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Lately we have been corresponding with Peace Corps volunteer Ryan Jones. Ryan is in Gabon, Africa teaching the locals there about AIDS and other diseases.
He has sent letters telling what he is doing there and then we send letters back with questions we want to ask. One question we asked him was... what does he eat there? He answered saying he eats fish, boa, and pasta. One thing that they do with the fish there is that they eat the eyeballs of the fish. Another question we asked him was... what is the climate there? He said it is very hot and sometimes he keeps a fan right in front of his face. Furthermore, we asked if he has e-mail access there? He said he doesn't know if he will have it in the future, but presently he does not. We are excited to here about his experiences in Africa.
Also with the letters he sent, he sent some of the labels on the bottles there. He also sent some magazine articles, pictures, and other souvenirs. The label of a copy brand of a Coke there is almost the same and the magazine articles he sent were all in French or other languages. We are going to send him some French Francs which he can trade in for money there. French Francs are not even close to equaling our money. Some of the pictures he sent us were of himself eating the boa, his house, and other stuff of himself in Africa. He also sent us a tape of himself answering the questions we had asked him. Those are the only souvenirs he sent us so far.
Instead of just answering our questions he also told us more about where he is staying and how he got there. The way he got there is by a Bush Taxi which the driver Rambo crammed in 7 or 8 people in one small pick-up like truck. On his Bush Taxi journey, where he was going to meet the rest of the Peace Corps volunteers, Rambo picked up a wild boar leg. Ryan said that it wasn't that comfortable riding in the Bush Taxi. When he got there he was in a big city. There he got the information he needed and headed to the village he was going to stay at. Rambo drove him again to the village he is staying at now. When he got there, he got to witness a ritual that was kind of like a funeral, but they dance and have fun in order to celebrate because they think the person is going to a better place.
Check back to our Peace Corps page periodically for updates on Ryan's adventures in Gabon, Africa.