Thanksgiving Greetings from Lisa

Hey everybody, apologies for the let down on the written mail the last few weeks, as the time to go home approaches, I’m saving my stories for in person, also I’ve been pretty busy the last few weeks. In a short news recap, for those of you too busy to read the whole blog, unfortunately, I lost my new site mate, Life Skills was a great time, and the Solar Cooker Conference was a big success. Keep reading for details and more general ramblings as usual. The other Lisa, the clean Lisa as we liked to call her- mostly because she was new and all of her clothes had not yet turned a reddish brown- has left Guinea to return back to the states. Lisa, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye, and I wish you very very well! Also, thanks for bequeathing me the toilet paper and wine. Bonus. I forgot to bring your email address with me to Kankan, but next time I have internet access, I’ll send you an email.

Life Skills, the training all volunteers go through at about the 9 month point from arrival is a week long training in which you bring a counterpart from your home town to Mamou for week long focused training of trainers for AIDS trainings. Did I say training enough times? I brought my good friend Cherif, and he was a great partner and really receptive to the information, he’s a soccer player and has already started talking to all of his friends about the dangers of AIDS and the importance of proper condom usage. We even did our first training of trainers in Dinguiraye last Sunday for ARAD, an association of mostly high school and university kids who want to start doing AIDS prevention work and environmental protection in Dinguiraye. I’ve been working with this group for a while to try and plan an AIDS sensitization soccer tournament.

Also, Dinguiraye’s first semi-annual solar cooker conference (or as I like to call it, a product launch party) was a huge success. This was my first really big project, at least 4 months in planning with N’Diaye, our master carpenter, starting with basic marketing training, accounting training, salesmanship, writing marketing brochures at the same time as computer training, and finally conference planning. We had 50 attendees the first day, including the mayor and other important functionaries and ONG workers and had a lively discussion and debate about health, the environment, and the economic sensitization that making an investment in a solar cooker is a very good thing. The next day we had far less attendees, but there were about 12 women who got really involved in the demonstration and hands on experience with the solar cookers. N’Diaye was a great master of ceremonies and we successfully cooked 4 banana breads and rice and sauce for the exhibitions. Six people have signed up to buy them- which is a huge deal, I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the diffusion of new technology curve, but to have 6 early adopters on a brand new product in the information dissemination stage in a 3rd world country is amazing. People in Dinguiraye are excited and talking about this product still. Rob, a good friend and agro forestry volunteer came by for the conference and I slyly tricked him into working and giving a talk about the environment. That same weekend, we did the training for trainers for AIDS sensitizations. So, it’s been a little busy.

A l’heure la, je suis à Kankan pour la fête de Thanks giving. So that means if anyone wants to call me, you have until Friday morning, possibly evening (obviously my time) to try the house cell phone. Call my parents if you need the number. Our boss, the country director awesomely sent a turkey to each regional capital, so we’re going to slow cook that tomorrow over a wood fire, and deep fry 3 chickens we bought in the market today. Also on the menu plans: candied yams (some how I got in charge of those, so I suppose I better learn how to cook them soon) mashed potatoes, green beans, pumpkin bars, gravy, salad, pumpkin soup (or other various gord if pumpkin is not available) banana pudding, and in addition to my candied yams charge, I’m going to try my luck at coconut cream pie. One of my goals was to learn how to cook for myself here, and I’m doing alright so far. Now in my repertoire: fried eggplant parmesan, quiche, home made cheese from milk powder (not sure how useful that one will be in the states) awesome spaghetti sauce from scratch, tortillas and chips from scratch, banana bread, all kinds of soups and stews and sauces, and hopefully by the end of this weekend, yams and coconut creamed pie. As most of our parties are themed here, I think tomorrow will be sweat pants themed. Hey, we do the best we can in West Africa.

As for the aforementioned general ramblings, latest deep thoughts: Peace Corps is like life condensed. As we first arrive in country, we are birthed from the moment we step of the plane and grow through infant and toddler stages during the three month training, learning how to talk and walk all over again. The volunteers who got here the year before us are like our parents, guiding our way with advice we don’t always listen to. We like to learn from our own mistakes, even if they’re repetitions of what the volunteers did before us. Growing up quickly in stage, we’re kicked out on our own in our sites and spend our adolescence, the first 3 months at site in which we’re not required to do any projects, we take it easy, make mistakes, go through huge emotional and cultural changes and adjustments. At site we find our nearest neighbours are like parents, they’ve been here for a year, and if you’re lucky like me, you have a grandma, Monica, my great friend and neighbour in Lansanaya is in her 3rd year (she extended) and can constantly be heard saying things like “you know, back when I first got here, the price of an egg was only 200 cent Franc” (the tremendous inflation also helps the metaphor of a life unfolding- to read about the energy crisis, check out the WSJ story WSJ.com - As Fuel Prices Soar, A Country Unravels* )Then we’re growing into our Guinea selves, starting projects and making confident decisions. Other members from our group decide Guinea is not for them and leave their service early, friends lost along the way. Next January, the new group of about 40 fresh volunteers will arrive, and we will find ourselves in the parent like position. Meanwhile, the group that was here the year before us will start to leave us.

Time is flying here, and the different stages of development in Peace Corps make me think about how fast all the coming years will probably go, each day is so special. I can really say I feel like I’ve finally hit my stride here, I’m happy at site, I have really good Guinean and especially close American friends. While I’ll be part sad to be missing my first big family holiday at home, I’m happy and thankful to be spending it with my family here. So happy thanksgiving everybody, can’t wait to see you in less than a month.