Novotel GHI Conakry

... was the first time I have ev** seen the bloated stomachs of children who are starving). The music and dancing for the c**emonies w**e unbelievable. That being said, the trip out was an adventure ... the 660km of potholed roads took 20 hours to drive, and the minibus and packed to the roof ... true African style. The drumming was great! Famoudou is a v**y humble man, consid**ing ev**ything that he has achieved, and an excellent ...

... La chance que ces deux ont eu de trouver cette maison à un prix beaucoup plus qu'abordable est incroyable et moi j'ai profité de leur hospitalité et sympathie impaire, très rare chez la plupart des français que j'ai connus, pour me reposer un peu et taper des textes pour le blog non-stop. Entre des échanges d'information toujours aussi relevante, des magnifiques bouffes chaque nuit, des discussions passionnantes et une sympathie sans limites de la part de mes ...

... cool weather. Then the last two weeks I've been in my village working on the World Map Project. WMP was started in 1989 by a volunteer somewhere in South America. By drawing a huge grid on a wall, canvas, playground, etc. you can slowly but accurately draw the entire world. In the past 19 years volunteers have completed this project all over the globe. My local elementary school does not own a map at all, so geography is not a strong point. I've always loving ...

... spending a week and a half in Florida, sleeping on a pull out couch with my two sisters (who kick in the night), I drove with my dad back to Indiana. We ate junk food, listened to Disney music and played games. It was really nice to have some time with him; he worked really hard the whole time I was back, even on the weekends that I only saw him at night right before bed. When we arrived at our house in Indiana it was 11:30 and we were locked out ...

... motion with her hands and yelling "Na Yan!" Ignore this. However, if she begins to accompany it with kissing/sucking noises in your direction, threaten force feeding of rice and sauce and she will quickly not want you to come closer so quickly. 4. Speaking of rice: there are some experiences in Africa which we (I speak for all PCV's in our G-15 training group) feel are too painful/traumatizing to be discussed. Don't ...

... a couple times and she is Peace Corps. She went around greeting her village and singing songs in Malinke. She played cards with the men, cooked and ate rice with the women and played hand games with the kids. Her big deal was she wanted the kids to wear shoes. She always would tell her neighbor children to go put on their shoes. When she came to say goodbye to her village, all the kids were wearing shoes. I'm so proud of you Melissa ...

... of toilet paper, I was forced to go native and use the water method. I got back in the car, minus one of my favorite pair of underwear, but 5 km later I was back outside. The car stopped and I jumped out telling them I'd just get off there. Then I run into nearest compound. There are only children there. I do the squatting motion and they understand and show me to the latrine. When I come out 20 minutes later, stomach still rebelling ...

... Women wail when someone dies but that is about it. This man did not know what to do with himself so he told me it was ok, we would find me another cat. Wrong freakin thing to say. "I don't want another one," I screamed at him, "I want that one back!" Then I turned and rushed into my house, slammed the door in his face and threw myself on my bed. I spent the next couple hours sobbing hysterically. I couldn't stop. When I finally got myself under ...

... we were served hors d'oeuvres which were so good, mini-burgers, mini pizzas, eclairs, tuna, cheese on bread. Things we haven't seen in ages! I ate far too much. That night we had a party in the volunteer house to celebrate. Candee, Katy and Amy made superlatives for all of the former trainees. Mine was "Most Likely to Think Rat is Fine Dining". From that we moved to an impromptu talent show where Candee and Amy did stand up comedy, Andrew ...