Articles tagged with: Canada
Guinea 027
Friday, January 5 – 8:00 a.m.
I find myself not exactly at a loss for words but unsure of which ones to use first. Not because the experiences of the last couple of days have been profound but they were involved and send my mind branching in many different directions.
I spent yesterday in the company of Ashaki, a thirty-six year old professor at Conakry University. She …
Guinea 018
Tuesday, December 26 2:00 p.m.
Perhaps it was the Christmas spirit, perhaps it was the bicycle, perhaps everything I’ve read and everyone I’ve spoken to is wrong but I had no problems whatever cycling the remaining twenty-three kilometres to Coyah. Even the dreaded kilometre 36 roadblock at the Dubreka/Coyah junction was as pleasant an official encounter as I’ve ever had.
The day began when I opened my …
Guinea 015
Saturday, December 23
The build up and the walk to the cinema was certainly more entertaining than the movie itself which was a standard conspiracy flick with corruption going to the highest levels of government. Ivory Keenan Wayans was the fall guy and fought back and won only because of his commando training. Oh yeah, and he got the girl.
The atmosphere was much more subdued and …
Guinea 010
Monday, December 18 10:30 a.m.
Taking this room and staying in Conakry an extra week has had the desired effect. I’ve ceased to obsess about getting on the bicycle and “go, go, going.” I’ve relaxed and slipped another notch into what I’m beginning to think of as a Guinean pace of life. And even loading up my bicycle with my four pannier bags and cycling the …
Guinea 009
Sunday, December 17 9:10 a.m.
Evidence continues to mount that I’m an idiot. I was in Sundar’s shop yesterday when a heavyset Sierra Leonian woman struck up a conversation. She appeared to know Sundar quite well and had taken a stool to rest from the exertions of shopping. She’d bought quite a large amount of goods, including a case of fifty tins of tomato paste and …
Guinea 008
Saturday, December 16 4:50 a.m.
My second trip to see the rooms that are available for rent was strange but probably fairly typical for Guinea. At least I was the only one who seemed to find the process a bit unusual.
I went to Marie’s small apartment at 6:30 as we’d arranged. The small door into the compound was open and I just walked in. The yard …
028 – A Blessing In Disguise
The more time I had to mull over the wallet-snatching incident the more it seemed like a blessing in disguise. It told me more about the country in a moment than I might have learned in months. It became a touchstone in helping me interpret what was going on around me
It laid bare the reality of the place and the fundamental absurdity (from a certain …
025 – “You Like Fucking Priest”
I woke up early again to the banging-crashing-radio blaring-shouting-floor sweeping waking up sounds of the hotel and family. Of all the sounds it is the sweeping that I’ll associate with this place. The sweeping went on eternal, harsh straw against old wood. Endless. It never seemed to move, but stayed in one place till I imagined they would grind a hole right through the floor.
It …