Installed

Hello all! Long time, no see. Figuratively, of course. I'm in a city called Kamsar for the day, making use of the internet cafe here. I don't have a whole lot of time to write about everything I wish I could, but I'll try to make a start.

My site is good, with a great market (by guinean standards), iced drinks available, lots of people, and easy transportation. It's too big to get to know everyone, so I get called Fote a lot. And stared at a lot. In fact, I often feel like an animal in a zoo, or an alien. When small children yell and run from me, it definitely feels like I'm an alien. It doesn't help that I've read about eight science fiction books since getting here. It's easy to relate to.

I will be teaching 6 hours of physics and 10 of english, instead of the 11 hours of physics that I expected. That's what happens when you have small classes in 11th grade, as few people passed the qualifying test for high school. In addition, none of the English teachers has shown up yet, so I'm the only english teacher at the moment, though I'm only scheduled to teach the oldest kids, I'll be occasionally giving lessons to the younger kids. It's kinda stressful, actually, and I really need to get a routine down, although that's been impossible as the schedule isn't figured out.

I'm still pretty homesick at times, though I've gotten used to not having water or power. Not having internet, as the rest of the volunteers do in the other regions, was really weighing on me. I'm glad we found a way to get internet. it's been really great seeing other volunteers and comparing experiences. A couple of us met up in another big town a few weeks ago and found an awesome restaurant, so we'll probably make that a tradition when we need to get supplies/go to the bank.

My one crazy story is that I had a mouse get inside my mosquito net, and then I inadvertently trapped it there, so I woke up twice in the middle of the night and it kept coming closer to my head each time i woke up. At first I thought I dreamt it, but finally I was so freaked out that I just left the bed to it and sat in my living room til morning prayer, and then I put my hammock up outside and slept there. Now I can put my hammock up inside too! Which is somewhat cooler than sleeping in the bed.

I get irritated really easily. As my mom says, I have to learn patience. It's a hard lesson.

I miss everybody! I can be contacted (dubiously) by letter, phone call, text message, or email. Phone calls and emails can be done pretty cheaply through Skype, and you can get my phone number through my parents, if you want! Post any questions you want answered next month in the comments and I'll try to read them!