' it in Labe!
Hey friends, family, and other friends (if you don't feel that you fell into either of the first catagories, you definitely fall into this third!),
It's good to be able to contact you again! Labe has internet, hay-o! (Well no, it doesn't, so we'll wait...)
I've decided to start journalling my blogs, so they'll come up in chuncks at a time. (i.e. you'll have a fair amount of reading once a month, but I'll post them in seperate posts, so if you don't want to read them all or all at once, it won't look like you have to.
A general post though, life at site is great (for the most part)! I have some flooding issues, but I'm planning on searching for some solutions when I get back. Other than that, I'm fed everyday and I have students to teach! What more could a volunteer ask for?
I just finally have aquired students however. They should have been there (along with all the teachers) on the 3rd of October; it was this week finally that we had a fully functioning week of school. Class sizes are small for the moment (0-15), especially compaired to my commrades (>150 per class). I have the keys to the school, and thus am there everyday all day. Given that I don't have much else to do, it's not really a problem.
Here's a sample of my classrooms! I'll post more about them later and with more pictures and such (although a majority will probably be on facebook).
P.S. To get to Labe took a taxi with Richard from Telimele from 8:30am to 3:30pm across roads, not roads, up and down mountains, across a river on a manually powered fairy with ten other people, two baby chickens and a rooster on the roof. Suprisingly though, there was no apprentace on the roof of the taxi?! Unlike the taxi that passed us while we were fixing our wheels/axel which had three people on the roof. Beautiful site seeing, and nice driving for the last 20k on paved road into Labe!
The things I go through to send you,
My love and peace from Guinea,
Mr Ge-offrey
It's good to be able to contact you again! Labe has internet, hay-o! (Well no, it doesn't, so we'll wait...)
I've decided to start journalling my blogs, so they'll come up in chuncks at a time. (i.e. you'll have a fair amount of reading once a month, but I'll post them in seperate posts, so if you don't want to read them all or all at once, it won't look like you have to.
A general post though, life at site is great (for the most part)! I have some flooding issues, but I'm planning on searching for some solutions when I get back. Other than that, I'm fed everyday and I have students to teach! What more could a volunteer ask for?
I just finally have aquired students however. They should have been there (along with all the teachers) on the 3rd of October; it was this week finally that we had a fully functioning week of school. Class sizes are small for the moment (0-15), especially compaired to my commrades (>150 per class). I have the keys to the school, and thus am there everyday all day. Given that I don't have much else to do, it's not really a problem.
P.S. To get to Labe took a taxi with Richard from Telimele from 8:30am to 3:30pm across roads, not roads, up and down mountains, across a river on a manually powered fairy with ten other people, two baby chickens and a rooster on the roof. Suprisingly though, there was no apprentace on the roof of the taxi?! Unlike the taxi that passed us while we were fixing our wheels/axel which had three people on the roof. Beautiful site seeing, and nice driving for the last 20k on paved road into Labe!
The things I go through to send you,
My love and peace from Guinea,
Mr Ge-offrey
Friday, October 12, 2012
Name that Food Item (part iv)
If you said the Guinean energy drink, XXL, you'd be almost right. But when I said, incognito, I meant it. Yes, it is in an XXL bottle, BUT... if you guessed... (drum roll please)...
HONEY!!!!
Good. Good job team. This next one is the last installment of this first batch of NAME THAT FOOD ITEM!
What is this large food item?
Bon chance!
Peace and love from Guinea!
Geoff
HONEY!!!!
Good. Good job team. This next one is the last installment of this first batch of NAME THAT FOOD ITEM!
What is this large food item?
Peace and love from Guinea!
Geoff
Friday, October 5, 2012
Name that Food Item (part iii)
If you guessed greens, you're wrong, they were ORANGES!!!!
This week we'll leave fruits and go on to a more incognito food item...
This week we'll leave fruits and go on to a more incognito food item...
