I wanted to get an update to people yesterday but I have been jet lagged and also quite busy. Plus the internet here at the main Peace Corps compound is pretty slow, especially when other people are trying to use it also. So to begin:
As we lined up to board the plane to Dakar I was very sad and it was substantially more difficult than I expected, but once I got on the plane I was super excited. During the plane ride I was back down and back up again, and then we landed in Dakar and all hell broke lose. PC Washington told us they would check the baggage all the way to Conarky, but instead we had to go through customs, pick up our baggage, and then go back through customs to get on our connecting flight to Conakry, all without any help or direction whatsoever. A few of the volunteers speak French and they probably saved our group from being stuck in Senegal.
What can I say about Guinea? We were met at the airport by current volunteers and staff, which was great and they were very friendly. The ride to the PC compound was a huge eye-opener. The shear poverty of the people in Conakry is astounding. Nearly all buildings are concrete with tin roofs and no windows. There are few to no traffic rules and only a few paved roads. And the population density is much higher than I was prepared for, even knowing the density before I left.
The PC staff in Guinea seem excellent, though I won’t really know until later. Beyond being friendly they seem genuinely interested in volunteers and committed to getting us up and running. I’m excited to work with them.
There are also some current volunteers that are here to help us train, mostly I think by telling us stories of what their lives are like. One volunteer works in a major city with a microfinancing NGO, doing business trainings with small groups of women looking to start a business. Examples of businesses include keeping bees, processing rice, and selling the powder of a medicinal plant.
And on to my fellow volunteers. The entire group of 29 seems awesome. Basically every volunteer I’m with is really interesting, motivated and intelligent. Its a little intimidating to be honest. There are of course the different personalities and styles and there will be friction, but not one of them is boring.
But we are probably all worried that we are the ‘most’ boring of the group, or that we are unliked, or that we aren’t as smart, etc, etc… The typical worries of people in a new group and a new life. Not to trivialize them, and it seems like we are each dealing with our own inner demons. But its nice because more than likely 1 or 5 or 10 other people are dealing with similar demons.
Anyway, today has been great and really positive. Yesterday was difficult. With basically no sleep and feeling the full weight of being in Guinea for two years, I was having a lot of serious doubts and feeling pretty isolated. But this evening I’m left with a feeling that the group will continue to congeal, that I will have some great friends, and that the experience will be very challenging but probably everything I was looking for and more… Reading that, I need to get my expectations back down to reality. The greatest struggle so far has just been managing the ups and downs.
Here are some pictures:
