going out in style

>> so, we decided to go out in style here in freetown. the events with the 'friends of sierra leone' were all class affairs, meetings with dignitaries and officials, good food, good conversation. i said it in a previous post, but my opinion of this group has skyrocketed. we spent an evening with a friend at his apartment in freetown, were treated to ice cold cranberry and vodka, chocolate chip cookies, and his opulent space. amazing. finally, last night, we were invited to a private party at a nearby apartment complex. to give you an idea of how surreal this was, the following were in attendance: champagne, cheez-its, bbq chicken, exotic dips, lemon squares, chocolate pecan cake, ice-cold beer, hot dogs, pasta salad, a large swimming pool, white wine, red wine, ice cubes, etc. the afternoon was spent relaxing, eating, and talking (as we were given a lot of attention, peace corps volunteers looking clean? and articulate? and that we were.), and the party began to die down. we retreated inside to the amazing leather couches only to have one of the other guests run inside to inform us that we were all going swimming. now. in our clothes. we moved to the pool, skeptical. it only took a few moments of contemplation for me to realize that the chances of me again having the option to swim in a swimming pool with these people, in sierra leone, after an afternoon of partying, was pretty much nil. off with the shorts and shirt. into the pool. the following hours were spent lazily swimming around, games of 'marco polo,' etc., and generally being amazed at our lives. it began to rain (of course), and when it threatened to get bad, we dressed and made our way home in time for our peace corps curfew. absolutely amazing, and absolutely not likely to happen again anytime soon :) i love and miss you all.. and i will see you on monday :)

anxious, yes.

>> so, i remain in freetown. i spent time with the 'friends of sierra leone' on monday and tuesday, and i'm glad i did- my opinion of them, made early in our training while still getting my bearing, was admittedly that they were perhaps just a *little* too enthusiastic about sierra leone. having been here a year, i've seen the things they said i would see, i've dealt with some of the problems they said i would deal with, and my opinion has generally improved. ive had numerous conversations with them in which we both -leveled- with each other, and it's been great. we had a reception at the ambassador's house on tuesday night, (still an amazing property), and generally got to schmooze and schmaltz the early evening away :) tonight, we have the closing reception and dinner for their visit. in conclusion, my opinion has changed, for the better. in other news, i'm ready to go home. i purpsosely came to freetown so that i would not be -dancing in place- in gbendembu, but now i find myself doing the same thing in freetown, granted it means internet, movies, and western food (kind of like a preamble to home, honestly). sound good? wait wait, it's africa. the giardia went on its merry way, but for whatever reason, i woke up yesterday incredibly nauseous and uncomfortable. (i think it's morning sickness). after vomiting and more diarrhea, yesterday was pretty much shot. so, today, thursday, i'm going to the dentist here in freetown (give me strength..) and then to the bank, then back to the hostel to relax on the veranda with a good book. or at least, that's the plan :) i love and miss you all.

lemme back up a bit

>> so i'm back in freetown. since we talked last, i've worked with the new trainees, finished teaching my first year of teaching biology in africa, turned in my grades, packed my bags for home, gotten giardia a second time, and arrived in freetown safely, driven in a Peace Corps vehicle, because they were going my way. the new trainees are knowledgeable, way more than we were at this point, which is intimidating / great. they're a little naive, but so were we when we first arrived; there's a lot of lessons they have yet to learn (and i do to...). finishing my first year of teaching was anticlimactic, since the students stopped really interacting for the last few weeks because they saw the summer vacation approaching (kinda the same as in an American classroom). i turned in my grades, which was not that bad, but working in the grades office was, (a HUGE headache),.. whereas in many classrooms in America we utilize these pretty computer-generated-software printouts of grades, in Africa it's all done by hand. my hand. i stayed until 4 AM one morning, came back at 6:30 AM, stayed until 3 PM, collapsed at home, came back, worked until dark and it was finished. a sizeable amount of work. with the school year done, i spent more time with foday and my village, which was great :) although large stinging ants decided that my shower is their new favorite rest stop. this was especially fun in the morning, naked, taking a bucket bath, and feeling my feet burning and prickling as they bit me. cut to me throwing boxers back on, resisting the urge to scream, running outside, seeing that the floor of the shower is in fact a small interstate of ants. i go and get foday, because i'm not man enough, and my feet hurt, and he came with one of the brooms and smacked, cleaned, and frustrated the ants. they left. i bathed. now i check the shower for ants. i had the, err, runs, but they got worse, much worse, and, grudgingly, i called laura (because i hate calling and saying 'laura, i'm pooping a lot') and we agreed it was indeed giardia again. superb. giardia is like diarrhea on steroids, so, yes, diarrhea + your body on fire + aches + cramps + incredible burps and other gaseous exchanges. it's fun! i packed my bags for home, and was informed a snake was in my latrine. apparently someone posted about my latrine on some social networking site, because everyone wants to go there now. the snake fell into the pit, what a terrible way to die, and life moves on. i went to makeni, collected some letters from trainees, and got a ride to freetown, and here we are. all caught up? :) i love and miss you all.

on the porch with a book

>> after i've taught for the day, graded my papers, and settled into being home and not on display, i usually settle down to read for awhile. i'm not there for hours, but i loved reading growing up and lost that with the high school / facebook / college. this is a list of the books i've read since arrival in sierra leone one year ago. books denoted with blue were my favorites and you should go read them :)

1. Inferno by Dante


2. Purgatorio by Dante


3. Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston


4. Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler


5. Thunder Over the Ochoco by Gale Ontko


6. The Oracle Glass by Judith Merkle Riley


7. Me Speak Pretty One Day by David Sedaris


8. Dress Your Family in Curdoroy and Denim by David Sedaris


9. Nimitz Class by Patrick Robinson


10. Kilo Class by Patrick Robinson


11. H.M.S. Unseen by Patrick Robinson


12. U.S.S. Seawolf by Patrick Robinson


13. Ghost Force by Patrick Robinson


14. Language and Faith by John Hutchinson


15. The Art of Prayer by Kenneth Hagin


16. Black Man's Grave by Gary Stewart and John Amman


17. Blood Diamonds by Greg Campbell


18. Classroom Management (Peace Corps Publication)


19. Greaseless by Loretta Graziano Breuing


20. Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee


21. Bee Season by Myla Goldberg


22. Proust was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer


23. Ford County Stories by John Grisham


24. Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz


25. Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton


26. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown


27. Don't Look Behind You by Peter Wilson


28. Whatever You Do, Don't Run by Peter Wilson


29. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides


30. America's Best Science & Nature Writing 2010 Edited by Freeman Dyson


31. Hannibal by Thomas Harris


32. Blood Safari by Deon Meyer


33. Breathless by Dean Koontz


34. Twistor by John Cramer


35. Einstein's Bridge by John Cramer


36. Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart


37. Confessions by St. Augustine


38. Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon


39. Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier


40. A Woman Trapped in a Woman's Body by Lauren Weedman


41. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris


42. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson


43. Krakatoa by Simon Winchester


44. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway


45. House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Some of these books were terrible. Some are books that I'll eventually be buying when I return home. I have donated all of these to our library at the Peace Corps compound for others to enjoy. i love and miss you all.

and there was light

>> our solar system is up and running! the three dinner-table-size panels were hauled onto the tin roof and with the final installations and connections, we have electricity. let me emphasize how much of a big deal this is. when we go into the staff room, and flick the switch, lights come on. when i go into the computer room, i can turn on my laptop or the school computer anytime i want. at nighttime, there are lights in every classroom where students can come to study (but let's be honest they're there to flirt and cause problems as the past week has shown) but also where teachers can continue to grade their papers and do work. the ability to have a place to go after 7:30PM (dark) where i can continue to read, listen to music, muse, anything beside stall before going to bed, is outstanding. the problems facing the administration and students now, though, is how to regulate it, as there have already been some questionable behavior regarding the availability of energy. i'll give you a hint: al-fabah in town charges 1,000Le to charge a phone battery- if i offer to charge it for 800Le at the school,... i think you understand, so *for now* the solar power is a blessing and a curse. i hope that the school grows into this (extremely rare) opportunity and comes to improve over time with their usage and understanding of it. i love and miss you all.

the one year anniversary

>> i'm a little flabbergasted that it has been one year since i stepped off the plane at lungi into the sweltering heat and humidity and began this ridiculous beautiful chaos of an adventure. the next group of volunteers arrived late on june 2nd, and i know they're going through something pretty similar right about now. i've learned a lot of things about sierra leone, about myself, about who i am, about who i am not, about what principles i am willing to bend on, about which principles i will fight for. i've made plenty of mistakes, I've gotten upset with people, i've walked out of classes, and I've been a bad volunteer. i've had students tell me the only reason they've stayed in gbendembu is because i'm their teacher. students tell me that i inspire them. i've had teachers tell me that they admire me. i've had neighbors, who can barely feed themselves, give me food when i was low on money (an aside, rice is now 1,500Le a cup and when i first arrived it was 500Le a cup,.. salaries haven't increased) when she didn't have to. i can't understand lucy's loko, she can't understand my english, and neither of us speaks good krio. but through a mix of pantomiming and smiling and HUMANITY, we have a friendship that honestly warms my heart. foday, with two children and a wife, buying the palm wine for me, getting my clothes from the tailor because he knew i was bankrupt, paying for it when his pockets are already empty. i've had phone conversations with my family where i asked, 'what am i doing here?' and other conversations that, without me realizing it, answered that very question. i've resented people, and i've been resented by people. i've been stopped by the police. i've had money and belongings stolen from me. i've had foday take my headphones, listen to the music i love, and smile at me and, without english or temne or anything, connect. it's hard for me to believe that i have been here a year. i love and miss you all, and i will see you july 25 :)

frogs / wasps

>> i'll be concise about these delightful organisms. the frogs are mating. the creek, about a hundred yards away, is where they like to mate. to give you an idea of how loud it was a couple nights ago, foday and i had to YELL to hear each other five feet apart. there are SO MANY FROGS making SO MANY MORE FROGS. also, walking to my latrine in the back now requires a flashlight because the frogs are always on my path and i really don't want to step on one although i suppose the damage to him/her might be worse than to me. >> the wasps are starting to become a nuisance. apparently my place is now the hip place to bee seen. they're all building those little gray apartment complexes in my toilet, outside my toilet, on my porch, in my hut, just about everywhere. like my initial trepidations with spiders, though, aka me naively buying insect spray and thinking i'd keep them at bay, i'll just have to learn to live with the wasps. and the frogs. the more the merrier, right? i love and miss you all.