Trouble in Conakry, complications and delays...

First of all, I am safe and sound far from Conakry where all the violence occurred on Monday. I'm not going to comment on what's going on, to be honest, we are told only basic information from Peace Corps and not to believe everything we hear on the radio or read on the Internet. Information, though it whips around the country faster than one would think still takes time to reach us.

That aside, I left Conakry Sunday morning for Kankan and haven't seen any causes for concern there or now in Gueckedou. I can't be installed in my home yet because they didn't have my new house ready. Bummer. And now I'm stuck in Gueckedou for who knows how long. Communication here is easy which is nice, as long as I can keep my phone charged which is challenging.

Our taxi ride to Kankan was a long one. We left at 8:30 Sunday morning and didn't arrive until 2:30 a.m Monday. We only broke down once towards the beginning but for some reason the trip took forever. I got bitten by a blister beetle on my thigh. I'm not sure how it got me there but all of a sudden I woke up in the taxi and my leg was burning. I shined my cell phone light down my pants and saw huge blister burns. The blisters broke open into huge sores later that night. I called the Doctor the next morning. It's a chemical burn. I've been cleaning it and lathering it in antibiotic ointment and it seems to be heeling. Oh, Africa.

Kankan is a cool city in the region of Guinea called Haute-Guinee. It is the driest and hottest region of the country, but now coming out of the rainy season the weather is sunny and nice. I enjoyed it a lot, the peace corps compound there is cool with a great view of the stars from the roof. I might need to track down a bug hut from the states so I can sleep outside during the dry season. I did a lot of shopping, bought buckets, a mat, a trunk and a lock, a hammer, etc.

The forest crew said goodbye to the hauters on Tuesday. It was sad leaving this last group, though these are the people I will see for Thanksgiving and maybe Halloween. We had a bumpy luxurious ride in a PC Landrover. We told Sam it was our first long trip not on the PC bus or in a bush taxi and he promised to kill us with air conditioning. We dropped our closest G16 neighbor off at his hut on the way. It was awesome to see how nice a hut can feel when you set it up and make it your home.

We arrived in Gueckedou, said hello to all the officials and dropped off all of our stuff. I've set up camp in one of Phil's guest rooms, using the window and a chair to rig up my mosquito net. We went into town for rice and sauce and then I came back and crashed with exhaustion.

I woke up this morning with a slight cold but feeling well rested. I took a much needed bucket bath and was getting my things together when I looked up at the window and saw two wide-eyed little faces staring at me. I said hello and before I knew it, the entire neighborhood of petits were there. They are so interested in me and they love it if I smile at them or do something silly. I left the house to head for the Internet. This is a big city so there are many different people here from all over Guinea. This means, people call me Toubabou, Porto, Fote, Puluno, etc. I try to say hello in their language based on the name they call me. I picked up breakfast along the way, peanuts and fried maniok which came to probably around 10 cents.

It's nice to be in a place where I can communicate easily with everyone but I'm anxious to get settle into my village. And hopefully there I will figure out some hike to a spot that will offer cell phone service. I'm about to go look for a coke somewhere and do some exploring of the city. It's a cloudy day so the sun shouldn't be too bad.

Thanks for your interest and send peaceful vibes this way. Love,

Em