Mi Christmas de pa yu - O

ok. Well, first of all, sorry it has been so long. I'm a little busy living the dream and all. The title of this blog is what people here in africa say in Krio that means 'you have to buy me a christmas present' . The rule is, whoever says it first wins and the other person can't say it back to you. So, because i didn't know this, I had lots of gifts to give. Luckily, this could be anything. Even a lollipop. So, that worked out well.

Since I last updated, quite a bit has happened. One of my fave stories to tell is that I was leaving school one day and a fellow teacher said, "we gotta go right now." i asked what was up and he informed me that a baboon had been caught and was at the police station and we had to go and see it. so, off we went. in a hurry. The whole way there he was investigating in local language and we learned that the baboon was already dead. Evidently it had been "running behind people" in a neighboring village so they had to kill it. Understandable. So, we get there and there is about a 4 ft. baboon strapped to the wall of the police station. I guess as a warning to all of his terrorist monkey friends to STOP CHASING PEOPLE. The great part is that i can see the police station from my veranda so every time i walked outside, i saw a monkey corpse hanging there with the whole village staring at it like it was an art exhibit before they took it down to "process" the "beef". However, there were tons of people so i didn't get any. it sold pretty quick.

Also, one fun little project i did at my house was that i had a bookshelf made and told the carpenter not to varnish it, so i was trying to decide what to paint on it and decided to just take the paint outside and let the kids have at it. First, i sat down and taught them how to mix different colors like i learned in 6th grade art and they thought it was magic. so, i now have a vibrant bookshelf in my house and they also painted my outdoor kitchen. It was a blast and hopefully pictures are to come.







We went to in-service-training in Makeni and spent a couple of weeks and it was fun, but we were all happy to get back, i think. Those of us that were going back. however, highlights of makeni are that they have excellent used clothes and Dane Cox bought some fabulous floral spandex that he wears without shame, i got attacked by a blister beetle (google it), we went to the pool one day and jessie, chrissy, dane and i developed a fabulous synchronized swimming routine. I think those are the most important points of the makeni trip.

So, i spent the christmas in my village to learn about traditions that happen. Unfortunately, our paramount cheif cancelled all the events. but i won't tell you the reason here. you have to call me to find out. But, i did kill a chicken for christmas. Women aren't really supposed to do that in this culture, but there wasn't a man around so my friend in the village looked at me and said, " you know how to kill this thing?" So, i had to handle it. I also assisted in the killing of about a 4-5 ft. snake that slithered it's way into some lady's house. That was entertaining to see about 5-6 African kids with huge sticks on a mission to find the thing.

The day after christmas I headed over to my friend Brandon Brown's house in Bauya and spent a coupla nights. Me, him, and Alli Sinning rode our bikes a few miles to a neighboring village, Senehun, for a jungle party. It was amazing and we danced a lot. i also crashed my bike on the way there. I tend to fall down a lot here. on bike or on foot.

So, now, we are in Bo. Me, Marty (snake killer) Dertz, Brandon, and Dane. doing internet stuff and hanging out to enjoy a little holiday time before we go back to teaching school and learning some language. One of the best things about this country is not ever having an agenda. if you want to hop on your bike and ride 14 miles, there's no reason you can't. If you want to spend the day travelling or cooking, no problem. It's still really hot here though, even though the harmattan has come and the Sierra Leoneans think it's freezing. We're just comfortable.

The kids at school are still struggling with our english, but it's getting better. some of the cultural differences are proving to be more of a challenge. I can now successfully draw my own water, lift it, put it, and carry it on my head. This is a lot harder than it sounds but kids here can do it at about age 6. it's nuts! but it's kinda fun and a darn good workout, so i like doing it. i also like cooking using wood instead of coal or gas. Life here is just natural. It's so intriguing. i hope you all get to see it.

I can pretty much communicate in Krio now, but i am still struggling in Mende. it's hard! I know i promised this blog update would be better, but i gotta go live the dream and it's hard to tell all of the stories to those of you who can't see it! you are welcome to come visit and for those of you planning to come, GET OVER HERE.IT'S AWESOME. I would also like to thank Brandon Brown's mom for the fabulous christmas present i received that was wrapped and labeled for me. It was incredible. Thanks so much. and as always. thanks to all my family and friends who i miss and love for calling me on christmas to "reduce my trauma". I sure do miss you guys...

Short, sweet update.

Well this cant be too long cuz it's hard to type on an iPod touch. I'll try to hit the important points. I finally made it into my house and it's amazing. I have a breathtaking view of Africa from my veranda. It also looks over the river. My favorite thing to do after walking around speaking the language is to lay on my hammock and enjoy this view. Last week, I attended a elder society tribal dance. We danced the entire night because all of the paramount chiefs for the whole district came to my town. Approx 3 seconds after I showed up, I was promptly dragged to the middle of the dance in front of the town and in the middle of the village to dance. After this initial humiliation subsided, and I realized the dance was actually open to everyone, we danced around a bonfire all night in the worlds longest conga line. Men and women had their own lines and the men would sing in Mende and the women would respond in song. The elders led the lines re enacting tribal battles with swords and shields. So rad.

The next day some kids showed up at my house beating drums in my yard. They had dressed some kid up as rhe tribal devil and had their own little tribal dance in my front yard. It was hysterical

My neighbors killed a cobra on my front steps.

Someone gave Jessie logerfo a cow head in a bag w no skin on it.

Dia and Chrissy, in the spirit of Halloween, didn't have costumes so they walked all the way across kenema like robots. I love our group.

I have organized the teachers palm wine drinking committee. We drink wine and talk about important issues and cultural differences while they help me with the language. It's a very formal organization and I am the secretary. I even record all the proper minutes. It's really funny an surprisingly, very effective and productive.

I can also successfully cook my own African meals over open fire. I lit a fire and heated water the other mornin for coffee and bathing in 5 minutes flat. I did a passionate fist pump in my kitchen as this is a huge accomplishment.

I still get tons of gifts of fruit. A man gave me 30 oranges the other day. I looked at him an said," how am I supposed to eat all these oranges?"
Then, he looked at me like I was dumb and said, " one at a time." silly me. What was I thinkin?

I love teaching these kids. They want to learn an once we handle the language barrier, well be in business. I have the best job in the world. Even when I'm just hangin out not doing much of anything, I'm learning a ton and doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. How's that for a job description? Can't beat it.

Jessie, Andre, and I just spent the whole day in a swimming pool in makeni doing back flips, cannonballs, and having diaper float races before changing into the gear we bought today to head out on the town. I even fell asleep on a float in the pool sunbathing and woke up to and entire wedding party staring at the white lady asleep in the pool. that's wherebi'm currently typing this. And Jessie has the cuter house ever. It's like the keebler elf house with a cute little thatched roof.