Name That Food Item!!!!
Peace and love from the G-in-G!
Peace and love from the G-in-G!
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Name that Food Item Challenge (part ii-hint)
Yep, that last one was a little tricky, but maybe with this hint you'll get it with ease!
This fruit, is fresh and ready to eat, and boy was it sweet!
Name that Food Item!
Peace,
Geoff
This fruit, is fresh and ready to eat, and boy was it sweet!
Name that Food Item!
Peace,
Geoff
Friday, September 28, 2012
Name that Food Item (part ii)
Good, you were right - (I'm predicting the future here, theoretically this will post itself in a week and not just ten minutes after I posted the last one...) - they were BANANAS!!!!
This week we'll get a little harder.
What food item are these two things?
Name That Food Item!!!!
Peace and love from Guinea,
Geoff
This week we'll get a little harder.
What food item are these two things?
Name That Food Item!!!!
Peace and love from Guinea,
Geoff
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Nous sommes des volontaires!
C'est fantastique! Nous sommes finalement des vrais volontaires!!!!
On the 21st of September, 2012 the 22nd Stage of Peace Corps Guinea trainees vowed to fulfill duties of a Peace Corps volunteer.
After crossing the ocean to a foreign country, spending eleven weeks speaking a foreign language, learning technical language of physics and math in French, learning how to teach, teaching, living with a host family, speaking in a mix of French and Susou, learning Pular, visiting the site where I'll live and teach for the next two years, innumerable greetings, climbing a mountain, seeing some of the first writings of man, eating a lot of bread - and even more rice, expanding my family by over 26 new members (holla G22), and much much more, we are finally "ready" to teach in La Republique de Guinee for two years!
Il me faut remercier beaucoup de personnes: My family (Dave and Judy), ma famille hote, tous les volontaires de G22, les volontaires de G20 et G21, les formateurs et formatrices a Dubreka, le staff a Conakry, mes amis aux EU, et vraiment tout le monde dans ma vie, franchement merci bien!!!
Sorry non French speakers for that, but essentially, I really am just so thankful to everyone who has helped me/us get to this point! But clearly, the training has paid off is as much as I feel confident and have a desire to speak in French, check! - considering I'll be teaching physics and math both in French at the high school level.
But it's not just the language with which I feel prepared, but also the teaching aspect. In the last three weeks of training we held practice school (l'ecole pratique) with Guinean students. I taught classes from 7th grade (7eme) to 9th (9eme) and 11eme SS+SE/SM (Science Sociale; Science Experimentale/Science Mathematique) et 12eme SE/SM au lycee (at high school). I was even the professeur principal for 8eme (ie the teacher in charge of grades and discipline for the entire class). My class sizes ranged from 16 to 46. Let me tell you, 46 7th graders in one classroom with three students to a small desk makes for quite a challenge.
(Wow I'm sorry, I'm feeling very distracted and my thoughts are all sorts of scattered - also people are waiting to use the computer so I may have to cut this short and what not.)
Since I'm losing my focus I'll simply end with a photo the l'equipe de physique a la fin de l'ecole pratique!
Peace and love in Guinea!
Geoff le professeur de mathematique et la physique
On the 21st of September, 2012 the 22nd Stage of Peace Corps Guinea trainees vowed to fulfill duties of a Peace Corps volunteer.
After crossing the ocean to a foreign country, spending eleven weeks speaking a foreign language, learning technical language of physics and math in French, learning how to teach, teaching, living with a host family, speaking in a mix of French and Susou, learning Pular, visiting the site where I'll live and teach for the next two years, innumerable greetings, climbing a mountain, seeing some of the first writings of man, eating a lot of bread - and even more rice, expanding my family by over 26 new members (holla G22), and much much more, we are finally "ready" to teach in La Republique de Guinee for two years!
