Hi! from sunny Conakry

I’m here!  We made it! Guinea stage G21 arrived in Conakry Tuesday night to a not-as-sweltering-as-imagined heat and a welcome banner.  We loaded our luggage, and there was a lot, onto the PC vehicles and drove a short ways to headquarters.  It was dark out by the time we had collected our bags, so we didn’t see much of the city, but it seems busy.  At 8:30 PM, the streets were crowded with people grabbing dinner, shopping, or walking home from work.  The number of women selling oranges (pre-peeled of course) was ridiculous.

The PC headquarters is like a 5-star hotel to us.  We’re sleeping in bunk beds throughout the transit house, which is AIR CONDITIONED!! We even have hot water and western toilets, talk about luxury.  The compound itself is huge, as it hosts the offices of the majority of Peace Corps staff, as well as the transit house, which can house around 40 volunteers.  You can see the beach from the roof and it is just a short walk to a local beach bar to grab a beer.  Guineans recommend Skol.  We stopped by for a visit Wednesday, after a day of forms and vaccinations, and watched as hundreds of soccer players ran around on the sand.  Add the sunset through the Harmattan haze to this and it couldn’t have gotten more picturesque.

There hasn’t been too many blog worthy events so far, as we’re mostly still just doing orientation and meeting the staff.  We will head to Dubreka on Saturday, where we will be ‘adopted’ by our host families.

I also have a phone number! I don’t actually have the phone yet (I should by Friday PM), but I do have the SIM card.  The PC has a plan with Orange, a cell phone provider, where we can call all PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) and staff for free.  Pretty nice, considering our salaries are almost non-existent (and we don’t get those until after training). I can text international for around $0.15, so let me know your number if you want to get some texts. 

Call me!

Phone number: (+224) 68 06 11 61

I miss you all, but am having an awesome time!