When I started writing this post a few days ago, Guinea's much-delayed legislative elections were scheduled to happen tomorrow, and the BBC had just posted
an election overview in a Q-&-A format. As of this morning, the elections have
been postponed until September 28th and the BBC article, while still informative, is already a little out of date. (Thank you, BBC, for knowing that Guinea exists.)
So far, election-related activities haven't really disrupted my day-to-day life here in Kankan. I went to the market yesterday morning and there were banners and streamers hanging here and there, but it was pretty much just business as usual. On days when there are rallies or campaign events I don't need to go downtown, since my place, the offices, and decently-stocked boutiques are all just down the street from each other. Very convenient.
There have been some problems in far-away Conakry, but the only upsetting election-related thing I've personally witnessed is that some people express support at political rallies by piling onto cars and motos and careening around, occasionally crashing and getting hurt and just generally disrupting traffic. I've seen three moto accidents so far - all minor, all from a distance - but I've also been avoiding all the main roads and round-points as much as possible.
Basically, picture this car, with this many people on it, swerving madly down main street, everyone yelling and clinging and one - sometimes two - wheels coming off the ground. It's a terrible idea, and, as one of my Guinean co-workers put it, "The candidates don't care if they get hurt! It's pointless, they'll fall and die and it won't change anything, the politicians will never even know. (Disapproving sound.)" It's dismaying, but I suppose it's not like Guinea is the only place on the planet where people express discontent and/or enthusiasm through reckless behavior.
In any case, one of the best things about Guinea is that people here are generally really nice to foreigners, and campaign season hasn't changed that. (Upon arriving at the market the other day, I realized that not only had I forgotten my bike lock, but I also had no idea where to buy flour in bulk, and, after watching me stand there awkwardly for a minute, a couple vendor ladies greeted me, asked me what I was looking for, offered to watch my bike, and pointed me toward the flour vendors. Very nice.) Peace Corps has instituted travel restrictions and daily communication checks, but they're not worried that PCVs will be the target of political violence, more that some hapless PCV could be caught in the path of an unruly protest (or a speeding moto) and get injured. For the time being, we're just being told to stay at our sites, go about our business, keep our phones on, and avoid rallies and other large gatherings of people, which is pretty much what we'd be doing anyway.
