All dressed up with nowhere to go!
I can’t remember if I wrote about my student getting married or not, but here goes…
One of my favorite students, Aissatou, a girl from Cote d’Ivoire who got to Guinea a couple years ago, has been engaged the whole time I’ve known her. She always writes cute things on her homework, like, “Thierno and I went to the river this weekend. Then we danced at the nightclub. We have a very happy life here.” It’s kind of unusual to find someone who’s so excited about their fiancé here, so I was really happy to read it.
About 10 days before my last trip to Conakry she invited me to the wedding. This was on a Tuesday and she said the wedding was Friday. I confirmed, in French, “Do you mean it’s in 3 days?” She said yes, and that she would send a kid to come and pick me up to show me where it would take place. I borrowed an outfit from my friend (see accompanying picture) and made sure I was ready by noon, I wasn’t sure what time the kid was coming. I even put on some make-up! It was my first Guinean wedding and I was really excited! I’ve been to funerals and baptisms, but no weddings. Anyway, at about 2pm I thought, “Oh, no, they forgot about me!” but I really, really didn’t want to miss it so even though it made me uncomfortable to walk around town trying to find this wedding alone, I left my house in the heat of the day and started walking towards the neighborhood she lives in.
On the way I asked people where her wedding was, but no one seemed to know. I got tons of compliments on my outfit, though. Since I pretty much never wear Guinean clothes my parade through town caused quite a stir – lots of clapping and “eh, Porto, ca c’est bien, ca!” (rough translation: hey, white lady, that’s good, that!) Once I got to her neighborhood (way the hell on the other side of town, it was so hot out!!) I finally found a woman who only spoke Pulaar but knew her. With me speaking French and her speaking Pulaar, I discovered that the wedding was taking place the FOLLOWING Friday. I felt like a moron. A sweaty moron. But I’d put on a nice Guinean outfit, so I took some pictures with my host family anyway. The street you can see behind us leads to my school, and my old house is right next to where we are standing even though you can’t see it.
Monday I asked her what happened. She said, “Oh, Mrs., you didn’t understand, I told you it was next Friday, not last Friday.” Here’s the annoying thing. I didn’t want to be a bitch because she was about to get married and all, but I know for sure that she told me it was that first Friday. Then she almost cried when I told her I wouldn’t be able to come because I was meeting Camilo in Conakry. She told me that they had wanted me to assist – be the Guinean equivalent of a bridesmaid. Well, that would have been nice. But after she didn’t tell me the truth and then wouldn’t admit to it, I certainly wasn’t about to change my plans.
The bottom line is that I got all dressed up and had nowhere to go, and that I still need to go to a wedding here!
One of my favorite students, Aissatou, a girl from Cote d’Ivoire who got to Guinea a couple years ago, has been engaged the whole time I’ve known her. She always writes cute things on her homework, like, “Thierno and I went to the river this weekend. Then we danced at the nightclub. We have a very happy life here.” It’s kind of unusual to find someone who’s so excited about their fiancé here, so I was really happy to read it.
About 10 days before my last trip to Conakry she invited me to the wedding. This was on a Tuesday and she said the wedding was Friday. I confirmed, in French, “Do you mean it’s in 3 days?” She said yes, and that she would send a kid to come and pick me up to show me where it would take place. I borrowed an outfit from my friend (see accompanying picture) and made sure I was ready by noon, I wasn’t sure what time the kid was coming. I even put on some make-up! It was my first Guinean wedding and I was really excited! I’ve been to funerals and baptisms, but no weddings. Anyway, at about 2pm I thought, “Oh, no, they forgot about me!” but I really, really didn’t want to miss it so even though it made me uncomfortable to walk around town trying to find this wedding alone, I left my house in the heat of the day and started walking towards the neighborhood she lives in.
On the way I asked people where her wedding was, but no one seemed to know. I got tons of compliments on my outfit, though. Since I pretty much never wear Guinean clothes my parade through town caused quite a stir – lots of clapping and “eh, Porto, ca c’est bien, ca!” (rough translation: hey, white lady, that’s good, that!) Once I got to her neighborhood (way the hell on the other side of town, it was so hot out!!) I finally found a woman who only spoke Pulaar but knew her. With me speaking French and her speaking Pulaar, I discovered that the wedding was taking place the FOLLOWING Friday. I felt like a moron. A sweaty moron. But I’d put on a nice Guinean outfit, so I took some pictures with my host family anyway. The street you can see behind us leads to my school, and my old house is right next to where we are standing even though you can’t see it.
Monday I asked her what happened. She said, “Oh, Mrs., you didn’t understand, I told you it was next Friday, not last Friday.” Here’s the annoying thing. I didn’t want to be a bitch because she was about to get married and all, but I know for sure that she told me it was that first Friday. Then she almost cried when I told her I wouldn’t be able to come because I was meeting Camilo in Conakry. She told me that they had wanted me to assist – be the Guinean equivalent of a bridesmaid. Well, that would have been nice. But after she didn’t tell me the truth and then wouldn’t admit to it, I certainly wasn’t about to change my plans.
The bottom line is that I got all dressed up and had nowhere to go, and that I still need to go to a wedding here!
posted by Jen @ 1:10 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
hi, I was looking through peace corps volunteers blogs and I came across your "timeline" post. I just received my invite today, and I was wondering what your experience was when you turned down your first invite. What was the reaction of peace corps staff, and what reasons did you give? I want to bring this issue up with my recruiter, but I don't know if it's even an option or would be looked down upon. Any advice?
Thanks,
Josh
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