Saturday, June 18, 2011

Hey everyone!!
Oh man where do I start?? Life here has been good but definitely a challenge.. Although I knew to expect that I wouldn't have electricity or running water that becoming a reality has been a bit hard to adjust to.  Just imagine going to bed at around 9 every night because the sun goes down at 7:30 and things get pretty dark after that. Or imagine squatting over a bucket to relieve yourself at night because the latrine is locked.. haha too much info that time? Anyways such is my life.  But everyday it gets a bit easier.
So here is my schedule:
Wake up at 6:30 am
Take my bucket bath
Go to training from 8-5
Come home
Eat
Sit
Go to sleep
repeat
haha Its a bit monotonous but I am learning a lot and slowly adjusting to a life without luxeries.
Living with the host familuy has been a little tough. It is just a huge change from what I am used to back in America.  We have all been struggling a bit due to the lack of independence here (8 pm curfew during the week and 10 on the weekends) but at this point that is really the least of my concerns.   Although the pace of life here and with the host family is definitely different.  Everything happens at a much slowr pace and a lot of just sitting around occurs.  Seriously my butt has never hurt so much from just sitting before.  haha But living here has really made me appreciate all the things we have in America, from big things like electricity and plumbing, to the little things like ice water and oh what I would give for a slice of pizza!  haha But I am sure as time continues I will begin to enjoy the food and become accostumed to the dark and  taking my bucket baths..
I have learned a lot about the culture here and how to act and behave to fit in and stay safe.  There are quite a few differences and some things that may just seem crazy to us (think magic or mermaids. They are real and they exist here)  It has also been interesting to apply all the new things I have learned and the cultural  lessons are slowly making life here easier.  For example unlike in the United States politeness trumps honesty here so if you ask someone for directions and they dont know they will give you directions anyways rather than disappoint you. So be sure to ask several  people.  I am also learning Krio and can speak it fairly conversationally.  It is very similar to english as far as how it sounds.  Ex. A nem Sara  = My name is Sara and you would pronounce it "I name Sara."
Okay well my internet time is done!!
Love and miss you all!!
Sara

In Sierra Leone

(This post is written by Sara's mom - Sara does not have access to internet)

All the Peace Corp Volunteers arrived safely in Freetown on June 2nd.  It is hot, hot hot!  Cell phones were issued on Friday, June 3rd.  Sara says all the volunteers are a great group.  They stayed in a hostel the first couple of nights.  Met the Vice President of the country as well as other dignitaries (the president was sick) on Monday.  Travelled to Makeni on Tuesday.  They will receive their training while in Makeni.  All the volunteers are staying with host families.  Sara is with the Peace Corp coordinator for Sierra Leone, his wife, 2 /12 year old son, the gentleman's 2 sisters, and 2 brothers and pet monkey in a compound.  Latrine is outside.  Bugs are huge - ugh!  Curfew is 8 p.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. on weekends.  Sun goes down about 7:30 p.m. and there is no electricity in the home so no lights.  Sara has been going to bed about 10 p.m.

The volunteers are together from 8 to 5 everyday and then back to the host family's house.  Sara watched a teacher in action and is very excited to start teaching.  She learned to cook over coal today and on Sunday will learn how to wash her clothes.  So far all is going well and Sara says Peace Corp. was a good choice.

We will try to post more later as we continue to talk to Sara in Sierra Leone!

I'm off!!

Soo this will be my last blog post from the U.S. for quite some time.  I leave tomorrow for staging in Chicago and then on Wednesday I will be on a plane to Sierra Leone! Now is my time to be a bit sentimental.. Thank-you to everyone reading this blog for your support this past year as I applied, anxiously awaited the decision, and prepared to depart for the Peace Corps.  You are all wonderful and I will miss you all.

Here is a video to all my friends and family (sorry family I have many more pictures of friends but I love you all just as much!!)

Just one more week..

At this point my departure is only one week away.  So I decided it was time to give you all: Fast Facts of Sierra Leone.

First of all I should explain the name of the blog.  Salone is the Krio word for Sierra Leone so the address for my blog is 2 years in Sierra Leone.  It is not supposed to say 2 years alone. Come on. I’m not that depressing.

And now on to some fascinating facts!

1..  Sierra Leone is bordered by Liberia, Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean.

      2.   Tropical climate with hot, humid rainy season from May- December and dry season from December – April.  At least I am finally out of the snow J
3.     Population - ~6.3 million
4.     Capital: Freetown
5.     Language: English is the official language. Other major languages include Krio, Mende, Temne. 

            Want a Krio lesson?? Follow this link http://vimeo.com/23664329
6.     Currency – Leone. 1 USD = 3,000 LE
7.     Sierra Leone is approximately the size of South Carolina
8.     The temperature is usually 27-30^o C (80-86 F) but during March and April it gets up to 38 C (100 F).  Humidity ranges from 70% to 82% all year.  Oh man.
9.     Sierra Leone means Lion Mountains.
10. 57% of people don’t even make  $1 a day.
11. The country has 23 living languages.
12. About 60% of the country is Muslim, 30% Christian, and the rest are of indigenous and other religious beliefs.
13. Animals: 15 species of primates, elephants, hippos, leopards and 630 bird species.  Oh and the Hairy Brown Huntsman spider is likely to scare non-African visitors due to its large size and scary appearance.  So I will be scared because it is scary. Thanks authors for really putting that all together for me.

