Blogs from Conakry, Guinea, Africa
May 8th 2011
There comes a time in a persons travels in Africa where one starts to think, ‘That’s it I’m through with pretending I don’t have much money. I’m sick of deluding myself that I can’t afford to pay for that extra space in the bush taxi or a flight to save a days travel. It’s time to act like a rich westerner.’ For some reason this explosion of resources in the financial sector happened with my comings and goings with the Guinean capital Conakry. After the 20 and a half hour bus ride to get into Guinea and waiting for a couple of hours a few days later for one last person to fill the already overcrowded car. It was up to the westerner to pay up and get the front seat all to himself for the ... read more
July 23rd 2009
Looks like I will be here another night because my VISA for Mali won't be done until the afternoon. I guess that is ok, it might be worth it to walk around the city a bit feeling healthy for the first time. It poured rain last night, like, really really hard rain. The most rain I have ever heard or seen before. I had a really delicious meal of fish and pasta for dinner before wandering around the streets aimlessly looking for something to do. I found nothing which I guess shouldn't be too surprising. The only thing to do here is buy scultures or football jerseys, neither of which I am really that interested in. The men are always surprised when I tell them that I don't watch football. Football is the only thing that ... read more
June 24th 2009
Gute Fahrt und viel Glueck - das war das Motto vorgestern auf der Fahrt von Kankan nach Conakry, einmal quer durch Guinea. In den meisten anderen Laendern bekommt man nur eine gute Fahrt gewuenscht - hier in Guinea reicht das wohl offensichtlich nicht. Zu bewaeltigen waren ca. 600km, angepeilte 10-13 Stunden im'taxi-brousse' (Buschtaxi), meistens ca. 20-25 Jahre alte Renaults oder Citroens mit drei Reihen, die voll sind wenn 10 Leute drinsitzen, sodass die Bewegungsfreiheit sehr stark eingeschraenkt ist. Losgehen sollte die Fahrt eigentlich zwischen sechs und sieben uhr morgens, aber da die Taxis grundsaetzlich warten bis sie voll sind, wurde es mit der Abfahrt dann doch acht uhr. die ersten 100km gingen relativ zuegig vonstatten, danach fingen die schlagloecher an. und zwar von einem ausmass, wie man sich das kaum vorstellen kann. zum glueck ist auf ... read more
February 20th 2009
AFRICA I am having difficulty paring down my emotions, thoughts and experiences from Guinea into a single blog entry, which may undoubtedly become more of a novel than a light read on an experience of only 4 weeks… Therefore, I’ve decided to start at the end of the trip and remember that less is more…I hope this short read does justice to the intensity of this journey… For Photos, Please see the following links until I have time to upload them here: Final Thoughts Jan 7th, airplane, Conakry to Brussels Distance to destination: 2784 miles, 4479 kms… Air Brussels en route from Conakry to Brussels…the TV shows random facts in English, French and Flemish…Ken is asleep beside me… This morning we ... read more
November 6th 2008
I just heard someone mention off hand on the radio that Senator Obama won Indiana. As with the entire election, this is nothing short of a miracle. The impossible can happen. I know everyone's tired of hearing about the election, but please indulge me a little because this story needs to be told. On November 4th at 10 PM about 20 men and myself gathered in my mayor's living room. I must emphasize that I live in the middle of nowhere, if this was happening in my tiny village it was doubtlessly similiar in villages throughtout West Africa. A $3 liter of gas was put into the generator and tuned to France24. It was an hour before any polls closed, 2 before there were any results: Vermont, 3 votes for Obama. Applause for this not surprising ... read more
September 20th 2008
Hanging out in Guinea for more than 9 months now. Things are going relatively well, I'm still healthy, and Ramadan is almost over (alhamdulilah!) Last Saturday I took a taxi directly from my village to the town of Kissidougou. The ride ended up being 19 hours. We broke down a couple times, and had to stop to break the fast at sunset. But even then it shouldn't have taken that long. When I take trips like that, I begin to realize why everyone in the US thinks I'm crazy for being here. But that's how things are here. I made a lot of friends in the taxi. It really wasn't that bad except that whenever I started falling asleep the driver would yell and ask me why I wasn't sleeping. Anyway, I went to Kissidougou to ... read more
August 8th 2008
Typically Amazing Travel Story: Because there are no taxis that go from my Regional capital to my site, I thought I'd try taking a taxi to my prefecture capital first and then to my village. I got to the taxi stand at the late hour of 9 AM and became aquainted with 3 girls from the prefecture capital who had just finished Terminale (we run on the French education system here which means everyone goes to Grade 13, which is called Terminale or, the last year). This was truly a blessing as the night before I couldn't sleep because I couldn't stop thinking about the plight of girls in my village. Around 10:30 we finally got going. The girls took care of me the entire time and made sure I was fed (cookies, avocados, and oranges: ... read more
May 21st 2008
22 April 2008 - Random Notes My boss was here for a day a is was wonderful. I was able to vent all my frustrations and worries. She calmly reassured me that they were all normal and I'd been handling them the best I could. She said she picked me for my village because I was a little more outgoing, a little more prepared, both of which surprise me. I don't care if she said that about all the volunteers, it still meant a lot to me. A random kid just showed up at my house with 4 mangoes. I don't think I've ever met him. Mamadou Sadiou, 12 years old, 6th grade. He's sitting in silence watching me write now. I was craving mangoes, so it was a pleasant surprise. But, I think I'm allergic ... read more
February 8th 2008
That's right, today 35 of us we're sworen in as Peace Corps Volunteers in the beautiful country of Guinea. We've officially started our 24 months of service! Crazy stuff. I'm really excited and nervous at the same time to be off, literally in the middle of nowhere, for a good while. We're chilling for awhile now, but I'll be off to my site for good on the 15th. This means a couple of things for you, random reader of the blog. First, I'm only going to have internet access once a month at most from now on. Second, you should send me real mail to communicate with me and to keep me sane. And third, you should me packages to keep me sane AND happy. :) These can get pricey very quickly though, so be careful. ... read more
December 22nd 2007
Random exerts from my journal over the past two weeks: December 8: Tonights my first night with the new family. There are supposedly about 15 people living in my house. I don't know if I've met them or not. My sister, Oumou, is in charge of me. She takes really good care of me. I have my own huge bedroom and bathroom. I'm so spoiled. Not to mention that it's dark it's dark and the electricity just kicked in. I have electricity! I'm so fortunate for everything here. My sister has been so patient with me. She holds my hand in the dark. People work all the time here. Even the little kids. Everyone is always doing something. I feel lazy because I don't know what I'm suppose to do or how to do it. My ... read more
