Trip to Kate's Site

Well on Monday I went to Kate’s site with Ian. We were going mostly to look for jars for jam making and black plastic for solar dryers (scored both of these). But we were also going to have a beer and ice cream and eat the awesome food Kate’s mom makes, use Kate’s running water and electricity and the internet. Unfortunately the internet was broken while we were there so we did not get to go online but should be able to next weekend when we go to Labe.

Ice Cream. A word about ice cream. It’s not really ice cream. It’s like really bad soft serve. It’s pink and white. But it’s cold, sweet, kinda creamy and comes in a cone. It works. We had it twice. Or was it three times?

Running Water. So, Kate doesn’t have running water all the time, only when it magically comes and everyone gets really excited. It magically came while we were there and I took a REAL shower!! I mean, it wasn’t much in the way of water pressure and I felt guilty (GUILTY!) using all that water only once but the water was kinda warm and honestly it was a little bit like heaven.

Kate’s Family. Is freaking awesome. She lives in this little two-room apartment in a family’s house. Her mom LOVES to feed us and we ate so well the whole time we were there, including the two times we made our own guacamole. Which is enjoyed with cuts of French bread since there’s no such thing as tortilla chips here (I don’t even think there are tortilla chips in the Leb stores, but you can make decent chips by frying pitas or making your own tortillas and frying them).

Kate. Is freaking awesome. She calls her apartment “Hotel Kate” and it really is like going away on vacation. She says don’t bring food or soap or shampoo or toilet paper because she has plenty of all of that and she insists that you sleep on the bed and she takes the floor. And when you leave she sends you off with a big Ziploc bag full of goodies: powdered milk, candy, Bumble Bee fish and chicken products, instant soups, gum. She insists that it’s because she will never have occasion to eat it because her mom feeds her three meals a day plus bread and vegetables and fruit.

Kate’s Dad. Has had an amazing life. He was born in 1922 (and it’s rare for people here to know the year of their birth, especially at his age, so I don’t know if this was a guess or if he knows this for sure). He has lived through French colonization, Toure, Conte, and now the CNDD. Under Toure he was a political prisoner for 9 and a half years and was tortured. His cell mate spoke English so that is where he learned his English. Several of his kids have moved to America and gone to great schools (Berkeley!). Even he has been to the US for six months once to visit family and have eye surgery. One of his daughters is the one that owns/runs that big, amazing education farm just outside of Kate’s site (and she makes the best banana chips EVER!). He has been the governor of nearly every major city in Guinea and his family was one of the original settlers of Kate’s city. Listening to him talk is enthralling and it’s always a treat to hear him.

TV. Both nights we got to sit and see a little bit of a French CNN type channel. They talk so fast I can’t really understand what they’re saying but can I just say that it is so cool to see my boss (OBAMA!) being the President!! Just wish I could hear what he’s saying when they show him.

Bush Taxis. So on the way there, less than an hour from Kate’s site, we blew a tire. No big deal, right? Except the tire iron broke and we had to wait for about 8 passing vehicles until we found one with the same size iron. THEN the tire was not put on correctly, or something, and we basically had to stop another 5 or so times to keep trying to fix it and it added another maybe 2 hours to the already six hour journey (from my site, from Ian’s it is almost 8 hours). On the way back, we blew a tire again, but it was changed correctly but THEN there was some sort of problem with the engine (the engine is held together with string and pieces of corrugated tin, no joke) and we spent almost three hours at John’s site waiting for it to be fixed before we continued on, which means we didn’t get to my site until almost ten (and we stopped a couple of times on the way here for more banging, string, and random metal pieces). That means Ian did not get home until almost midnight, probably…hopefully. I hope he got back!!

Every time I go somewhere I say to myself, “this is the last time I am leaving my site for a month!! Travel is too difficult especially with the dog” (although Yogi was actually really good in the taxis this trip). And already I have another trip planned for next weekend with Ian and John to check out Labe and hit Scott’s site for a night on the way. It is going to be just as long a trip on a crappier road. Woohoo!

I have a toothache. I think it is the tooth I had crowned just before I left and now I think it is telling me I need a root canal. I am to the point of having to take pain killers all day (but only 3, it’s not like I’m popping two every two hours) so I have started wearing my mouthguard at night and if it isn’t better by the time we head to Labe next weekend I will have to call Traian and ask him what to do. I am sure it will require a trip to Conakry to the dentist (and everyone is afraid of the dentist here) and if it DOES need a root canal I believe they send you all the way to Senegal. I don’t know what I will do with Yogi if this is the case. I mean, that could take me out of commission for a couple of weeks. I would probably try to leave him with Ian or maybe Kate, as I know John doesn’t have the patience for Yogi. Ugh. Stupid teeth.