back in conakry

im sort of overwhelmed with all the things that have happened since i last wrote. first of all i had the time of my life in senegal participating in an event called WAIST- west african invitational softball tournament. it is open to all expats living in west africa, but about 80% of the participants are pc volunteers. the trip up there took FOREVER and was a NIGHTMARE. it took 45 hours, on sone of the worst roads i have ever been on. we broke down twice and only stopped for three hours in the middle of the night at a roadblock to sleep. it was impossible to sleep on the road with all the bumps- i had bruises for weeks from being flung around the car- too bad the car was so ghetto that there were no seatbelts. under the pictures im about to put up i will write a running commentary which will explain the trip. luckily, when we arrived in dakar it was all worth it. we won all four of our regular games, and our only loss was in thee playoffs against the team which eventually went on to win the tournament. yayay!!!

it is amazing how different dakar is from conakry, and how distinct it is from freetown as well. freetown was more developed than conakry, but had a laid back beach-y feel to it. dakar was much more cosmopolitan and developed. there were coffee shops and nice restaurants and lots of paved roads etc. other than that, i will have to tell the stories when i get back- and boy do i have stories!!!

since ive been back, ive been mostly hanging out at my site in my village, working on a major tree nursury project where many of the trees died, when no one watered when i was away even though my reforestation group was paying the family whose compound borders the nursury. i have also been clearing land for a moringa garden, which failed last year because it was trampled and eated by cows sheep and goats. this year i had a woven grass fence put up, so hopefully ill soon be able to give moringa leaf powder (exceptionally nutritious and high in protein and calcium) to pregnant mothers and malnurished children. other than that, i teach english regularly to adults, and build mud stoves for any interested party, and im working on extending my honey production with a man who is already involved in traditional bee hives. while im in conakry i will continue to write the proposal for a brick project i think ive mentioned in earlier posts.

the other day i had a scary snake incident. it was in my bathroom between my wall and the tin roof, but i didnt see it until i was about a foot away and it was spitting and hissing at me. it was about 6 ft long and black. the neighbors shot it with a shotgun, blasting several holes in the roof.

other than that, im just chugging along. i just recieved your manuscript Lisa, and look forward to reading it when i get back to my hut. dad, i adore you and thanks soooo much for remembering me and continuing to send me goldfish and chicken pouches!!! I LOVE YOU!!! ohhh, and to all my relatives who wrote to me in the email from cali, thank you soooo much!!! ok, enough talk, lets download some pix!