My Peace Corps Alphabet Part I

When people talk about Peace Corps, they always talk about the big "experience" of it all, but there's also a lot of little things that I think characterize my two years here.  Following is a collection of a few of them, according to the alphabet:

A is for Allah Akbar, otherwise known as my 4 AM alarm.  This is the start of the call to pray that crackles over the mosque’s loudspeakers five times a day.

B is for bucket baths, which I take usually daily.  Apparently there is a hotel in the south of France that actually charges extra for this ‘luxury’, although they call it a tropical shower.

C is for “Chop My Money”, the number one hit by Nigerian duo P-Squared that is constantly playing in clubs, cars, radios, phones, etc. 

D is for disease, the number one plague of Peace Corps Volunteers.  Unfortunately, living in a place where everyone east with their hands and toilet paper, or even soap is at that gas station 100 km away, means you are often sticken by something else that starts with the letter ‘d’.

E is for “Eh, Allah”, the exclamation meaning anything from “Oh my gosh” to “I don’t believe it” to “Say what now?!?”

F is for Faso Démén, the gardening group I work with and a never-tiring bunch of women who keep me stocked with fresh veggies. 

G is for Guiluxe, the national beer of Guinea.  It’s not too horrible if it’s cold, as unlikely as that is.

H is for handholding, which everyone does all the time and is an important sign of frienship here.  I especially like when 2 burly gendarmes stroll down the street hand-in-hand, old Soviet AK’s strapped to their backs.

I is for “Ifo, huh?”, quite possibly my favorite Malinke phrase. It means ‘sorry’, but changes depending on the tone.  You can say it after a kid trips and falls or if someone loses a family member, but also if you buy the last cold Fanta, as in “sorry I’m not sorry”.

J is for jaro, a type of bitter eggplant native to Guinea that is something of an acquired taste.  I eat it raw now, though, so I guess it only takes a year to acquire.

K is for Kankan, my site and second biggest city in Guinea.  It’s got all the city amenitites, cold drinks, an internet café, Pringles, but still has enough of a village feel that you know everyone.

L is for latrines, which you learn to love. Or at least tolerate.