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Click your heels three times...

Posted by Sarah Reid on Friday, July 26, 2013,
At the end of The Best Movie of All Time, also known as The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy wakes up muttering while her family and friends stare down at her. None of them really understand what she has just returned from, and she tries to explain, "This was a real, truly live place. And I remember that some of it wasn't very nice - but most of it was beautiful."


For all the years I loved watching the Wizard of Oz, I never really got that scene. Why was she so happy to be back? Oz was way cooler than...
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Thanks, 'I-love-you' guy!

Posted by Sarah Reid on Tuesday, July 2, 2013,

An article from this week’s New Yorker Magazine on Guinea’s corruption and iron ore industry gives a pretty accurate description of the sticky sensations you get upon arriving in-country:

 “When you disembark from a plane in Conakry, the corruption hits you almost as quickly as the heat. At the airport, a uniformed officer will stop you, raising no specific objections but making it clear, with his body, that your exit from the situation will be transactional. Out on the rubble-strewn...


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Learning to Say Goodbye

Posted by Sarah Reid on Wednesday, June 12, 2013,

Last week I sat in my village snacking on a messy mango my three-year-old fiancé had just picked for me, and I didn’t want to look at my watch.  I really needed to go and pack, but the hours left were starting to tick away. I had a matter of days left.  I couldn’t believe it; I was about to leave my home for the past two years.

Earlier that week, all of the volunteers from my training group attended our COS (close of service) conference in chilly Dalaba in the middle of middle Guinea. ...


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That's what it's all about

Posted by Sarah Reid on Sunday, May 12, 2013,

There are reasons I'm not an English teacher. Despite being begged, guilted and coerced into giving lessons to just about everyone and their brother in my village, I still do not identify myself as a teacher of the English language. Never the less, I have to remind people on a daily basis: I am a science teacher. I am here to teach science. I am a CHEMISTRY TEACHER.

"So you can teach me English, yes?"

Teaching science is what I'm good at. I love demonstrating abstract concepts in understand...


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Do you dare the moustiquaire?

Posted by Sarah Reid on Thursday, April 25, 2013,


Over our school's past spring break (a terribly timed interval spanning from a Wednesday to the following Thursday), I stopped in Kindia for several days.  Mme. Sow, a teacher from Lafou and my best friend at site, had invited me to spend some time with her family before we continued to Conakry.  On our first night in the sweaty city, Mme. Sow hesitated as we got ready for bed.

"Tu ose la moustiquaire?" An odd Guinean usage of the verb 'to dare' - "Do you dare use a mosquito net?" she a...
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The Fou Situation

Posted by Sarah Reid on Friday, March 15, 2013,
One day, as I was sitting through another painful ordeal of getting my hair braided, a strange man shuffled by, muttering to himself. Mariama, my hairdresser, shook her head. "Life is like that," she said, tugging at another chunk of my hair. "Like what?" I asked. Her reply: "There are a lot of crazy people in life."


If you run into a person sleeping in the streets in Guinea, more often than not that person is a fou. (In French, 'fou' litteraly means 'crazy person.) Now, the 'Fou' situation...
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Girls' empowerment > Chimpanzees

Posted by Sarah Reid on Monday, February 4, 2013,
Having neglected this blog for several months, I have double the normal number of amazing stories to share- so get ready.


Christmas, briefly: I traveled to the forest region of Guinea with a large group of volunteers to explore the cultural differences, the tallest mountain in Guinea, and of course, search for wild chimpanzees. On Christmas other another volunteer and I were able to visit the chimpanzee reserve on the border town of Bossu, only a few kilometers from Liberia. Two minutes af...
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Wear your red bracelet...

Posted by Sarah Reid on Saturday, November 24, 2012,
First order of business: Our Girls' Outdoor Leadership Conference has finally made it up on the Peace Corps Partnership website! Please read and consider donating to an awesome project!


https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=675-144


I've neglected my blog for quite some time now- I'll blame the fact that I've been mostly at site these past few months, only making it to Labe for two short trips.


Since my return from Europe at the end of Sept...
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"That Paris Exists..."

