Packing!

Post by Kevin

*Note: please bear with me, or just skip this post- this is gonna be a long one!

This is the slightly edited/consolidated version of the Men's and Women's packing lists that we received from Peace Corps. It has been edited by current PC Sierra Leone volunteers, which is super helpful since we know that some real-life experience went into it.  Since this is just the suggested list, there will be a list to follow with what we actually are bringing.  We are both trying to desperately keep everything to one 50lb bag each.  We do have the option of adding a 50lb bag, but we'd have to tote it around until we get to our site.  That is a last resort...

Men's Packing List:

• Pair of jeans (1) and pairs of slack type pants (2-3 - Dickies are suggested as well as technical type pants from the likes of REI or EMS)
• Dress shirts (3-4)
• T-shirts (4 - think small as hand washing with no dryers will surely stretch them)
• Pair of casual and athletic shorts
• Board shorts (the beaches are lovely)
• Hoodie
• Belt (not leather-- it will mold)
• Rain jacket
• Teva sandals
• Tennis shoes
• Dress shoes
• Underwear (3-4 - exefficio or the like are great)
• Socks (not many)
• Bowties

Women's Packing List:

• Diva cup (Readers: If you're a guy, don't ask. If you're a girl and you don't know what this is, google it at your own risk.)
• Bras (6) 
• Durable underwear (15-20) 
• 1 pair of jeans 
• 2 skirts (the skirt must cover your knees when seated) 
• 2 Shirts/Blouses/Tops for work and PC functions – these tops should cover the shoulders or, at a minimum, cover completely to the shoulder. While teaching during the Training, you will only be allowed to wear tops that cover your shoulders. 
• 2 professional outfits – can be pants or skirts with a shirt/blouse or a dress 
• 1 sweater/ cardigan 
• Clothes for outside of work 
• Bathing suit (2 piece is fine) 
• Socks

• Shoes (comfy sandals that are appropriate for teaching)

• Rain jacket

Men & Women + Bonus items

• Quick dry towel
• Toiletries: 
• Make-up
• Nail clippers 
• Hair brush 
• Toothbrushes
• Soap and toothbrush holders
• Sewing kit
• Sleeping pad
• Full-size sheet
• Bandanas
• Sunglasses
• Ziploc bags and Tupperware
• Nice kitchenware such as a knife, can opener, vegetable peeler
• “Must have” cooking spices
• Headlamp
• Water bottles (save space and fill with sharpies/pens, etc)
• Duct tape
• Backpack (We will both be bringing multi-day packs as well as one 24L Daypack)
• Radio (ours runs on a rechargeable battery with a solar panel and a hand crank. It's awesome.)
• iPod, headphones, and small speakers (Local radios will play mp3s on USB memory sticks or Mini SD memory cards)
• Netbook (bring case for dust/environment)
• Solar charger for iPod and phone (cell phone is provided by PC)
• Calculator
  
• Small alarm clock
• Books that you have to have (at least one good textbook for teaching)
• Photos from home to show your new friends/family
• Leatherman/Swiss army knife/Multi-tool
• Camera, extra batteries, and memory cards (film is available in country)
• Hobby supplies (Deck of cards, instrument, thread, soccer ball, Frisbee, seeds for a garden, art supplies, etc. Just know you will have plenty of time on your hands)
• Calendar
• Umbrella (you will be arriving at the start of the rainy season)
• American stamps (Only to send letters home with people)
• Letter-writing materials
• Journals
• Pens & Pencils (can’t find good ones here)
• Markers (Sharpies. All others available here)
• Dollar store stuff for gifts/parties (glow sticks, mardigras beads, etc.)
• Cash money ($100-300 in twenties or above and new, crisp bills)

Things we will miss (Driving)

Post by Kevin

So this will start a small series of things we are going to miss while in Salone.  Granted we probably have no idea about the little things until we get there.  But this is one is a biggie...

1. Driving

In the 45-minute Safety Orientation that we just completed as well as in reading over numerous Peace Corps rules and guidelines to ensure our safety while we're abroad, I've come to the conclusion that there are many things that I will be giving up over the next two years and there seems to be one that I'm really pretty bummed out about.  For twenty seven whole months... twenty seven months.... I will not be able to drive a car.

Under Peace Corps policies, we are advised never to ride in unmarked taxis or motorcycles or drive anything other than bicycles.  Granted, there are many roads that are hardly drivable to anything short of a Jeep.  Think about how much fun that would be though!  Driving a Jeep down an African road, avoiding pot holes and bouncing off the ones you hit!  How sublime!

Well I'm not one to talk all that much when there are videos that I made that can explain how much I love to drive.  Enjoy!

This is driving over the The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in Charleston SC

 

This is my drive home from work when I lived in Mayfield Heights, Ohio.

In short, driving is fun, and I will miss it.

