Training is Almost Over?!

I feel like time has flown by faster than I could've ever imagined. I have less than a month left of training and then I get to officially swear-in as a Peace Corps Volunteer! Training has been super busy, but I'm learning a lot and every day I feel more prepared for service.

I recently went to see my site, which is in a large city called Siguiri (Sig-ear-ee) in the region of Haute Guinée, or Upper Guinea. Siguiri in the second largest city in Guinea after the Capital, Conakry. Siguiri is known for its gold mines and motos, and I'd also add incredible food!

In Haute Guinée, the main ethnic group is Malinké, so I've starting learning Malinké in order to communicate with people in the city. Language is really important here in Guinea, as people see you as part of their community if you speak their language.

In Siguiri, I'll be teaching High school, specifically 11th grade/11ème English classes. It was really nice to get to know some of my colleagues and see my new house, everyone who I met seemed really supportive and nice, so I'm looking forward to seeing how my teaching experience evolves. I'm also looking forward to getting to know Siguiri and all that it has to offer!

Also during site visit, I got to visit the Peace Corps regional house in the city of Kankan. I was able to get to know Kankan a little bit and the volunteers that are serving in the region. It takes about two days to get to my site because of the roads, and traveling there and back to Dubréka was definitely quite an adventure, but I really enjoyed getting to see where I'll be living for the next two years, and got to cross the Niger River along the way!

The Niger River

Now that I'm back in Dubréka until swear-in, I've started teaching summer classes to Guinean students who are looking to learn English. The first two classes went well, but unfortunately I'm now sick. Even though being sick is certainly not fun, and at times it's quite scary, I luckily don't have anything serious, and will likely recover in the next few days. My host family and Peace Corps community have been doing a wonderful job of taking care of me, so I know that like all hurdles, this will pass. And of course, there's always light at the end of a tunnel.