New Site

Don’t worry, I’m still alive! It's been an insane two months though. I had to have a site change, which kind of blows. I really loved my village, but just before Christmas my house got broken into in Kanwekan, and Peace Corps wanted me to move. I spend Christmas with a big group of volunteers in Robertsport. Arguably one of the nicest beaches in West Africa. A group of 5 of us then headed off to Sierra Leone for New Years. We spend two nights at Tiwai Island, a National Park in Sierra Leone. We saw 6 species of primates, and some pretty cool birds. They also have two troops of chimps, and pygmy hippos, but they were MIA. After Tiwai we took the 7 hour bus ride to Freetown. There we spend two nights at the awesome Peace Corps compound where they have a hostel that sleeps 20. Running water, 24 hour power, and an A/C room with computers and internet. It was a little shocking, but amazing. Then we went to Hamilton beach, near Freetown, and spend New Year’s. This place was paradise. We ate fresh lobster on the beach and I found my new favorite drink, Savanna Dry Cider. Then we decided to take the scenic route home. It took me 4 days of all day travel to get back to Monrovia. It was an adventure, but I’m ready for a break from minivans packed with 30 people and farm animals.

I spend the first week of January in Monrovia while my new house was getting some upgrades. This happened to be the same time our new group of 16 Peace Corps Response volunteers got into country I rode to the airport to pick them up with PC staff and tried to answer all the questions. I was around for a few days of their training before being sent up to Gbanga for a workshop of Perm gardening. It’s a pretty cool concept, and I hope to start a garden at site and maybe train a few of the Liberians on it.

I then headed back to Monrovia to discuss what I am going to be doing in Zwedru with the programming staff. It’s not to different from what I was doing before, but now I’m teaching 10th grade Biology and Chemistry. In addition to my teaching I am also helping tutor the 9th graders to try and prepare them for their National Exam in April.

I got to Zwedru on Friday and headed to Kanwekan to get the rest of my furniture. It was hard saying goodbye to all the friends I had made there, but I’m optimistic about my new site. The house is a palace compared to the old place, and there are 3 other PCV’s in town. I have power from 7-10 everyday, and a toilet that flushes (with the help of a bucket of water). Well, that’s enough for tonight!

PS- This post has been brought to you by the pressure of Jerome Parm!