Sorry for the format and unorganized nature of this update, but I couldn't leave it blank when I haven't been online in so long. Miss everyone, hope all is well, and the next one will be better. I promise....

It doesn't matter

The title of this blog is what I quickly became known for in the village for saying. However, i usually say it in Krio which sounds like,"ee no matter" Literally translated, "it doesn't matter." So, when they say, "Nepor, it's raining, get out of the rain!" or "the black flies are biting you." or "the rice is cold", they make fun of me for using this as a response and joke that everything is always fine with me. True.

Now i'm in Freetown, I went ahead and posted the huge update from the last month at site. sorry it was so long, but no internet access! So, this one is new and a little more recent. I am now in Freetown for a few days because of my little rat friends. I am now the only PCV that does not have a house and when the rats started to chew through a desk to get to food, I decided to take action. Me and my friend and Ramatu and my principal placed a garbage can by the wall with bait in it so the rats would crawl into it and not be able to crawl out. So, when I woke up in the morning, I captured 5 of my furry friends. Long story short, I got bit by a rat and now I'm in Freetown for precautionary rabies shots. This means that my classes are covered for the week and I am staying with the medical doctor watching satellite TV, posting blog updates, roaming and shopping in Freetown, eating American food, and sleeping in A/C. It's not so bad. haha. So, that is where I currently stand and I will use the rest of this update to tell a few stories from myself and friends:

Bryan Meeker - Gbendambu - So I talked to Bryan shortly after going to village and was told about how a rooster woke him up every morning. He approached his neighbor about it and his neighbor offered to kill it. So, that night, because the rooster was driving Bryan nuts, his neighbor killed it and they feasted on it.

Jessie Logerfo - Panlap - So Jessie and I often call to share funny stories and this one in particular I asked her if I could share because it's definitely a first. She thought she was being peed on one day by a little boy but when she turned around, she realized that there was an infant being breastfed and the mother was holding this child at just the right angle to spray breast milk all over Jessie. bahahaha. In africa, lots of women bare the boobs and it's no big deal. You can be sitting in church or a meeting or on public transport and boobs start flying and babies start sucking. This has become an everyday normal thing for us here and I thought it was funny enough that she was being peed on until she finished the story. Classic Africa.

Alli Sinning and Meghan Welsh - Moyamba - Please see Alli Sinnings link on my blog for her remarkable story of the "Walkabout". I actually heard of this story in my village where my neighbor asked if I had heard that my friends were asked to pay a ridiculous amount for a taxi. Evidently, after the walkabout, her village broadcasted the ridiculousness on the radio where my neighbor heard it. Simply stunning and amazingly inspiring. This is usually how rough/heated/frustrating situations turn out in this country. As an amazing, unforgettable experience.


On my second day in school, after witnessing a student of mine doing homework that I gave on the first day, I realized that the students did not understand a word of my English and that's why they didn't talk to me. So, on the second day, I decided to make things a little more laid back in class. I talked as slow as possible and had an experimental math competition. I seperated girls and boys. There were 11 girls and about 22 boys and I explained the rules. One enthusiastic little boy in the front obviously understood the rules of the competition, so I asked him to stand up and explain to the class in Mende what the rules for this game were. After that, the attitude of class completely changed and I told them I thought the girls could win. All the boys had a fit and laughed hysterically right before the outnumbered girls beat the brakes off of them. It was glorious!

This past Saturday was one of the best yet. I have evidently hit the lottery for small African villages that have the most village dances. This includes setting up a huge stereo set and dancing til 3 or 4 in the morning. So, last Friday, we had a jam for no particular occasion and Dia came to participate. We danced all night and then on Saturday, we sat around and ate/shared American candy and walked around my village to check it out. We crossed the amazingly beautiful railroad bridge and were showered with bananas from strangers. Typical in Africa. So, after Dia left and I dropped her at the junction, I sat around learning some Mende with some locals and accepting more gifts. My final total for the day came out to be 20 bananas, 5 oranges, 2 guavas, and 1 papaya. It was a great day keeping time with wonderful people who are more than willing to answer any questions that I may have about culture or language. I realized that this was my job. I was not supposed to be anywhere on this day doing anything other than walking around a West African village eating fruit and stopping to talk to everyone that talks to me. How cool is that? Why can't I make a career out of this?

One man in particular is our town cheif, Mr. Emmanuel. he's a little old man with white hair and a deep voice and huge glasses from the 80s. His clothing style is super smooth and his English is impeccable. I half expect him to whip out a saxophone and start playing the blues. Anyhow, he sits around and tells me about the good ole days and how he used to work for the steam engine and how the youth and educational system today differ from 50 years ago when he finished school. He is absolutely fascinating and has a room built on his veranda specifically for when strangers come to visit. It's his stranger room and he was the first to explain to me that the Mende tribe loves strangers and most people have this type of room on their veranda.

Everybody should come visit me.

well, we've been at site a little while with lots of time For learning Mende and socializing and reading. I've taken a nap just about everyday and read 3 books in the past week. A good one I'm glad I got the time to read was given to me by my sister in law. It's called Half the Sky and it's about the empowerment of women world-wide. If you get a chance, read it. Also, it is packed full of organizations that help women with healthcare, education, or starting businesses so perhaps a donation to a good one where you know exactly where the money is going would make for a great Christmas or birthday gift for those of us overseas. Even if you don't have the time to read it, the appendix in the back lists the orgs, so run in the store, pick it up, and jot a few down. All the websites and purposes are listed. I was surprised at how much it taught me that I've never taken time to think about or consider.

Ok. so here are a few of the highlights from site so far.......

