Feb 18, 2012
The stagiares are very sweet. This morning they invited me to eat
(which all Guineans do if they are eating) and since I didn't have
breakfast I ate. It was rice with a peanut sauce, fish, and some
pasta. There was a lot of it so I didn't feel too bad about enjoying
it. When I put my spoon down and said I was done, they said I couldn't
possibly be full and to eat more, even though they were finishing up
themselves. I hope they share with me every morning since breakfast is
the most difficult to find here.
Yesterday in Kamsar we (me, Steph, and Marissa) went to a new
supermarket. It was amazing! There was a huge selection and the prices
weren't too bad. They even had a good amount of frozen foods,
including: dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, burgers, bacon/turkey
bacon, mozzarella sticks, taquitos, and microwave dinners (not that I
expect many people here to have microwaves…). There I bought apple
juice (which was not that good), nacho cheese, and crackers. Well that
was my lunch yesterday and it was awesome! Since it didn't make me
sick, I will eat the rest today : )
A young woman (maybe about 14) just came to the hospital with severe
malaria. Joe put her on a quinine drip with an anti-emetic to control
her vomiting. Now that the stagiares are here and are sitting in on
consultations, they want me there too. It's kind of strange, because
in America people can't just watch a meeting between the doctor and
patient unless they are a med student or something. Well, I'm not in
America and this is a great opportunity to learn some new things so I
guess I will make the most of it while I can.
The Diallo family (Kadiatou) is so sweet! They called me over for
brunch just now and gave me French bread with beans (common breakfast
food here) with chicken in it! Chicken is very expensive here so
people rarely eat it. This was a very nice treat for me and I ate as
much as I possibly could, making sure to pick out the chicken.
Kadiatou was a little upset I didn't eat it all, but I said I was full
and that it was very delicious so eventually she accepted that and let
me be finished. I love that people here are so generous and
hospitable, it makes being "alone" so much easier.
After a nice long nap, I decided to eat the rest of my crackers and
nacho cheese. No sooner had I eaten the last one and Kadiatou called
me over to have lunch. I said I could eat a little but she prepared me
way too much. Again, I ate until I was completely stuffed, but still
half the rice remained. Kadiatou insisted I eat more, but there was no
possible way I could take another bite. I was uncomfortably full,
almost to the point of feeling sick. Kadiatou finally let me go,
although I don't think she was convinced I was done.
Feb 19, 2012
Sundays are lazy days since the hospital isn't really open. Cleaned my
house; washed some clothes; hung out in the hammock. That's all. Oh
yeah, I also did my nails. Exciting.
Today my meals consisted of salami and gummy worms. I ate a little
rice and sauce but got full really fast so didn't have much. I'm
assuming my stomach weirdness (like capacity not illness) is a side
effect of the meds/being sick and will hopefully pass soon.
Kadiatou came over today with Lamar and I showed them pictures of
family/friends/pets from America. They love Janna. They think she is
"tres belle comme Miss" (very pretty like me). They also love Bomber.
They think she is the prettiest cat ever and love saying her name.
It's actually pretty amusing and very sweet.
OK. Something terrifying happened last night. I had fallen asleep
pretty eary, probably around 9, and woke up to a man calling my name
(M'Balia, not Brittany). I only heard him say it once but listened
very closely after that. Looking at my watch, I saw that it was
midnight. I assumed it was my brother who said my name, making sure I
was home, since I hadn't seen my family before going to sleep. Still I
was shaken and after checking that my door was locked, I brought my
keys into my room with me in case anyone was thinking about trying to
get them through my living room window (remember, no screens yet). I'm
sure no one was trying to break in and felt better after seeing a
light in the main house, showing someone was awake if anything should
happen.
Feb 20, 2012
So Lamah has been in Boke since Wednesday (today is Monday) waiting
for medicine from Conakry. We are supposed to do a sensibilization on
family planning tomorrow in Kataco (neighboring village). No one here
has done anything to prepare for it and I'm not exactly sure what
message Lamah wants me to get across. I haven't seen one of these
presentations in Bintimodia yet so I don't know how they normally work
here. Hopefully Lamah comes back today, or I guess we won't be going
to Kataco…
Well, Lamah didn't return yet. I hope he comes back soon because I'm
spending the weekend in Boke with the other volunteers and I would
like to talk to him before I leave on Friday. Also I need to tell him
I won't be at the sensibilization on Saturday…hope this won't be a
problem.
Cell service here is very inconsistent. Even when I have signal, I
don't get texts until hours after they are sent, if I get them at all.
Then in the middle of the night I get like six texts all at once.
Also, I will have service all day until I want to make a call, at
which point it's emergency use only. WHT?! Well, hopefully this will
improve soon since a new cell tower is being built in my village for
the Orange network. I think it should be finished in the next couple
weeks, so we'll see what happens.
Feb 21, 2012
There are seven women waiting at the hospital to see the doctor. I
think Conte is doing vaccinations in a neighboring village and Lamah
is still in Boke so it's only Joe here. He finally just returned after
being away for nearly 45 minutes, but he doesn't have the keys to the
office for some reason so he now has to go find them. The women are
getting really anxious and don't understand why I can't just do the
consultations myself.
Finally Joe is back, but now more people are arriving to be seen. I
feel so helpless, but I can't do vaccinations and I don't speak Susu
so I couldn't even help them if I was qualified.
