Dante est retourné!

For the non-french readers, the above title means “Dante has returned”. It seems an odd statement to use for a title but it works in context. The current president of Guinea, Alpha Conde, ran using the slogan “Guinée is back”, just like that....in English. Not sure what campaign manager told him to use English but hey he's president isn't he?! As educational as this tangent is, I'll continue.


I'm back! Back in Guinea, back to “la vie volontaire”, back to constant (and terrible) Franglais, back to daily fishy rice, back to sitting 2 in the front and 4 in the back. That last one is in no way a euphemism and instead refers to the real packing strategy that is public transportation in Guinea. Throughout my entire trip back home all my concerned friends and family would test my staying power and constantly ask the question “are you ready to go back?”, or something to that effect. I described in my last post the odd feeling of boarding the plane and how the feeling was so different. It was like that arriving too. For as different as my two worlds are, it was entirely natural to get back into Guinea life. I didn't show up expecting that Guinea had magically installed electricity and super markets while I was gone. I got off the plane and saw just what I expected. Things were the same and that much was comforting.


I spent most of my first day back in bed catching up on the sleep that I neglected in favor of watching movies on the plane. Power-napping my way through jet-lag was a necessary step if I was going to make it through the next month. August was a jam packed month with travel, vacation and fun, but now I was looking at September which was just as packed but with travel, work and fun. I went straight from Conakry to Dubreka, the location of my training, a whole year beforehand. This time I was going to Dubreka as a trainer and not as a trainee. Being in Dubreka is a bit of a flashback each time I go back. I see my old host family and walk around where I spent my first three months of my Guinean life. The new group of PCV's arrived in July but this would be the first time that I was going to see them as a trainer. 

Helping out at Practice School.

Being as the trainees were nearing the end of PST, they were already in the middle of practice school by the time I got there. It was really cool to see how far they all had come already. Helping out with practice school was really easy and the trainees were looking really strong. The best part of being a trainer is the chance to meet all the new volunteers, which was awesome. Thankfully, I've now been joined by another fellow Michigan Wolverine. Needless to say, we were fast friends.


That weekend was the planned trip for G24 to go shopping in Conakry, so as quick as I left I was headed back. There really wasn't much work to do that weekend besides playing tour guide for Conakry and drawing the occasional treasure map to finding the hidden gems of pseudo-American products. It was a lucky weekend to be in Conakry because of all the other unexpected guests. A good friend who was weeks away from the end of his service was there and thus, the celebration weekend began. We took full advantage of our last party together in Guinea and pulled out all the stops: decent beer, Jameson, live-streaming the U of M game, and cigars on the roof at 4 AM (after the U of M victory!). It was honestly the best way I could send off a good friend and the end of his time being a Peace Corps Volunteer and a damn good one at that.

Village skies seem bigger.

The last full week of training is pretty light, mostly filled with surveys, tests and ceremonies. I enjoyed the week hanging out with some old friends from my stage and making new friends in the new stage. I was sitting around talking with the Training Manager one afternoon when he mentioned he was in my village recently. I wasn't too surprised since Ousmane knows just about everyone in Guinea but I was a bit disconcerted when he told me he was there for a funeral. He then told me that an old man in village passed away. I immediately knew which old man it was. It was the man who would smile and wave at me every morning on my walk to school. I can honestly say he saw me 97% of the days, I've lived in Wonkifong. He was a staple to me. It hit me pretty hard that I wasn't there to say goodbye and made me realize how much I miss my village. For as much as I complain about them on the whole, there are certain people in my village that I have a true fondness for. We may not sit down and chat about life for hours on end, but we talk everyday and I like that. I'll miss that old man every time I walk by his house and remember his impressively long, white beard and genuine smile as he squeaked out a “Bonjour!” I moved on with the rest of my week and made sure to stop by the village one afternoon, if only for a few hours.


The last days of PST were so much fun for me and I was determined to help G24 have a good time too. By that time in PST, you are quite comfortable with your host family, your living arrangement and Dubreka in general so things are really manageable, leaving extra time for fun stuff. So with our free time we took one more trip to the beautiful waterfall near Dubreka. 



In a bittersweet ending to my time as a trainer, I had to run off before the real swearing-in ceremony so I could make it to the second leg of my work/fun filled September: Malaria Boot Camp in Thies, Senegal.