Chillin' In Labé

Ah, Labé. It's high in altitude so it's cool, and there aren't mosquitoes like down on the coast. In fact, I had to haul out the blanket last night. Yes. It's nice to be cold. I slept in late. I woke up to water running and realized that the plumbing leaks like a sieve. No wonder it's off most of the time. I took advantage of the window of opportunity to take a quick--and very cold--shower. I used the lid of the toilet tank to direct the leak into the bucket which I use to flush the toilet. Might as well fill it up with leak water, eh?

I listened to music until 11am. I paid for 2 nights--last night and tonight. Each night is GF35000 or about US$7. Then I went to a place just across the street and got a shawarma for GF5000 and a Skol beer for GF6000. The shawarma had peas in it. Cool. A pretty good meal for US$2. Then I went off to the Hotel Tata to find if they had pizza. On the way, I got a shave for GF1000 (US$0.20) but I tipped him another GF1000. I went to where I thought the Tata was--where I saw it last night, but all it was was a sign board advertising it. I guy across the street asked me what I was looking for and I told him. He told me it was pretty far and I should flag down a moto-taxi and expect to pay about GF4000. In fact I paid GF3000 and it was pretty far--especially as it had started to rain. I had a Skol for GF8000 and a chicken with fries for GF25000. That's US$1.60 and US$5 respectively. I pulled out my La Route and they asked if that was the guide book. I said no, but I had the guide book and pulled it out. Apparently they haven't seen the latest West Africa Lonely Planet and were anxious to see what it said about them. I signed the Hotel Tata guestbook and put this blog address in it.

I walked home marveling that I'm actually able to get by pretty well in French. I'm having complex conversations, but basic conversations about general topics. I'm very happy with the progress of my French. I was happy all the way home because of that. I can't imagine traveling here without a little bit of French. I wish I spoke it better. But it was certainly worth every minute I put into learning it.

When I got back to my room, I washed 3 pair of underwear, 2 shirts, and my pants. Boy was the water brown when I finished. Unbelievably brown and yucky. But after it was done, my clothes were clean. The Mir Express handwashing detergent is wonderful. I hope I can find another tube in Conakry. Even the crotch of underwear unchanged for days smells just how I would want my sheets to smell when I first brought a woman I liked to my bed. It's that good.

August 24, 2008 15:30 Guinea local time