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So this morning a dude I didn’t know wearing trendy blue camoflauge pants came up to my house with a note from John. He had duct-taped all the edges so no one could peek at it (not that anyone here reads English, anyway) so I knew it had to be about our status.

I wasn’t really freaking out or anything but I was surprised at what a relief it was to get official news rather than guessing and assuming.

Apparently right now (well, as of yesterday when he wrote the note) our status is “Alert”, which is a step below “Standfast”. Apparently at some earlier time, we were on Standfast and John had sent notes but I did not receive it (don’t know about Ian, but if he sent me Ian’s, like he did this time, Ian didn’t get it either). So I’m sending Ian’s copy up to his site with his friend Conte today (hooray for market day!) so hopefully he will get it tonight.

So apparently Paul canceled his race, which is kind of a relief because I didn’t want him to think I was letting him down! It also means John is definitely at his site and can pass us news (when the bush note system works).

I decided not to go to John’s site today, but rather on Sunday which is market day and I could get a taxi there and back in the same day and not have to stay over (guarding the patience of my dog sitters carefully). Plus there might be some straggler avocadoes on the big market day so I’m looking forward to that.

So my friend Alysun just came over and was talking to me about the greve and he is quite riled up, indeed. He told me that yesterday Dadis said it wasn’t him who fired upon the people at the stadium but rather that the military has split into two factions (meaning this other faction is not under his control). Oh, that’s WAY better (can you taste the sarcasm?). Alysun actually did not seem to believe it and went off about something Dadis said about France (I think) and said, “once words come out of your mouth, it’s like a bucket of water. Once it spills on the ground you cannot put it back.”

I think I forgot to mention that while there are over 150 dead, there are something like 2500 people injured. Either beaten, raped or shot.

“Why am I Guinean?” Alysun laments. “The government doesn’t know what they’re doing. We will never be developed. If you know that the money you give for development is going to be boofed, you won’t give it, right?” I explained how President Obama said one of the most important factors in the ability of a country to develop is good governance. Guinea does not and has not had that since the French left over 50 years ago (or even before that – I have no idea how good a governor France was).

Oh would you look at that, just received John’s first note.

Alysun talks about education and how there are people who are 30 years old and can’t write their names. “How will your country become developed if there is no education?”

To me the answer is grassroots. Getting everyone together from the ground up to demand a real democracy. Unfortunately in a country like this, the only way to get a real democracy might be to take it by force.