i ni ke!

This was taken during the Tabaski fete in December; I had just finished a long run and wanted to check out the soccer game (which is going on behind me), so I threw on my boubou and headed out.

A cellphone antenna has been erected in Sandenia!.. now we just have to wait for the actual network components to be installed. Somebody told me it should be ready on 25 January.

Green mamba!

"I'm gonna catch it in the coat... And smack it with the hammer."


Belt snake!

Toure and I at the clinic. Griffey Jr is his favorite player, in case you were wondering.



Christmas dinner photo.

My little neighbor. She's adorable, except when she's crying - gosh! what an awful racket. I'm going to try to get a video up sometime of her trying to catch her cat, because my writing just won't do justice to how cute it is.

My little buddy.


There was a yellow fever outbreak in a nearby village, so Toure had to vaccinate everybody - he did something like 15,000 injections in three days. It was complete madness as everybody tried to shove their way in to get their shots. Don't worry - I was vaccinated before I came.

Showing off their shots.



These are my neighbors. I wanted a picture of the cat, so I got all of them in it as well. Salle, the tall girl standing in the middle, is one of my ninth graders. She also does my laundry and my dishes. I think I'd die without her.



My sisters sent me some coloring books to give away. I kept most of them for myself, because, you know, I love to color, but I did give ONE to this little girl. She just pretends to color when I watch, because I don't think she actually knows what to do. Then, at night, Salle takes it and colors. She did the entire book in just a few days. See below.


These women hosted a soccer game the other week, so they got all dressed up - the one in the police outfit is married to the local cop and the one in the fatigues is married to the gendarme. I have NO IDEA why they dressed up like that, but it was pretty hilarious and we all had a good laugh.



A village woman sifting her rice - they do this to get the rocks out after it's dried in the sun on the road all day.




When the camera comes out, everybody wants their picture taken. I have no idea who this family is.

This woman really likes to aggravate me. She sells oranges on the road right where I begin and end my runs. Every day, just as I start, she tries to give me oranges, but I tell her I can't take them until after I run. When I return, she retracts her offer.



I caught this sneaky guy eating my neighbor's banana tree when he shouldn't have been. He ran away like a dg who'd just pulled the bacon off the counter.




My school consists of four classroom and the admin building, over on the right.


Hey everybody! I'm in Kankan right now for the G-17 site visit party, so I thought this would be a good time to try to post some pictures. If you'd like to try calling me, I am using a new number while in Kankan - 011.224.65.72.25.67. (and if that one doesn't work, you can try the other number - 011.224.66.51.86.03)

Things are going pretty well right now. School is still barely functioning, and it looks like there isn't a house for me in Dabola, so I won't be moving there after all, but perhaps to another village. Who knows? I'm getting started on some really exciting secondary projects, including a village sensibilization on crossing the road, and perhaps organizing the first Guinea marathon. It's all just in the brainstorm stage right now, but I've got some great ideas coming together. Hopefully I can flesh them out a little bit over the next week and give you some more info next weekend, when I go to Mamou for in-service training for a week; I'd love to get a little help/support for some of these projects, and I know there are a lot of you out there who would like to get involved, so let's see what we can do!

Okay - my time is up on the computer, but I'll be back in a week or so... wo-o-oh! (goodbye in Susu, Malinke and Dialonke)

A lot of people have been asking me for my address. Voici:

Hunter Dreidame, PCV
Corps de la Paix
B.P.1927 Conakry
Guinea
West Africa