Day 141 - I miss my mom's cooking from time to time...

Hmm, hmm, hmm, that was such a good meal. You should try it, too. Yes, I know that my taste standard probably has lowered since I came to Guinea, but I think you agree with me when you try it, too. Thank you Cindy or was it Di and Patty (I've received so many packages and I am loosing track), for providing 2 really great meals from home. One was tofu that I cooked w/ beef and tomato sauce (in a package), the other is Trader Joe's Tuna in Red Panang curry sauce which I heated up today. Yes, it's quick and de-li-cious! I also stir fried local wild spinach called boroboro, eggplants, onions and garlic, added a little soysauce and sugar, and voila, it was a feast! I figure I won't be here for Thanksgiving, so I will treat myself a little early. 

That's the thing w/ the food I got from US, I always want to save them, because I can't buy them here. Believe it or not, Cindy also sent me a can of fois gras, which has been sitting in the trunks for about 5 months now, perhaps I will break into it for my 32th birthday. Holy shit, can't believe I am moving another year into the 30's, but I am feeling young as ever and always feel like there is spring under my feet. 

Oh, I miss my mom's cooking from time to time. She is amazing, can cook up such a feast. I've got a lot of seeds now, but I have to wait till rainy season to plant them. Although I might be able to plant some in a garden that my student has. I can't wait to grow things and share them with people in my village. Also hoping to bake some cookies for my kids for my 1 week off between Christmas and New Year's.

Things that made me smile yesterday:

A market lady called out my name (Aminata) because she knows I like guava, but has been disappointed that it has been hard to find. She saved them just to sell them to me.

My student's mom said if I don't go to her home to eat lunch everyday, she will personally come over and drag me there to eat. (of course, I can't free load there everyday.)

My counterpart who is also like a vice principal of my college, after hearing that I went to look for him twice, came over after dark and took me to drop off 2 letters w/ another person (the 3rd Guinean who lives in the US) who is heading back to the US. He also walked me back eventhough it is the road that's busy at night and I know it well.

Sitting w/ students and locals at the one and only main intersection in our village flipping through the special edition of National Geographics on Katrina. (Thanks Qi for sending me the picture magazine.) Explaining what happened with nature and people, sharing knowledge outside of the classroom. Now, whenever I go to a student's home, I always bring a couple copies of National Geographics. I can flip through them w/ little kids in the family. My students‚ always say, "but we can't read English", but I say "a picture is worth a thousand words".

The 2 days workers' strike passed peacefully. Of course it didn't change a thing. Perhaps a month long strike would make some impact. I passed time by visiting students, other professors and catch up on writing.

So, the second time around biking to Labe for Thanksgiving was a breeze compare to the first. We also were able to "hit" the bank and lose ourselves in the market. I couldn't get myself out of the fabric section of the market. Was also hoping to buy some paint to brighten up my wall. Two volunteers cooked up a storm in the Labe PC house. We had 3 type of birds, turkey, chicken and guinea fowl(sp?), haven't had these much meat in a month.  Then there were 8 kinds of desert. Needless to say, I couldn't walk or sit down afterwards. We headed back to site on Sunday and I was able to then bike back my site after parting with my neighbor. So, it is like this. Between me and my neighbor PCV is 17 km, then from her site to Labe is another 45 km, so on the return trip, I rest a little after the first 45km, then biked back to my site the same day, cos I got to teach the next day.

Day 139 - Things you only do or get use to or see in Guinee...

Things you only do or get use to or see in Guinee...

Eating out of a huge bowl, just the section in front of you, and being the only person using a spoon.

Cooking outside in the yard with a big iron pot propped over 3 large stones, and it isn't bbq.

Forever having at least one kid staring at you or touch your hair as if you are from a different planet.

Forever have my female students asking me for my hair when I get it cut.

Forever having at least one baby cry when he/she sees you.

Paying more for a clove of garlic than 4-5 tomatos.

Eating outside on the ground.

Eating mostly rice or other form of starch w/ sauce. 2nd, 3rd, or 4th dishes, are you kidding me? (sauce got a lot of things mix in).