1. I am staying in the same room I was in for site visit and I have discovered that the creature, varmint, rather, that crawled across my head during that visit could have only been a giant rat. There is a hole in the ceiling above my bed and on night 2, after being awoken by the sound of their scurrying, I used my ninja skills to catch them in the spotlight of my headlamp. I saw 2, but I know there are more. I can hear them. The braver of the two, at the time, crawled out of the hole and scurried down the wall next to my bed, either to show off or prove to me that my light meant nothing to him. For those of you that can't picture this properly, here I am, under a mosquito net with huge rats crawling out of the ceiling and running down the wall about 3 ft from my head. At one point i guess a little rat paw got hung up in my mosquito net because I woke up again later (yes, somehow I fell back asleep) to something tugging on my net. None other than one of my furry little friends, I'm sure. So, what did I do? Well, I considered whining about it to the people whose house I'm in and getting someone to cover the hole, but then I wised up. I realized that I'm the one that waited through a year and a half application process for this and TIA. Thus, the war on the rats began. So, armed with my roll of duct tape and some mad, but somewhat rusty, gymnastics skills, I mounted my headboard like a balance beam and went to work covering this hole in the ceiling. At least this would slow them down a little. So, the first experiment went ok. I don't think they made it all the way through the duct tape, but they definitely put a hurtin on it. They chewed a small hole which I promptly patched up the next day. What I learned from the first night was that rats are very smart and it only took them the first night to understand their obstacle, hold a rat meeting, and discover a way around it. So, their plan, I'm guessing, was to send in the smaller of the rats through another smaller hole in the room while the stronger rats with more stamina chewed a rat-sized hole in the duct tape all night. They accomplished this about half way through the night and continued their nightly runs up and down the walls. So, on day three, I embraced it, decided that the rats were smarter than me, and admitted defeat. Although I don't really call it defeat because I hate to lose. It was more like a compromise, really, only the rats didn't have to meet me half way. Sounds a lot like defeat, huh? So, that night, I slept with my head at the foot of the bed so that at least they wouldn't be right next to my head. Turns out, my little rat guys aren't so bad. I've grown accustomed now and even as I sit typing this, there's a little guy running around my room somewhere darting behind my bags and mattresses and all I can do is look over occasionally with an affectionate gaze as I hear him trying to remain unseen. Turns out, we can coexist and it's not so bad. As long as i hide the food.

2. The other somewhat comical story I have occurred today (Thursday). We( my supervisor and I), left for the Junior Secondary School that I will be teaching at to conduct interviews this morning for the students who will be moving from primary to secondary school. After being stranded by the rain for a little while, neither of us having carried umbrellas, the rain let up and we were on our way. Not wanting to seem reclusive, I wallked with my fellow teachers to someone's house after we left where they were all going to drink palm wine. So, here I go, the only female in a group of males. Everything's cool and we sit in an outdoor kitchen hut and drink a little palm wine and I get the hint that I should head on back and let the men talk amongst themselves comfortably without feeling the need to entertain a stranger. So, I start back to the house when I see James, a guy that is often hanging around the chief's compound where I am staying and doing work and such. Mainly, shepherding goats. So, I ask him if he is heading back and he says yes, mind you, there is somewhat of a language barrier between us. Imagine that. So, off we go and I'm trying to gain my bearings in my new village and figure out where I am and how to find my way back when whoa! I slip on a rock. James instinctively reaches out and grabs my arm because all Africans are protective of us. So, i gain my footing and look over at James to report that I'm ok. Which was true until I took my next step. That's when I ate it. Since in Africa, I have been known to fall a few times, so I wasn't really even embarrassed about this and I rebounded quickly, but the more we walked, the more I became embarrassed because James was freaking out. He walked the rest of the way home with his hand on my arm and once home, even though he was supposed to head back to do something for one of the older men, he sat with me for about 10 minutes to make sure I was ok. Too bad I don't know enough of the language to explain that I'm not an avatar like his peeps and this happens frequently. At least it made for a good story, though, and only a few more places to pour peroxide on tonight.

3. The little kids decided in their own language the other night that they would have a dance competition to see who gets to marry me first. So I'm sitting on a bench with a nice view of town, watching the sunset with 3 little kids dancing as hard as they could while I clapped and the other people around sang popular African songs. Then, one little boy showed up and they explained to him what was going on and he stuck his chin up in the air and said, "I'm not dancing unless I can dance with Nepor." So, what choice did I have, I got up and danced. They thought this was funny but I'm not sure if they thought it was funnier to watch a white girl dance or watch him with all of his courage. Either way, these are my best memories thus far. Just hanging out in Africa without a care in the world and nowhere to be and nothing to be doing except learning the language by dance offs or playing volleyball or football in the rain.

Fast forward a few weeks. It is now Sep. 2. I've been at site about 3 weeks and these are the highlights. I still don't have a house. At the end of the first week of adjusting to the boredom, Dia and I decided to become accustomed to the surrounding villages and walk to meet each other in Njala. So, I set out on a 6 mile walk at the same time that she left Taiama to walk the same distance. I didn't make it a mile down the road before i recruited a couple of kids that walked with me the whole way. It was pretty cool. They were able to tell me the name of every village that we passed through and translate the language when people spoke Mende that I didn't understand. So, we get to Njala and walk a mile into town and go to the bank and sit and have a beer and catch up on the village life before setting out on our 7 mile walk back to Dia's house. So, this makes for a total of a 14 mile walk on one of the few days lately that the sun decided to shine in the rainy season. It was great exercise and overwhelming at times to remember that we were just walking down a dirt road in the middle of West Africa and not just everyone gets to do this. So, we made it, finally, and went to socialize around Dia's town. The next day, we went to the market to buy some things to test the PC cookbook and some other PCV's showed up. This was a Friday and we spent the day and a lot of the night sending children to buy things that we need, retrieve PCVs at the junction and show them the way to the house, and do any other chores we needed done. We even had to draw a picture of ketchup so they would know exactly what we needed when they ran to town for us. So, in the end, we ended up with 11 folks at Dia's with a spread of cucumbers w/lime and pepper, bean burgers, kassava hashbrowns, kassava fries, fried okra, and hummus. It was wonderful and we sat around telling stories and using lots and lots of sarcasm since we don't get to regularly exercise that in the village.

Also, in my village, I have inflated the volleyball and got some pretty wicked games going. I bought the ball so that it could double as a football since the kids spend hours a day playing this with any type of ball that they can find. So, I've made it clear that the ball belongs to me and must be brought back to me and that I make the rules when I play. This latter of this arrangement was strategic on my part and i first saw the benefits on the first day that there was actually an organized game at the local school field. We head out to the "field" which is just an open areas where we set up goals using giant rocks and there's an impressive following of kids following. When we got to the school, we found a class in session for summer school. The teacher promptly left to introduce himself to me. I explained that we did not want to disturb his class and he said that class was finished and the students, mostly girls, wanted to come play. So, i invited everyone. Well we get to the field and get ready to pick teams. I was immediately made a captain which was awkward because I still can't remember all the kids names to pick em. Then, the boys told the girls to go sit down. I was like, um, they can play and the boys just laughed and said, "they might get hurt." so i fired back with "I might get hurt" and they were like "Nah, you won't get hurt" and then they tried me from another angle saying," well, they don't know how to kick the ball." So I glanced over at the group of girls and said," any of you girls know how to kick the ball?" A couple of the girls hid behind others and shook their head, but there was one or two that smiled and said yep. So, the boys were absolutely disgruntled but understood that the ball was mine and if I was gonna play then they were gonna play. It was glorious. Of course, the girls that played never actually got the ball passed to them, but the point is that they made it into the game. That was a huge baby step. Oh, and let me not fail to mention that I was the goalie when one of my teammates was talking to me and I got scored on. I'm not so sure that was a great argument for my "Girls can play too campaign". whoopsie. However, we are all about some volleyball and I think that I have several people interested in it. A couple of the girls really enjoy playing and I decided to coach them a little so that when we all play, the boys can't possibly have anything to complain about if the girls are better than them. Not that I don't intend to coach the boys, too, it's just that girls are a little more chill and little boys just want to hit the ball as hard as they can. I'm hoping that if I teach the girls to control the ball then they boys will figure out from watching that you aren't supposed to hit it hard. A couple of the boys have already figured this out and are really good.


