Coup Christmas

Hello everyone. I'm finally bored enough with electricity and running water in the compound that I can sit down and write a blog entry. About an hour ago, for the first time in my life, a few other volunteers and I 'hit the deck' and army crawled when machine-gun fire erupted around the compound. It wasn't a gun battle, it was just the soldiers clearing the streets at curfew/celebrating, but we didn't know. It was ten minutes of pretty much constant gunfire, and those bullets have to come down somewhere. We all laughed at ourselves afterward (I mean no one was firing at us), but it was certainly a first and hopefully last time gun fire has made me instinctively drop to the ground. I'll spare you more coup talk, but know that everything seems to be under control. The population is generally happy with the coup leaders and the ex-presidents burial passed without major incident. Hopefully the curfew will be lifted soon and life will return to normal.

Christmas was hot, muggy, and far from hearth and home, but we did the best we could and it came off rather well. Everyone made something (of course I made soda bread...thanks to the raisins my parents sent in a care package...), and the Country director Dan and his wife Julia hosted a wonderful party at their house. I think there are a few pictures on my facebook if you want to see me with no hair and down 15 pounds. Oh yeah, I let the mason cut my hair in my village. That was a mistake. He had clippers in one hand and a cigarette in the other and just cut absolutely everything off. I was left with less than 1/4 inch...and yes, it looked absurd.

Ok lets see if I can tell you a bit about my last two months at site. Around the time I last wrote on this blog my spirits were pretty low. 27 months was starting to seem like a hell of a long time to spend away from home. I supposed I reached a point where I had thought I had integrated pretty much as far as I could, and I still wasn't incredibly happy. I was not unhappy, but I am used to thriving, and anything less seemed like I was wasting my time or failing. In the last couple weeks I have started to break my unsatisfactory stalemate with Guinea. I can't put my finger on exactly what changed, but the arrival of a few younger teachers has given me the necessary ingredients for a social life, I started working out and putting weight back on, and spending Tabaski (2cnd biggest Muslim holiday of the year) at site was a blast. I bought some awesome Fabric in Labe (regional capital) and had my tailor in Fatako make me a Boubou that would shame the African Kings of old it was so good looking. Somehow I'll get you all a picture. Tabaski is the holiday commemorating the time Abraham was supposed to sacrifice his son Issac to show his devotion to Allah, and when he opened his eyes he found that he had slain a sheep instead. So, in the morning the entire community hikes en mass up to the top of a nearby hill to pray in the middle of this big field, and then everyone just fetes all day; every family sacrifices whatever edible animal they can afford, and everyone spends the entire day walking from house to house eating whatever your neighbors have prepared and drinking tea. As you can imagine, this is a heck of a good day. Oh, and all Guineans (all Muslims? I'm not sure...) buy their children a new outfit twice a year--on Tabaski and at the end of Ramadon-- and its great to watch the kids run around in their new threads thinking they're on top of the world. I suppose major holidays have all the same elements all over the world; good company, family, good food and drink. Guinea is no different. They certainly no how to throw a good lamb roast.

The community also put on a series of skits for the authorities to bring up village concerns. It was all in Pular, but according to my friends who translated afterward, the 'women's organizations' were protesting the exorbitant consts associated with the death of a family member, and inadequate transportation to and from the markets in neighboring villages who's markets sport more goods than good ol' Fatako. As a functionaire (important person, teachers, elders, government officials), I got to sit at the side of the stage with all the other administrators, and it felt cool to be part of the process.

Tabaski also involved a concert with a native son of Fatako who is now a major player in the Guinean music scene (Seku Bah Fatako) who came back to throw a concert in his home town. Living here, it is hard not to start loving African music. I already love three or four W.African singers (Akon excluded), especially Amadou&Mariam from Mali, Tikan from Guinea, and an Ivorian singer whose name escapes me at the moment...but they are all fantastic.

What else has changed? Oh, I've become and expert in Sanakuyagol. I shall explain. In the Ghanian empire (err, it might have been the Malian one, I'm already forgetting my history lessons) the King would call together the leaders of the Noble Families from all over the empire to help craft policy and make decisions. Legend has it that the tension between the families at these meetings were so high that no one would say anything for fear of giving offense or starting a feud. So, the king paired off all the noble families-- Diallos with Baldes, Baris with Sows, etc...--and gave each pair a carte blanche to insult the other family without fear of reprisals in order to get everyone laughing and lower the tension. This tradition endures to this day....If a Diallo meets a Balde for the first time or the hundredth time, he or she can and does immediately begin ridiculing the other person's family and character using whatever comes to mind. The classics include calling them liars, thief’s, sorcerers, or slaves, telling them their ancestors were cattle thieves, or comparing them and their relatives to various farm animals. How clever one is in mixing classic insults or making up new ones can win you serious points with Guineans...They never never never get tired of this Sanakuyagol game ever. The Americans have brought our renowned creativity to the table. I am a Diallo so my go-to insults include; Baldes eat babies during Ramadan, Baldes make great slaves but they steal so you have to watch them all the time and I don't have to worry about Baldes because evolution is taking care of the problem for me. I can usually guarantee to have the cafe rolling when I break out the Baldes eat babies during Ramadan...its a winner. So if you see any Baldes in the US, watch your pockets and your children, and tell him I said his ancestors were bandits and if he comes to visit I will make him sleep with the livestock. I have tried to explain to Guineans that I will be shot when I go home talking like this, but I am not sure they understand.

