On the Road Again

[written on October 10 by hand in Siguiri, but typed up today]

Getting back to Kankan this time was again an ordeal. So you remember on my way to Pita, I arrived in Mamou at 3am and slept on a table until sunrise? That journey is a strong contender for the title "#1 reason Guinea sucks, but you just have to laugh about it." Can you believe that my return trip also put up a fight for that prize?

It all started in Pita when Reid and I left his house at 8am to walk (uphill 20 minutes) to the gare. I was placed in a beautiful, clean, well-running car to Mamou. I actually said to Reid, "well, maybe today won't suck like I expected it to..." Hah.

I arrived in Mamou safely in record time without pushing any cars. I bought a ticket for the Kankan car when they said was full and we would be leaving "tout de suite, " which of course means "right away" in french, but something more like "maybe before Tuesday" in Guinean. They also said the car was a Mercedes. "What luck I have today," I thought, "A Mercedes leaving rigth away!"

Well, tout de suite turned into a 6 hour wait and the Mercedes was in fact a Mercedes, but the man who put his daughter's name on his cars (that's the story right?) would have been furious that THIS was still called a Mercedes. Hey, at least it was a nice sea-foam green...

We finally get in the road, right before sunset, and I think, "ok, at least we're moving and I'm not too squished with 4 adults and 3 kids in the back seat." At sunset we stopped in Dounet to pray and break the Ramadan fast. We also picked up 2 more people going to Kankan whose car had broken down.

Alas, that was not my decision to make, so they climbed on in and "not too squished" turned nito me sitting in the front with 2 people in the driver's seat, 2 in the passengers, and 1 on the middle console facing backwards. Great. But it gets better......

At 2am, the "Mercedes" decided to not want to change gears. If we pushed the car fast enough, the driver could get into 3rd gear only and we could stay in 3rd and coast. Fine. I was pushing a car again. What's new? Stupid Guinea. But this time I have to jump into a moving car at 2am and be super squished in the front only to have to get out and push again 20 or 30 minutes later. Really stupid Guinea. Anyway, I arrived in Kankan at 4:30, made it to the hotel by 5am, slept for 2 hours, then rose again to go to the gare to get to Siguiri (via dilapidated minibus) before Conde arrived with my monthly mail visit from Peace Corps.

To end this great journey, upon arriving in Siguiri, as they were unloading my baggage from the top of the bus, I saw the Peace Corps car driving in the direction OUT OF TOWN! I had missed the mailrun, the only reason I had rushed home!

So, how does that sound? Worthy of the "#1 reason Guinea sucks, but you just have to laugh about it" prize? Stupid Guinea, but it's all an adventure, right?!

ps - Luckily I called our regional coordinator and he radioed Conde to return to Siguiri later that day with my mail, adding nealry 200 extra kilometers onto Conde's Siguiri mailrun day. Thanks Conde!