Egg-cellent

Conakry, the mecca of all food that is good in Guinea. Good is a standard that requires definition. Admittedly, my tastes have been altered since leaving the US. Loosely defined, good food for me is something that has not been hit for hours with a wooden stick until it has the consistency of Elmers glue. With all that siad, I find myself wondering why I am standing in front of a market landy in Conakry asking for eggs. Eggs, something widely available in my village which often goes unappreciated by me. Why did I not choose to get ice cream, Chinese food, pizza, fresh fish from the ocean and the list could go on and on. All of these choices unique to Conakry and a must for every capital visit.

I rationalize that I am asking for hard boiled eggs and surely the women in Conakry have a secret receipe for making the best hard boiled egg in Country. I further comfort myself with the fact that this maket lady is Pul and I have not practiced my Pular in days. If I don’t ask for hard boiled eggs in Pular surely FI will forget how to say it when I get back to my village wich would be complely and utterly embarrasking. Moreover, I don’t need a bag so I am saving the environment. I quickly congratulate myself on al of these acomplishments as I stuff the hard boiled eggs in my pockey and use my steller Pular to buy fried sweet potatos.

Sitting on the porch at the Conakry house I am relishing my sweet potatos and praising myself for my good deeds and commitment to learning the local language of my region when I feel something a little damp slide down my leg. Thinking to myself, I don’t remember feeling sick and we have all surely learned our lesson about letting those little one squeek out. I roll up my pant leg for further investigation. It appears I have been slimed like the Ghost Busters. I realize that my good deeds are coming back to haunt me. Yes, maybe my Pular skills are not as superb as I originally estimated and the secret receipe for hard boiled eggs does not in fact require the women to put them in boiling water at all.