So, other than these few stories, here are a few observations....
- I love African food. I have become accustomed to rice and really enjoy the many different sauces there are to try and learn to cook. Native African rice is so much better than white rice and I don't mind the oil, pepper, or fish.
- Things here that are handmade are a lot cheaper than, say, plastic tubs and manufactured items whereas in America, items made by hand are far more expensive.I bought a handmade traditional hammock. It was 7,000 Le which is the equivalent of about $1.75. Just Sayin.
- Here, what are considered to be imperfections elsewhere are perfect. Nobody is self conscious of their body. Whether tall, fat, short, skinny, limping, deformed, blind, amputated, stuttering, speech impediment, etc. Nobody mentions it and hardly notices. It's a beautiful thing and really refreshing. People are just people and there is no stereotype or expectations.
- Nobody is embarrassed to sing, dance, or clap in any occasion. Whether alone, around tons of people, great voice, not so great voice. It just doesn't matter. This makes everything more fun.
-Everybody in this culture does everything together. If one person has a generator and plays a movie, the whole town crams in the room to watch. When you walk down the street, at least 5 people eating on the porch will say,"Come, let's eat." There's no are you hungry? or would you like some rice? just come over here and eat with me. Regardless of how much food there is for however many people. Everyone is always invited.
-Guests here are known as "strangers" so I always get a kick out of it when I hear people in the town say, "Don't worry about it" or "Of course kids will fetch water for you! You're our stranger!".

Fast forward yet again since I don't have access to the internet. It is now September 15. The best recent story I have is how I went for a walk yesterday to charge my phone. My first actual walk alone in the month since I've been here, and this man that I have never seen or talked to called me over. He was fixing a bicycle so I went over to talk and he said," When would you like to ride my bike?" I politely declined and said that the peace corp was giving me a bicycle and I would probably have it by december. He politely informed me then that I needed to exercise because I was putting on weight. sheesh. I thought that was a good thing here. So how can I be putting on weight when the scale says I'm down 17 lbs? Anyway, I laughed it off, but the next morning, I went to school and was helping my principal with the timetable. I sat down beside him and BAM, the chair broke. Seriously? Maybe this guy was foreal. Anyway, I felt like a big ole loser and evidently I need to lay off the rice.

Also, I must say the first month has been a rough one. With meeting a million new people and trying to figure out what to do in the community. I am one of the 2 out of 37 PCVs that still doesn't have a house so I am really disoriented, but the past couple of days I have been pretty encouraged that I actually know quite a bit of Mende and there is some sort of structure to this language. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Other than that, I read a book called A life inspired: Tales of a Peace Corp volunteer. It was a book they sent us in the mail and, I must admit, I only read it because it's the only book I had left, but, it did, in fact, inspire me. It's full of amazing stories of all the exact things that I'm experiencing here, but do not take the time to stop and appreciate. So now, I feel like I have a different outlook on things. I always enjoyed, but now I stop to appreciate picking the seeds out of rice, learning to weave a basket, the pure hospitality of the people, and the times when I sit and talk to 86 yr. old granny and listen while she tells the stories of the 40s and 50s and how the Leone used to be worth more than the dollar. America is very fast paced and while Africa is slower, it's so beautiful because people take the time to appreciate each other and tell stories about memories and generally just enjoy being around each other. The only thing on their agenda for the day may be going to visit a friend across town or to go buy a cup of rice at the market and sit and talk to everyone, but the point is, they take the time to talk. instead of running around worrying about making a meeting on time or whether they are late to get somewhere. It's very humbling.

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.

Mano Dasse = awesome.

again, i have no shift on the left side on this computer so bear with me please....

First and foremost, i need to give a shout out to Marty Dertz's mom. She used her precious time while writing him a letter to complement my blog and how helpful it's been. i'm so glad it's benefiting someone other than my own family and marty is definitely one of my favorite dude's here. hands down.

i visited my village for the past 4 days and it was quite an experience. i left on saturday morning in a private vehicle. my principal's nephew, Joe, lived in america for 26 yrs and has his own business in bo and vehicle that he drove us to Bo in. so, we get to Mano Dasse and go to visit the school where i will be teaching. it is literally out in the middle of the bush. it's a quaint little school though and on my walk home, there is a point on a hill where i can see my whole village and the river. it's incredible. so after visiting the school, we headed to visit one of joe's friends that lives right next to the school. she is an older white woman by the name of Simon. She's from Switzerland and married a man from Mano and lives out in the bush and does agriculture work. She's lived there for 4 yrs and speaks perfect Mende and Krio, so i'm certain that i have a lot to learn from her. After that, we went to visit my house. It's a cute little house with 2 rooms. each maybe 10' x 20'. i also have an outdoor kitchen, bathroom and bath house. There are 2 papaya trees, 1 lime tree, and 1 plum tree in my yard. woo hoo! so, after this, we went back to where i was staying and i ate and took a nap. i am about 30 yards behind the police station with great neighbors.

during my stay, i was staying with the Paramount chief. For those that don't know, this is a huge deal. There are 129 villages in her chiefdom. i'll explain that later. So, i woke up from a nap and we walked down to the junction in town and sat under the amazingly bright moon and stars and drank a beer or two. By we, i mean my principal and i. it's pretty difficult to describe just how amazing the stars and moon are in a place with no electricity. i've never seen anything quite like it. my first night here, while sleeping, i woke up and almost had a heart attack because something living fell out of a hole in the ceiling, bounced off of my bug net, and ran across the floor. still don't know what it was. holy crap.

so sunday i woke up and went to the catholic church with my principal. he's pretty much my community mentor and conveniently, he was also a Mende teacher for many many years and he speaks excellent english so he is able to teach me about the phonetics of the mende language. so, we went to church and walked around town so that i could learn my way around. i also met more people such as the town chief, town speaker, court clerk, etc. My principal (mr. simbo) is also a section chief. the heirarchy is paramount chief, section chiefs, town/village chiefs. the town chief for Mano is the raddest dude ever. He's super old with huge glasses like mom used to wear in the 80's and white hair. i pretty much expect him to whip out a saxophone and start playing blues. he also explained that he has an extra room in his house that nobody stays in just in case strangers happen to need a place because the mende people like strangers so much. This, i can vouch for, is very very true. so, we went home and again, i took a nap. i'm afraid maybe the people think i'm lazy or seclusive because i took a nap every day i was there, but it's exhausting meeting 700 people a day, having them speak a language you don't know to you, and being stared at constantly. and they all expect you to learn the language immediately which can be frustrating. but uplifting when they are surprised at what you do already know. it's amazing that everyone knows 3 languages and doesn't think twice about it. too bad america doesn't do that. The african's switch freely between languages so often, i will have a conversation in English, Krio, AND Mende before it's all said and done. it's insane.

