Katy Murtaugh’s Next Big Adventure!

Well, training is officially over. I am a day away from officially becoming a volunteer! (For anyone familiar with the normal Peace Corps process who is also math-inclined, PC Guinea has shortened training from 3 months to 9 weeks, with an added In-Service Training after 3 months at site. So far, I’m a big fan of this change.) I even get to give a little speech in Pulaar at our swearing-in ceremony on Friday (a task for which I volunteered by the by - my Pulaar is not so incredible that they thought there was no one else who could possibly speak in front of dignitaries).

It’s weird, I never doubted I would stick around through all of training, yet I am surprised to find myself here. This still doesn’t really feel real. I’m “here,” I think I’m as “here” as I could possibly be (it’s a kind of whiplash to hear about the Super Bowl or Super Tuesday) and yet it still seems…not real. Could I possibly be in Africa right now? Could I possibly not be in Madison living my normal life? Could this possibly be my new normal life? Could this possibly last for two years? It’s interesting, and at times confusing. I’m learning to recognize the feeling that comes with taking your life in your own hands and making it be something you believe you want it to be — I have so much control of my own life and find myself in situations that are so entirely of my own creation that it feels not real, it feels like I’m just making it all up! I’m pretty sure I like what I’m making up at the moment, but the poop really hasn’t hit the fan yet, we’ll see if I’m still a fan of my own creation when I’m in Dalaba on my own!

I bought my host mom a couple of chickens for a thank-you gift the day before I left - not only were they a big hit with my host mom, but it was also just fun to be walking through town carrying chickens around! I even got to carry a friend’s chicken for her (wimp). There’s a humurous chicken picture out there somewhere, check Liz’s site.

As I write this I am on the roof of the volunteer house in Conakry, smelling the ocean, listening to a playlist inspired by a lovely moment once when my brother said he could listen to “Blackbird” all day long and never get tired of it. I realized how right he was and am now enjoying my whole “Blackbird” playlist. (By the way, I wrote this on my laptop and will upload it to my site later, no wireless just yet…maybe someday though.)

Training was neither the bore nor the pain that RPCV’s had prepared me for it to be. There were maybe a couple of sessions that were a little tedious and some language sessions that were a little frustrating, but overall I found it to be useful and, at times, challenging (in the good way). One thing that seemed clear to me before joining Peace Corps is that each country’s program is really different and much of a volunteer’s experience is determined by the administration of the country — whether or not volunteers feel supported, whether or not they’re constantly working to get around rules, whether or not things are just organized — and everyone in the administration here is as supportive and on top of things as you could wish them to be. Once again, I think I can count myself lucky!

What now? Well, we swear in on Friday, go to our Regional Capitols on Sunday and then I officially get “installed” at my site on Friday! From there I have 3 months to get my feet on the ground, get the lay of the land, figure out what in the world I’m going to be doing, get to know the various people that I might be able to work with, learn as much about my town as possible, thoroughly clean my house and set it up, start cooking for myself (yeah!), meet as many people as possible and then meet them again so I start to remember their names, visit the nearby touristic sites and villages, call people theives and slaves and cheaters depending on their last name (I’m not kidding; it’s a cultural thing), work on my Pulaar, tell everybody I meet about what Peace Corps is and what my role is in their town, and then figure out what I’m going to do for the next three months after that! Three months at a time…I can handle that.

If I remember some good anecdotes, I’ll be sure to pass them on, but for now I seem to be in a generally reflective mood! I should get pictures uploaded in the next couple of days too!