Recycle H2O, like soapy using H2O left over from the 1st load of laundry to soak the 2nd load, and I don't even need to pump H2O and go far to get it like.

Pee in a container in the middle of night in my room because I really don't want to get out of my hut into the darkness and elements.

Being able see at night w/ only stars & moon.

Being able to see stars.

Getting excited to see airplanes in the sky and inform my little sisters & brothers.

Say "Crunch" (in French "Croquei") peanut not eating (manger) peanut.

Cutting veggies in your hand. Cutting board you say, well, want to send me one?

Greet in Pular, talk in French, think in Frenangalis, dream in???

Getting lower class kids confused calling you monsieur not madame, because there are very few females teachers and kids' french level is low.

Someone always put out a stool for you to sit when you go visit.

To show you respect, people will hold right elbow w/ left hand when shaking your hand.

Never eat w/ left hand, Guinean use that one to clean themselves after using the toilette. Toilet paper is for porto (White ppl).

Find dead spiders in the room and not care a bit.

Either wash dishes right away or put away in an air tight bucket.

Hold hands w/ female students and still not feel comfortable about it.

Feet getting really dirty everyday. Paved roads in the village? Right...

Seeing Guinean walking outside barefoot in dirt, bushes, stones and wonder how they do it, and seeing them scrubbing it down w/ hard bristle brush.

"Attacked" by flies swarming out of the latrine because I was stupid enough to cover it weeks later after I started using it.

Being laughed at in class when you speak Pular but kids are amused, so it's all good.

Seeing women w/ their breasts exposed even when they are not feeding babies. (Don't know if male volunteers share this or not).

Seeing Guinean wearing winter jacket when they ride motorcycle early in the morning in Nov.-Jan.

Throw trash wherever you like, hesitating less and less.

Having people telling you stay on little longer even though you've been sitting there for an hour and just listen to other people talking in their local language.

Writing so much to you all till my hands hurt.

Bike 60km out not because I need to get out my village, but talk to my parents on the phone.

Getting so excited for mailrun day (Yep, that's this morning for me). Why isn't the "truck" here yet?!

Getting used to little kids saying "give me the book" and not feel they are being rude, cos they just learning to speak French.

Not eat much meat when other offer them to you, cos as it is you free load a lot when visiting families, and meat is expensive.

Seeing switches and outlet in some families homes and being surprised each time.

Seeing little kids (6 or 7) dancing provocatively by our standard or hip hop style and wondering where did they learn all these?

Being able to recognize different veggie and fruit plant, even cotton.

Saving every bit of scrap paper, card board, cans, bottles, strings, odds & ends for things you might want to make for school.

Having audience from other classed because some teachers didn't show.

Playing the family name joke. My case is "Diallo" vs "Balde/Bah". More half of people in my village has the last name is Balde/Bah, so when people learn that my Guinean last name is Diallo, they always say I should change it to Balde/Bah, cos Diallos are the thieves. All good fun of course.

Always get asked do you have tomato/potato or lots of other food in the U.S.?

Love the smell of cloth dried in the sun, not liking the texture cos it isn't soft.

Thinking headlamps is #1 necessity for Peace Corps.

Seeing people chew a certain stick that has natural teeth cleaning ingredient.

Being able to pick beautiful flowers as you wish in the wild to decorate your house.

Stop to watch little kids bath, play in the river and say hi.

Seeing men carry lady handbags.

Having market ladies give you a little extra and you give them a little of your other purchase.

Not have to worry about being late. There is no rush here.

Day 138 - Ami Bobo, Bindende Walike...

Ami Bobo, Bindende Walike...

It was another clear night last night w/ the moon as our electricity, we sat out in the yard and sang this line over and over, except each time we would change the name in front of "Bobo" which means baby in Pular. The line means "Ami (short for Aminata) baby, her heart is content". Any you, my friends, whatever has been going on in your life, I hope it is contentment you've found as well.

