Strangers in a Strange Land

Last week, my family, or more specifically, my dad and sister Kathryn, came to visit me in Guinea. After anxiously awaiting their arrival, they finally came down the ramp and I burst into tears of joy. I couldn't believe they were actually in Guinea (and neither could they). It's been almost 10 months since I left the United States. Ten months since I've seen my family and my friends. Their coming to visit was an amazing treat. They brought over 50lbs of America with them in food, clothes and shoes! But more importantly, they saw extreme poverty for the first time and what life is really like in Africa.

When you make plans, Guinea gets in the way. This was one of the first things my family learned upon arrival. They also learned the useful arts of sitting, squishing, drinking water out of a plastic bag, bucket bathing, hand washing laundry, and last but not least, they dipped their toes into the pool that is the Susu language. But I'll let them tell you all about it. . .

[The following are excerpts from what my dad had to say about Guinea. Sadly, my sister didn't send me anything in time for me to put it in this week's blog.]

We visited Christine in Guinea. What a wonderful experience! I say wonderful wishing for a better word, but it was full of wonder. It is wonderful how very differently life transpires in Guinea in comparison to America. One of the many things that struck me in Guinea was the difference between Conakry and the less populated areas. The big town was generally filthy and dangerous, with little greenery in sight. The country and villages seemed to have much more spacious homes; they were far slower paced, with much more interpersonal communication. Am I biased toward rural areas? Absolutely. But this is true nonetheless. [In addition] children learn from birth the importance of family and community. They place a huge emphasis on being close to loved ones, asking about their well being, and supporting the extended family. Guineans pride themselves on their hospitality. They lavishly share the meals they have with those around. And they assume others will do the same for them.

[When it comes to resources] Guinea has the largest deposits of bauxite in the world. Bauxite is the raw material from which we produce aluminum. In the locations I visited, bauxite is everywhere. It paves the roads, comprises the stones for fences, walls, and road beds. During the dry season, the orange and red dust from bauxite permeates everything. Although bauxite lies on the surface of the earth through Lower Guinea, I never saw a bauxite mine. Further south, in the heart of the jungle, Guinea boast the world’s 2nd largest deposits of iron ore. Christine gave me a specimen of ore she collected. It looks to be a type of specular hematite, but is weakly magnetic. So it probably has traces of magnetite as well. These iron oxides are higher grades of ore than the more common deposits of pyrite (“fools gold”), which are high in sulphur. The iron deposits lie directly beneath the heart of the rainforest region, native home to primates and elephants. There are also diamonds and gold in Guinea. But the most obvious wealth I saw was their exotic woods. It was everywhere. Guineans use the spectacularly colored, fine grained, wood for the most unworthy of purposes such as construction lumber and (gasp) charcoal. For example, the ladder leading to the crawl space below Christine’s roof is in her bathroom. She will never use it. House guests will never see it. But it is probably 20 board feet of solid red rosewood (or something of similar color and consistency). They use the most highly prized woods, always solid, for chairs, doors, tables, bowls, everything. And they never realize any of these items, sold new in America, would fetch months, or even years of their local salary. Exotic wood from the tropics is as common and base in Guinea as pasteboard here.

My family being here was like looking at myself in a mirror for the first time since being here, and I didn't like everything I saw. It was difficult realizing that I've become an even more selfish person, which I attribute to my increased independence. I've become an angry person, and I'm always complaining about something. In the States, I never would have screamed at or openly mocked someone to get my way, but here I do it with alarming frequency. I guess what the mirror revealed wasn't all bad. My family pointed out how out-going I've become and how many friends I've made in my village. All of the children here love me, even when I don't give them candy (which says something). They saw me teach,and even though they found it extremely boring, they believe I'm making a difference and truly helping my students. They saw how strong I've become and how stubborn. I bet my mom didn't think I could be more stubborn!

Saying “goodbye” and not getting on the plane with them has proved to be one of the hardest things I've done so far. I really want to go home! I really miss all the wonderful people back at home, not to mention, the ease of which one can live there. Say what you will, I will really appreciate how convenient things are. They fact that i'll hopefully be home in August for a few weeks keeps me going. When it comes to Dad and Kathryn, I know it was really hard for them to leave me in Guinea, after seeing my life and what I put up with on a daily basis. I know they are proud, and they are already trying to plan another visit to Guinea! They had a great time, and learned a lot, which they are already sharing with friends back at home. Life changing? Probably, but you'll have to ask them.