Quickly...

It's been so long since I've really had the chance to write and even now I just have a few moments while Hawa naps. Overall, things are good here although so much has happened. Hawa is now 11 months and practically running everywhere and falling too. She gets into everything so quickly leaving me very little time to myself. A quick rundown:

We had a great visit to the village of Nono, my husband's birthplace. We were greeted with open arms by all. On the last night there, the women even danced for me to welcome me into the family. It was such a beautiful place. I can imagine that it would make for a wonderful childhood too even if a bit difficult. Spending so much time in that beautiful countryside is good for one's soul.

We've been through two bouts of malaria. First my husband, then Hawa. It was scary both times, but especially with little baby Hawa. At one point her fever got up to 105.8. She's fine now, but it did weaken her quite a bit. She seems to have more than caught up.

The girls are now months into school and it's going well. Class sizes are small with a cap at 15 students. The first week or so was not easy. The discipline there is not what I am used to and tends to be a bit old school. My children have been unaffected. They all like to follow rules; Sireh and Ramata thrive in a structured environment. I am pleased with the teaching. They are learning so much.

I am still working on French everyday and it's coming along. I am using it more and more.

I think the seasons will now be identified by the corresponding natural threat. Rainy season/moldy season; spider season; rove beetle season - that's where we are right now. I don't know what's next, but nothing bad seems to last too long here. There aren't even any mosquitoes at the moment.

I have made a friend; a women whose children are in kindergarten with Sireh and Ramata. She spotted me right away and decided to take me under her wing. We get together frequently so the kids can play and she can answer most of my questions about where to get things or how to handle situations foreign to me.

The biggest development for me came upon our return from the trip to the village. Conakry felt like home for the first time. I'm comfortable here. It feels good and secure to be in this house. I don't feel like I'm supposed to be somewhere else anymore.

The Wall

The wall. I hit it last week. HARD. I thought maybe that wouldn’t happen. I thought because it was so up and down in the beginning that this wasn’t coming. Well, it did. It all started on Thursday when I was eating a particularly delicious cassava sauce and bit down on a tiny piece of bone. I felt an instant jolt of pain but nothing more. With the next bite I felt another piece of bone which I took out and placed it on the edge of my plate with the previous one. After this bite I happened to feel something sharp in the back of my mouth with my tongue. It was then I realized I had chipped a tooth and the second piece of bone was actually my own. I immediately started to sweat, feel nauseous and lost my appetite. This was one of my fears. Before we even left for Guinea I told the girls that there weren’t any good dentist in Guinea so they would need to take especially good care of their teeth. I looked on the US Embassy website and found a document listing health providers and found a Chinese clinic that included dental care. My husband called to find out if this was accurate information and, upon confirmation, the location of the clinic. We decided to go the next day since it was already 3pm and that’s basically the end of the day here because it takes so long to get places. I slept fitfully that night and my nerves continued to wear on me through the morning. I was seriously scared. I thought we would walk into a dirty clinic and that the utensils would not be clean or they would use some sort of horrible chemical that was long since banned from use in the US. When we arrived we first had to check in outside with the nurse and gain permission to enter. They also took our temperatures and made us use hand sanitizer (now a common practice for larger establishments like hospitals, clinics and schools to prevent the spread of Ebola). We went into the main clinic and I sighed with relief; it was air conditioned, clean and there was even a big flat screen TV with the news on (in French, of course). We checked in with the front desk, paid an initial fee and then sat down to wait. We waited about an hour or so to be called back. I was also pleasantly surprised by the condition of the dental clinic. It looked pretty much the same as any dental office. They went right to work, which freaked me out. I had to tell the dentist, “wait! I need to know what you are going to do to me first.” He explained they would try to polish the tooth first and then see if additional steps were necessary. They put some sort of substance on my tooth then a strange contraption in my mouth, I think to heat it up. They did this a few times before taking out the tool to polish the tooth. It didn’t take long and by the time he was finished it felt like the tooth was rebuilt and there was no pain at all. We thanked them, negotiated down from the absurd amount they wanted to charge (because I’m white – and still way too much even negotiated) paid and left. I was so relieved by how everything went and knew that I needed to be cautious to not break the repair. We were extremely hungry by the time we got home well after lunch. After a few bites of food, I felt the back of my tooth – the repair was gone! Of course it was too good to be true. We would have to go back the next day and have them re-do it. My husband called the dentist who told him that part was supposed to fall off, it was only placed there to numb the tooth while he polished it. Thank. Goodness! So, not only was this a scary experience, (mostly in my mind – I could have prevented that part) but it was the harsh reality that we don’t have access to any of the healthcare we did in the US. I can’t fully trust the care here yet and that’s hard. I don’t have our dentist and more importantly for me, my alternative healthcare practitioner to help support my body when I need it. I was pleased to see the clinic provides traditional Chinese medicine, but even then after speaking to the practitioner, it seemed to be a more medical approach when what I am looking for is far more intuitive and holistic.