So Sunday night, right at about dusk, the chief got home and that was an insane introduction. She is, by far, the most queen like, regal, dignified lady that i have ever met and when she talks, people shut up and listen. She had been at a workshop meeting with officials from Nigeria, Guinea, and Liberia on progress of her chiefdom and areas that they were trying to improve. While we were talking, someone came in and kneeled to greet her. whoa. craziness. She even has a chair that she sits in that says EIIR 1961 on it because it was a chair that was made for all of the paramount chiefs in honor of Queen Elizabeth coming to visit in 1961. So, appreciation is a hard thing to portray in this culture, and i made a lame attempt to express my appreciation for feeding me and letting me stay and having people wait on me hand and foot. i think i might have gotten it across this morning when i left, but that's a really hard thing to portray when you are treated like royalty. The gifts that i received while i was in Mano, just for being a stranger, totalled up to 35 bananas, 2 coconuts, 3 giant cucumbers, 1 avocado, and 1 hijacked pineapple. by hijacked i mean that we drove to a nearby village and there was some guy walking on the site of the road with a pineapple on his head. my princapal pulled over, said something in Mande, and the guy handed over the pineapple and disappeared into the bush. Mr. Simbo (principal) then explained that pineapples weren't in season and that he hijacked it and it was for me. Wait. Huh? Wasn't sure what to do with that one. so i took it. i mean, hey, who am i to be rude and turn down a hijacked pineapple.

So, after the chief arrived home, what used to be an empty house turned into a parlor full of people that come to talk to the chief or just generally sit in her presence. It's rather interesting to watch. I'm not quite sure how she does it though. i would imagine that it's exhausting to constantly talk to people that you know come to talk for a reason. i was exhausted just listening and i don't even know the language.

So monday, i woke up and got ready for a community meeting led by the paramount chief. i put on my Africana dress and went with Mr. Simbo and waited awhile for the town bell to be rang and the chief to show up. She arrived and held a meeting in which they spoke in Mende. Some about me which was translated on the spot and some about the local road rebuild project. The chief explained who i was and what i was doing there and the community asked questions like whether or not i would be willing to hold adult math classes outside of school for those who were interested and possibly other courses. They also asked about whether or not i would be staying in my house alone because they were concerned about my safety. I was completely touched by their sincerity and welcoming of strangers into their community. After the meeting, several people came to introduce themselves. The community health officer explained that he is interested in sciences such as chemistry and physics so after i told him i studied engineering, he was pretty pumped that i would be able to teach him past the education that he already has. Like others, he informed me that they realized that i was here to help the community and education was a problem area and if anybody tried to mess with me, that he would quit his hospital duties and come to stand outside my house as a personal bodyguard. haha. it's unreal how safe i feel there.

So, after introductions and holding the hands of a lot of curious little kids, the paramount chief suggested that we go visit my house. by the way, i've successfully dodged the pumuey comment by waiting for the kids to say pumuey and then flipping the scripts on them and calling them Mende muey. They aren't really sure what to do with that and all of the adults think it's hysterical. Anyway, upon seeing my house, she informed the mason that was present that we needed to do an extension ASAP b/c i needed an indoor toilet and kitchen so that i wouldn't have to leave my house at night. how do you even say thank you for this sort of thing? i'm befuddled.

so monday, we took the cheif's car and went to the teeny tiny villages surrounding our town. They are all very beautiful. Also, Monday night, whatever creature was mentioned from above about my first night scare returned, but this time, it made it inside my bug net. i've never moved quicker in my life than when i woke up to an unidentified varment inside my net and crawling on my head. i sprung to the foot of the bed frantically shining my light and saw/hearn nothing......sneaky little varment. i think because of my malaria medicine causing wild dreams that i imagined that it was a giant hairy spider. Spiders don't bother me, but they do when they catch me off guard. it sounded like a crab might sound on tile floor though and it totally freaked me out. but naturally, i got over it and went back to sleep.

This morning, i woke up and hopped on board a bush taxi which was an interesting experience. We left at 8 sharp and it took about 2.5 hrs. to go 38 miles bc of rough roads, stopping to cram more people in, and stopping to fix the taxi. At this point i was so burnt out and overwhelmed that when people spoke Mende to me, all i could really do was blink at them. i felt bad, but my brain is really on overload. The past 4 days have been crammed full of learning names of people that expect me to remember and also trying to learn the language i don't know that everyone speaks. Sheesh.

Until next time.... over and out.

Island Adventure

Update on site and pics.

Found out today that I will be teaching in a little village in central southern Sierra Leone called Mano. It is in the Southern district and has a population of about 1,500 people. It is in the Moyamba district if anyone cares to google

After summer school, they drew a giant map of Sierra Leone and when they called out our sites, we went to stand on our stars so we could see which volunteers are around us. I am super stoked and I'm pretty much out in the middle of nowhere.

ALSO,I mailed a memory card home to mom with all of the pictures and videos I've taken so far, so maybe they'll be up sometime soon online. Sorry I can't post as they happen. Miss you all. Peace.

average day and other tidbits.

Well, I've been here for a little over a month, and it's incredible how much i've learned. These past two weeks, we have been teaching summer school to Sierra Leone kids, so i'll give you a few of the specific cultural differences.

1. Kids here are incredibly respectful. When a teacher walks in the room, they stand and say good morning, Miss ________. They also raise their hands to answer a question and stand up in class to answer.

2. Their notebooks are their textbooks so anything the teacher writes on the board is meticulously copied. If we draw circles or triangles on the board, they will not draw them in their notebook unless they have a compass or straight edge.

3. Tests are written on the board because of lack of paper, copiers, etc. I had a few students who messed up and had to scribble out on their tests and therefore recopied the test to turn in because of their precision.

4. African kids are not used to the idea of mixing fun AND learning so it's really a task to engage them in classroom activities and show that we can use games, competitions, races, etc. to learn the material that we need to.