The fete marking the end of Ramadan (Nov. 04)
So I put on my traditional Guinean 2 piece dress and wrapped my head in white head scarf and went to the morning prayer with my female students. The morning prayer is in the bushes because the mosque can't accommodate everyone. Again, men and women sat separately. All the women put on beautiful dresses and robes traditional style. I really like wearing the white head scarf for some reason, I think I look prettier that way. I really not fit to pray as I didn't fast for one single day, so I just "pray" for good health for my parents.
I was surprised and glad that my vice principal asked me to eat with all the administrative staff of our village, because I'm the only woman. A little intimidating, yes, but exciting and proud at the same time. Proud of him for not being afraid to sit me with a roomful of men. It really meant a lot to me, as women are so under-represented in the decision making groups of many villages. I'm lucky because my school has been very open to the things I want to do and supportive, yes there are conservatism here, but they are open (somewhat) to new ideas. Little by little, should be the real slogan of Peace Corps, nothing changes over night. I spent the rest of the day visiting people, eating at each place I go. The meal is a little fancier from usual, but not by a whole lot. So school was closed for 3 days, luckily I only had one class that got cancelled. I also made a point to pay my respect to the sous-prefect. His wife sells gas and bagged juice to supplement income, since they aren't from here and therefore have not grown anything to eat. The bagged juice is called Bissap, made by boiling petal of a flower then adding sugar to it. It tastes a little like plum juice. A lot of work to transfer a pot of juice to many small bags for sale. I got a chance to know the work involved in production of another item. I'm always glad to help out when I visit a family, so I don't feel bad about eating their food (yes, I'm always being offered something to eat), also I learn all the work involved in my village's life. By tradition little kids can ask adults for pocket change for this holiday, and yes it was a bit of a headache for me to decide who, what to give. There are too many kids. So I only gave to the kids I knew, mostly little sisters & brothers of my students (yes I'm getting better at remember faces of my student's families, but sometimes I get mothers mixed up). Pocket change is equivalent of $0.10 really. but I'm constantly struggling w/ striking the balance of being generous and not come off as loaded.

Week of School after Ramadan
It was a bit of roller coaster. Kid's body are in school but heart is still out and about. I even have some discipline problem w/ upper classes. Had to kick out some students who made me really angry. I have absolutely no tolerance for students who don't respect me and I let them know. because if I back down now it only means more troubles later. I did visit the families of kids that got kicked out, and hope reasoning w/ them will help. We'll see. another thing angers me is more than half of 7th & 8th grades are nonchalant about doing homework. I made a lab HW for 7th to measure mass and 8th to measure density. 2 concepts that kids often have trouble getting, not to mention when it isn't in their mother tongue. I figure hands on work will help them and I was ready to sit w/ over 200 kids in groups of 2, so they will really learn it w/ me. Only 30% of kids did it, and mostly boys, too. Even after I warn them that I'll take off 5 points on their test score still, very few came to do it. Test score is on 20 point scale, so 5 points off is like 25 points off 100 point scale. 7th & 8th graders are still very much kids, but if I don't get them build a solid foundation now, then it will only get worse. But it is so difficult w/ so many kids and just me. Already, 7th & 8th graders aren't having math classes this semester because the government can't afford to pay the 2nd math teacher, and the village can't afford to either. I can't believe it when I heard it. I've seen how low math level some of my kids are at. I'm tempted to pick up math right now as well, but I think that will be too much for me. Do I choose to concentrate all my effort on teaching physics and math, and not much of community integration like spending time w/ students after class, finding needs of community, or stick w/ physics only right now and have some free time? Any of you out there want to come over and help out? And there is the disappointment w/ girls not as eager as boys. It seems like I've got to talk to a few girls, to find out roots of the problem, whether it is the traditional problem of girls don't like math & science, or another problem, and it looks like I will need to have some talks w/ just girls alone to encourage them. Don't get me wrong, I had some great moments when kids were really getting it. But the difficulties is still there, one being large class size. I can't give all my kids individual attention and some of them really need it.