The point of that long explanation was to say that I am getting more and more comfortable with Guineans in general. Comfortable is the wrong word. I am slowly beginning to reset 'normal' when it comes to social interaction. Sometimes I have trouble imagining how Americans would react in a certain situation because I can not shake my Guinean mannerisms. I can give you some simple examples, but most of what I mean is not this easily identifiable; All Guineans hold hands all the time, men and men, men and women, women and women, doesn't matter. If a man is talking to me, there is a ninety percent chance we are holding hands. That took about a month to get used to, but now its not uncommon for a Peace Corps guy to grab another peace corps guy's hand if he is trying to make a joke, or a serious point in a conversation. Or, Guineans love long speeches that would seem absurdly obsequious to Americans. Thanking people profusely, especially older people, now seems very normal to me although some part of my brain still realizes that the thank-you speeches I make after taking tea at someone’s house would probably seem weird in America. These are simple things that I can easily identify as different, but I am sure that my more subtle mannerisms have already changed enough that you would all notice if I came back to the states tomorrow. However, this is a sign, and a confirmation for me, that this is becoming my home. 27 months no longer seems like an insurmountable obstacle. Alright, that was a long one. I am going to go in search of some food. Merry Christmas to all, and a happy new year!

I hope you had a great holiday, safe travels back home.

love,Con

Family and freinds! Its just after midnight Guinean time and I am in the computer room of the Conakry compound trying to follow the news. Rumours abound. International news services are predicting the worst, despite almost complete calm on the streets at the moment. Tanks and military checkpoints are currently set up all over Conakry, but the guns are quiet. State radio just announced the list of mutineers, but it is unclear if the mutineers command the support of the entire army, or merely a faction. Today the Coup dÉtat leaders announced the dissolution of the government, but that statement was immiedietley contradicted by the leader of the supposed civillian governement who claimed that the coup leaders were in the minority. This does not bode well. Despite other Peace Corps programs surviving military Coups in-country (recentley Mauratainia), the rumors and preperations for the worst succeed in charging the atmosphere. Guineans are by nature incredibly peaceful; despite three civil wars in neighboring countries and the associated refugee influx (Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Cote DÍvoire), 50 years of dissapointed hopes post independance, abundant resources, and stark ethnic divisions (three major ethnic groups and dozens of minor ones), Guinea has managed to avoid the type of brutak civil war that ravaged many of their nieghbors. Protestors in neighboring countries have chanted "we are not guineans"outside the parlimentary complex's of their leaders, implying that they will not submit passivley to years of authoratarian rule as the Guineans have done. However, a quick look at transparancey international ( ), or any other development indicators will tell you that the vast majority of Guineans remain in extreme poverty. I will refrain from talking more politics on the blog, but suffice it to say, enough is enough, and Guinea will not slumber forever. I sincerley hope Guinea will avoid bloodshed, and the coup leaders will smoothly transfer power to a civillian governement, but I am not going to hold my breath. We will see...

I am in no way nervous for my own saftey, but, I am worried about Peace Corps and about Guinea. Though i'd really like to wriet a real blog entry, I am too pre-occupied with the news. A demain...(tomorrow!)

Con



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7797629.stm
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/world/africa/24guinea.html?_r=1

Conte's death; military coup

Quick news alert

Last night Guinea's President Lansana Conte died after a beign in ill health for many years. This morning, as expected, the military staged a coup and has taken power. The BBC has the best coverage of all the major international news carriers, and you should all go there for more information. I'm unsure what I am allowed to put on the blog, so I just wanted to let everyone know I am safe. We are confined to the compound in Conakry for the moment, which is really not a bad place to be holed up. The details are scare even in country, but this could be buisness as usual or it could be a disaster...it depends on how unified the army is behind the coup. My phone is on and charged, so if you give me a call I can get you some more details. But everyone should know i'm safe, and even if Conakry did get violent the Peace Corps/embassy wil make make sure we are all taken care of.

I will post a real entry tonight or tomorrow!
Con