The next morning I woke up to our next challenge. I think it the future instead of calling it the rainy season it will be mold season. One of our upholstered chairs was covered in mold. I freaked out; wiped it down with a damp cloth and with essential oils known to kill mold. I kicked all of the girls out of the living room and diffused the same oil for half an hour. I felt accomplished but the next morning woke up to defeat. More mold on the same chair and mold in one of the bedrooms all over two of the suitcases and the clothes inside. Mold on the desk, inside bags, on shoes – EVERYWHERE. We washed all of the clothes and the bags, wiped down furniture and anything else that could be wiped down. The next day Amina complained of mold in her room, but I couldn’t see anything. I finally found it – under her pillow! Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!! It was from a worry doll she kept under there so that problem was solved but still! We are surrounded. I keep finding it on toys, books, the cabinet where we were storing our food and supplements (luckily all of those things were protected). I slipped into a depression. I felt like everything was out of my control, that I couldn’t keep myself or my family healthy in such conditions. Piled on top of this is that I basically can’t do anything on my own. I can’t go to the store on my own; I can’t fully prepare my own food; I can’t find out information about anything on my own – for now. It’s all in French and I’m white. They instantly take advantage of me – the prices skyrocket. For about 3 days I spoke as little as possible. I wanted to get out of here and stop living this miserable reality. Hawa was grumpy as she felt my discomfort. I finally broke through it when I sorted through it all and finally felt ready to say everything I was feeling out loud. Has anything changed? Nope. But I’m here again ready to face the new day and keep learning about this incredibly complex place.

French lessons are going well. And we got all of our things and very little was damaged! As far as I can tell only a rug and a box of diapers were taken. Customs was absurd – 4 days of making payments, getting signatures and waiting for all of our things to be inspected. The girls are so happy to have their things. They spend much of their time riding their bikes and scooters on the top balcony. I’m most excited to have a couch and a kitchen that is as complete as I could hope for at this point.

The rain continues; the mold keeps growing; we’re still here – doing alright.

p.s. I know I've promised pictures, but the internet connection has not been strong enough to upload. Facebook and instagram are an easier place to post. I'll try to do a better job. I would like to share pictures of the streets and market, but right now I don't quite feel comfortable taking picture of people and places since I'm already quite a spectacle

Coming Together

It's a rainy day today; sometimes raining so hard that we can barely hear each other talking over the sounds of the raindrops pounding the metal roof. In Conakry, the rain is such a part of life that most people don't use umbrellas or rain jackets. It's so nice and cool though; almost too cool to have a fan on during the morning hours. 

We have power now! 24 hours per day. We ended up investing in solar power. We have 6 large panels on the roof which connect to an inverter and 6 very large batteries. When EDG (Electricité de Guinée) is available, it charges the batteries; when it's out, the sun does the work. For the first week or so I honestly felt guilty about having power when the rest of the neighborhood was out. I've gotten over that and now fully enjoy at least being able to have a fan on and not worry about the food in the refrigerator spoiling. While the weather is much cooler than when we first arrived it can still be quite humid. My hair is constantly in a ponytail. The few times I've attempted to wear it down last no longer than a few hours. 

