A Day In The Life of a PCT

I know what you’re thinking: Two blog posts in one week? Are you even in a developing country?  There isn’t even anything too blog worthy to write about, but I figure I should take advantage of this luxury while I can.

Here’s what my average day as a PCT (Peace Corps Trainee) looks like:

6:30 AM: The rooster wakes me up and I debate whether to lie in bed until my alarm goes off or go try and get a prime spot in line for the ‘toilet’ (pit latrine)

7:00 AM: Greet everyone in the compound.  As I’m usually still half asleep, this comes out in a Susu/French/English mix, much to everyone’s amusement

7:15 AM: Eat a breakfast of a baguette with a) a fried egg, b) egg salad, or c) peanut butter

7:45 AM: Try and leave for my 8 o’clock French class while my host mom insists I bring a sandwich or 5 for the road

8:15 AM: Inevitably arrive late for my class.  Try and concentrate on the past tense for the next four hours while chicken continuously walk through our ‘classroom’

12:30 PM: Eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich for lunch, supplemented by sweet potato fries if the ladies down the street made them today

2:00 PM: Garden or technical work.  Earlier this week we started our tree nursery using old water saches and we’ve direct seeded carrots, cabbage, eggplant, and beans in our beds so far.  I’m still hoping we can find avocado somewhere!

5:00 PM: Water and weed the garden if I’m on the schedule, otherwise grad some ataya, the local tea.  This is kind of like a tea version of Turkish coffee: a shot of very sweet, strong tea.

6:15 PM: Arrive home and be advised that I should ‘shower’ (bucket bath) immediately.  I guess my family is trying to tell me something…

7:00 PM: Eat a dinner of rice with some sort of fish-based sauce followed by an orange and grilled bananas

7:30 PM: Speak with my family in slow French and then listen to all the village gossip in Susu.  Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.

8:30 PM: Head down to the carrefour (crossroads with restaurants, videoclubs, and a dance club) with my sister.  Chat with the vendors or watch whatever movie is playing at the videoclub.  Last time it was Commando.  My younger brother then proceeded to tell me all he knew about Arnold Schwarzeneger and “calofornie”

9:30 PM: Return home and put on the lightest clothing possible so that I can sleep under my mosquito net (which adds about 10F of heat) without sweating too profusely

9:45 PM: Fall asleep while writing in my journal or studying French

My days are pretty busy as we only have 9 weeks of training to get our French to the required level and to learn the local language of my site, as well as go over agroforestry techniques.  I think my French is really improving though, and I am having a great time hanging out with all the other AGFO (agroforestry) volunteers.

Some people (my Dad) have requested pictures, but the internet is too painfully slow at the moment.  I know a picture is supposedly worth a thousand words, but hopefully this much shorter description will suffice:

Gberiere is a small village located a long a tarmac highway.  None of the roads in the village are paved, though there are power lines for our intermittent electricity.  Train tracks to a bauxite mining center go through the village and the horn is a nice background soundtrack to my days and nights.  Most houses are cement or brick with a corrugated tin roof, usually with a thatched gazebo or hut on the property too.  Each property has several buildings and is called a compound, though very few are actually enclosed by a wall.  At dusk, you can see the glow of the neighbor’s cooking fires as the finishing touches are added to meals.  The moon has been very bright lately, so people sit out and talk for hours under its watch.  Our garden is in a nearby wetland that is submerged as a rice field in the rainy season, but has tomatoes, manioc, and other vegetables planted now.  Nearby are three mountains that looks as though someone has punched straight through the Earth to create them.  Their cliffs are so steep that trees grow out horizontally along their slopes.  One of them is inexplically named ‘The Dog Who Smokes’.

Hopefully that can tide you photomanics over for a little bit.  I will be spending Christmas in Conakry and will try and upload something there, where the internet is faster.

Shout out to Ms. Crist’s class!! Don’t worry I haven’t forgotten about you. I’ve sent a letter with a staff member going back to America for vacation, so hopefully you will get it soon.

On that note, I think mail is taking at least 4 weeks.  I only just got my absentee ballot for the November elections a few days ago, so patience is key.

I hope everyone I don’t get to talk to beforehand has a wonderful holiday season!

Michelle

P.S. This morning I could see my breath when I woke up it was so cold! It’s the little things!