Misc.
National Geographics is a big hit w/ kids in my family, even w/ my illiterate "mom", she loves flipping through them for pictures. I wish I have the French version so my students can take full advantage of them. As it is they keep asking me to teach English, now that is only 1 math teacher, if I have the time, I should be teaching math.
I wish I could record down singing of little girls in the village when they dance at night. It is really beautiful and sweet. Also the baby goat romping through the yard, sounds like lighter version of horse galloping by.
I have no time to feel lonely w/ living a family having so many students that I can visit. I already had to turn down a few visits because I was busy. Do I feel a need of having a boyfriend? Not at all. No desire or time for it. I haven't had time to do any leisure reading.
I've decided I have to wear pants when I bike. One American culture I must show. Just like wearing helmet, I need to wear pants for safety, much more practical if I fall, even though women never wear pants here. Girls only do it when going dancing in a club. I think there is one female volunteer in country insisted on teaching in pants. Sometimes I wish I decided to do that.
Dance club here is really just a large warehouse. Kids who can pay go in, who can't and young like 5 or 6 years oldjust hang outside till 3am or 4am. There is also ladies who sell snacks. They actually have a pretty good sound system and it is run on a generator. All Guinean put on western clubby cloth like tight butt cheek hugging pants for girls when going to dance club, which is like what we do in U.S., except their club cloth and daily cloth are so drastically different. Yes, there are a lot of cheap looking western styles clothes sold here.
It is getting very dry here. It hasn't rained for 2 weeks. Early mornings and late evenings are cold that skin of my finger tip shrivel up.
So today, Monday (Nov. 14) I only taught 1 class out of 2, because a very respectful person died over the weekend and we all need to go to pay respect, and Tues & Wed, the labor union has called for strike. Oh boy, how am I going to finish my program? Already I have to teach slowly w/ French being a second language for both me and my students and inadequate math level at times. I can only sigh and try to work with what I have. It isn't right that many worker get paid so little, like teachers' salary, more the half of it is price of 50kg of rice, which feeds a family for a month. No wonder people don't eat much meat, and have to work in the field a lot. The exchange b/w dollar and GF has been doubled in 2 years time. Yes, on one side I feel the pain of my villagers, I feel the pain of a country full of resources, but not utilized well, I'm worried one day the resources will be lost, and people are still left poor, and on the side I feel the pain of precious time lost for education. It's great our neighbor Liberia has elected for the first time a female president not only for Liberia, but the whole of Africa. Someone who is an expert on economy, not the football star. It will be great if more Africans who had opportunities to be well educated abroad to come back, the brain draining out of this continent is heartbreaking. And for those of you reading out there and contemplating on join the Peace Corps, go for it and keep at it, as although the difference one can make is miniscule, it's better than nothing, it's the spreading and sharing of information that has helped mankind.
I went to the wake for about an hour. Apparently car tire of the decessed blew and car rolled off road, he hit his head on a rock. The death is sudden and many people from many parts of the country knows him. There were huge crowd and many cars. One of my 7th grader whom I know well is his niece. It was hard to see her cry or hear those others cry. It is time like this, sharing her grief or those others; working together w/ my family in the field, that's really precious to me.
I finally bought something that hold charcoal to cook with, since I want to cook something of great quantity that require lots of heat, I'm afraid my gas tank will run out quick. I want to share things I made w/ my family, my students or bring to class and award those who always try to answer questions. Yes, I have to "bribe" those kids sometimes. I make sure to praise kids who at least try to answer, even if the answer is wrong.
I've also been successful at ending the standoff between two teenage boys in my family. For some reason they haven't spoken to each other for a long time. One is the son of my mom, who is younger, the other is a grandson but older. The grandson's dad died, and his father's mom doesn't want to take him in. I told him that he can't think it is only the other boy's home, it is his family as well, otherwise he will always be miserable. It is so nice to see them playing together again.
My poor little sister Wusai being the only girl in the family has to work so much each day after school. I wish I can work some for her, so she has time to study when she gets home. Elementary school finishes at 5pm.
By the time you read this, it will probably be Christmas. Happy Holidays! We are having a "lock down" because the election that will take place in Dec., travel for PCV is prohibited. I don't really mind though, happy to stay in my village. Now that I'm here in Guinee, my restlessness isn't so strong anymore, perhaps is because all the new changes. I also can't be bothered to suffer through bush taxi to get to big cities. I like the tranquillity of a small village.

