Official Volunteers. Whew.

So, we just swore in officially and took an oath to the United States and tomorrow we set out to the villages. Here's a few of the things that we have been up to since site visit.....

We came back and hit the language classes pretty hard. We all came back pretty excited to dive into language classes because we were so frustrated with everyone speaking to us and not understanding. However, this only lasted one day of a 3 hr. lesson before we were ready to pull our hair out. Mende is such a hard language because it is tonal. We had no idea how easy we had it when we were in Krio classes. That language looks/sounds like a cakewalk now that we have started tribal languages, but it's still difficult to understand when people here speak it really really fast. Often, we will find ourselves switching b/w Krio and English when we are around each other and not noticing (or on the phone w/people from home. sorry guys). So, last week we had a group talent show.... The participants included a tribal magic show by our cross cultural facilitators, an African man, Lansanna, sang Bob Marley's One Love. One of the best was a big african staff member that stood up and told us a heart warming story about how this song got him through rough times when he was away from his family and missing his wife. He then proceeded to sing and dance to Dolly Parton's Do I Ever Cross your mind? It was phenomenal. After that, Brandon and Kat sang a Frank Sinatra song, I sang a Mandingo Farewell song with Cisse, Brandon, and Kat, and then came Annaleise....... our program manager. She wrote her own words to the song Don't Stop Believing that included all of the norms of our training (i.e. how much we like meat sandwiches sold on the street, how we love European food day in training but the Africans hate it, how it is impossible to agree on an efficient way to break into groups during training, and other particulars to our group) It was hilarious. After this, we had "PST Update" w/Chrissy, Brandon, and Scott - Saturday Night Live style. It even included the section called Really? Dia dressed up and acted like one of our country directors, Gale, and Jessie impersonated our Peace Corp Med officer and explained that anything you do in Africa CAN and WILL cause diarrhea, and Chrissy was Mike Fitz. , our regional Security officer. Marty reported from the field on current events and the entire skit was very impressive. Last, but not least, the infamous Marty was up. Nobody was sure what was coming up, but as a general standard, Marty never disappoints the crowd. He carried a chalk box to a table without saying a word, sat down, proceeded to pour out about 50 peppers and then down them. Even the Sierra Leoneans were shocked and not sure what to say. About half way through, things got kind of quiet and he had a lot of peppers to go, so i yelled, "you can do it, Marty!" Just like the little girl in Matilda yelled for Bruce Bogtrotter to finish the chocolate cake. This kickstarted the Marty chant which shortly changed to a Dertz chant and this just fanned the fire of his determination. It was an excellent talent to end the show , abruptly followed by concerned looks to see if Marty was going to die or sweat to death from all that heat. So the 1st annual talent show was definitely a successful one. Without a doubt.

Next big event was our trip to Freetown. Last Thursday, we all piled in vehicles early in the morning and we drove for about 4 hours to Freetown in the PC vehicles. The objectives of this trip were to learn to navigate the city and also see our PC office. So, we got to town and learned where the Shell Station park was so that we would know how to get a taxi when we come to and from town. So we ate some street food for lunch and then spent a long time driving through the crowded streets to get to the stadium hostel where we would stay. We were only there long enough to get our rooms before we were hurried back out to stick to our imaginary schedule and head to the PC office. So, we had a meeting on the World Map Project. Anybody who doesn't know what thiS iS should google it. It's a neat community activity. We had the meeting in what is planned to be our PC guest house and it was very nice. Up on a hill in Freetown with 2 bathrooms. Even tubs! WOO HOO! and a kitchen and bunker rooms. It is planned to have a computer station so we can stay and build our own library and resource center. Very cool. So, we left our guest house and walked across the street to PC staff housing and it was like a dream. Pretty much nicer than any house I have been in in my life. Tile floors, stainless steel appliances, a balcony overlooking the whole city and the ocean and many more luxuries that we haven't seen in awhile. Joel and Gale were gracious enough to cook spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and brownies for us and the beer flowed freely. It was so nice to sit around and relax and take a break for a few hours. When we were done here, we helped clean up before heading back to the hostel where we stayed up a bit longer before heading to the rooms since we had to get up early.

So Saturday we woke up, ate breakfast, and sat through a short session run by Tom, our business admin guy, on our bank accounts, what we will be paid, how this amount was figured out, and what it is intended for. After this, we were set loose in pairs to find our way back to Bo by using public transportation. This was quite an adventure. We have already been told on more than one occasion that some of our best and worst memories will be on public transport. So this is how yesterday went down.......

