September 27, 2005

Safe and sound in Conakry...

As I feared it, the customs officer, who insisted to keep my passport, did not accept my title of visa. I did insist, as the local office had indicated to me, on my right of entry and the fact that I could not leave my passport. Eventually, the program assistant negotiated with them and my passport was directly transferred to the immigration office. I expect to recuperate it this morning.

The 2 other auditors are arriving at the end of the morning today. I am at the office, but we cannot begin the audit without them, as one is the head of mission.

So my colleague and I are just at the office and spending time getting ready for the audit, which is good since we're both newbies. I have Docs to read and emails to write, so it's actually convenient. We are getting along well, which returns the thing a strong sympathetic nerve.

My hotel is very correct. There is indeed a kitchenette in the room, which does have air conditioner. Besides, it’s actually roomy. Over the last night, we had 4 power failures. When electricity returns, the AC doesn’t restart by itself, so eventually, one is woken up by heat and humidity. The climate is rather oppressive.



Guineans are very nice. The office is large, a little empty, and especially impeccable. Every office is air-conditioned. Conakry, for the little that I saw some for the moment, seems to me very poor, much less developed that Dakar, and especially, awfully wet. I would hesitate to leave fruits on a kitchen counter in such humidity. The vegetation is of a superb green, and abounds everywhere, on the wall, the trees. All is green! What a change from Sahel!

The Beaver


My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!
Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !

6 comments:

Tina said...

Yay, Beaver made it safely. Good luck with everything and enjoy yourself. Don't forget about the little people while you're busy being a big-wig auditor!!

cityangelz said...

yay!! finally you are kinda settled. Haha.. Hopfully everything goes well for you okiez?? And its really great that you are getting along with your colleague.

cheers
siti

Salt Water said...

Hey Beav, thanks for everything. A big mistake has happened in the posting of my blog address in our newspaper. It puts one on my edit page and gives complete control of it to anyone. Please know this is the last reliable comment from me. I did not know such a thing was possible. A simple dash was added to the proper address and up comes not the blog but edit options for it. Thanks for your friendship Oh Great Big Sister of the Web.

Salt Water said...

False alarm. I seem to be the only one being redirected. What a panic to think others can edit any thing or write any thing on my blog. Our DA convicted a blogger 2 days ago for calling on others to shoot our police chief. Letting others write on your site can be risky. The story was in the printed copy of www.triplicate.com 9-28-05. Thanks and congrats.

Anonymous said...

Hi Marie!
Nice to read your adventures in Conakry!!!
You know what? Some weeks ago I had the visit of a Guinean entrepreneur who wnated to "sell me the idea" that Conakry was the perfect place to invest, and he even invited me to a romantic weekend,(ha, ha!)
I'm back in Spain and find everything a bit "weird" like taking the subway, having a nice walk without being called "madame Dakar", and above all seeing "pale" people!!!
Bonne journée!

Linda Jones Malonson said...

Good .. you are there! What a beginning. Don't forget to try and enjoy yourself while you are trying to save everyone butts!