Nov 30 - Internet is back

Happy Thanksiving!  I’ve been without internet for a while so I’m behind on my greeting.  I was fortunate to be invited to share with some of the local American missionaries and we had a fabulous meal and a wonderful time together.  I was truly blessed by the afternoon.

In addition I also had my African music debut!  And I have video proof. 

No news on the official election results, no news on moving to Dubreka, no news on when school will start.  We wait.  The country is still on a 6pm-to-6am curfew every day pending, at least, the election result decision by the Supreme Court.  

Nov 22 - Waiting

No news - just hanging and waiting on the election results, my house in Dubreka to be ready, and the school year to be started.  Last I heard was that the Supreme Court would announce their decision on Dec 2.  I'm thinking that school won't start until January now.  Working on my djembe lessons.  Oh, and I was adopted by 3 African men as their sister.  Not completely sure what that means!

Nov 18 - State of Emergency

Turns out there's been more problems post-election-results than I was seeing in my neighborhood.  The government has declared a "state of emergency" with a 6-to-6 curfew nightly.  The election results have gone to the Guinean Supreme Court who have said they'd have an answer by the end of next week.  So far the school year is still being said to begin December 1.  I wonder now if we'll be able to start by then.

Pray for the people of Guinea.

I'm still not feeling very well and have to go back to the hospital tomorrow for more tests.  So far I've been real impressed with African hospitals! 

Nov 17 - New President!

As you may have heard, Alpha Conde was announced late Monday to be the newly-elected President of the Republic of Guinea.  Congratulations to him and to all of the people of Guinea - celebrating their first first free, democratic presidential elections since declaring independence in the late 1950s.  I have read that there have been some serious problems since the results were announced but I have not personally seen any.

About the time this was being announced, I came down with a bad stomach ache and ended up in the Emergency Room the next day (my first visit to an African hospital!) with pneumonia and food poisoning.  Thankfully I'm starting to feel a little better but I've missed a lot of the excitement. 

Pictures:
My new African dress done in batik: designed and made by Pastor Gibril.
After our concert: it's amazing how many drums you can fit in the trunk of a taxi.

Nov 15 - Still waiting

I think the national motto of Guinea might be "On attend" (We wait).  We wait for many things.  Right now it's for the electricity to come back on, for the new President to be announced, for jobs, for the rest of the world to notice this country...  I have learned bits and pieces every day since I've been here (now 6+ weeks) but ran into an article today that seemed to summarize everything I've heard.  I believe it to be quite accurate.  It's a little graphic but it describes much of the turmoil that is a daily occurrence here. 

I'll include the URL.  Read it and then pray for the people of Guinea and its new leadership.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5i46W2jswXCrt8j9IOZS2_6WKQ3VQ?docId=5080245

Nov 14 - No news yet

Although they'd promised results in 3 days, we still have no news yet on who the new President of Guinea will be.  But the start of the school year has been moved off again - now planned for December 1st.  I'm still hanging out in a hotel in Conakry waiting for my house to be ready in Dubreka where I'll be teaching - someday.  Taking a drum lesson each morning and working on my drum notation project.  Pictures are of my new "djembe shirt" done in batik.  My new favorite!

Nov 8 - ELECTION DAY

Yesterday, Nov 7, was the long-awaited first, free, democratic presidential election for the country of Guinea.  WOW!  Everything in the entire country was shut down so that people could go and vote.  24 hr curfew for those who were not in the process of voting.  I was not even allowed to go outside the hotel grounds.  I did, however, sneak out briefly just to the gate to get a few pictures of proud voters.  I was so proud of Guinea but I was even more proud to be an American.  I missed voting last week - but I won't miss it again.  It's a privilege that can't be taken for granted.  Maybe if we got our finger stained with ink after we voted, we would have more pride in our opportunity to vote?

Nov 6 - Why so many drum heads?

Got a good question earlier:  Am I wearing out the drum heads - and that's why they have to be changed?  No, there's a better chance that I am wearing out my HANDS before the drum head!  The problem is that the heads are splitting and pulling away from the wood part of the drum.  After we put THREE heads on my new drum, it turns out that the iron support about halfway down the drum was faulty.  It cost about 25,000 GF to buy a new skin.  OK, that's only about $4 - but it cost the goat a lot more!  So, I have a new head (again) on my djembe and it's sitting in the sun for Day 2 of 3 - drying and stretching the skin to make it incredibly tight.

[The night the first one broke, the djembe was in my hotel room and it sounded like a gun shot went off.  I sat straight up, looked around, and then noticed the drum head was split in two.]

Nov 5 - Visiting a school in Nongo

Had a lovely opportunity to visit a church school in Nongo today.  Probably 60 students divided into 3 classes operating in one room.  One group was learning parts of the body, the 2nd was learning about brushing teeth, and the 3rd was learning a Bible story.  A lot going on but everyone was on-task and working hard.  Fun to see.

Nov 4 - African ballet rehearsal

 The African ballet is the term for the traditional dances - especially when they're put together to tell a story.  I went to a rehearsal today and got to see marvelous Guinean dancers with superb traditional drummers putting together a program.  Everything they do takes amazing levels of energy.  Completely beyond me how they do it - especially in this heat.

Nov 3 - Goat skin to drum head to Djembe

Had to put a new head on my djembe so Moussa bought a goat skin, soaked it, shaved it, stretched it, and then tied all the ropes to the body that create the tension for the head.  Quite interesting.  Right now it's sitting in the sun for 3 days to dry and shrink all the skin.  Amazing what kind of sounds you can get out of a good drum head.  (Brother, Abu, in white shirt is helping.)

Nov 1 - Seeing a Guinean drum school

After my djembe lesson this morning, I went with my teacher, Moussa, back to his drum school.  Huge, empty warehouse with the deafening sounds of Guinean drums being learned and practiced.  Interesting experience.  After about 15-20 minutes I realized I was able to hear some of the different rhythm patterns going on within the music.  Dozen people playing and everyone has their own rhythm part.  Very complex and complicated to listen to.  The students serve as apprentices until they master all the rhythms and instruments of the Guinean cultures.  Can't imagine.