Stay warm, eat well, and be happy All!

- Bonnie (Nov. 14th)

Day 128 - In the Courtyard of the Mosque...

In the Courtyard of the Mosque...

It was a cloudy night, we are definitely not going to see the Moon tonight. That means another day of fasting, and we'll celebrate the end of Ramadan on Friday. Unless over in Conakry people have a clear night there, then they will announce it on the radio. One of my students Kadiaton told me. She invited me again to eat dinner w/ her family. Her home is a bit far from mine, so she usually walks me home. I'm not yet comfortable walking home on my own with just a flashlight or just with moonlight. The mosque is on my way home from hers and this time she wanted to stop for the evening prayer. She didn't ask me if I wanted to go in w/ her, instead just gave me a headwrap and took me inside, well just to the courtyard. Only men can pray inside, the women can only pray inside a secondary building or in the courtyard. Everyone pray on a mat without shoes. The women must cover their head once they are inside the mosque compound. The courtyard is landscaped with gravel and lit w/ lamps that run on a generator. I like looking at the line of women w/ their back towards me. Kneeling down on the mat sitting slightly more on the left ankle w/ the right foot turned out, heads covered in beautiful wraps slightly tilted to the right.

The composition of white mosque in the dark light w/ lines of women lit by soft lights of lamps in the courtyard is a beautiful sight. I hope I can take a picture at some point. I felt obligated to pray since I'm inside the compound. It isn't the first time I got rope into it, and it isn't too hard. i just kinda "monkey see, monkey do".

So you'll have to wait for the next post for the details of the celebration as I'll be dropping this letter off w/ someone who is going back to the states during the "fete". We got the day before the "fete" off since most students stay home anyways to get ready. Girls are getting their hair done, boys are getting their hair cut, if one has money, one will wear new clothes, shoes and eat a lot of meat during the celebration. So the person who is taking my letter back to the states was here to attend his father's funeral. His father was the Grand Iman of my village. I guess that is the equivalent of head pastor (or reverend) of a church. Apparently, lot of his children live in the U.S. and Europe. It was nice for his son to visit me, to check on me and offer to take letters back for me. He made a comment that is was nice of me to give up my life to come to Guinee, but in fact I am not stopping my life just because I'm here, I'm living here as well. Yes, it is a difficult world, but it has plenty of charm of its own.

So let me back track a little bit to pick up where my last post left off.

Teaching
So I'm teaching 2 - 7th grade of approximately 2 hours each Monday, 1 hr of 10th on Tuesday, 2 hr of 9th & 2 hr of 10th on Wednesday, and 2 8th grade of 2 hr each on Thursday. I have Friday & Sat off. We can't do 3 - 7th grades because as of now we don't have enough classrooms or tables for the 3 - 7th grade class. Some are struck w/ over 70 students for each 7th grade class (Should be more then that according to the roster, but some students rarely show up). The 7th grades aren't too bad. Even though I doubt that they really understand my lessons (either their French level is too low, or my French still needs improvement), they are at least eager to respond to my questions. They are also new to college, so they still have the "Freshman Fear", (for the lack of better words). 10th grade is the most serious and studious, because they all want to graduate college and move on to lycee or whatever else. I have about 50 students in 10th. 9th grade is also pretty good, curious and lively, mature enough to behave rather well. 8th grade is half & half. One class is quite engaged, while the other is my worst class kind of dead and non-responsive. I hope it will change. I'm trying hard to demonstrate a lot to get my message across, to make things as interesting as possible. We don't really teach the full 2hrs. Maybe only 1.5 hr. The whole things when class starts and finish is kinda vague, and perhaps it is the beginning of the semester, we aren't enforcing starting classes right at 08:00am The flag is raised every morning before 8:00 and the bell is a tire rim hang off a tree branch in the courtyard, sound off by hitting it w/ a wrench.

