Allo. . . .

This is a new word heard all over our village.  In fact, I am told by friends, who heard it on the radio (so we know it MUST be true) that “Allo” is one word that is universally used by most people who have phones.  We never thought it would actually happen here – being able to talk on the phone in our little village.  People here LOVE it – they can call their families scattered all over the country!  It is a great way for them to stay connected.  It is SUPER weird to walk through the village and hear phones ringing and people answering.  AMAZING!  And we love it too.  We have been waiting for this day for over 8 years.

It is so great to be able to call our kids and other families and check on them.  It is great to be able to text and call to other international workers here in Guinea without having to call our teammates, Bruce and Dawn, on the radio and ask them to text or call OR drive the 12 miles to where we could get phone reception before and try from there.  Jim is in CKY this week, and for the first time since we have lived here, we don’t have to rely on Bruce and Dawn to pass messages on the radio for us (I am quite sure they are just as excited about that as we are!)  Yesterday when he was out shopping, I think he called me 10 times to clarify different things.  Every evening, we have been able to chat about our days and I was able to call and text him as they drove to find out how the trip was going.  As I said – an AMAZING blessing!

Having said that, there are still a few bugs in the system.  I am NOT complaining here – I promise.  But you do need to understand that it is not as simple as receiving and making phone calls in the house while you sit in a chair.  We can only get phone reception in a few spots in the house, and none of those spots have enough of a signal to make it possible to have a conversation.  So, our phone sits in a window on one side of the house where we get enough reception (most of the time) to receive messages and to hear the phone ringing.  There are a few other spots that sometimes, depending on the time of day, offer the same coverage.  However, the signal is not strong enough to talk, so, when the phone rings, you are required to dash outside to the front porch, where the signal is stronger.  Most of the time, the signal is lost during the short run through the house, so you have to call the person back again.

The front porch also has its draw backs:

1.       Occasionally, we close our door so we can rest or do some work – making ourselves unavailable to the village for an hour or so.  It is a little hard to reinforce that you are NOT available, when people see you sitting and chatting away on the phone.

2.       Also, anytime people pass you (there is a small path in front of our house), they say hi and you are required, by culture, to say hi back.  This can be very confusing to the person you are talking with on the phone.

3.       BATS – these nasty, rabies-infected vermin fly outside at night and so, as you sit there chatting in the dark, you can see, hear, and occasionally feel them (at least feel the breeze they create as they fly by).  I don’t like bats.  I know that they eat mosquitos and all of that, but I can’t stand them!  I am not a big fan of things flying at me in the night – especially ones that carry deadly diseases, but I digress.

So, yesterday, Jim called often.  I was thrilled to talk to him and was so glad to be able to get information and answer his questions.  But it required a lot of running in and out.  I should note here that I often just wear short or capris in the house, but those are not acceptable dress in the village.  So, if I go outside, I wrap a cloth around me, called a dugina, so that I am not seen outside by other in my “underwear”.  The problem is that we have 3 doors in our house, and I use my dugina whenever I go out.   I can never remember where I take it off and leave it, so while I am trying to answer the phone, I am also searching for my dugina so I am decent when I go outside.

Then last night I was slightly exasperated.  I missed a few phone calls from Jim because I had accidently turned the ring tone off in one of my dashes outside.  By the time I noticed this, I had already locked up and crawled in bed for the night – so I texted him to say - sorry I missed your calls.  Sleep well.   Then I put the phone on our headboard – one of the other spots we can get a signal.  A few minutes later, the phone rang – it was Jim.  I answered it, trying to lean over the headboard in the hopes that the reception would be good.  No luck.   

So I ran, in the dark, to the other end of the house (I couldn’t find my shoes and was a little concerned about going outside barefoot because of snakes and scorpions, but not overly worried.)  I decided to forego the dugina because it was pitch black outside – and was fumbling to unlock the door.  I finally got to the porch, watching the shadows of the bats flying all around and called Jim back – because, of course, I had lost the signal on the way.   “Oh, he said, I was just returning a call from your text.  Can’t talk now – I am Skyping with Hannah.”  Alrighty then!  I was a little frustrated.  I said -OK – I am going to bed – way back down the hall – behind a locked door – I will call you in the morning.

The other thing that looks like it will be a potential issue is that all of our friends here in the village are getting phones.  And they all want our number.  So that they can call.  Whenever they want.  They are enthralled with the phone and like to call up various people just to say hi for a minute – and then hang up.  If they call us for important reasons, that is not a problem.  But if I have to start dashing outside, just to have someone call to “shoot the breeze” who didn’t want to walk to my house, it will not be pretty.  

 Another issue that international colleagues of ours have is that people will call to talk to them, but hang up before they answer the phone.  That way, you have to call them back- and they don’t have to pay for the phone call.  We have not really given out our number yet, but decided to keep two phones – one for our friends in the village, and one for our families and missions community.  That way we will always know who is calling.  And we will NOT return phone calls that are hang ups!

So, like I said, I am NOT complaining, and we are THRILLED to have reception.  We will take it any way we can get it.  I will be thankful when I don’t have to run out the door to talk to someone, but I NEVER want to take phone reception for granted.  What an AMAZING blessing!