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 ?

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

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

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...

Name That Food Item!!!!

Peace and love from the G-in-G!

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