Day 081 - Now I am an official PCV!

We are finally swore in officially as Peace Corps Volunteer on Friday. All 14 of us. Unfortunately we lost one dear friend Brian to the good US of A, and Travis is being transfered to Vanuatu (the survivor island) due to health issues. Brian was in most of my French language classes and I enjoyed his humor a lot, I am really going to miss having him here. I can't help being upset with him leaving us, but I certainly hope that what he decided was best for him. So, that brings the original group of 16 to 14, still 9 women but only 5 men. Was I really excited and emotional during the ceremony? You ask. Only briefly, but that doesn't mean I am not excited to be here. It is just that I felt that I was a volunteer the moment I stepped in Guinee. We had a veteran volunteers who taught English in the 60's for 2 years in Togo then another 2 years in Guinee giving us an speech during the ceremony, and she said one thing is English, which was "You will never be the same again." That's when I got a little emotional. I am excited for the transformation that the next 2 years will bring me. The ceremony was held at a nice hotel, attended by the top officials of education ministry, the Peace Corps Guinee country directors and staff and of course the United States ambassador to Guinee (who also gave a speech).

The past few days in Conakry, we mostly shopped, hung around the volunteer transit house, used internet a lot and talked on the phone. We were all given a resonable amount of settling allowance so we can buy some essential household stuff, like stove, gas tank, sheets, pillow, cooking ware, etc. There is no such thing as plastic here (debit card). We all walked out of the bank with a thick stack of bills in our backpacks. Couldn't have fit them in our wallet or in a money belt. I don't understant it, but the largest note only has a face value of the equivalent of a US dollar. Imagine carrying $200 in all dollar bills. Just like the 2nd year volunteers said, it seems like we are given a lot of money, but with the recent price increase, my wallet is draining very quickly. Thanks goodness that I am inheriting a lot of stuff from the volunteer before me, so I don't have to buy a lot as some people. I think I am finally getting the money a little bit now. We all treated ourself to a brunch today at a really nice French restaurant in Conakry. I think it is probably the most fancy western style restaurant in town. It ate a big whole in my pocket, but it was well worth it. I can just see it now when I go back to the US, even the simplest meal will taste so good to me!

For most of us, it will probably be another 6-9 months before we will come back to Conakry after we leave for our sites on Sunday. I am keeping my mailing address at Conakry since it is more secure. Once a month in the beginning of the month, a mail truck will gather all our letters and packages received in Conakry and deliver them to around 100 somewhat sites in Guinee. So, please still send your lovely letters to

Bonnie, PCV
(e-mail Michael for Mailing Address)