There is a little boy here with his mother and he is sooo adorable. He
loves the babies around him and is smiling constantly and trying to
play/touch the babies. He doesn't appear sick, but it is likely he has
a respiratory infection since most kids here have something similar to
that almost all the time.
A woman waiting at the hospital keeps giving her baby (like under 6
months old) water. Babies that young should only be given breast milk
and in the 1.5 hours she's been here she hasn't even tried
breastfeeding even though they baby is fussy. Does she want her child
to be malnourished? Does she not have any common sense? I really want
to say something but I'm not a doctor and I don't have children and
I'm not Guinean, so what do I know…
The village is eerily quiet today. School got out early because there
is a soccer game between the college (middle school) of Bintimodia and
Kamsar, so all the kids went off to Kamsar around noon and didn't
return until about 8. It's weird not seeing and hearing the children
playing and working, especially at the hospital because kids are
usually getting water at the pump most of the day.
Feb 22, 2012
Two young men just rode to the hospital on bikes with a little boy
about two years old. They boy is clearly sick, but it's strange for
men to bring him to the doctor since men typically work/lounge/go to
school while women take care of family and home issues. The men (early
to mid-20s) are obviously very concerned about the boy and I feel bad
because Joe went off somewhere and again I'm the only one at the
hospital with the patients. I wonder if something happened to the
mother of the boy and so the father and his friend are bringing the
boy here.
There is another small boy (1.5 years old based on his chart) waiting
here. He is very cute and keeps smiling at me. But he is also very
weak. He looks like a ragdoll, all floppy because he can't support his
head or limbs. He was in with the doctor for a long time (well, longer
than the normal consultation) and I'm surprised he is being sent home
instead of being kept for observation. I think he got some meds at
least.
I hate that people try to keep teaching me the salutation for Susu. I
have been in Guinea for three months, I know how to greet people. It
is extremely annoying and it makes me really angry; I would prefer not
using these salutations at all if this is what will continue to
happen. If they want me to learn Susu, they should teach me useful
expressions, not the same thing I already know. It's especially
obnoxious when someone greats me and I respond in Susu; usually they
say something else in Susu to see how much I know, but when I don't
know the response to whatever they asked and I say I don't really
speak Susu yet, they try to teach me that salutations. Hello! I just
greeted you in Susu! Clearly I know that!
Feb 26, 2012
Well, it's been a few days since I've written, but not too much has
been going on. Friday I left the village early in the morning to go to
Kamsar and then on to Boke, where I met up with Steph, Marissa, and
Liz (an education violunteer) and spent the weekend at the volunteer
house. We had a great time just hanging out and talking about life in
village. We watched some random episodes of TV shows we brought (30
rock, It's Always Sunny, How I Met your Mother, etc.) and made some
awesome food. For dinner Friday we made pizzas with real cheese! The
homemade dough and sauce were delicious and all of it was actually
pretty simple to make. Saturday morning we made French toast with
vanilla sugar instead of attempting syrup. That day Steph and Marissa
went off to Kamsar while Liz and I relaxed at the house. Saturday
night we made chili and shredded some cheese on top. We also tried to
make corn bread. It came out all right but was a little bland and
didn't really cool evenly. We know how to improve it for next time and
will definitely be trying it again. Saturday night after cleaning up
from dinner we watched Pride and Prejudice and ate Oreos with milk
(powdered milk…not as delicious, but just fine for dunking) and
Reese's peanut butter cups we bought in Kamsar. It was a great end to
the day and I am sad to be leaving Sunday to go back to village. I
think we will all be meeting again in a few weeks (we get to visit the
regional house once a month) to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. At least
that gives me something to look forward to!
WEEK 4
Feb 3, 2012
It's been a while since I last wrote, but not too much has been going
on. There has been a young boy, maybe 6 years old, at the hospital all
week. He injured his thigh somehow and can only support a little
weight on that leg. There is a lot of screaming coming from the room
every time the doctors go in. I know the boy had an IV but I'm not
sure what else is going on in there.
Yesterday I sat in on a history lecture for a 9th grade class on the
American Revolution. It's interesting to see how our country's history
is taught in other places, and the emphasis they place on certain
events. I was surprised that the teacher didn't use any notes during
the class, but was able to give dates and names from memory. I guess
that's the result of the education system here: all memorization and
no application of information.
After that class yesterday I went to visit my friend, Liz, an
education volunteer about an hour taxi ride away. It was cool seeing
her village since I haven't been to anyone else's site yet. Every
Wednesday she has revision, like an informal class for students who
want to learn English. I really enjoyed helping lead the class,
especially because this is exactly the kind of English class I want to
teach in Bintimodia.
Today I spoke with the history professor of the college (middle
school) and he is going to tutor me three days a week in Susu. I am
really excited to start (next week!) because I desperately want to
speak Susu and because I'm getting bored with having nothing to do
everyday. I am also starting my own Revision in a couple weeks and I
am really anxious to see how it works for me.
This afternoon Kadiatou brought me to visit Lamar at the community
garden. It is huge! The two of them have a small plot that they work
for their families and I am going to help out a few times a week. It
was incredibly beautiful there and next time I go will definitely be
taking my camera so you all can experience the awesomeness of it as
well.
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