You can rub your eyes over and over again….but this is Guinée! Sunday was a memorable day! Raymond and I were invited to join a group of expats for a day on the island of Roam. Wow….our first trip outside of the city! Needless to say, we were very excited to go on our first field trip..
We met other expats at a boat launch next to Conakry’s best restaurant, appropriately called Petit Bateau. The restaurant juts out in the water and boasts the best view of Conakry! We walked around the grounds of the restaurant and we promised ourselves that we will come here to eat one day soon. At around 10am, we climbed into a motor boat and were whisked off thirty minutes away on a beautiful, sandy island, adorned with palm trees. Was I in a Club Med or was this really Guinée? Unbelievable….it was obviously a different side of Guinee I had not seen yet.
Our hosts were a wealthy Lebanese couple who owned the island home (and had provided the 2 boats for the guests, all free of charge, may I add!). They were very welcoming and gracious hosts, providing a feast of Lebanese food for 40 people! Lively Arabic music filled the air and the women danced the sensual dances well known to the Middle East culture. It was fun to watch…and to try out! Belly dancing is more challenging than it appears! We sat around chatting with people from Lebanon, France, Sierra Leone and Ghana. A multicultural experience indeed!
We spent the majority of our time with our Canadian friend Colette and getting to know her more. We walked around the island only to discover a hotel and a nice, cozy, open air restaurant. Hey, we may eventually come here for a get away weekend…and at the reasonable price of $ 70 per day! What a nice surprise this was!
The rest of the afternoon, we lazed around, ate tasty food and swam around in the warm, clear water of this Guinean beach. It was good for the soul and the body! Heck it was good all around!
January had been so difficult for me on many levels. I worked many, many hours on school work, spending hours writing report cards and doing preparations for the next 9 weeks. To add to the stress of this, I felt sluggish and unhappy, yearning to be back in Canada to my comfortable lifestyle, my family and friends. I did not think that the January blues existed in Africa, but it looks like it does.
To add to the lethargy I felt, both Raymond and I had our dreams come crashing down! We had anticipated and were very hopeful of getting a Canadian teacher join us at the school at the beginning of January. Unfortunately, this dream fell through… we missed having this wonderful teacher join us at AISC. It was so disappointing for us that it took the wind out of our sails. Our little school needs new blood and young energetic teachers from North America seem to best fit the bill. It is very difficult to get qualified teachers to come to Africa and especially to our school which offers a meager salary.
The Sunday getaway was just what we needed to rebuild our energy. February promises to be interesting and fast-paced. Life is looking good!
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