Out on the Town

Not much to say, but while I have internet, I'll say it.

The situation here has cooled down a lot (some say Obama's victory had a part in this), so we were allowed to go downtown to do what we needed to do there (I got money out of the bank, got Chinese food from the one Chinese place in Guinea (run my Chinese ex-pats for Chinese ex-pats - best Chinese food I've ever had, though I may have been eating rice and sauce in my village too long to be a good judge), got a couple of things at the American/European goods store (shampoo to keep in Conakry, more cheese, some powdered lemonade mix, and a cup of yogurt). I also got some pictures developed from the one photo place here that actually has a few of those Kodak do-it-yourself kiosks to print digital pictures. I printed some pictures that I plan on sending out in holiday letters, and also bought some Obama pictures (photoshopped so he was in the middle of an American flag, standing next to the Guinean president, etc) that were being sold on the street for 2,500 GNF in the form of name-tags. I got about 10 (at 1,000 GNF from the people who were making the name tags) to send out to people I think will most appreciate them. I'm definitely keeping one for myself too. I'm actually regretting not getting more of them, they're really great.

I'm actually surprised at the level of excitement his victory has caused in Guineans. I expected them to be happy (heck, they've been reminding me about the Nov. 4th date pretty much since I got in country), but this is a whole new level. On the street most people saw me and said "Obama! Vive Obama!". One guy asked if I'd voted, and then shook my hand and thanked me when I said I had. People were dancing in the streets at 4:30 am when BBC officially called it for him over shortwave radio broadcasts. There are tons of products out on the streets with his face all over them (wallets, watches, umbrellas, name tags, t-shirts, .... several of my students' notebooks are have him on the cover (my grade book has him giving a speech on the cover)). We were tempted to start an "Obama! Obama!" chant at the bank to have people let us cut to the front (we waited in line about an hour), but we decided not to.

It's really great to see people here be inspired by his success. The best part is that I don't think they are excited because they expect him to make vast changes to Africa (which he probably can't and/or won't) as some people are saying, but simply because it's a symbol that African-Americans in the States aren't being limited by a glass ceiling anymore. It seems like a similar admiration that they have for wealthy musicians (Akon, 50 cent, etc), simply because they made it in the states despite the color of their skin - showing that maybe that factor is beginning to matter less and less in modern America. ...or maybe I'm just projecting my thoughts onto them, who knows? In any case, Guinea is very happy with the news, I can't wait to talk to people in my village about it (I'm actually a little sad I could be there when the results came in, I would have loved to have danced in the dirt road in front of my house with fellow Bintimodians - I'll just have to organize an inauguration fête for January 20th).

Anyway, I will (most likely) be headed back to my site tomorrow morning, until the next time I post from Kamsar...