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.