So I have now been in Monrovia for about 10 hours. My flight from Chicago to Brussels was nice in that I got some sleep, then upon arrival in Brussels all 16 of us who made it (one guy missed a connection and is still on his way here) met up at the gate to the Monrovia flight. There are 9 of us from my training group in Guinea – me, Jarrad, Kim, Jon, Levi, Lisa, Bryan, Jesse, and Luke, in addition there are 7 people from Peace Corps Response who I’ve now met (Peace Corps Response is a program that volunteers who have finished their service can go back for short-term contracts in other countries), they seem really cool and I’m looking forward to getting to know more about them. They had been volunteers before in the following countries: El Salvador, Costa Rica, Mongolia, Fiji, Mozambique, and Cameroon (plus one who had been in Mauritania before going to Guinea right before we got evacuated).
The flight to Monrovia was nice, I really like Brussel’s Airlines (I had flown them before this summer when I went to France and Spain from Guinea) – their food is really good, and it seems like they give you something every hour or two (on this 8 hour flight we got a moist towel and earphones, beverage service with crackers, hot meal (seared tuna on the salad, thai curry chicken, good French camambert cheese, cookie and chocolate, etc) with beverage, coffee and tea service, and finally ice cream). I sat next to a genetics professor from Baton Rouge, LA who was orriginally from Eritrea (a small East African country near Ethiopia and Egypt). Upon arrival I was surprised at how many non-African faces were going through customs with us – I remember us being a small island of whiteness in a big crown of Guineans on my flight into Conakry – here though I’d say it was almost 50:50. It’s going to be interesting to work in a country with this density of ex-pats and foreign aid workers.
After landing we got our bags, went through customs and loaded up the Peace Corps bus (big toyota van/bus like the one we had in Guinea, but older looking) and drove the 1 hour from the airport into Monrovia. It was night, so I didn’t get a good look at anything, but mostly I was surprised at the amount of people who were walking the streets, especially in central Monrovia – it turns out there was a big soccer match last night and we got into town right after it let out. We arrived at St. Theresa’s Convent (a large compound which is a fuctional convent and health science school which rents its extra rooms out like a hotel). I met the Peace Corps Liberia Country Director (Lucianne), Doctor (Bill), Administrative Officer (….I forgot), Program Director (Analisse) and was told that I’d meet the remaining 3 members of Peace Corps staff this morning at breakfast. We got a quick intro and then I went to bed (after I don’t even know how many days of not sleeping more than 2-3 hours at a time).
So far, I know that I am here in Monrovia until Wednesday, then we will all go to a city in Bong county called Gbarnga where we will meet our counterparts (mine is most likely another teacher from my school who I will work closely with) and have more sessions until Saturday – at which point I will move to my new site. I don’t yet know where this new site will be, but I’m hoping I’ll find out at some point today. I also hope to figure out what exactly I’ll be doing there, since I’m still not sure what I’ll be teaching or to whom. I did hear that school starts again on the 18th (exactly 2 days after I move into my new village), so I suppose I’ll be winging it for the first two weeks. We don’t expect to get any teaching materials (books, etc), but I’m hoping to at least get my hands on the suggested curriculum for whatever grade level and subject I get to teach before this weekend so I can start to think about what I’ll teach and how. Anyway, for now that’s the update, I’ll write more when I know it.
I should be getting my cell phone SIM card tomorrow, and there’s a posibility that getting wireless internet in my village through a cell phone tower connected USB key might be available and within my price range, but I’ll find out tomorrow, don’t want to get my hopes up needlessly. Until then!
Keep them coming!
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