 

14. Woah! Did you know that even a decapitated snake head can bite?? Learn something new every day.
15. Today, Sierra Leone is among the safest African countries. So don’t be scared, plan a trip to visit J
16.  23,000 Leones can get you from one side of the country to the other. That is less than $10.  A night stay at a 5-star hotel will cost $150-200.  Nightclub entry is between 3,000 Le and 15,000 Le ($1-$5).  Again, visit me.
17.  A common saying is “A Sierra Leonean has not eaten unless he has had rice.”  The main dish in Sierra Leone is rice and plassas.  Plassas is a green leafy sauce that covers the rice.  There are over 20 words for rice in Mende.  Guess what I’ll be having for dinner every night..
18. According to the guide book “booze is a mainstay of village life, with homemade moonshines the norm.. The clear spirit omele is so hard it goes by the name ‘bush kerosene’; not only will it make your eyes water, they may feel like they are going to pop out of their socket.”  Great. Sounds like a good time.
19. Which hand to use for a greeting?? The left hand is associated not just with defecation, but also lovemaking and witchcraft while the right hand is associated with positive public actions. 
20. Romance – it is common for men and women to have four or more ‘girlfriends/ boyfriends.’ 
21. “In villages, be prepared too for intense prolonged staring if you look very different; privacy is not valued, and overt curiosity is considered the most natural thing in the world.”

Well I hope you all learned something and have a better understanding of the country I will be living in for the next two years.  It will definitely be different but I am excited to go and experience a new way of living!!  I just need to remember to avoid scary spiders, only use my right hand, and definitely stay away from omele.  Otherwise, I just need to suck it up and enjoy the heat (I mean I complain enough about winter this should make me ecstatic right?), learn to love rice, and be prepared for people to stare.  All in all sounds like a great adventure J

As long as I follow the advice of this guy and do what the Sierra Leoneons do while I am there I should be fine.. http://blip.tv/weowntv/makengoh-krio-lesson-1-5179189

Peace out Michigan. I'm heading to Africa.

Hello friends. Or should I say Padi Kusheh-O as they say in Krio, the language I will be learning shortly during my 2-year adventure with the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone.  Yes that is the same Sierra Leone the movie Blood Diamond takes place in. And no, I will not die. Stop worrying.  Because in approximately one month I will begin my journey and no amount of worrying can stop me now.  So this blog is for those of you that care and would like periodic updates about my life. I promise to make them interesting and hopefully keep them humorous and positive for all you lovely people. 

Anyways this first blog is just meant to inform you all of where I will be going and what I will be doing (at least my impression of what I will be doing based on the somewhat limited information they provide me with).  So as already mentioned I am going to Sierra Leone. It is on the west coast of Africa, pretty near to the equator so I get to look forward to hot, humid weather for the next two years and being the sweaty, gross American. Fabulous. But I do get to look forward to amazing beaches to cool off at every once in awhile..  

However I will be kept pretty busy so my time for relaxing on the beach will be pretty limited if not none existent.  But thats okay because I am very excited to get to know the people and start teaching!  

So essentially Peace Corps works like this. First, we go to staging for a day in Chicago.  We get there at noon on the 31st of May and have an intense orientation that covers most of the basics of serving and challenges we will face.  I will also finally get to meet everyone in person that is going to Sierra Leone with me.  There are 50 of us going over so dont worry I will have plenty of people to make friends with :)  The next day we go to the clinic to get all of our shots and fly out at 5pm, June 1st.  The next phase of this adventure includes 10 weeks of training in Sierra Leone. At this point I will learn the language and learn how to teach.  Two things that are just kinda crucial to my success there.  So this period will involve intense studying and learning on my part so that I can communicate with the people there and learn how to do what will be my job.  Finally, after 10 weeks we go to our placement community. This will be the area I will be living in for the next two years.  I will be placed by myself and may or may not be placed near other volunteers. I know, scary right? haha Anyways, I will be there for 2 years making friends, building connections, and teaching secondary math education.  

So at this point you may be asking why I chose to do Peace Corps.  And that is a very good question.  Well I knew that after graduation (oh man that is tomorrow. this is really happening) I didnt want to go straight to law school and I figured if I am taking time off I might as well do something useful with my life. So I decided that some type of service work was what I wanted to do. On my list were things like Americorps, the Mennonite Mission Network, and Peace Corps.  Americorps was quickly pushed aside since I have always wanted to live abroad for awhile and now really just seemed like the perfect time.  So then it was down to either MMN or Peace Corps and MMN makes you pay while Peace Corps covers the cost of everything and pays you a readjustment allowance upon your return. So Peace Corps quickly became my first choice and only choice (which became incredibly nerve-racking, especially when the end of March came around and I still had no idea what I was doing with life).  But it all worked out for the best as I found out on my birthday that I was in :) What a great gift or an incredibly cruel gift. Does that really make up for all the stress and anxiety not knowing caused me?? Cant be too sure. Anyways, thats how it happened and now a month later I am done with school and looking forward to go in a month!

Hmm well I cant think of anything else that needs to be said at this point soo I guess I will just stop blogging. Oh man. Be excited. Not only did you just learn all about my life for the next two years but you just read the first blog post I have ever written in my life. Woah. So was it good? Should I just become a professional blogger? Comments/Suggestions/Things you want to know?? Just let me know and I will blog about it next time :)