Destination Guinea - Part 5

Part 5: Left Is NOT Right!

After a good night’s sleep on a stomach satisfied by a nearby Chinese restaurant, the Imperial Palace, I waited a half-hour the next morning in the hotel lobby before I heard the familiar Quist Everil! Quist Everil! Masamba, the briefcase-bearing, smiling USAID Project manager, saw my upraised hand and headed my way, followed by Ekwueme who was laden with a box of papers. Masamba, a veritable doppelgänger of an NFL linebacker, was about 30 years old with a round face unlined by worry or care. He wore the customary long-sleeved shirt (albeit flowered!) and khaki trousers, which ended about six inches above his ankles.           

We headed to a small meeting room next to the money exchange office. I learned that Masamba’s English fluency came from an eight-year stint in the U.S. (first as a university exchange student in agronomy and then as an employee of the Department of Agriculture in Atlanta). Alas, my efforts to recruit him for the Packers were in vain, for he was a devoted Falcons fan. I learned that I’d be working for the next two weeks out of the USAID office in the Dabola City region near the center of Guinea.

Masamba handed me my reservation confirmation for Dabola’s Tinkisso Hotel and briefly outlined various Guinean customs: how to greet strangers, when to present gifts to host families, and how to join in communal eating. In no uncertain terms, Masamba warned me about making eye contact with Guinea’s Muslim women unless they were family or friends; he also cautioned me about taking photos of people in rural villages, who distrust strangers and are likely to snatch their cameras.

My cultural refresher continued with a reminder that no alcohol or pork would be available, except possibly in hotels, in this predominantly Muslim nation. Most particularly, however, Masamba drilled into me a cardinal rule of life in Guinea: LEFT IS NEVER RIGHT! Never should I eat food or touch anyone with my left hand. Never, ever!

We ended at 11:30 and, since we had a noon appointment at the U.S. Embassy, Masamba suggested a quick Coca Cola on the patio before we left. It was half-past noon before we left for the Embassy. No one was concerned about our tardiness. Noon, twelve-thirty.... Close enough according to “Africa Time.” Guess I can leave my beloved watch, guaranteed to be accurate within one-hundredth of a second for the next hundred years, in my suitcase!

 

by Everil Quist, International Agri-business Consultant

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 Everil Quist on location

Everil Quist - President & CEO of QuistSpeaks, LLC

"Enjoy this story about the noble peoples of third world countries.  I've truly enjoyed working with them and have many heartwarming and entertaining stories to tell. 

I enjoy sharing my adventures with my audiences, where I feel I am truly 'Creating Positive Change'."


“Everil Quist delivers with knowledge, humor and compassion.  His trials and tribulations during his stints in Former Soviet Union countries impart the difficulties and perseverance these dynamic people have to overcome—difficulties we seldom experience here in America.”

-Virginia Dessart, N2 Area Governor, District 35, Toastmasters International