Another week in Conakry

August 29 2010

 

     This week was interesting in many ways. On Tuesday after school, our driver Bivan took us to this governmental place in order that we may have our “carte de sejour”, a card that states that we are citizens of Guinee. We arrive in this place, a hole in the wall kind of place, puddles of mud and water that we had to walk around to wait in line for a short, important man to interrogate us. They took our passports and made copies of these. Then we were taken to another room where they took our finger prints and a picture. They asked me how tall I was in centimeters and all I could mumble as I looked on to Raymond for inspiration, was “5 foot five”. So the 3 Guineans in this office proceeded to guess my height. One man stood beside me and said “well I’m 175cm, so you must be 165”. We laughed and made light of this, enjoying the humour of the moment! So my card will say how tall I am(approxiamtely!) I was led to another place, a trailer-like place where they took a Polaroid picture of me. Then we walked back to the first place and handed over the pictures. That was it! Not bad  to process all this took about 30 minutes; for Africa time, this was quicker than I thought! True that they let us go before Guineans who had been waiting and because we are white there is a sort of  a reverence towards us. This doesn't always feel very good!

 

     On Wednesday, I met Tanit Carreno; she is the wife of the  deputy consulate, that is the second in command of the ambassador of Spain. Nice girl, who is 33 years old, just had a baby whose name is Patricio, pronounced Patreesee-o. Of course, the 5 month old baby is adorable and reminds me of my son Patrick. I am helping Tanit with her English and French oral exams  as she is taking a board exam to become a diplomat. Spanish is her first language and she needs help with 5 minute speeches that are part of the exam. We’ve decided we will meet 2-3 times a week to give her a boost before the exam which is scheduled in Spain in September. She wants to pay me but I declined and suggested rather that she give a donation to our school, perhaps much needed Library books. The extra money would have been nice as money is tight and we only live with cash here. Visa and Interac do not exist. Nevertheless, Tanit agreed to make a donation which will be greatly appreciated.

 

I was about to leave Tanit’s house at 6pm when her husband called and said that we should wait before leaving the house. The reason being was that there were many military trucks out and about. They were awaiting the arrival of the corpse of the ex-president’s son (he died in Montreal Monday…a drowning accident). It seemed that the entire city of Conakry was on high alert. So I had to wait in Tanit’s apartment for another 40 minutes. Actually we had a chance to talk about everything and nothing, which was great as I got to know her more. Tanit drove me home later in heavy traffic with military trucks visible and despite all this commotion, everything went smoothly.

 

Our driver Bivan’s  four year old son got malaria and Bivan had to bring him to the hospital and buy medications for him. My heart ached for the poor little guy. Of course Bivan has no medical insurance and with the salary of a driver here, I thought this must be a struggle for his family. Still, Bivan is very private and just told us the facts as they were. He reminds me of my grandfather Eloi Gagnon, who just passed away, in the sense of his character. He is quiet, serene and dedicated to driving us from home to school and wherever else we would like. He concentrates on driving when he is with us in the car; at times he talks and though we only understand half of what he says, we can get the jist.

I had difficulty falling asleep that night as I thought about Bivan and his little boy’s serious illness. I wonder what his home looks like and if they sleep under bed nets. So many malaria cases can be eliminated just by sleeping under bed nets. That was the first item that we bought on our arrival because I was well aware of the dangers of mosquito carrying malaria. I can’t help but wonder how many Guineans  have been violently sick or have died from this disease.

 

Today, Sunday was a great day! We walked to the Royal Riviera, the hotel where Raymond stayed on his trip here in May. We started at 10am so we would avoid the afternoon heat. When we arrived after a 40 minute walk, the Royal Riviera appeared like an oasis appears out in the desert. A large pool lined by tables awaited us. Wow! I thought I had died and gone to heaven! We sat and talked for an hour, just enjoying the  breeze and drinking our pop. Life was wonderful  and for an hour, I could forget that I was living in the poorest country in Africa. It was a boost for my morale to be in a lovely, well cared for environment! I was basking in the moment, in the sheer pleasure of finding this place, like someone who finds a treasure. I know where we will be coming next Sunday....we won't forget our bathing suits!