Week 2 & 3, we still had prof. not back from vacation, sometimes students walked 7km (probably 1hr walk) only to find out their prof. still not here and they can just go home. It is getting better now we are into the 5th or 6th week. We finally had a town meeting which decided how much each student family must contribute to the cost of repair the 7th classroom and build more tables & chairs. we already but down one large tree on the way to school for wood, but I have a feeling all these won't be done by the end of this year, given that problem didn't get resolved during vacation, and town meeting took a while to happen. Little by little we'll get things done. Patience is a virtue. I'm slowly learning my students names. Just like any ethnicity, there are faces that are very distinct and naturally that makes it easier for me to remember their name and face. I'm glad that 5 girls have stepped up to show me their home and invited me over to eat w/ them. So you see, I really can't go hungry b/w eating w/ my student families. of course I bring a baguette when I go the second time around. Can't be a freeloader all the time. Yep, baguette is something western, but eaten widely by the locals here.

Eve de Fete
So I want to go back to the Fete (celebration) a bit, because it has a feel of waiting up for New years. Quite exciting for me, a first timer. So, I was writing this letter, one of my female students came by close to 8:00pm wanting me to go to her home for a bit. I was surprised she came as I thought she had something against me before (more like her & her dad would give me a hard time when I can't understand Pular), anyway, I don't miss any opportunity to spend sometime w/ my female students unless I'm preparing my lesson. Also, she lives very close. The poor thing, her dad is the president of district, so of course they will have a lot of visitors tomorrow, so they have to prepare a lot of food. I dove right into cutting veggies and picking stones in rice. Working alongside of students is always the best way to bond w/ the people. Really I'm a volunteer 24/7. Well, except when I'm sleeping. I would love to stay till the end, but I had to come back to continue write to you. I think a lot of women and girls worked late into the evening today and they all have to get up at 4:00am the day of the Fete to prepare for breakfast. Then morning prayer @ 10:00am which I'll attend as well. Yes, I'm excited for all the good eats, happy faces on the streets, new clothes and well wishes, of course it would've been extra special if I fasted, but I'll have to wait till next year.

Month of Ramadan
So I couldn't hack it even when I woke at 5:00am to eat & drink, by noon, I just, can't keep it going. Not eating isn't so difficult, but not being able to drink water is very difficult. One is not suppose to swallow spit also. I ended up just ate lots of oranges during the day, and some snacks, but no real lunch. Unfortunately I got mildly sick, like a cold for a while, and now that I'm well, the fasting is over. I wonder if not eating properly and being at a new place contributed to me getting sick. Not being able to drink H2O in a hot climate like this for over 12hrs is really unhealthy, but a good lesson to experience the suffering of those who has even less than my villagers. Everything is relative, the more I live here, the more I feel we have abundance of food, but compare to the U.S., we probably seems quite pathetic, but people don't starve here unless they are fasting. Whenever we can we breakfast w/ congee of crushed rice or corn, mixed w/ lemon juice & sugar. They like to crush rice or corn w/ an enlarged version of ceramic medicine grinder, except it is just wooded, the women are strong from pounding rice, corn, meat (that's how they crush it close to ground meat). After rice or corn is pounded to flour like H2O is added to make them into little ball then cooked to congee. The men would gather together pray, then eat congee. Women also eat congee but separate from men. afterwards, rice and sauce is still the main meal. So I'm very careful not to eat or drink in of others during daytime. If someone is sick, he/she can take off fasting for a few days, but will have to make it up later. Yes, I get a lot of teasing from everyone if I'm fasting or not. I just always say "maybe tomorrow".

Relations w/ People
So like I mentioned before, I'm getting to know a few of my female students, one in particular who is a seamstress outside of school I get along w/ quite well. I wish I don't need so much time to prepare my lessons, and have more to go see my students. They will ask me 2 days after I was just there why I haven't come back, and I worry a little if one family or student get jealous of another student if I spend more time w/ her. Also, every time I go, they always make me stay and eat, and give me extra to take home. One, I feel bad eating. Two, it can take a long time.