We walked out of the hostel gate not very sure how to get a cab. Hannah and I saw Dane and Bryan walking in front of us so we caught up to them and all jumped in a taxi together to head to Shell Station. This was easier than expected. So, we pull into Shell station and were immediately pounced on by vendors selling things to travelers and taxi drivers that wanted us to ride in their vehicles. They explained that there were 6 seats in a 4-runner type vehicle. Well, we decided this would be fine since there were 4 of us and we could just ride with 2 other strangers. Well, what this actually meant was that there were 5 seats in the car, including the driver. So me, Hannah, and Dane climbed in the back seat and really got a shocker when they told us to scoot over so that Bryan could get in to. yep. for a 4-5 hr. ride. Silly Americans. So we rode. Taking turns sitting on top of each other every time our legs would fall asleep and constantly switching positions. We started the ride by offending our driver and passengers. oopsie. We didn't mean to, but when Americans get around each other, we tend to speak very fast english and laugh a lot. They even asked us if we were laughing at them. We explained repeatedly that we were not, but not sure if the point got across. We stopped at a gas station right outside of Freetown to get gas and were told before the trip started that the driver wanted us all to pray. Here, in Africa, you pray before you do anything. Meetings, test taking, journeys, etc. So, we prayed. After that we hit the road. The first breakdown occurred while we were still in Freetown. a crowd materialized alongside the street to push our car off of the street. The issue was that the gear shifter popped out of place and we couldn't get the car back in place. It is so amazing that every man in this country is a mechanic. We only had to wait a few minutes for the fix. pretty simple, but the woman in the middle front seat, straddling the shifter had to ride the rest of the way with no console under her... sitting directly on the frame of the car. Until we pulled over again and found a denim jacket for her to sit on. So, off we went, pulling over here and there to stretch briefly or pee on the side of the road. We usually just stayed wedged in the backseat because that was easier than trying to get out and wedge back in. The second breakdown was when we stopped to get more gas right outside of Bo. The vehicle would not crank and we were sitting at the bottom a hill with the gas pump behind us. So, again, a crowd materialized from thin air to push the vehicle and much to the surprise of the Africans, we all jumped out to help. Pretty sure Hannah and I were the only women helping, but w/o our weight and our added help, we pushed the vehicle too far and had to push it back a little so that our driver could roll down the hill to roll-start it. After this, it was smooth sailing back to Bo for another short distance crammed in the back seat like hot dogs.

On Saturday, I had the privilege of attending an engagement party. This included dressing up in in an Africana costume (dress and hair tie) and heading out through town where i was paraded around by my family before finally making it to this party. This is how things happen in Africa. Scheduled party time: 1 pm. Postponed until: 4 pm. Actual Start time: 5:30 pm. This is usually how Africa operates. Once the event finally started, the whole thing was in Mende. So I only understood a little, but had the tradition explained to me. They started by giving me money and explaining that i had to accept because this was their way of welcoming me and showing that they considered me one of them. This is very flattering and I politely said my thank-you in the local language and of course this was a riot. So here I am, in all Africana, with about 40 people crammed into a 15 square foot room. The tradition included bringing different women in with veils over their head. Since the man to be engaged should recognize his future wife, if the woman was not his wife, the men would give the women money for transport home. It was kind of a skit. So, finally, the last woman to come in was the woman to be engaged and the veil is removed and the man accepts this woman. This is also the point where the family turns their daughter over to the man and she officially joins another family, so it was very emotional for her. Much like Americans tend to cry during their weddings.

Other than the excursion at the end of last week, this week has been a blur. Trying to buy things for our houses(buckets, food,mattresses, radios, lamps, etc.) and wrapping up loose ends, we are all a bit on edge and not exactly sure how to go and live alone in a village where we don't know anyone. After Freetown, we were so excited to be back in Bo, on familiar ground. Since we've been in Bo for 2 months, we know the roads and a lot of the people. However, at village, this whole familiarization process starts over, only without daily interactions w/other Americans. Holy crap.


Also, mail could not have come at a more perfect time. Not only is everyone emotionally on edge, but to get items and letters from america, though many of us teared up and immediately ripped open candy to share it with our pals, it was nice to sit and read about what's going on there and get some things that we majorly need and appreciate. I got the packages yesterday and my african fam was ecstatic. the kids bounced bouncey balls all over the place while sharing Spree candy and skittles, busted open the glowsticks. Colored in their coloring books way longer than they should have stayed up, and mama and papa read stuff just to get to wear their reading glasses. Papa told me again this morning that he wanted to thank mom on the phone and that the children were very happy. It was quite the sight.

*Special update from Martin Dertz: If anyone wishes to comment on the blog, please be sure to do so on the correct entry. Thank you and have a nice day.

I reckon that's all I have for now. Too bad I can't include every single detail. There's so much to tell...... Not sure when i'll be back on, but i'll do what i can and send pictures home soon. Over and out.