Il me faut remercier beaucoup de personnes: My family (Dave and Judy), ma famille hote, tous les volontaires de G22, les volontaires de G20 et G21, les formateurs et formatrices a Dubreka, le staff a Conakry, mes amis aux EU, et vraiment tout le monde dans ma vie, franchement merci bien!!!
Sorry non French speakers for that, but essentially, I really am just so thankful to everyone who has helped me/us get to this point! But clearly, the training has paid off is as much as I feel confident and have a desire to speak in French, check! - considering I'll be teaching physics and math both in French at the high school level.
But it's not just the language with which I feel prepared, but also the teaching aspect. In the last three weeks of training we held practice school (l'ecole pratique) with Guinean students. I taught classes from 7th grade (7eme) to 9th (9eme) and 11eme SS+SE/SM (Science Sociale; Science Experimentale/Science Mathematique) et 12eme SE/SM au lycee (at high school). I was even the professeur principal for 8eme (ie the teacher in charge of grades and discipline for the entire class). My class sizes ranged from 16 to 46. Let me tell you, 46 7th graders in one classroom with three students to a small desk makes for quite a challenge.
(Wow I'm sorry, I'm feeling very distracted and my thoughts are all sorts of scattered - also people are waiting to use the computer so I may have to cut this short and what not.)
Since I'm losing my focus I'll simply end with a photo the l'equipe de physique a la fin de l'ecole pratique!
Geoff le professeur de mathematique et la physique
Friday, September 21, 2012
Name that Food Item Challenge (part i)
Dearest friends,
I would like to commence with a challenge, a challenge I pose to you, to name the food item presented in each of the following pictures.
I'm going to see if I can write several of these posts but have them posted at various times, to give you chances to guess (and for me to take pictures of more challenging food items).
We'll start with an easy one:
I would like to commence with a challenge, a challenge I pose to you, to name the food item presented in each of the following pictures.
I'm going to see if I can write several of these posts but have them posted at various times, to give you chances to guess (and for me to take pictures of more challenging food items).
We'll start with an easy one:
Naaaaammme thaaaaaat Fooood Item!!!!
(P.S. this is taken off the railing of the house I stayed in during site visit. In this picture though, you can also see the actual "house" I'll be staying in for the next two years. It's those three doors there, I'll tell you more about it later.)
Peace and love from Guinea,
Geoff-in-Guinea
Geoff-in-Guinea
Saturday, August 25, 2012
I (sometimes) bless the rains down in Africa!
Welcome to Africa,
where Toto, de temps en temps, captures exactly the sentiment:
RAIN!!!
With the right conditions rain can make a very uncomfortably sweaty, sticky, thickly humid, and hot day down right comfortable and sometimes even, dare I say it, chilly!
I BLESS THE RAINS DOWN IN AAAAFFRRICAAAAAA!!!
With these descents in temperature, maybe I can last two years here without becoming a PCVP (Peace Corps Volunteer Puddle), or somehow homogenizing with the thick humid air.
However, with great power comes a way to really screw things up.
The rain here (especially in the Basse Cote - pres de la mer) come and comes in hard! It is currently rainy season here - started around June and ends around December (rough aprx) - and so it rains presqu'every day. This makes it hard for such activities as doing (specifically drying) laundry, keeping your belongings dry, keeping yourself dry, walking, running, biking, have dry things ever, not growing mold on everything, having electronic items, leaving your room to go to the squat latrine in the middle of the night, driving (or riding) in a taxi on a not goudron road, going through the market, keeping your food you bought at the market dry, etc etc etc...
And this is for how many months of the year....
Rainecdotes (Warning, some stories discuss bowel movements):
Peace,
M. Geoffrey
where Toto, de temps en temps, captures exactly the sentiment:
"I bless the rains down in Africa."and other times childhood songs describe exactly how you feel (if not a little under-emphatically):
"Rain, rain, go away, come again another day."Being nearer to the equator, it gets and stays a little hot... but there is a reprieve to this heat...
RAIN!!!