That is the problem w/ one teacher w/ so many students, there is just one of me, but so many of them. And trying to tell the faces of parents, or little sisters & brothers of my student when I see them in the market can be difficult. Sometimes they really look similar. Also I wish I can share some food w/ my student families, but w/ large family size here, it is so difficult to do. Really I know very little Pular, basic hello I can do (of course basic hello can be 5 - 6 exchanges), and most food. Even w/ little bit, my students families are always pleasantly surprised. To say hello throughout the day, and buying stuff @ the market or store, I always say it in Pular. I'm not actively study Pular, but i'll pick a few key words or phrases here or there. I don't mind bad grammar in Pular right now, and I think people is happy even if I just try.

First time away from Home.
We had to go to Labe for girls conference mtg. I was kinda dreading it, because I'm comfortable here and would much rather stay than either biking or ride bush taxi to Labe. We had no choice but to bike, because there is no car going to Labe the day we had to go. I had to first bike 17km to another village and stay over at Toni's (another volunteer who teaches English), then the next day we left for Lave at 7:00am. There is a mountain b/w her and I, and I have to push the bike up and down at some part, because I am just not Lance Armstrong. We didn't get to Labe until 2:00pm in the afternoon. The distance isn't bad, 45km, but the terrain is a killer. 2 large mountains, water puddles, gravels that seems to glue the tires to the ground, large rocks seems like steps that we must walk to get pass, I finally got a taste of mountain biking. The scenery is beautiful, especially through the yellow wheat (?) field that is waist high, imagine biking through sea of soft flowing wheat of mountains in the distance. We passed through a few small villages, and was fun to greet people along the way. Didn't like it once we got to Labe, all the people, calling us "Portos" (white people in pular), noisy, fumes, oh-la-la, I much prefer my small and friendly village. Stay at Labe wasn't too exciting, exchanged some stories & talked about what we do for girls conference, then we just sat around. The highlight is that I got to talk to my family on the phone and reassured them things are going well at site. We stayed for 2 nights and came back to site on our bikes also. The return trip only takes 5.5 hrs, as the first leg is all downhill. We are hoping we'll get better at it each time we go. What happens to hole in tire you ask? We are equipped w/ patch kit, so it shouldn't be a problem. Although we were lucky not have encountered it in our 1st trip. I was worried about it, but now I qualified to adjust breaks. Perhaps in 2 years, if nothing else I'll be at least good at fixing bike. So I biked almost 130 km in 3 days. Very proud of myself.

Misc
Okay, so I hope you all can eat one less meal out and contribute to girls conf. mtg that we'll have in Dec. We are $7,000 short. regardless , it will take place less money means less things we can do w/ girls. $5 or $10, whatever amount you are comfortable, doesn't need to be much. Check out http://www.friendsofguinea.org for details. I can't stress enough the importance of empowering young women in all aspect of their lives, for their better being and the the future of developing countries, so please help whatever you can.

Secondly, I'm getting used to the food here and can do w/ much less goodies from the U.S. I like them, but I would much rather if people can concentrate their effort on gathering free French books and send them over to me. If you are interesting in helping out please contact Michael, as I am hoping he is looking into facilitating the effort.

Communication is sporadic, so I'll thank ahead for everyone who will be contributing on helping w/ books. I hope that book gathering will be a continuing effort and kids here will definitely benefit from reading material other than their class notes. Maybe 5% of students can afford to buy text books.

Okay I'll leave you here, as I must get ready to manage (eat), manage (eat), and manage (eat), some more for the day. :-)

Hope you are all well. Oh, geeze before I forget, I've received 4 postcards, and 3 packages from my families, still no letters. Very strange. So much love is packed in the packages I've got. I can just picture my mom commanding my dad to use up a whole roll of duct tape on covering one box so it will get to me. Thanks mom, it brought tears to my eyes.

Please tell Mark, Sam and Michelle S. I said Happy Birthday, sorry I didn't get a chance to make a card (greeting cards don't exist here) to them but I'm thinking of them.

I feel like I'm forgetting something, but oh well... Hope you are all well.

Thinking of all of you!

- Bonnie
Morning of November 04th, 2005