Books Read in Peace Corps

I've read a lot of Peace Corps blogs and my FAVORITE part is always their reading lists. People read a lot more when they don't have internet! Wild concept! My average books-per-year since graduating university is 79.4, with 69 being the minimum and 101 the maximum, so let's see how much I can read when I my data at site is so slow it might as well be non-existent. :) 

Here's a list of all the books I read during the Peace Corps, starting January 31-TBD.

KEY:

ª audiobook

** favorite 

+ poetry

~ nonfiction

Year 1:

1. ~The Lives of African Women by Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah 
2. ~Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman by Alan Rickman
3. N.P. by Banana Yoshimoto (translated by Ann Sherif)
4. Embarrassing Book #1 That I Shan't Name
5. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
6. ~Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
7. The Last Days of Judas Iscariot: A Play by Stephen Adly Guirgis
8. I'm a Fan by Sheena Patel
9. **The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
10. **Pod by Laline Paull
11. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
12. Heartstopper Volume 2 by Alice Oseman
13. ~Grace (Eventually) by Anne Lamott
14. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
15. Heartstopper Volume 3 by Alice Oseman
16. ~A Concise Guide to the Quran by Ayman S. Ibrahim 
17. ~Perfect Compost by Simon Akeroyd
18. ~Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Sheryl WuDunn and Nicholas D. Kristof
19. **Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
20. The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt
21. ª~Testosterone Rex by Cordelia Fine
22. ~Man's Search for Meaning by Victor E. Frankl
23. **Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff by Christopher Moore
24. Ms Ice Sandwhich by Mieko Kawakami (translated by Louise Heal Kawai)
25. ª~Embarrassing Book #2
26. Posh by Lauren Wade

Guinea? I Hardly Know Yee!

 

I arrived in Guinea on February 3rd and I'll be here for the next 27 months, if all goes according to plan. 

Guinea is in West Africa. There are FOUR countries with the word "Guinea" in their name but the Guinea I'm living in is the only straight-up GUINEA. Yes it can be confusing so here's a short animated youtube video you can watch to learn about the naming history of the four guinea's. 

It's my first time on the continent of Africa and I'm vibing with it so hard. Nice people, good food, lots of lizards and fruit producing trees. Of course, I've only been here for a short time and explored a little bit of the town our Peace Corps training center is in. But from that small glimpse I really like it here! I feel better here, like I can breath a bit more deeply.

Speaking of breathing deeply, I have COVID lol. I had allergy-like symptoms last week but then last Sunday (almost a week from writing this) I woke up with a really stuffy nose so I took a rapid test just to check. If we get a positive Covid test we have to be in quarantine for 5 days from when symptoms started, then do another test and if it's negative do another test 2 days later. So if you're "lucky" you're only in isolation for 7 full days. Sadly on Thursday I tested positive again so that added 2 more days to my sentence. Today (Saturday, day 6) I tested negative so I'll take another test Monday and if THAT'S negative then I'm a free woman. 

I've tried to keep up with my French studying but man self-study is so hard. And not as fun! It's fun to learn something and then go out into the community and actually use it. But c'est la vie. These are the cards I've been dealt. It's better to get Covid during training than when I'm at my site. At least here I have internet and oscillating fans and a shower!