Negotiation

In Guinea, as in much of West Africa, things are negotiable.
There are no fixed prices, for example, and one is expected to haggle. Custom, ritual, and relationships are just a few of the layers factored in sub-consciously. If you know someone well, you will get a better price. Well, why not? If someone is rich, they pay more. Makes good sense to me!

A satisfying negotiation is one in which both parties feel that they made some accomodations, but that they got the better side of the deal.

Money is fluid, and, like time, has a very different quality in Guinea.

One of my favourite anecdotes is from medical anthropologist Katherine Dettwlyer, collecting data about eating habits:

"How often do you eat meat?"
"Whenever someone kills a goat."
"How often does someone kill a goat?"
"Whenever they need the money."
"huh?"
"When someone needs money, they kill a goat and sell the meat to their neighbours. Each family buys a small amount, and when the meat is all sold, the person has the money he needs, and the rest of us have meat to eat."

...like a bank account on hooves...

(Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa, K. Dettwyler)

...back to Guinea

Ok, so I've diverged from my original travel journal mandate (big surprise! but I digress ; )

Before you travel to Guinea with me, figuratively or literally, you need to know some basic Susu (Sussu) greetings. Its one of the ways Guinean folks know we are culturally sensitive ~ learners, not just takers.
And simply because greetings are an indispensable part of daily life in Guinea. They are an important sign of respect and politeness.

"Inuwali" - thank you; also general greeting (as in 'hi')

"Arabaradi?" - what's up?
"Amoura bara kioki" - not much

"Tana mouri"? - basically Good Morning, but as in 'did the night pass without trouble?'
"Tana yo mouri" - no trouble

"Awa" - ok
"Eyo" - yes
"Adeh" - no
"Wo o" - bye

Best meal: "kansi bore" ~ rice and peanut sauce Mmmmmm

Celebration

To celebrate the beauty, variety, and transformative capacity that is Guinea...

So much media coverage of Africa, or for that matter "information" from governments and non-profits alike, is of death, chaos, destruction. These exist ~ don't get me wrong: I'm not rose-colouring things. But Africa has accomplished what many other groups that have felt the grip of European colonisation have not: they survived! Unlike the Incas & the Aztecs in the Americas, for example,
they survived " with a great deal of their culture, however bruised and battered, intact." (Maier, Karl. Into the House of the Ancestors)

Travelling to Guinea is transformative. Venture forth, and never come back quite the same: inspired, saddened, enriched.
Through this, we come to understand both our commonality and uniqueness.

The moment this happens, we are no longer limited by the confines of thinking. Wherever they were set, the original boundaries of thought are challenged.

This exanding sense of "other" changes who we are, and perhaps more importantly, who we imagine we can be.