Destination Guinea - Part 4
Part 4: Bucks, Brits, and Booze
At the elevator, I met Imamu the bellhop and bid farewell to
Ekwueme, who promised to return the next morning to drive me to my
briefing with Masamba, the USAID representative. Room 5666 turned
out to be A-okay! Imamu demonstrated how to operate everything from
light switches to bathroom faucets before taking a proud stance near
the door. Universal body
language, I thought as I slipped 130 G-francs ($10) into
his outstretched palm.
Alone at last! Although I was bone tired, I couldn’t help but admire
the magnificent view of
Strolling past several turbaned businessmen in the lobby, I walked
onto the patio and past a wading pool containing a mother and two
toddlers. Nearby, their husband/father grinned at them as he talked
on a cell phone. The man waved and nodded at me while the woman
explained that she and her family were on holiday from England to
visit her father, a British Foreign Service official, and her
hospital pediatrician mother. That night, she explained, they were
to dine with the British Ambassador.
Not quite the Friday fish fry I’m
used to, I chuckled to myself.
I bid the Brits goodbye and made my way to a large, three-sided
cocktail bar overlooking the bay. Watching two fishermen pull their
boat onto the sand and begin to carry their catch to the kitchen
behind the bar, I noticed that most tables were already filled.
Taking a seat at the bar, I learned the bartender was Chiumbo.
Learning my name was Everil
Quist, Chiumbo leaned forward and asked softly if I were
American, before confiding that the double martini was the drink of
the day and all
Americans’ favorite. Might as
well have my first martini in
Good but no Heineken,
I thought as I sipped. Chiumbo slid forward the tab. I signed
Quist Everil before I
registered the amount: 150 G-FRANCS ($12 US).
My first and last American special
here! I mused. Chiumbo handed me a stack of music CDs; I
chose a Loretta Lynn disc and soon “I Never Promised You a Rose
Garden” pervaded the air. After a few moments, I noticed annoyed
stares coming from some of the businessmen so I thought I’d best get
to the business of dinner.
by Everil Quist, International Agri-business Consultant
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Everil Quist - President & CEO of QuistSpeaks, LLC
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