We Made It!

Well, I am sitting in the transit house in Conakry and I can hardly believe it! We made it all in one piece and with everyone's luggage! Unbelievable!

I was worried because when we changed planes in Dakar it was INSANE. I ended up taking control of getting everyone checked in and all their bags loaded even though I felt like I was going to pass out. I am the one with the loudest voice, so...that worked out :).

Jessica, Scott and I were the only ones who had to rearrange our stuff at JFK in order to conform to the airline rules, which I thought was kind of shocking. I was the first one to be told to step aside and figure it out - so I win! But we all got all of our stuff here, even though Jessica's brewer's yeast exploded in poor Scott's bag and got ALL OVER all of his stuff. We tried to clean his bag in the bathroom and did an ok job but it needs a true wash before we go to homestay. He had to wash all of his clothes today to get the yeast out. I felt sooooooo bad. I was going to help him but I was sick all day. In fact, I was the first one to puke in Africa (in the Dakar airport, no less)! I win again!

Actually it was awful. It wasn't until we got off the plane in Dakar that I started to feel ill and then it just progressed and progressed and all told I puked probably 5x today and was told to put the rehydration salt in my water and it is FOUL! So I was also the first one to have to drink the rehydration drink in Guinea! I win AGAIN!

I wasn't able to eat lunch at all today, which was a traditional rice and sauce type meal (I managed to get down a plantain but that was it). However, I did eat dinner, which for me was plain pasta (the others had a meat sauce they said was really good) and salad. I asked Liz, one of the PCVs currently serving, if it was ok for us to eat lettuce because I heard it wasn't. She said as long as you wash it in bleach it's fine. YUM...

Everyone is really awesome and we are all becoming great friends. The drive from the airport to the transit house was surreal (and HOT! - it is really humid here) and we had our first little kid yell "Fote, fote, fote, bye bye!" We all laughed but I know being called fote (white person or foreigner) will get old fast.

The transit house pretty much insulates us from the real Guinea. It's like being at a hostel and it's a compound with guards and tall walls and barbed wire to keep us safe. I don't know how I ended up being the only girl in a room with 7 dudes. But it's cool. We did venture off the compound with a couple of the PCVs to go to a store right across the street to buy laundry detergent. It cost 600 Guinean francs which is like 5 cents. But you use the whole packet for one "load". The store had cold sodas, laughing cow cheese and candy among other things.

We had an orientation today but for the most part we had time to ourselves to rest, deal with our bags and talk to the PCVs here to train us for the first couple of weeks. Tomorrow breakfast is at 8 (in the future it will be 7) and then we have a full day of sessions with plans for an early dinner (5ish) so we can go to the beach bar to watch the sunset over the ocean.

So, aside from being really ill, dizzy and exhausted all day, things went just fine! I am confident that when I wake up in the morning I will feel fine, as I am already feeling pretty good. As far as I know, we stay at the transit house until Monday morning, when we go to Forecariah to be adopted by our host families for homestay.

Right now I think my biggest apprehensions are language and figuring out my way around. All in due time.

I love you all and want to once again say thanks for all the support. Send me letters!!