With the right conditions rain can make a very uncomfortably sweaty, sticky, thickly humid, and hot day down right comfortable and sometimes even, dare I say it, chilly!
I BLESS THE RAINS DOWN IN AAAAFFRRICAAAAAA!!!
With these descents in temperature, maybe I can last two years here without becoming a PCVP (Peace Corps Volunteer Puddle), or somehow homogenizing with the thick humid air.
However, with great power comes a way to really screw things up.
The rain here (especially in the Basse Cote - pres de la mer) come and comes in hard! It is currently rainy season here - started around June and ends around December (rough aprx) - and so it rains presqu'every day. This makes it hard for such activities as doing (specifically drying) laundry, keeping your belongings dry, keeping yourself dry, walking, running, biking, have dry things ever, not growing mold on everything, having electronic items, leaving your room to go to the squat latrine in the middle of the night, driving (or riding) in a taxi on a not goudron road, going through the market, keeping your food you bought at the market dry, etc etc etc...
And this is for how many months of the year....
Rainecdotes (Warning, some stories discuss bowel movements):
- A couple of weeks ago I bought an umbrella.
- Prior to #1, I realized the insufficiencies of the rain coat... When it rains, it rains partout! - not just on the upper half of your body... also the rain that hits your jacket has to go somewhere... When it rains and all you have is a rain coat, your upper half stays relatively protected against wetness due to rain - interior sweat is a battle most often lost, however - but the lower half of your body specifically your upper thighs become the target of every rain drop that has hit your impermeable. This does happen to be the exact same spot that most people keep their phones, wallets, and occasionally cameras (i.e. pockets). Fine, fine, whatever, I'll deal with wet pants. Worse things could happen: I could be the cause of my wet pants for example - worse (and fortunately something I've avoided thus far - *knock knock*). The really unfortunate case though, that led to the realization that I needed a parapluie was a combo blow. A couple days previous, I had done a demonstration with the composition of white light as visible in a soap bubble, so I had had a bottle of soap in my messenger bag. Unfortunately, despite being in a Ziploc back, it opened and leaked all over the inside of my bag... I worked hard to clean this mess, and got it to a satisfactory condition (I thought). As the rainy season would have it though, it rained shortly there after, and with no way to protect my messenger bag - doesn't fit under my jacket - it and presqu'everything in it got soaked + a little washing. There was still soap inside my bag, like IN it. The rain then released it and gave the items inside my bag (including my ipod and solar charger) and my pants where the bag met my leg a good bath... When I went to change into the shorts I had brought for running after training, I realized soap had run all the way down my right leg...eh guinee!! To ease concerns, everything worked out alright - ipod is even in good working condition!!! <- this was about as equally exciting as finally pooping after a long spurt of constipation (oddly enough, the realization of these two things happened within hours of each other despite commencing at very different times). Side note: having constipation while so many around you have diarrhea is very frustrating, and confusing. When you become envious of diarrhea, that's when you know you're in a messed up situation.
- Pendant site visit, Richard (my PC cousin = closest volunteer), who lives 15km away, and I decided to run to each other, starting at the same time and meeting roughly half way. We did and it was delightful- a bit of a challenging run with hills and rockiness- but delightful! After we chatted about each other's sites we started running back in the opposite direction. Just after a quick poop break in the brush and leaves to wipe, I started the run back. Shortly thereafter it began to rain. It was hot this day so my first instinct was to start singing Toto. Shortly the rain became quite heavy, as did all of my clothes - all still very manageable. The trouble came when the rain caused the road to be a river, and small puddles became unpredictably deep pools. One unavoidable, new river cutting across the road put me in up to my knee. The shower after this experience was not much different than what I had just gone through, but was still very relaxing. Also, it turns out that I actually ran about 10-11km of the distance and thus the same en retour, ie longest run to date!
