Hitting the Ground Running

…and we’re off.  I’m living alone in an African village. It’s a hell of a thing when you think about it, still a shock when I stop to think about it. It happened pretty quick. The night before leaving, as evidenced by my late night blog post, I didn’t sleep much. I slept for most of the car ride to my site. After a brief meeting with a few officials I was unloading my belongings in front of my house. Next thing I know my Program Director (essentially my boss for the next two years) says good luck and goes in for what was an extremely awkward hug between two men who barely know each other. Lucky for me it was followed by some encouraging words and tight embraces from 3 other volunteers who would then have to pile back into the car and head off for the rest of an 8 hour journey. It really was the band-aid technique. Do it quick and deal with it!



Some of welcoming party.



Things went a lot smoother than I expected they would for the first week. It was the first time that I truly appreciated the slow pace of Guinean life because that means I had plenty of time to settle in on my own schedule. Outside of having to greet random neighbors when they stop by I had most the time to myself to set up my house. With the few things that I have it really didn’t take all that long but moving is stressful in the States so multiply that by Guinea and the task gets a little larger.

I also didn’t have to wait long to have my first visitors. The first Sunday I was at site another volunteer stopped by to see how I was adjusting. It was nice to see another American so quick after getting there as the feeling of abandon was setting in. I got to play tour guide as I showed off the village that was entirely new to me too but she politely followed along as I pointed out obvious landmarks. My second visitor was a friend named Cisse. He is the only person I can honestly say is my Guinean friend. He’s really great about my inconsistent French and is able to have arguments in French or English. It was really nice to have him visit because he unknowingly helped me celebrate my birthday. I know I’m getting to the point where birthdays can pass without needing too much of notice but it was nice to not be alone.

Coming up much sooner than expected is the first day of school. I haven’t had a first day of school (syllabus week doesn’t count) in so long but I can still remember the jitters of the first day. Fresh notebooks, newly sharpened pencils and planning (and pretending you didn’t) your outfit. I feel like I’m going back to middle school, which I technically am, but this time I’m a teacher and the students are Guineans- who are sometimes older than me. Wish me luck!

Dante