Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Ne yibeoogo!

Hello! I am in Africa finally, which is pretty crazy. I just started living with my host family: Father, mother, aunt, and two kids (Brice who is 8 and Melodie who is 4). I have electricity in their house and my own room, but still go to the bathroom in a hole in the ground. I am pretty much okay with it now lol. Even though I am living like this now it is just for training...come Jan electricity will likely be no more!
Training is kind of like school...a bunch of different lessons all day long ranging in topic from language (on a related note, I was humbled in my French abilities when I arrived at my host house and NO ONE speaks English plus they go from French to various native languages plus it is SUCH a different culture I feel stupid when they try to tell me how to do things) and health (i drew my own blood today to create a sample slide in case I need to later if it is suspected that I have malaria) and sessions on health topics here and the healthcare system, etc. I haven`t eaten anything too crazy yet...rice couscous sauces etc.
Anyways I have too much to say to even write it all, plus I am using this stupid french keyboard so...Peace out!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Staging

Having said my goodbyes, my first official day as a Peace Corps Trainee started today (before I was an invitee) and it is amazing. Not so much the sitting in the room learning things that I will forget by tomorrow...the meeting new people. I have talked to most of the people in our group of 31 and everyone is so cool. The actual official sitting in a room listening part reminds me a lot of Team Leader training. We listened, did a few reflection activities, drew a few group posters that we later taped to a wall and presented, did skits based on the appropriate ways to behave...seriously the similarities are crazy.
But I have to be in the lobby fed, ready and raring to go get my Yellow Fever shot by 6:20 AM so...that is all. Plus nothing hugely noteworthy has happened besides meeting people.

Peace out from the Peace Corps...