- Last rainecdote, for now: Yesterday morning, in Conakry. We went out to the market to get breakfast supplies (bread, peanut butter, nescafe, etc.), and comme d'habitude, it was raining. However this was, for most of us, our first time out to the market in Conakry. The market we went to is... kind of in doors? I really am not sure how to describe it. Each vendor is in an alcove perhaps and one walks in between. This in between section doesn't have a rough, but instead has a bunch of (broken) tarps. Hence right where one needs to walk all the water that has been collected from the rough is funneled down. These market path ways, however, are too narrow to open an umbrella... Result, you get soaked. Unfortunately, this isn't the only issue that arises due to this faulty roofing structure. The walkway also quickly floods and becomes a high currant river up to about mid-shin with all sorts of trash for fish - upside: this could result in you catching some money in your sandal!
Peace,
M. Geoffrey
Friday, August 24, 2012
Quick Overview/Sorry for the delay!!!
Bonjour tout le monde!
Excusez-moi pour ecrire en retard - l'internet - ay guinnee!
Now that I'm so behind in reaching out to the world, I'm not sure where to start???
Si on veut, on pourrait m'appeller Almamy Camara, maintenant. C'est le nom que ma famille (a Dubreka) m'a donne. (Here's a link to google translate, et desole en avance pour tout le franglais.)
We'll try to make this one a quick sort of summary:
Still in training, but nearing the end (Swearing In is on the 21st or 22nd of September).
We started however with Staging in Philly - the first time we all met one another in person. This was quickly followed by our departure from NYC, but to make it from Philly to NYC we had to take a bus, and pendant that formative bus ride we watched none other than I Love You, Man. Such a perfect film to start such incredible friendships! Le premier chose qui m'a frappe was how quickly we bonded! Tout de suite! Between one last sip of good craft American beer in Philly, decent Belgium Beer in Brussels, and a bunch of time traveling we got to know each other quickly! (Also, right now, I would like to appologize for the terrible writing, it's going to be very stream of consciousness and a little rushed since I've been so slow to updating this and thus have a lot to update on - how was that for a sample of bad writing, eh?)
Once in country we spent the first half week or so in Conakry, Guinea's capital, learing more about the Peace Corps and specifially PC Guinea. While in Conakry we saw, essentially, 0% of the city. We stayed at the burreau or a bit of time down at the Beach Bar. And I know I've mentioned beer a lot already, but no we are not lushes!
After Conakry we left for what would be our home for the next ~3 months, DUBREKA! Our time in Dubreka started with our host family adoption ceremony. My host family, as you hopefully got from above is the Camara family - a very common family name in the Basse Cote. (Guinea Fact [abv. GF- not to be confused with Guinean Franc]: Four regions of Guinea {from West to East/South}: Basse Cote, Fouta (Diallo)/Moyenne, Haute, Forestiere (no PCV=PeaceCorpsVolunteer currently serve here)) - looks like coding, kinda, n'est-ce pas?
When I refer to my host family, usually, this refers to more than just my hote famille propre qui est: Solomon (mon pere), ma mere (Mme Camara??), Tusan (mon frere de 9ans), Susan (ma soeur de 2ans), et last but not least petit David (mon frere de 3 mois). A ma maison, il y a au moins 3 familles la-bas. Ma famille propre is Christian, however Islam is very much the dominant religion in Guinea. Thus, not surprisingly, but still somewhat surprising, the other families in my family are Muslim. A cause de ca, I participated in Ramadan with ma famille - not eating or drinking during daylight hours. This meant that I got up at ~4:30am to eat breakfast of fish and some noodles and onion with bread or a mayonnaise sandwich and then broke fast with them at 19h30 = 7:30pm. This sounds hard, and it is kind of, but I was being so over fed prior to le mois de Carem, that this was a wonderful repreive! haha.
I'll do another post later about food, so I'll skip that for now...
I'll also talk about site visit in another post (which is kind of a part of right now) and with that post maybe I'll post about what has been included in training.
