Kid or Kid?

Friends, I have learned to play the most entertaining of games, much akin to the “Hey Cow” my cousin, Renée, and I would play in the sprawling pastures of Eastern Washington.  Here are the rules:

1. You must be situated in an area with a restricted range of vision (classrooms with few windows or latrines work wonderfully)
2. You cannot plan to play the game; you must allow the game to come to you.
3. When you hear a brain-rattling bleat/snort/bray, you must immediately turn to the person nearest you and say whether the noise is of the child or goat variety (kid or kid… get it?)
4. When the noisy culprit comes into view, you are either assigned or deducted street cred points for correct/incorrect answers
5. The objective: to collect as many points as possible throughout the duration of your stay in country

So far, I’m at -1.

The goats are cray here.  First, the females grow about as wide as they are tall before finally giving birth.  Second, just like Honey Badger don’t give a sh**, Guinea Goats think French class is as good a place as any to seek refuge from the rain.  Third, I think they’re smarter than they let on.  We were bleating at a loud soon-to-be-mother goat yesterday and, I swear, she glared at us for mocking her.  Lady was fixing to charge, so I’m glad she was tethered down.  Also, the goats delight in hiding in tall grass and then shriek-bleating when you pass by.  Maybe they have a game of “How high can the human jump?” going on.

Allow me, for one moment, to go on a “Kelsey still secretly wants to be Jeff Corwin when she grows up” tangent…

I have yet to see any large animals, but if they’re any bit as entertaining as the small ones – I may have to rethink my career path (see previous Jeff Corwin reference).  All right, the lizards first.  There are a million and one varieties, and there appears to be a direct correlation between decreasing size and exponentially increasing cuteness.  You have the wall-paper lizards, which will literally stay in the same position in the same place on the same wall for days on end.  We thought they were decorations for a good week or so until one of them moved its head.  Then, you have the push-up lizards, who scurry along the high walls around our Peace Corps compound, stopping sporadically to do 5-10 pushups before scampering out of sight.  I have many theories as to why they do this:

1.  To gain a better vantage point, if only for a few milliseconds

2.  To generate more body heat

3.  Seeing as it’s constantly beach season in Dubreka, they be working on their fitness to attract a mate

Also, there are skinks here.  Am I the only one who thinks that’s the sweetest animal name?

            Let’s see, we’ve also got a variety of ducks and pigeons that roam around the streets, and vultures that constantly circle ominously overhead.  The cats and street dogs are pretty tame as far as interacting with humans goes.

            There are also a number of large flying creatures that we, the trainees, affectionately refer to as the Snitches.  The fact that they’re airborne defies logic, given their body-to-wing size ratio, and I’m under the impression that if you were to catch one, you’d be imbued with magical powers… or a heretofore undiscovered neurotoxin. 

You know, potayto – potahto.

Okay, I kid about the neurotoxin, but there really are Snitches.  I think they may be a wasp of some sort.  Oh, there are also monkeys.  But I’ve only seen pet monkeys, no wild ones yet.  I’ll be sure to give you a heads up if I’m about to go all “Gorillas in the Mist” in Guinea’s forest region.

            While we’re on the topic of regions… I have been given my placement!  We had a site announcement on Friday of last week, organized by our Program Manager.  We were gathered together in the gazebo after class.  A chalk map of Guinea was drawn on the ground, complete with the names of all placements and regional capitals.  Our Program Manager then read off a riddle corresponding to a certain trainee’s name, which we had to guess before he revealed their assignment.  It was a fun game, despite the butterflies in my stomach.  Actually, the skink helped to distract me from my anxiousness until I heard everyone yell “It’s Kelsey!!”  I am officially going to work in Ditinn, within the Fouta region of Guinea (also called Moyen Guinée)!! It is a mix of savannah and forest, with a cool climate (we’re talking 50-77 F / 10-25 C), and inhabited mainly by the Peuhls (Pulaar-speaking folk, just like my host family)!  I’m psyched.

I’m told that it’s near some beautiful rivers and waterfalls, and that the people are wonderfully hospitable.  The school I’ll be teaching at is a Franco-Arab school, which my host father tells me means that it is a bilingual education system.  This will indeed be an exciting adventure for yours truly.

That’s all for now.  See you next time – same(or very different) bat-time, same bat-place (the interwebs).

I’m getting letters from you guys!  THANK YOU!  I’ve sent off a couple myself, and I believe it should take anywhere from 2-4 weeks for them to get from point A to point B.  Not bad, I’d say!

Some of you have asked for ideas for care package items, so here are my requests:

- Hand sanitizer

- Duct tape

- Drink mixes (like propel thingies)

- “D” batteries… or a headlamp (I would like to stop strapping my flashlight to my noggin at night, people here already think I’m weird enough)

- Salty snacks

- Gum

- Lotion

- Wet wipes

- Books