Just a quick update

There were a few things I forgot to mention yesterday in my post ... so I wanted to follow up. It is both a blessing and a curse to have the internet at my beck and call. The cafe opened up special for me today... the owner calls me his little sister, it was really nice of him. Anyway I wanted to fill you in on a funny thing that happened to me and the group of volunteers a few days ago...for our installation we had to go around and meet all the officials in Kankan. It is not anything like meeting officials in the US, basically we show up, unannounced and then BS for a while with them to let them know we are here, what we are doing, etc. Our first meeting was with the Govenor of Haute Guinea. We all sat around, introduced ourselves and listened to his ditty...well a few minutes later one of his cronies says to all the girls in the room, "there are 5 women here and in the muslim faith we can only have up to 4 wives. So which 4 of you want to be my wives?" This happens a lot but right of the bat in our very first meeting of the day it caught us off guard! Reactions varied from disgust to laughing but we hear it often and have to learn to just shrug it off as part of their culture. However, this wasn't the only time it happened, we went to meet the chief of police (of sorts) and he said the same thing! Katie and I lied and said we were already married, but I told him (jokingly) he could be my second husband.

Also everyone here thinks I am fluent in Malinke, the local language spoken in most of Haute Guinea. You say one little greeting in the language and they assume you are a master. My neightbors only speak Malinke, and I have NO idea what is going on most of the time. I can get the jist sometimes but most of the time I say Awa (OK)... so who knows what I am agreeing to! One elder man did ask me to take him back to America and I told him I needed a Million (american dollars) and a big boat. He laughed and that was the end of that, now whenever he sees me he calls me Madame. Perhaps I need to make up a fake boyfriend, or find a real one, any takers? Though it makes hardly any difference because if you tell them you have a man friend they ask where he is. Such is life in Guinea. The hot season is on its way and let me tell you, it is freaking hot. I techinally live in the savannah, but it might as well be the desert. There is one good thing that comes out of the hot season and its MANGOS! I am so excited and plan to eat as many as possible. But for now thats all, since I have regular access I'll try to update more often and get some pictures up... I just found out that the lowered the price in the internet cafe... I am in trouble. An be Kofe (see you later!)