The big day has arrived. After more than a year of waiting, followed by months of training, I am finally a volunteer. The Peace Corps has specific terminology for a person at each stage in the process. Applicant, nominee, invitee, stagiaire and finally volunteer. We all had outfits made in locally bought fabrics- everyone in my group, Community Economic Development, wore a purplish green floral print. Why green flowers? Because we plant money trees. Sorry, it’s a terrible joke we use when we are competitive with the other sectors here in Guinea- Public Health and Agroforestery. We had speakers from the Guinean government, US Embassy, and Peace Corps. We all raised our right hand and swore to defend the US Constitution against all enemies. I'm not joking. Leaving Dubreka was a bit sad. I had to say goodbye to my host family and my husband. Don’t freak out. I’m not actually married. On my walk to school there is a three-year-old boy who would always run out to me no matter what he was doing and high five or fist-bump me. Or raise his arms over his head, which means pick me up and spin me around. He always babbled at me in Susu. About 10 days ago, I met his dad who speaks French and he told me that his son was telling everyone that we were married. It was pretty cute. His name is Ousman Camara, which is the Guinean equivalent of John Smith. After the ceremony, we went over to the country director’s house and swam in her pool. It was so nice that you could forget that you are in Guinea. It was a tropical paradise and a reminder of the potential that Guinea has for eco-tourism. So now I am just hanging out in Conakry. On Tuesday I will go out to my site and the real work will begin.
No comments:
Post a Comment