Donc, I think I'll let it go at that for now.
Please, ask me questions or ask me to elaborate about various things in the blogs to come. I would really love to hear from you guys and have this be a form of communication to people, since I clearly have a lack of capability to reach out to you all.
Also, if the franglais is too much please let me know and I'll try to write more in english.
Also, if the font is aweful I'll change it, please let me know on this one in particular.
So much love!
Geoff in Guinea
Almamy en Guinnee
Excusez-moi pour ecrire en retard - l'internet - ay guinnee!
Now that I'm so behind in reaching out to the world, I'm not sure where to start???
Si on veut, on pourrait m'appeller Almamy Camara, maintenant. C'est le nom que ma famille (a Dubreka) m'a donne. (Here's a link to google translate, et desole en avance pour tout le franglais.)
We'll try to make this one a quick sort of summary:
Still in training, but nearing the end (Swearing In is on the 21st or 22nd of September).
We started however with Staging in Philly - the first time we all met one another in person. This was quickly followed by our departure from NYC, but to make it from Philly to NYC we had to take a bus, and pendant that formative bus ride we watched none other than I Love You, Man. Such a perfect film to start such incredible friendships! Le premier chose qui m'a frappe was how quickly we bonded! Tout de suite! Between one last sip of good craft American beer in Philly, decent Belgium Beer in Brussels, and a bunch of time traveling we got to know each other quickly! (Also, right now, I would like to appologize for the terrible writing, it's going to be very stream of consciousness and a little rushed since I've been so slow to updating this and thus have a lot to update on - how was that for a sample of bad writing, eh?)
Once in country we spent the first half week or so in Conakry, Guinea's capital, learing more about the Peace Corps and specifially PC Guinea. While in Conakry we saw, essentially, 0% of the city. We stayed at the burreau or a bit of time down at the Beach Bar. And I know I've mentioned beer a lot already, but no we are not lushes!
After Conakry we left for what would be our home for the next ~3 months, DUBREKA! Our time in Dubreka started with our host family adoption ceremony. My host family, as you hopefully got from above is the Camara family - a very common family name in the Basse Cote. (Guinea Fact [abv. GF- not to be confused with Guinean Franc]: Four regions of Guinea {from West to East/South}: Basse Cote, Fouta (Diallo)/Moyenne, Haute, Forestiere (no PCV=PeaceCorpsVolunteer currently serve here)) - looks like coding, kinda, n'est-ce pas?
When I refer to my host family, usually, this refers to more than just my hote famille propre qui est: Solomon (mon pere), ma mere (Mme Camara??), Tusan (mon frere de 9ans), Susan (ma soeur de 2ans), et last but not least petit David (mon frere de 3 mois). A ma maison, il y a au moins 3 familles la-bas. Ma famille propre is Christian, however Islam is very much the dominant religion in Guinea. Thus, not surprisingly, but still somewhat surprising, the other families in my family are Muslim. A cause de ca, I participated in Ramadan with ma famille - not eating or drinking during daylight hours. This meant that I got up at ~4:30am to eat breakfast of fish and some noodles and onion with bread or a mayonnaise sandwich and then broke fast with them at 19h30 = 7:30pm. This sounds hard, and it is kind of, but I was being so over fed prior to le mois de Carem, that this was a wonderful repreive! haha.
I'll do another post later about food, so I'll skip that for now...
I'll also talk about site visit in another post (which is kind of a part of right now) and with that post maybe I'll post about what has been included in training.
Donc, I think I'll let it go at that for now.
Please, ask me questions or ask me to elaborate about various things in the blogs to come. I would really love to hear from you guys and have this be a form of communication to people, since I clearly have a lack of capability to reach out to you all.
Also, if the franglais is too much please let me know and I'll try to write more in english.
Also, if the font is aweful I'll change it, please let me know on this one in particular.
So much love!
Geoff in Guinea
Almamy en Guinnee
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