Those are the high points of the differences in schools. Now, for a typical day in the life of a peace corp trainee in Sierra Leone. Living in the village will be much different than training, but i can update that later. For now, here is a typical day

Wake up in the morning about 6:30 am. Warm water or pour hot water from a thermos to mix with cold water for a warm bucket bath. Then, go back to my room for some precious Ipod time while getting dressed. Then, head to the parlor to eat breakfast while I talk to my sista and mama. Breakfast is usually bread, 2 boiled eggs, mayonnaise (of course) and plantain (either boiled or fried). African's are still convinced that we can eat a lot.
After breakfast, bid farewells to the family and walk about 15 min. to the nearest junction where the PC vehicles cram us, 12 at a time, into a land cruiser to drive us to the school. During this walk, I greet every single person that we pass in either Krio or Mende. They still get pretty tickled when we get a phrase right and acknowledge that we are trying. We have 3 teachers per class and each teacher teaches 40 min. lessons. So, we have class from 8:30-10:30, have a 20 minute break, and then have class from 10:50-11:50. At 11:50, we pile back into the vehicles to go back to the training center where we eat lunch. It is either typical African food or what we call Fun Food Day. At the center, they are still making American food (as well as they can) for us twice a week, but they mix it up so that we never know what day it will be on.
After lunch, we usually have Language class for an hour and a half and then the rest of the day (until 5) is reserved for lesson planning for our next day's class. Sometimes we have a planned session on cross-cultural, teaching techniques, or other useful topics. Yesterday, we had a lesson on sensitization topics. Tuesday, in summer school, they will allow us to teach on any topic that we want, whether it be AIDS, sanitation, waste management, resource management, etc. I picked to teach on Malaria since it is so common here. Most of us have family members that either have it or have it at some point during our stay.
After our classes, we walk either to Graceland (the bar/store across the street where we drink a couple of beers and listen to American music). We don't head here every day to wind down, though. My family asks me every day if i am coming home quick after school and what they should cook for me. When I do head straight home after training, I usually get home about 5:30. I change clothes and either sit on the veranda with the group of kids that waits my return every day. Sometimes this visit will turn into an intense game of Stoneball (dodge ball) or a game with rocks called Ge-Ge (pronounced Gay-gay). They also often make me do flips in the yard, or a dance party is started where we clap and sing while each kid dances individually. Agnes is the funniest. She is teeny tiny but she can really work it.
Lately, I've been going home to eat and start grading papers while i talk to my family in as much krio as i can remember. I sit at the table and grade papers while the kids in my family study at the same table, everyone huddled around the same table. The past few nights, i brought out the sharpie markers that my dear American family sent me and passed out paper for the kids to color. Their faces are priceless. They will sit for 1.5-2 hrs coloring. I think it's a precious thing for them to be able to have control of their own creativity since they are so often doing chores and don't have the time or resources to do any sort of artwork. The chores are insane. My 9-10 yr old family members carry buckets of water on their head that have about 3 gallons of water on their head from the well. They can't lift the buckets on their own and someone has to put it on their head and then they carry it from the well to the house and usually make multiple trips. They are fascinated by my camera though so yesterday they saw me with it and paused long enough for me to catch a couple of pics. I also usually pass out a little something American at study time. Like gum or skittles. I'm rationing slowly during my stay and they are always appreciative.
After either working on summer school plans or playing with the kids, I usually mix a slightly warm bath since it's somewhat cool here, i don't want to get sick cuz it's no fun! So i head out to the back porch, usually with my older sister kenyeh either washing beside me or sitting and waiting on me to finish. Yep. we wash on the back porch under the African stars if they are out, or even under the clouds since it's rainy season. Let me say though that nakedness here is nothing like in America. Lots of people, at their houses, go topless and kids run around naked quite a bit. It's no big deal to breast feed in front of family members or complete strangers for that matter.
So, supper usually brings rice, rice, rice, and more rice, with some sort of sauce. Sauce is usually some sort of leaf cooked down into some sort of past with fish in it. Everything here has fish and fish bones in it. Even things without fish in it somehow have fish bones in it. Last weekend, I cooked couscous and stew. The stew had cooking oil, chicken, thyme, tomato paste, onions, pepper, salt, and maggi in it. Maggi is MSG and everyone here puts it in everything to enhance the taste. Other foods include all types of fruit. Pineapple, bananas, plantain, avocado, coconut, mango, etc. Also potatoes, yams, pasta, pumpkin, and casava (google it) it's a lot like a potato.
The best sauce I've had was pumpkin sauce. It's cooked down into a sauce over rice, of course, and with fish (see above). The good thing is that I didn't have to give up sweet tea. Lots of people drink tea here. They drink it hot and it took a battle with my family and the language barrier to make them understand that I don't drink it hot, but after witnessing it, they've finally accepted it. I drink warm tea on occasion, though. Oh! I also learned to eat rice with my hands. Sauce and everything. But it's rude to eat with the left hand. It gets kinda messy and gross with the rice and the sauce, but it's kind of fun. Everyone eats from the same bowl with their hands.
So, to conclude my day, I go to my room/bed about 9-9:30 where i usually spend an hour making a phone call once in awhile, writing in my journal-EVERY DAY, and reading a book. And then I start all over again the next day.
Summer school will be over on Tuesday and Wednesday we will meet with our village supervisors. I just found out that we find out today where our site locations are. YIPPEE! We are all super nervous. This also determines which local language we will be learning. It's a pretty big deal. So next week we meet with our principals/cheifs and then we will go visit our sites for 4 days and see our houses and schools where we will be for the next 2 years.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Until next time.......peace out.

Bo (training city)

(Click on the image to enlarge and click again to zoom in)

Salone Shinanigans.

Short update: i don't have long, but i'll do what i can. Not a whole lot to tell other than funny stories. i'm pretty well adjusted now and everyday is class and sitting asking questions about the culture and language. My older sister is so helpful.

1. My sista Kenyeh told me how when i first got here everyone was so scared of me and even my mom said, "Kenyeh, her eyes are sooo white!" I thought that was pretty funny.

2. I've got to play a lot the last week with the little kids. I learned a game called Ge-Ge with stones that involved throwing them up and catching them in order and it's impossible to beat Nepor. She knows this and said, "Don't try an African girl at this game." Being competitive though, i just talk smack back and keep practicing til i beat her one of these days. I also learned stoneball, which is dodgeball with a plastic back packed with dirt) and i am undefeated. Agnus is hard to hit though because she is so tiny. Also, the kids are fascinated by hacky sack.

3. I came home the other night from me and my sista walking a fellow PCV home and all the women in my family were naked on the back porch bathing so i was like, what the hey, let's do this. and i went and got my bucket. TIA ya'll.

4. The PCT sitting next to me in the computer lab is Katie. She said her neighbor here in Africa just had a baby. Well, she happens to like babies so she wanted to see this newborn. Upon meeting the child, she was asked to attend a ceremony in which they asked her to name the African newborn. Evidently, it's traditional to name a baby after your father, so her neighbor's newborn baby's name is James. Also, they offered to give her the baby on multiple occasions....every day to be exact.