Posted by Sarah Reid on Saturday, September 29, 2012,

You look around and every street, every boulevard, is its own special art form and when you think that in the cold, violent, meaningless universe that Paris exists, these lights, I mean come on, there's nothing happening on Jupiter or Neptune, but from way out in space you can see these lights, the cafés, people drinking and singing. For all we know, Paris is the hottest spot in the universe…”

Thus rambles Gil Pender in the Woody Allen film, Midnight in Paris.  Though I feel the sam...


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The Bar at the End of the Universe

Posted by Sarah Reid on Friday, September 28, 2012,
It's hard to imagine that after scaling cliffs and waterfalls the adventure could get any more amazing- yet here I am, exploring some of the most exciting places in Europe. The past ten days have flown by, and I'm starting this post from a cafe in Paris on the last day of my trip.


I'll try to hit the highlights best I can, but this adventure will probably be retold over several blog posts. Through Paris and Italy I've been exploring towns, savoring food, catching up with old friends, making...
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CP and HPGs!

Posted by Sarah Reid on Sunday, September 16, 2012,


So far, September has invited one adventure after another here in Guinea. I returned to Dubreka to help with more training at the beginning of the month, just in time, in fact, to join-in on the trainee excursion to the Soumba waterfall, my favorite part of training from last year. After a busy week in Dubreka, I returned for a few medical tests to Conakry, then taxi'd back up to the Fouta with two other volunteers on our way to Doucki, the most beautiful and probably most renowned tourist si...
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Rock Washing

Posted by Sarah Reid on Thursday, August 16, 2012,
As Lady Gaga aptly sings, "It's been a long time but I'm back in town..." I've been traveling in and out of Guinea recently, and haven't spent much time blogging. Here's what's been happening in the past few months.


The United States is wonderful. After spending an amazing two weeks visiting family and friends, gorging on American food, and getting my refill of the pop culture I'd missed in the past year, I got back on a plane to Guinea. Though I had an emotional goodbye with my family, ...
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Peace Corps: What I’ve learned, One Year On

Posted by Sarah Reid on Monday, July 2, 2012,

Thinking back to a year ago is a little wild.  I was saying goodbye to family and friends and packing in a daze; I couldn’t even begin to imagine the new life I was about to begin in Guinea.  I’m in Conakry now, working with other PC trainers to prepare for the arrival of the new trainees this week.  We’re developing new training materials and planning sessions, and I feel a little special having all of this volunteer knowledge to share.  Hitting the year mark is a nice landmark- knowin...


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Mido wawi sepude

Posted by Sarah Reid on Sunday, June 3, 2012,
After my Girl's Science Day, I started out the first weekend of the month with a trip to Djofia, the native village of my prinicpal. About seven miles into the mountains beyond Lafou, the village isn't easily accessible by car; even motos are in for a rough ride. I insisted on being a good volunteer for the visit and walking, so I set off for the hike (in a dress and chacos!) with two of the principal's kids and my dog. We took a few breaks under large trees along the way- the hot afternoon s...
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Girls & Science Day 2012!

Posted by Sarah Reid on Thursday, May 3, 2012,
Sometimes, all the sweat, blood, and tears of being a Peace Corps volunteer can pay off in one amazing day.  For me, that day was the Journée Science-Filles I organized for my school , held on May 1, 2012. This activity brought together the girls from my joint middle and high school for a day filled with games, science experiments, and sensitization sessions to promote women’s health and girls’ interest in science. My hope was to give the girls an exciting and fun look into how science a...
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Sweet Salone

Posted by Sarah Reid on Saturday, April 14, 2012,
The busier things get here in Guinea, the less I have been blogging! March has disappeared, April is already halfway gone, and soon the school year will be finishing up here in Guinea.


Our spring break has also come and gone, which I celebrated with two other volunteers by leaving Guinea for the first time in nine months! Our destination was only one country to the south: Sierra Leone. As bad as "Blood Diamond" and other scary war accounts paint the country, Sierra Leone is actually mu...
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Mangos, Anyone?

