Some pictures! :)

From Freetown

Hey guys!
Today, I'm writing from the Peace Corps hostel in Freetown. It's pretty swanky. Electricity, running water, satellite internet, and the computer room even has AIR CONDITIONING! :O
I'm actually downloading some old video games onto my netbook right now. Crazy! It's great to have these facilities here. The hostel is up on top of a hill overlooking the Atlantic ocean... It's kind of like having a free resort in Freetown. Just went to the "supermarket" down the street, and bought some Diet Coke (can you believe I've only had 3 since coming here??), some mustard, some honey bbq sauce, and an ice cream cone. It cost me a fortune (relative to what I make), but hey- I'm in Freetown! :) I also just found Michael Crichton's "Sphere" on audiotape, so I'm borrowing that :D
School still hasn't started. I was told that it *might* start on Monday, but I still haven't heard that the teachers have been paid, so I'm skeptical.
Heading back to Kamakwie tomorrow morning. The trip is long and a little painful on the tucus, but it's worth hanging out in the hostel for a couple of days. I'll be coming back again next month.
As far as other projects are concerned, my community map is done for now. Excited about taking it to the next level, but I'll be glad to work on something else for a bit. I've been putting together some teaching materials for my classes, so I'll be well equipped for my first few weeks to start off. I made some cool cards that together make up 104 elements of the period table. Plan on assigning each student an element and then having an element-of-the-day. Nicole came up with a great idea do play some games by making students "react" and "bond" with each other- relating valence electrons and such...
My mother has told me to put some pictures on here... I'll do my best :)
Thanks for reading!

The waiting is the hardest part...

[I actually wrote this on... Tuesday, I think? Sorry for the delay. Airtel (phone company) has been updating its data system, so it's been offline for a while.]

I’ve been a bad, bad blogger… and I’m sorry.

Things have been going well for me in Kamakwie. I’ve been here for exactly one month today. It feels simultaneously longer and shorter than that… The community map project I’ve been working on for the last month has just completed phase one! All the roads (that I could find) in Kamakwie have now been mapped. As soon as my principal gets back into town, I’ll go with him to present the map to the chiefdom authority. He’s under the impression that they’ll be very excited about it. I’ve got the map set to a 1:2500 scale, so every unit of measurement on the map is equal to 2500 of those units on the ground. In all, we’ve covered over 10 km of road so far. Kamakwie is a big town. There are still a lot of smaller paths that I think I would like to record at some point, but I’m going to wait and hopefully push that off onto some oh-so-eager geography students. Thanks to my wonderful grandmother (and the cooperation and assistance from my also wonderful mother), I’m being supplies with a classroom set of compasses. I’m excited to teach locals and students and students how to do relative-point surveying (can’t remember the actual name for it), as this will really expand my project into a truly sustainable one. Once I’m gone, Kamakwie will have the equipment (and more importantly, the know-how) to continue to add features to the map. Steve Rosscoe (PhD, BAMF) is sending me a GPS unit and digital map-making software to use for the next two years as well. I plan on using these in collaboration with a French NGO, Interaide, to map out water wells, record elevation, and get some really valuable data for development projects. I am so lucky to have family and friends back home to support me in trying to help people in need. All of the aid you give me here makes truly tangible differences in this community. Before I left, people told me that, “You’re going there for all of us, Sam.” If I had only known how true that would be. Your love and support is visible on the faces of people here who are grateful for everything you do. Thank you. It also feels great to be able to apply what I’ve learned in my studies so soon after completing them- and doing so effectively. Feeling pretty good about life today, despite the horrible stomach cramps from eating too much hot pepper.

Thanks also to the people who have been sending me letters and packages. It’s always lovely to hear from people back home, and of course always lovely to get packages. Haha. Special thanks to ma & pa, Aunt Cindy & Uncle Hogue, and Nicole Martinez. I’ve loved getting the packages from you guys. There are 2 currently with my mail warden (I’ll pick them up at the end of the month) and I’m SURE the rest are on their way. :) I’ve found a special use for candies like caramels and peppermints—making flavored coffee. Good stuff.

School was supposed to start yesterday, the twelfth, but the teachers here are refusing to teach, because they haven’t been paid in a year. The Ministry of Education (not affiliated with Ministry of Magic) has told schools that teachers will be paid, but I have not heard of a delivery system for that payment as of yet. So, we wait. Tentatively, the starting date was moved back to the nineteenth, but now I’m hearing rumors of starting on the twenty-sixth. Ee-bo. Hopefully things will be resolved soon. I’m ready to talk about some science!

I was sitting under a shack in the rain the other night, eating a goat meat sandwich and talking to a wandering Frenchman on vacation from his NGO job in Conakry, Guinea, when I realized that my life is pretty cool. There are so many things that I could talk about that are just part of life now, but are things that I would never get the chance to do back home. I apologize in advance for how many times I’m going to say, “You know, when I lived in Sierra Leone…” but you’ll just have to deal with it. :D

I’m going to *try* to unlock my blog so that anyone can read it from now on. My internet is expensive, so I may not be able to accomplish the task yet… but I shall do my best.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to ask my questions and what-not. If you want to get involved with anything (even just a correspondence) let me know. Hope everything is awesome back state-side!

Sam