I must be doing something right to be receiving so many letters, Christmas cards, and care packages! I feel so loved and I can't express how much all the love and support is appreciated. I promise that I'm in the process of writing you all back but it will take a while to send the letters out because so far the only postal office I know of is in Conakry. Either way I look at my letters over and over and feel like I' m really not that far from home at all. This experience has really made me appreciate home even more and strengthen my ties at home. Again, I have never felt this much love, support, involvement, and pride from my friends and family. My most sincere thank you to all!
My morale as well as the rest of the AgFo training group is very high right now and it all is owed to you all back at home. We have talked about the things we miss at home everyday for the past month which mostly entails food. So every piece of chocolate, every bite of cheese, every sip of Crystal Lite to mask the bleach water has been cherished to its greatest capacity. We laugh about how post-service life is going to be so easy. For example, when finding housing we'll have no problem. We laugh about how easily entertained we'll be by the simplest things like turning on a switch. My friend Teale envisioned us turning on and off a light switch for hours with these glazed eyes saying, "Amazing...works every time!" In all honesty, I see this experience as one really long camping trip. I'm having so much fun here!
Our group is really bonding and moments like New Year's Day will be engrained in all our crazy "This Is Africa" memories. After successfully building a BBQ pit at our trainer's house the next obvious thing to do was to use it. Sounds simple enough but first we had to get the meat. That day was officially the 3rd goat I've seen slaughtered. I've become desensitized by this point so it didn't bother me to see its' muscles still twitching as the parts were laid over the pit. The goat didn't taste that great but the experience was the first of many to bond us "leatherman wearers" closer.
After the BBQ we were ushered to play a soccer match against the town's soccer teams. We were blown out of the water to see the whole town present as well as the prefet (like a mayor) and the town officials. They even went as far to put up nets on the goals. To cut to the point, I miracously scored the 1st goal of the game. I claim full bragging rights only because the only soccer I've played in my whole life has been against 5th graders! It was the strangest feeling hearing my name echo over the loud speakers (speakers attached to the roof of a car). I wasn't even sure that I had made it because at the exact moment I kicked the ball the opponent clocked me. I got up, dusted off, and squealed for joy! The whole town went crazy and I instantly became the town hero. Once I sat out, the photographer came and took a picture of me drinking my plastic bag of water. I have no idea if they are intending to post the picture in some community newsletter but once I find out I'd love to post it so I can show Heny Haba at her finest moment in Maferinyah. My Guinean family was so proud.
Another bonding moment was our success at making BBQ chicken pizza. We've designated one night a week as our "Saturday night shake-down" to get away from the rice and sauce and try to cook as creatively as possible given our situation with lack of cooking ingredients and an oven. Yea...you can call us intense because if you want BBQ sauce you gotta make it and if you want chicken on that pizza you gotta kill it first. Our next group meal is breakfast however we have a birthday request to get some monkey meat before the french toast. I'm not sure if I'd like to go out that way though. AgFo consensus says that being bitten by a Black Mamba is a much cooler way to die.
My morale as well as the rest of the AgFo training group is very high right now and it all is owed to you all back at home. We have talked about the things we miss at home everyday for the past month which mostly entails food. So every piece of chocolate, every bite of cheese, every sip of Crystal Lite to mask the bleach water has been cherished to its greatest capacity. We laugh about how post-service life is going to be so easy. For example, when finding housing we'll have no problem. We laugh about how easily entertained we'll be by the simplest things like turning on a switch. My friend Teale envisioned us turning on and off a light switch for hours with these glazed eyes saying, "Amazing...works every time!" In all honesty, I see this experience as one really long camping trip. I'm having so much fun here!
Our group is really bonding and moments like New Year's Day will be engrained in all our crazy "This Is Africa" memories. After successfully building a BBQ pit at our trainer's house the next obvious thing to do was to use it. Sounds simple enough but first we had to get the meat. That day was officially the 3rd goat I've seen slaughtered. I've become desensitized by this point so it didn't bother me to see its' muscles still twitching as the parts were laid over the pit. The goat didn't taste that great but the experience was the first of many to bond us "leatherman wearers" closer.
After the BBQ we were ushered to play a soccer match against the town's soccer teams. We were blown out of the water to see the whole town present as well as the prefet (like a mayor) and the town officials. They even went as far to put up nets on the goals. To cut to the point, I miracously scored the 1st goal of the game. I claim full bragging rights only because the only soccer I've played in my whole life has been against 5th graders! It was the strangest feeling hearing my name echo over the loud speakers (speakers attached to the roof of a car). I wasn't even sure that I had made it because at the exact moment I kicked the ball the opponent clocked me. I got up, dusted off, and squealed for joy! The whole town went crazy and I instantly became the town hero. Once I sat out, the photographer came and took a picture of me drinking my plastic bag of water. I have no idea if they are intending to post the picture in some community newsletter but once I find out I'd love to post it so I can show Heny Haba at her finest moment in Maferinyah. My Guinean family was so proud.
Another bonding moment was our success at making BBQ chicken pizza. We've designated one night a week as our "Saturday night shake-down" to get away from the rice and sauce and try to cook as creatively as possible given our situation with lack of cooking ingredients and an oven. Yea...you can call us intense because if you want BBQ sauce you gotta make it and if you want chicken on that pizza you gotta kill it first. Our next group meal is breakfast however we have a birthday request to get some monkey meat before the french toast. I'm not sure if I'd like to go out that way though. AgFo consensus says that being bitten by a Black Mamba is a much cooler way to die.
