Tuesday July 27 2010---Day 6

 

     Jen just called. She invited me to go to the aerobics class she was teaching and then go grab a bite to eat and have coffee. “Sounds great Jen,” I said, “I can’t wait”. When I think of Jen, I get a smile in my heart. She has this boundless, positive energy and a heart full of love. I love being around her. When we are together, we have meaningful conversations about our lives, our children, our struggles and our purpose in life. I love conversations that go beyond the surface. They are life-giving as if we touch each other’s hearts and we re-vitalize each other from within. I have a few friends like Jen whom I can connect with at a deeper level.  All of a sudden, I was very hot. I wake up and realize I am in Guinée and the air conditioner has stopped, due to a power outage, again. Jen did not call. I was having a nice dream. I turn the AC  back on again. A sadness sweeps over me. I am really in Guinée and not in Canada. It seemed so real that I was going to the aerobics class and then meeting with Jen and I struggle to understand. Funny how the mind works at 1am. I lay awake, filled with this sadness.  I am convinced that Jen really called and that I was to meet her. Physically I am here but my mind is still in Canada. All through the 6 month decision making process and since my arrival, in Guinée I have felt at peace with this move. It is right to be here. I need to learn some life lessons about living with less money, eating less and needing less services. I have something to learn from Africa. I am not sure what all these lessons will be but I have a certitude from deep inside that it is good to be here and it is right to be here. It is also good to be here as a couple, to learn to just be together and rekindle our relationship of 29  years after raising our 2 wonderful children, now young adults.

      Talk about jumping in feet first in this stage of life called empty nesters. We actually chose to flee the nest and start another nest elsewhere in the world. Still, the melancholy haunts me all day today, clinging to me like my clothing is to my body in this humid weather. I want to be doing something, not just staying in the apartment all day. I need to meet new people, expatriates if possible, so I can get their perspective on their lives here. I feel so isolated right now.  I’d also like to read up on the curriculum and start to learn what I will be teaching. It is  new for me to teach grades 5 to 8 Language Arts, ESL and art. I would like to read up as I have a lot of time on my hands right now, too much time.

     Our housekeeper Jeanne arrives before 9am. She is ready to work at whatever I would like her to do. I first thank her heart fully for all the work she did yesterday. The apartment was spotless! She smiles her shy smile and looks down. It seems I do not have to tell her anything. Right away, she changes in her work clothes and  starts washing our breakfast dishes, then proceeds to wash all 3 bathrooms and ends with scrubbing the floors. She works non-stop. Raymond and I sit in the 2^nd bedroom, feeling somewhat uncomfortable and embarrassed to have someone “serve us” in this way. But it is custom here to have a housekeeper and it gives this mother of four an employment.

     When she is done cleaning, she tells me she is ready to cook. I decide to explain how to make egg sandwiches. She has never done this before. So we boil eggs (they are not frozen anymore, so it makes it easier!) and  we chat as we slice some green onions. She explains that she has worked for a Lebanese family, a French woman, then the Australian principal last year and now us. She was yelled at a lot by the Lebanese family and  said she suffered a lot from this. Jeanne is a small, beautiful Guinean woman. She has a heart of gold I can tell. I enjoy spending this time with her.  When she sees that I am making the egg sandwiches with the 2 last slices of bread left in the house, she offers to go and buy bread for us down the street. In a flash she comes back with a small baguette, still hot wrapped in a tea towel. Who can resist fresh baked bread? Needless to say the egg sandwiches were delicious and with a spread of  fresh avocado, we could have opened our own little delicatessen.

 

     After Jeanne leaves at 1 o’clock,  we wait. We wait and wait for the television technician to arrive so he can connect us to the rest of the world. It would be good to get news and some entertainment also. He said he would be here at 10am but he appears at 1pm…we call this African time.  He goes on the roof and fixes something then leaves. He appears again at 4:30. He explains that the satellite dish needed to be connected on the roof of our building. Now we need to pay the subscription and the 2 million Guinean Francs needed as start-up costs. We need to go back to the business office tomorrow to pay the 2 million francs, which really sounds enormous but it comes to  $256 US . But before we go to the television office, we need to exchange more of our US money. In order to get more US money, we need Djana to help us with this as she has connections on the street to get the best exchange rate. To get to do all this, we need to call our driver Bevon, as he needs to drive us to the office. Everything is so complicated in Africa. I am tired just writing this. But as complex as this seemed, a few phone calls later  it is all organized for tomorrow(fingers crossed).