Other things are coming together. We have someone to help clean. The floors have to be swept and mopped every single day because of all the dust that comes in. Cleaning here is back breaking work. For a mop, people use a towel and brooms are held in your hand. I have never seen a more effective broom. It's seriously impressive; it can even cleanly pick up wet sticky rice. All of the work is done bending over. Laundry is also all by hand with a washboard, but my clothes have never been cleaner. I'm told during the rainy season sometimes in can take two weeks for clothes to dry. We've been lucky so far with two days at most. We also hired a cook just this past week. It was beginning to get complicated for one person (my sister-in-law) to cook for everyone here which includes our family, two of my husband's brothers, two nephews, a "niece" - not related but lives as a daughter to my sister-in-law, my sister-in-law, and her niece. The cook's name is Prince and he's excellent! He just cooks one large meal a day right now and we manage just fine on our own for the other two. He's adding a variety to our meals that we weren't getting before. Speaking of food, I've been able to venture into the markets a bit more. A couple of weekends ago we went to a large market a bit east of where we are in Matoto which is considered more of a wholesale market. For around $25 (230,000 Guinean Franc) we purchased the following:

• 6 avocados
• 5 mangos
• 2 pineapples
• 1 kilo carrots
• 1 kilo cabbage
• 3 bunches cassava leaf
• 4 kilos okra
• 5 onions
• 2 bulbs of garlic
• 1 liter red palm oil
• 30 eggs

Meat is very expensive; definitely not much cheaper, if at all, than in the states. Local chickens are bought live and are fully butchered at home. A few times we've gone to a "supermarket" (lots of things available, but still quite small) to purchase some imported comfort items for the girls like cheese and butter. Overall, I think our digestive systems are pretty well adjusted although we all got hit a couple of times for not washing some of the fruit well enough.

This week the girls and I also started with French tutor. We have a handmade blackboard upstairs on the top balcony and each have our own hour long lesson each day (Sireh and Ramata together). So far, so good and I definitely have lots of opportunity to practice! Figuring out formal schooling for the girls was quite tricky. We were hoping to put them in French school, but they all wanted Amina to re-do 1st grade. Those of you who know Amina understand that this idea is absurd. We finally sat down with the Director of the English Speaking Community school which was willing to put Amina in 2nd grade in French, but she asked us if we had considered whether we would be moving back to the states at some point and what language we wanted the girls to reason in. These are things I had not considered. I was originally mostly considering the language aspect not the full education system. The methods that are taught may get to the same answer, but there are major differences between the French and the English systems. With this in mind, we decided to keep the girls in English, but taking French classes and intensive daily French tutoring.

Still awaiting the arrival of our things on the container, but that should get here later this week or early next week if all goes well. Customs is the tricky part. Things that I'm looking forward to the most: a couch!! our kitchen supplies, and our beds. I can't wait to see how much it transforms our lives when we get everything and how many things we decide we don’t need at all because we’ve gotten used to life without.

Overall, I would say I’m doing well now. There are still some low moments, but they are much fewer and farther between. Things are coming together.

Rainy reset

(note: this post was written a week ago. I did not have internet to post until now. Will post an update soon)

Everyone here is so welcoming and friendly. Many have travelled to visit just to see the American married to a Guinean man which just doesn't happen. They all have very kind words and well wishes. The girls are starting the make some friends. My sister in law's family lives close by and the children of various ages come frequently to play. We continue to explore the city and make a final decision of which French school to enroll the girls. 

On a couple of our outings we have had some encounters with the police. The first one made me very nervous. We were on our way to a wedding and needed to make a u-turn. We made it to a busy intersection that an officer was attempting to take charge of. We attempted to make a left turn and were immediately stopped. The officer began yelling. My husband and his brother started yelling back; this is when I started getting very nervous since I couldn't understand anything. They yelled back and forth for a while. My husband refused to give the officer his driving permit. We started driving forward as a second officer came to the car and tried to stop him to no avail. We drove away with my heart racing. The police didn't do anything about it. When I asked what happened I was told that the police officer said we should have moved forward three more inches before making a left turn. Seriously??!? What was really going is that he wanted the driving permit so that he could bribe us to get it back. 

The second encounter was actually legitimate. Our car was missing a vignette on the windshield. We were forced to go buy one immediately along with a 25% late fee. While I waited a female police officer came over to say hello. Hawa was nursing at the time and I was covering up a bit with a scarf. She gestured for me to remove the scarf and was very excited to see that I was nursing. A few minutes later she came back and proceeded to intentionally mess with Hawa becuase she thought it was hilarious to distract Hawa enough to pull off repeatedly leaving me fully exposed. Never in the United States.

