It's Friday in Conakry, meaning everyone goes to the mosque in the morning and the town is shut down. We spent some time this morning drumming with Amara, our teacher, then prepared for a weekend trip to a nearby island. We drove downtown this afternoon and passed many worshipers on their way home from the mosque, dressed in traditional gowns. Quite a sight!
We stopped at the internet cafe in the downtown area before heading to the boats and Roume Island. We'll be there through Sunday, then back to our little house for more drumming and dancing next week.
In response to David's question, the grand mosque here is very beautiful. We've driven past it a couple times. Photos are difficult however; Guinea has a law prohibiting photos in public places. We have lots of photos and videos of our drumming and dancing, but none so far outside the house. When we got off the airplane a few people pulled out their cameras and took pictures as we walked down the stairs, but at the bottom a soldier was waiting to take their cameras. They managed to convince him to let them erase the photos, and when he was satisfied that they had done so, he let them continue with their cameras. But apparently if any soldier or police officer sees you taking a picture, he will confiscate your camera! The rationale, I heard, was that the government leaders believe foreigners take photos to show all the misery and problems in Africa, and they don't want to allow that. Unfortunate, I believe, that they think that way. There is a lot of poverty here -- lots of shantytowns all over Conakry. But there also is a lot of solidarity among the people and a sense of authenticity and lack of commercialism that is absent in more economically developed areas.
The monuments in Conakry are interesting. Guinea has been independent just 50 years, and it is revealing to see what they build monuments to. One is a soccer player. Another, oddly, is an elephant with a soccer ball at its feet -- apparently the elephant is their national team's mascot. Another monument shows a worker with his hands raised and broken chains on his wrists, no doubt echoing Guinea's Marxist past. About a block from where I am right now, there is a beautiful monument in the middle of the street with two antelopes on a platform about 20 feet in the air. I haven't seen any monuments to military heroes, leaders (of which there have only been three) or other typical statues.
They are building a new soccer stadium very near where we are staying, and they must want to finish it soon because they are working on it night and day. Our house has access to the roof, and at night you can see the sparks falling from the welders, who are building a large arc that will cross over the top of the stadium. There are a lot of half-finished buildings around town, though, so one wonders if the stadium will eventually end up the same way...
One thing I've noticed is that virtually all of the transportation here is motorized -- cars, motorcycles, trucks, and lots of taxis. Not as many busses -- people tend to cram several into a taxi rather than on a bus. But there are no animal-drawn carts around town, something that is usually common in developing countries. We have seen goats wandering around, but no oxen, horses or other draft animals.
We passed an office as we walked downtown this afternoon that was the government tourism agency, which intrigued me since there seems to be so little tourism here. The government does not seem to promote tourism much and there are not really very good facilities to handle tourists. On top of that, getting a tourist visa is difficult, and laws like the one forbidding photos make it seem like tourism is not really welcome in Guinea.
One final note, our drumming instructor, Amara Camara, is quite talented and well known in the country, something we learned as we walked through a neighborhood this afternoon and people we passed were shouting to him. It shows how valued drummers are in this society, that someone would be well known for being a master on the djembe!
We're off to the beach and will post again next week.
Alan Barton, sent from downtown Conakry, Friday June 5, 2009
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It sounds like you all are in for an awesome time, Dr. Barton. I wish I could be there as well-- it must be a wild expirience to have soldiers posted up in case someone takes a picture. You mentioned the house... how big is it? Also, how many people are staying in it?
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The house is two stories, with two bedrooms and a bath downstairs, plus our dining area. Upstairs are three bedrooms, a bath and a living area, plus two balconies. Next to the house downstairs is a large patio, with a big round gazebo-like structure and another large patio covered with thatch that we use from drumming and dance class. There is another house adjacent to the patio where the staff is living -- those that cook our food, clean the house and wash our clothes. We have fans in all the rooms and geneally leave all the doors and windows open in the hopes a breeze will find its way inside. It can get pretty stuffy in the bedrooms at night. Our matresses are on the floor, as per local custom, and there is little in the way of furniture in the bedrooms, so we're living out of suitcases. The bathrooms have fixtures but the water doesn't work, so there is a large drum in there that they fill with water periodically from a well on the patio. We take "bucket baths" with this and also use it to flush the toilets -- pour water in the bowl and it keeps the toilet flushed. We are all adjusting and getting used to the accommodations!
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