First things first, I must give credit where credit is due: the title of this blog (Frenchie Takes Freetown) is not from my own creative thoughts, but rather the suggestion of one insightful friend; the ever wise and beautiful Whitney Woods. For those of you who don't know, Freetown is the capital city of Sierra Leone. And no, I am not of French nationality, my last name is simply French, which contributed to a whole host of nicknames throughout my childhood. Always included in the nickname repertoire, the ever flattering "Frenchie." For another note on the title, the heading for this specific post evolved from my never ending love of all things Disney, including The Lion King. I had a friend last night tell me that I am ahead of the curve on travel to Africa simply because I had seen Lion King numerous times. I've basically already been there. And I plan on being best friends with Timon and Pumba. I'll keep you posted on how that goes. Come to think of it, I don't think Sierra Leone has any meerkats or warthogs, but I won't let that stop me.
I leave on Monday (3 days) to head to Sierra Leone for 27 months with the Peace Corps. My assignment is to teach middle and high school science. Seeing as I've never taught in a classroom before, we'll see how this goes. I'd like to think that my college education will serve me well, at least in terms of science knowledge. However, the first thing I did when I found out I might be teaching chemistry was to check out Chemistry for Dummies from the library. Doesn't instill a lot of confidence. I'm banking on the fact that my students will be too stunned/blinded by my intensely white skin that they won't pay attention to what I say (at least until I figure out what I'm doing).
I have about a bajillion things I could and want to say about Sierra Leone, my expectations, what I've read and learned so far, but I feel that may be a bit too overwhelming for a first blog. This is essentially my enthusiasm vomiting all over the internet. I have decided, however, to restrain myself and not blog for 500 pages. I will attempt in the next few days before my departure to slowly divulge the contents of my knowledge on Salone (the fond nickname for Sierra Leone). I will have limited internet access while in Sierra Leone, so the frequency of my updates may be sporadic once I get there, but I will try my very best to tell you all the best stories (although I have promised my mom to say nothing of snakes). If you have questions, are curious about anything, or have suggestions for what I should write about please let me know! I would be grateful for any advice or ideas. If you have grammatical corrections, feel free to speak your mind, but expect to be promptly ignored.
For now I shall leave you with this: "He who writes and runs away lives to write another day."
(Adaptation from a quote in The Great Race)