Living in Conakry is such a rollercoaster. Every day I have hit rock bottom for any of the following reasons: no power, no water, too hot, no food readily available, food available but no power to cook myself (most cook outside on open charcoal - I have yet to learn this skill and I may choose not to). Nighttime is especially challenging with the added threat of mosquitoes. They stay away with fans on. With no power it's too hot to close everything up and Hawa strongly protests sleeping in the heat. Because the power only comes on for about half the day right now I find myself hoping power does not come on during the day. Yesterday it came on in the afternoon and I was seriously concerned; never thought I would ever be upset about having power. Somehow, every day Conakry redeems itself with playing children, beautiful views, glorious breezes and some pretty magnificent storms.

We had our first daytime storm today. The girls' had so much fun outside using one of the balconies as a slip and slide. With the rain comes cooler weather and a break in the humidity. Reset successful. 

Settling in

We're here, safe, hot, and adjusting. It's still a bit surreal to be in the country that has existed in my mind for the past 11 years. Travel was not a bad as expected. It was long, but we made it. There were a few (now amusing) situations. My husband's mom is not used to travel. Two times she was stopped by security and went through a full body search because she was carrying money under her dress. At JFK we took an escalator on which she began falling backwards and needed to be held up by the people behind her. The final was on the long flight to Paris. I awoke to the flight attendant kindly asking her to get up from the floor where she was lying down and sit in her seat. The girls only broke down a few times. The Conakry airport was actually much nicer than I expected. People were waiting to help us with our  numerous 50 lb bags, although I think it would have been much easier for me to do it than the old man who struggled to assist. A man from security also decided to get in the mix knowing there was some money in it for him once we got to Lamine. I cannot tell you the relief I felt when we saw him in the parking lot. It took about 10 minutes to get through all of the negotiation of how much the men who helped should be paid. Once on the road I got a chance to take everything in. Traffic is crazy. No one follows any traffic rules. It's a madhouse. People go in all directions. The roads are full of potholes and trash. People walking through the traffic and selling goods further slow it down. My nose was immediately offended by all of the different fumes and dust. our first night, we slept outside on the 2nd floor balcony with fans on to keep the mosquitoes away.

Power was out by around 6am and did not turn back on again until around 5pm. Honestly, the first day I was miserable. The heat was unbearable. We ran a few errands to buy goods, but it's impossible get what you need one place. You may have to try 3 different stands to find a particular item and negotiation can take 10 minutes or more. I was sweating profusely sitting in the car with Hawa. Both of us were pretty dehydrated that day. Our only relief was going up to the 3rd floor balcony where there is usually a nice breeze to be found. I've learned where to sit at what time during the day to maximize the benefits. Night two was similar to the first, but this time inside with the fans on. It was great until the fans shut down with the electricity in the early morning. The next day we decided to buy an air conditioner and hope we could get it set up in time for sleep. We did! And all was great until a storm moved in in the middle of the night and power shut down again. We tried to wait it out, but it got hot quickly. Because it was cool outside and there was a good breeze  to keep the mosquitoes away we moved the mattresses up to the 3rd floor and slept outside. It was really quite lovely. Since then we've had power almost 24 hours a day with intermittent breaks, but right now there is another issue...no water as of yesterday. The pump is being replaced hopefully by the end of the day today. In the meantime, we can get water from a generous neighbor.

I've been quite a spectacle to people here, especially children who begin pointing and saying "tubabu" (mandingo) or "fotay" (susu). They get especially excited when I wave at them. Some have never seen an American before and assume I am Chinese because they have seen Chinese before.

The rhythms of the day:
I'm learning the pulse here. Each new day begins with the pre-dawn call to prayer from nearby mosques urging people to get out of bed and come pray. Next comes the calling of the roosters and then the sounds of women gathering water, starting fires and cleaning to get ready for the day. While everything here is a bit harder and much slower the beauty is that you are forced to feel and experience every moment of every day.

Will post some photos soon!

Introduction

This blog was created for those who wish to follow us on our journey to Guinea and beyond.