Last day of work

Post by Lara

For nearly two years now, I've worked for a non-profit organization that provides employment and other day services to adults with disabilities. I started out working on the production floor, but then in August 2010 I got a "desk job" with a caseload of about 35 people. Those are my guys- I oversee their services, go to all their meetings, respond to their emergencies, help them learn to be good employees, let them vent to me when they're frustrated, try to cheer them up when they're sad, and generally do what I can to be sure that they're happy and productive at work. I also started a community garden here last year and teach a weekly garden class that encompasses as many topics as I can squeeze under the "gardening" umbrella. 

This company and this job have been simply amazing for me. This was my first experience in the professional post-college world and I'm having trouble imagining a job where I could feel more appreciated and more relied-upon [note: I have high hopes that Peace Corps will be just as rewarding! I'm simply pointing out that the bar is set quite high right now].  I love everyone on my caseload, and they have taught me so much about life. They live every day with challenges that I have never faced, that I probably could not even imagine. They inspire me to treat everyone I meet with respect and dignity, and they have made me more mindful of what treating a person with "respect" and "dignity" means.  What's more, I have a phenomenal team of coworkers who view my success as their success, create a fantastic work environment, and have become some of my closest friends.  I often tell people who ask how I like my job that it's the best job I could have imagined at this juncture of my life.  I've been lucky, and while I thought I appreciated that all along, I feel it even more deeply and personally now that I am leaving.

Today was my last day at work, and this whole week has been pretty rough.  Up until this past Wednesday, I had only cried at work once or twice, and only in front of one or two people.  Let's just say that's not the case anymore.  I've been reminded over and over again in the past several days that my presence at this company was noticed- that it was appreciated, and that I will be missed. In turn, I will certainly miss this job! To all of my coworkers who might have a chance to read this, know that I am completely thrilled that I was able to work with you, alongside you, and for you. I have learned so much, and I will take these lessons with me as I venture across the Atlantic to take on new challenges.

PS- One more work shout-out to my very favorite coworker- my mom!  I have treasured working with you for the past 8 months, and I'll certainly miss not having you right up the hall every day.  I love you!

Title Disambiguation

Post by Lara

It seems I may spend a little bit too much time on Wikipedia. I imagine having little access to the interwebs over the next few years will probably change that a bit, but for those of you who are confused, disambiguation is defined by thefreedictionary.com as follows: "an interpretation that removes obstacles to understanding".  So without further ado, this post is meant simply to disambiguate the title of our blog.

"Salone" is how you say Sierra Leone in Krio!  "Squared" comes from the fact that there are two of us and we will be teaching math in Salone.  I do recognize that the number 2 is not in fact a square...but Kevin and I probably are squares...so that more than makes up for the faulty math up there.  Oh, and "A Couple's Peace Corps Chronicles" is rather self-explanatory, but I do feel it necessary to let you all know that Kevin really wanted the word "Chronicles" to show up somewhere in our blog title.

So, now that the non-mystery of how our blog title came to be is thoroughly disambiguated, and you've learned a new word for the day, I hope you are happy you stopped by.

Starting out

Post by Lara

Hello all, and welcome to our blog!  It's funny how nervous I am to begin this, especially when I have become so blog-obsessed in recent years.  Being on the writing end feels like a lot more responsibility.

Kevin and I are scheduled to leave for Philadelphia on June 5, 2012.  From Philly we board a bus to New York, then a plane to Brussels, then another plane to Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone.  Right now our thoughts are focused on what to pack and how to fit it all into a 50-lb-or-less suitcase each.  [Note: we're allowed two 50-lb suitcases each, but who wants to carry 100 lbs of luggage all over the place? Not us.]  At the same time, we're winding down our life in Ohio and working on deciding what all we want to come back to in 2 years and what we can depart with now. This will be interesting.

We don't yet know where our site will be and what the details will be (electricity? market nearby or a 20-mile bike ride away? cell phone reception?), but we do know that we are both going to be teaching secondary math. Secondary, of course, is a loose term in Sierra Leone. I'm told this could range from integers and fractions up to algebra (and maybe some fun things like trigonometry? That could be wishful thinking on my part...)  We also know that we will be learning probably a minimum of 2 languages, one of which will be Krio.  Krio is a fascinating language and the one that the vast majority of Sierra Leoneans speak.  If anyone is interested in a Krio lesson, check out this video.  Apparently proverbs are very important to the Krio language, so many language lessons are taught through popular proverbs.  The neat thing about this method of teaching a language is that I think it offers some insight into the culture of its speakers. When one knows which proverbs apply in different scenarios and how to use them in context, one has a unique window into the most important cultural concepts of the people and, I hope, can better understand them. How about a Krio proverb to drive home that point?  This is from the Krio proverbs list on Sierra-Leone.org:  "When you go to a country where the people dance on one foot, you should dance on one foot as well. If you dance on two feet, they'll cut one of them from under you."

That will be it for post #1.  Looks like we're officially bloggers now!