New Stories and Next Steps

We're passing through the regional capital Labe on our way back to Kerouane and I wanted to send out a quick hello via this very slow internet connection. (I usually try to bring a book to read while pages are loading but I forgot this time...darn).

Charlie arrived safely in Conakry and we traveled together to Lelouma the next day to meet up with Matt and his host mom, Nene Delanda. Travel around here is long, dusty, hot, and exhausting- quite an introduction to Guinea. Lucky for us, Charlie is not only super-flexible and positive, but also has experience with bush taxis and unpaved roads. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Uganda a few years ago and in some ways this is old hat for him. He has remarked, though, that the trips are longer here than he was used to. This is probably because our friends and family here live on opposite sides of the country, both of which are quite far from the capital. In any case, a decent chunk of Charlie's trip will be spent in a car. He seems to agree, though, that this is worth it since he'll get to meet all of our friends in both Lelouma and Kerouane. This is a huge deal for our friends here. They are honored to host a member of our family who has traveled so far to greet them and Charlie, too, seems honored to receive their hospitality.

Matt and I are thrilled to have Charlie's company. So far, it doesn't seem to matter if we're on a mountain or in a broken down car with 10 other people and a few chickens. While we'd all prefer not to be in a car, he's a fun guy to be around no matter where we are. And after three and a half months of traveling together, recycling the same old jokes and stories, Matt and I are relieved to have someone else to talk with. In Lelouma this past week we stayed awake long past our normal bedtime here (usually around 10:00pm) listening to Charlie's stories as the candles burned themselves out.

We spent our week in Lelouma introducing Charlie to our friends, neighbors, and Matt's former colleagues. Before we knew it it was time to make the rounds again to tell people goodbye. Between the hellos and goodbyes, we were able to squeeze in some pretty amazing hiking. Lelouma is a hiker's dream-come-true. It really is beautiful and full of well-trodded trails and cow paths between villages that pass over and through mountains, ravines, waterfalls, woods, fields, etc.

It seems we've been coming and going a lot over these past few months. While we made ourselves comfortable at the family's home in Kerouane (we were there a month) and Nene Delanda's home in Lelouma (a month and a half), we haven't strayed too far from living out of a backpack (or actually, a few backpacks). At this point I'm going a little crazy. It's not so much the packing and repacking and traveling, though that's certainly contributing to my current state-of-mind, but it's really the lack of privacy and independence. We've been living in other people's households the entire time we've been away. This has allowed for an extraordinary amount of intimacy between us and our friends and family here. It's a level that I didn't experience the last time I was here and I am so grateful for it. It's a amazing gift. (I'd like to add, too, that such a gift has only been possible because of the unbelievable hospitality and generosity of our friends here. Imagine if someone who you were friends with five years ago suddenly showed up at your doorstep unexpectedly with all of their bags. Imagine they made themselves comfortable, ate your food, used your stuff and never said when they were leaving....I'm not sure how I'd handle that). So after the blessing of so much sincere and heartfelt hospitaltiy it's now time to be the crazy neighbors and not the crazy guests.

But how to do that? That's the question right now. We came here specifically to greet these two households and now we've accomplished that. So what next? How do we stay here if we're not guests? Matt and I would like to stay in Kerouane (the kids are even cuter in person if you can believe it). We're just not sure how. We're on our way there now. Charlie will have a chance to meet everyone and will be there for a week. Then it's time for him to head back to Conakry to fly home (though we're trying to get him to stay longer...). Through the miracle of phone service we've told the Kerouane family that we're interested in renting a house for Charlie's visit and beyond. Maybe they'll be able to help us find something.

And the job. I might have mentioned it too soon. Things aren't at all sure. Through a series of miscommunications and misunderstandings I finally figured out that the people who sounded so interested in having me "help out" really wanted me to volunteer my time to "help." Don't get me wrong. Helping is good. I was just hoping to do that via a job with money and professional opportunities. But the good news is that the people giving me the run-around aren't really authorized to even hire or fire or ask for help. I finally got with the program and called the real boss. He was friendly and straight-forward. We set up a phone date for Monday. By then we'll be in Kerouane (thank goodness for phone service!). In any case, I'm in a much better state-of-mind about it now. After all the confusion I'm not as emotionally attached to the idea of the job AND I'm feeling more realistic about it- a much better place to be when I start a conversation with the boss.

When I can, I'll post some photos of Lelouma. In the meantime, Matt, Charlie, and I are going to rest up in Labe before our 12 hour taxi ride to KanKan tomorrow. (The day after tomorrow we'll take the 6 hour trip to Kerouane).

I hope you're all doing well. Matt and I have been talking about all of you a lot lately. It's a rare night when I don't dream about one or some of you. You're on our minds and we miss you. We're trying to figure out how long we'll be here. In other words, how long it will be until we show up on *your* doorsteps with our bags and no idea how long we'll be staying....