5. My younger sister Nepor thinks it's funny now to impersonate me, speak sophisticated english, and tell everyone she is from New Jersey. It's pretty entertaining. She has a great sense of humor. When she gets dressed to go somewhere and someone asks her where she is going, she says, to New Jersey. She also says she used to be white but she has stayed in the sun too long. silly girl.

6. We had a dance party on the porch the other night. 8 yrs. old and younger only. We clapped and sang while each child got up individually to dance. These girls can shake it. Little Agnus was the most surprising, she might be quiet, but i was mistaken about the shy part. and her English is perfect. They finally talked me into dancing so they could all laugh hysterically.

7. My younger nephew Foday never ever speaks unless it is to greet me. I'm currently working on this issue. However, he did speak up to rub it in my face the other day about Ghana beating the US in the world cup.

8. When we go to watch the world cup here, guess where we do it. in 1 of 2 places.....1. a huge sweaty room in Africa with a projector and fans, or 2. a big sweaty room in Africa with a projector that sells beer and is called Obama Hall. We watched the Ghana/USA game there. I went with my host dad and the rest of the PCVs. It definitely got rubbed in our face when we lost.

9. My family tells me every day that they are trying to make me fatter than I already am. I'll just let that one marinate.

10. Look up the songs Yori Yori by Museke. Main Song we hear everywhere. Definitely the most popular at the moment.


So, I tried to upload pictures, but the internet is way too slow, so I'll probably just mail home a memory card as soon as I can and let someone in the states upload. According to the stamps on people that have gotten mail, it only takes about 9 days for a letter to physically show up in country. Longer to get to us, but not too much longer. Just depends on who is traveling here from freetown. That's all i got for now. I'll get pics to ya when I can. I finally took pictures of my family. They are beautiful.

Peace out.

Update from Regan via Erin

Regan wanted me to pass on a couple of things she forgot:

1. In Bo, her current town, all of the communities have different names. The community she is living in is called New York.

2. Regan saw her first monkey today (not in a zoo). It was tied to the back of an eighteen-wheeler with a leash and was drinking a pint of liquor.

This is Africa. (TIA)

ok. so... where to begin. i will pre-apologize for no capitalization. the shift keys on this keyboard are shady. The title comes from the fact that everyone here says it. The first time my sister showed me the outhouse, all she did was open the door and say, "This is Africa." hahaha. So it has recently been abbreved to TIA. I learned to handwash my clothes this morning and when they were showing me, all they said was TIA. It has become a common acronym amongst our group.

well we finally made it to Bo finally as many of you read in my email. But i'll start with freetown. we stayed in freetown for 4 days confined to the national stadium hostel which included recreational fields for our use and full access to the football(soccer) stadium (the country's national stadium!) whenever we wanted to play frisbee and soccer. We had our orientation trainings every single day, visited the U.S. Ambassador's house in Freetown, and attended a special ceremony at the state house (white house) where we got to meet the president. woo hoo! pretty big deal.

So finally, we hop on the buses for the 4 hr. ride to Bo. The countryside was beautiful and every town we went through had kids waving and yelling greetings and welcoming us. it was pretty neat. We arrived in Bo for our adoption ceremony and were greeted by a performance of drums, traditional dancing, and magic tricks. They even got a few from our group to dance in the middle of the circle. We went to the adoption ceremony where our families names were called, then our names, and then we went to sit with our families and have a meal with them. From my family, my mama, 2 sistas, and niece were there to greet me. They immediately gave me the Mende name Nepor which means "to encourage". So we ate with our families and traveled by bus back to the town and to the house. a million kids came to our house to sit and just look at me. a couple would not come near me.....until i busted out the glow stick bracelets, which the adults liked as well. They were definitely cool in a place with no electricity.

Every day has been pretty lined out with training and then we are to go home and spend time with our families. our training is intense and includes health, safety, security, cross cultural differences, language(krio), and teaching techniques in the SL school. here, families are extended and many family members come to live with the family member closest to the best opportunities (school, work, etc.), so here's the breakdown of my family. Everyone except Papa and grandmama speak 3 languages. English, Krio, and Mende.


Papa - 56 yr. old, works out of town during the week and speaks 4 diff languages...english, krio, mende, and french.
Mama - 50 yr. old, works at the house and the market.
Miata (grandmama) - age unknown, 65 is guesstimation. only speaks Mende.
Kenyeh - 29 yr. old sister.
Josephine - 9 mo. old neice. kenyeh's daughter
Foday- 19 yr. old brother
Nepor - 13 yr. old sister
Betty - 10 yr. old cousin
Kenyeh - 10 yr. old cousin
Musa - 9 yr. old cousin (currently has Malaria)

so, that's my family and just to tell a little about them, they are amazing. They have given up a room that they did not have for me to stay in and even allowed Peace Corps to come in and change the locks so that they don't have a copy of the key. in their own house! They really spoil me. They are also teaching me a lot about the culture. The kids here do all of the chores. ALL OF THEM. nonstop. everyday. except for when they go to school, which isn't too long in the morning. Nepor walks about an hour to school everyday and is incredibly smart. i tutored her in math on monday night. All of the kids love school and when it gets dark out, they all huddle around a candle or light in the living room to study. They love school and studying more than anyone I have ever seen. They are a devout catholic family and wake up every morning to pray at 6 AM. Also, church services here last about 3 hrs. on Sunday. whew! Also, my family is trying to kill me with food. here, it is a good thing to be fat. and all they do is tell me that i need to be fatter and insist that i'm not eating enough when i've had all that i can handle. The food is very good, but i could pass on the fish with the bones in it. it's a little fishy, but other than that, i have liked everything.
Surprisingly, we as trainees are allowed quite a bit of independence. We often walk to town together or since the world cup is in progress, we meet at a place that is showing a game to drink a beer and watch some football, which is huge here. For the USA vs. England game, we all went to Obama Hall to watch. Last night, we went to a club called "after work" to dance to some live african music. Everyone here thinks it's very funny when we do anything.....dance, sing, attempt to speak the language, etc. When i get laughed at, i usually just shrug my shoulders and say, "I try". Which is Krio for i'm trying. krio is very similar to english, just more of a broken english.
It is definitely hot here, but i am almost used to sweating all the time and have learned to carry a hankie with me as a sweat rag. my favorite part of everyday is bucket bath time, in the morning and at night, when i can use cold water(i finally convinced my family not to boil it so that i could have a hot bath). BUT, these people don't sweat! I played volleyball one day in Freetown with a group of locals and i felt like i was in the movie avatar. They could all run faster and jump higher without sweating and i was just a mere human. it's crazy.
The kids are my favorite part so far. They are amazed at the sight of a white person and will be quick to greet or run to us for a high-five yelling "Pu-muey!" which means "white" in Mende. Some are scared to death of us though. The older people too.
The funniest thing that has happened so far is a friend grandmama came to visit. i hate i couldn't communicate with her because she certainly seemed hilarious. Well, after sitting and watching me for a couple of days, she finally came over to shake my hand and my sister Kenyeh said that she had said, "I'm gonna go over there and touch that Pumuey!," Which I found to be hilarious. So, I hugged her and then we had a dance party. haha.
The most touching thing that happened to me was a little girl next door. She walked with us to church and is very shy around me. about half way there, i feel something touch my hand and she held my hand silently the rest of the way to church. She clutched my bible through the entire service, carried it the whole way home while holding my hand with her other, and then when we got to her house, she silently looked up and handed it to me. I didn't learn her name until a couple of days later. I was walking home from class(about a 30 min. walk) when she showed up again and held my hand again, silently, the whole way home. When we got home my sister asked her name and age to show off her English skills and she said, "My name is Agnus. I am 6 yrs. old." She is such a doll!

i guess that is all that i have time for right now. But below are a couple of quick cultural notes.