Posted by Sarah Reid on Friday, March 30, 2012,


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More Belle, Less Simba

Posted by Sarah Reid on Thursday, February 23, 2012,
When I was little, I used to carry around a basket singing the Belle intro from Beauty and the Beast, pretending I was in a "little town, full of little people..." You know the rest. Little did I know, I would be living that scene on a daily basis many years later. Go back and listen to the song, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what it feels like for me walking to school each morning in rural Guinea.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVovQfq7U0w&feature=youtube_gdata_player


Minu...
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Volunteer vs. Food

Posted by Sarah Reid on Friday, January 27, 2012,
Hello world! I'm on the way back to site from Mamou, where we held our In-Service Training (IST). All of the Guinea Education volunteers were reunited for the first time since our swearing-in in September. In between our numerous training sessions, we shared both horror and success stories from our time at site so far (4 months, ah!).


This past month at site has been fast and busy, complete with visits from the Prefet of Lelouma (my Prefecture, kind of like a district), weddings, more ha...
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Baby it's cold outside (in Africa!)

Posted by Sarah Reid on Friday, December 30, 2011,
The holidays aren't quite over, but I'm back in Labé with many a tale to tell. Tomorrow is New Years Eve, which people will be celebrating here, unlike the previous holiday, one week ago.


Most of The Fouta volunteers that gathered in the Labé house for vacation arrived on Christmas eve, and the following hours were filled with ingredient hunting in the Labé market, cooking, and of course, savoring our crafty holiday meals made as best we could with guinean substitutions. We used the h...
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Mi jombakka

Posted by Sarah Reid on Friday, December 23, 2011,
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." So said Jane Austen nearly 200 years ago... So remains true for Guinea in 2011. Amend the statement to remove "single," and you've hit the nail on the head. A man with up to three wives here can still be on the lookout for another. Four is maximum permitted by Islamic law. From the various conversations over tea that I've had in the past month, it seems, as it was in the era ...
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Happy Thanksgiving from Guinea!

Posted by Sarah Reid on Thursday, November 24, 2011,
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Since my preschool-age debut as mother pilgrim in a Thanksgiving play, ("Comb your hair Hattie, and wash, and don't forget to peel the squash." Or something like that...) I've loved every part of this all-inclusive American holiday. Every family has their own traditions and special dishes that the day isn't complete without (my favorites include my dad's pineapple muffins and my mom's mushroom-spinach bake mmm...) and who doesn't like a holiday centered ar...
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What's a Sandwich?

Posted by Sarah Reid on Saturday, November 5, 2011,
The foot is on the mend, and I've been cleared medically to go back to my site. Armed with bandages and extra antibiotics, I think I'll be set for the next few weeks. After several trips back to the doctor in Conakry, where they debated casting my foot, they finally decided the inflammation was mostly due to infection, and that rest and drugs were all I needed.


Yesterday I made the trip from Conakry to Labé in a not so fun 13 hour taxi ride. We rode four deep in the back of a tiny sedan,...
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The Foot that's Brought me to Conakry

Posted by Sarah Reid on Monday, October 31, 2011,

While I’m waiting for a video that I took at my site to slowly upload (stay tuned), I figured it was high time to blog about my latest and unfortunate exploits in Conakry. (This will explain my unusual amount of internet access over the past few days.)

I am currently back in Guinea’s capital, yet not really by choice. A little over a week ago, a small infection on my pinky toe was aggravated when I sustained a pretty bad foot injury while running.  My entire right foot became bruised and...


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One month in the African Boonies

Posted by Sarah Reid on Friday, October 28, 2011,


It’s been a little over a month since I’ve arrived at site!  It’s hard to believe, though swearing-in feels like years ago at times!

Site installations began the after we left Conakry.  As part of the formal Peace Corps moving in process, we’re introduced to all of the bigwigs of our region and surrounding prefectures, so I got to meet military and political officials in Labe, Pita, and Lelouma.  The Peace Corps dropped several volunteers off at their sites at a time, and finally, ...


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Now an official PCV...

Posted by Sarah Reid on Saturday, September 24, 2011,
We finally made it! 

Our 11 week training period has ended, and yesterday we were officially sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers! We're the first group to do so since the evacuation in 2009, and it was incredibly exciting to be part of such a big event.

Backtracking a little to our last few days of training...

The final days of the "stage" were a whirlwind in Dubreka, mixed with excitment and last minute activities to close out our training. Practice school ended well, and we had a big ceremony...
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SWEARING IN

Posted by Sarah Reid on Saturday, September 24, 2011,

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Ramadan and the Emerald City

Posted by Sarah Reid on Friday, September 9, 2011,
As it turned out, Mecca overrode the non-moon seeing Guineans, and we did end up having Ramadan the same day as the rest of the world! Waiting to know for sure about the holiday was a lot like waiting for a snow day back home, except there wasn't any snow, and I knew at 4:00am that the fête was on when I heard the obnoxious banging of drums and a xylophone-like instrument outside my window.


The fête was a long day of praying and eating, and I was up to four meals before two PM rolled ar...
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Ice Cream and Crocodiles

Posted by Sarah Reid on Monday, August 29, 2011,
With only three weeks left of training here in Guinea, the excitement has been constant. Among one of the more jarring events since our return from site visits was an affair about a few crocodiles that had all of Dubreka in an uproar.


One of Dubreka's claims to fame for a while was a man who kept four adult caimans (actually closer to alligators, but everyone here calls them crocodiles in French) in a pen in his backyard. I'd been to see the gators several times since my arrival, and thou...
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Va te faire FOUTA!

Posted by Sarah Reid on Monday, August 22, 2011,
Note: if you speak French, you'll recognize that the title of this blog post is terribly witty and funny... If you don't, find a Francophone and have them explain it to you. It'll make for good conversation.


Ten days, three towns, four bush taxis, and nineteen military roadblocks later, I've made it back alive to Dubreka. The adventure started as the trainees and trainers piled into the Peace Corps bus, Guinean style, to head to Mamou. Guinean style meaning- if there aren't enough seat...
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The sorting hat of Guinea

Posted by Sarah Reid on Thursday, August 4, 2011,
Ever hear of Lafou? Neither has most of the world, or the Internet for that matter. A google search on 'Lafou, Guinea' will ask you if you meant to look for 'Lefou,' and the related images are just plain irrelevant. I might have to write the wikipedia article on it myself. In any case, Lafou will be my new home in under two months, as we found out yesterday during our site announcements.


Since arrival, we've been itching to know where in Guinea we'll be sent after training. Speculation ...
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What Not to Wear - Guinea Edition

Posted by Sarah Reid on Tuesday, July 26, 2011,
With a new culture comes new clothes; that's almost a given. When I lived in France, I found myself making darker colored wardrobe choices, ditching my t-shirts, and never leaving the house without snazzy shoes and a scarf. Guinea is a different story. If I could dress for the weather here, I'd be wearing shorts and tank tops constantly, with a little skirt action thrown in for dressier occasions. Unfortunately this is West Africa, and there are certain wardrobe rules I have to follow.


Mos...
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Is this the Africa?

Posted by Sarah Reid on Tuesday, July 19, 2011,
Tana mu fenyé? If I'm not butchering my Soussou, that should mean, 'how's it going?'. Spending over a week in the Basse-Côte of Guinea, you start to pick up on the essentials; I kena - good morning, Pia - avocado, Gégé - cockroach, Foté - white person.
Though the official language here is French, Guinea has over 10 local languages, each associated with a particular group or region. We took a one hour crash course in Soussou at the main Peace Corps office in Conakry (Guinea's capital) b...
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Peace Corps Timeline

Posted by Sarah Reid on Sunday, October 31, 2010,
Now as I feel I am officially in 'the system,' I'll be updating a timeline of my progress in the process of becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer.

May 2010: Decision made to apply to the Peace Corps

June-July 2010: Began working on my application and bugging my references

August 9, 2010: Submitted my completed Peace Corps application

August 19, 2010: Got my 'Supplemental Materials' in the mail, given 2 weeks to complete fingerprints, transcripts, and a National Agency Questionnaire

August 28, 2010: Got...

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Sarah R.

Lafou, Guinea
Lafou, Guinea

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