1. It is amazing how the women(and some men) here carry everything on their heads without dropping it. i've even seen women disciplining children without dropping anytyhing from the bucket on their head. amazing!
2. First come first serve is literal here. if you were born first, then you eat first, drink first, sit first, etc. children wait on elders hand and foot as a sign of respect.
3. most people eat with their hands.
4. everyone except the really old people know a minimum of 3 languages. even kids who can't yet talk are spoken to in all different languages. it's fascinating.


That's all I got for now. Be back and post pictures when i can(then internet is kinda slow and it'll take awhile and cost a bit). love you and miss you all. peace out.

Don't worry I'll be fine.

First, check out our picture under news on the PC website. peacecorps.gov . Got the shots today at the beginning of what is about to be the longest day of our lives. Waiting, then shots (yellow fever), then waiting. Then flying 8 hrs, then waiting 4 more, then flying 8 hrs. again.

The group that is going together is so unbelievably amazing. We immediately hit it off and because awesome friends and do a great job of looking out for each other. It didn't take us long through training and talking about upcoming experiences that this will be our support network, much like a family, for the next 2 yrs. And we can't wait!

Most interesting fact of the day: We get to have a PC softball tournament in country in which we compete against PC teams from surrounding countries, which I thought was wicked awesome.

Board the plane shortly and take off at 5:45.

Peace out.

Training and Celebration

Today, we spent all day in training. We learned a lot about Sierra Leone and what to expect when we get there and how our stay will affect us. We talked a lot about safety and culture and how important it is to be flexible and adaptable.

After a long morning, we took a lunch break before heading to the PC Headquarters for a celebration of the return of the PC to SL. At this celebration, there were several speakers including the PC Chief of Staff, the africa region acting director, 2 members of the Friends of Sierra Leone, and the Ambassador from the Embassy of Sierra Leone. It was a very energizing event because we got to meet Returned volunteers (RPCVs) that served in Salone. One man was in the first group that went in 1962 when the PC started. There were also people there that were born in Sierra Leone and everyone had amazing stories and wonderful things to say about the excitement of Sierra Leoneans that the Peace Corps is returning.

After the speaker, we had traditional Sierra Leonean food which included Kasava leaves and rice, fish curry, fish balls (not literally), meatballs, fried plantains, and fresh fruit. It was certainly interesting, but very good.

So, that's it for today. Headed to bond with the other volunteers right now and in the morning, we have to go get the yellow fever shot and then head to the airport to leave for Africa!

Made it to DC

Well, after a perfect flight from Birmingham to Charlotte, NC, I boarded the next plane to DC only to sit on the plane on the runway for 3 hrs because of the weather in DC! Luckily, I was sitting between two awesome girls and we kept pretty busy chatting and working puzzles and stuff. After learning that there was a Department of Transportation "3 hr rule" and they were getting ready to take us back to the gate and cancel our flight, they decided to take off.

So I finally made it to DC. I got to the hotel and couldn't find the rest of the group because I was late. However, my roommate, which i would not meet until bedtime had already set up shop and I was a little worried I wouldn't get to meet her and that my rooster alarm clock would wake her up without us even knowing each other. ha ha ha.

I finally ran into a couple of people and we decided to eat together and we just so happened to find the rest of the group. We all ate at a pizzeria and chatted about our backgrounds. Turns out, this is an amazingly interesting group of people that is equally excited about our task at hand. However, I'm the only person from way down south. So while everyone talks about where they're from and who they know in each city, nobody seems to know anything about Alabama. That kind of makes it fun though and because of my accent, everyone tries to guess where I'm from. They love the country stories I have as much as I love hearing about their snowboarding, moose encounters, and such.

We all sat around and had a few drinks and talked about what we look forward to the most and while I still haven't met everyone, I'm around people now that are taking the same huge step that I am, and I'm more excited than ever to embark on this adventure!

FYI....we should be getting a cell phone soon after we get to Salone and I'll post the number on the blog, but we won't have internet access until the second weekend that we are in country. I'll update as soon as possible.

Peace out.

Let the Peace Corp adventure begin

Well, I guess it's time to start blogging again as I prepare to set out on this new adventure. For the past year, I have been going through the intensive application process for the U.S. Peace Corp. Below are the major milestones and timeline for the process that I have documented:

Departure: June 2, 2010
Assignment: Secondary Math Teacher
Location: Sierra Leone, West Africa
Length: 27 months

Feb. 26, 2009 - Start application process
April 17, 2009 - Submit completed application
May 21, 2009 - 2 hr. phone interview with Regional recruiter
July 24, 2009 - Officially nominated to go to Africa as a secondary math teacher
August 1, 2009 - received medical kit in the mail
September 1, 2009 - mailed in Medical Kit
October 4, 2009- learned that follow up bloodwork was necessary
February 18, 2010 - MEDICAL CLEARANCE
March 10, 2010 - follow up commitment questions
March 19, 2010 - Recieved official invitation kit
March 26, 2010 - Accepted invitation and sold car

So, as you can see, this process has been pretty extensive and time consuming. Lately, I have been freaking out a little with all the technicalities, paperwork, packing, moving, and researching that needs to be done before my departure on June 2. Talking on facebook with my fellow Sierra Leonean volunteers has been very helpful in my information gathering about what should be packed and what may or may not be acceptable in Sierra Leone.

Last night, I attended a public school function to promote reading in public schools of Greene County, Alabama. One of the first people that I met at this function was a woman by the name of Julia Spree that was a PCV in Iran in 1971. She absolutely revived my excitement over this upcoming experience. She said it was the most fascinating thing that she had ever done and told me specific stories of her time as a volunteer. She also answered all of the questions that I had ab out culture shock, coming home, financial issues, and what gifts to take to my future possible host family.

I'm excited, but running out of time to get everything ready.