On the Shores of Bambadinca

After my weekend trip with my friend Di, I became convinced that “Adrianne” must mean “adventure” in some other language.  It seems like I can’t go anywhere without some kind of excitement following me.  Please excuse the sea of words as I relay to you the story of my trip to Bambadinca (Bahm-bah-DIHN-kah).

Two weekends ago, I went to Bambadinca with Di (Bambadinca is a fishing town about a five hour drive east of where we live).  I had an incredible time and learned a lot first-hand about Guinensi hospitality.  

While we were there, we stayed at Di's friend's house.  Upon arrival, Sonsinha (Sohn-ZEEN-yah), Di's friend, presented us each with a tie-dye dress that she had bought.  She ended up killing two chickens for us also over the weekend.

You know, I used to not be a huge fan of tie-dye, but it's really popular here, and the style has grown on me.  On of my favorite things about this dress is that it has pockets!  Di and I like to wear our coordinating dresses on the same day.

There are too many details to write of my adventures in this post, but it included narrow, pot-holey rods with ravines on either side, walking to a deep bush village through some cashew orchards and over a rice field, a funeral, and breakfasts of goat meat and mayonnaise.  If the trip to Bambadinca was interesting, the travels home were even more so!  I traveled home by myself (which is not an uncommon thing for me to do - it's very safe here).  Unfortunately, my phone had run out of charge because we had used it as a flashlight the night before.  Di had been sick the entire night, which was one of the reasons why she didn't come back with me.  I said goodbye to my new friends in Bambadinca and left with peanuts, sweet potatoes, and a new tie-dyed dress in hand.

Di and Sonsinha as we trek over the rice fields and through the cashew orchards to get to a bush village where Sonsinha's twin sister lives.

When I got to a town called Safim (near Bissau, about halfway home), it was 6:30ish in the evening... I was trying to get a public transport car back going towards home, but the ones that were passing were full.  I had made conversation with a woman waiting next to me who was traveling the same way.  We decided that since the full cars were coming from Bissau, we would go to Bissau to try and get a car.  We got to the car garage in Bissau only to find out that all the cars that would pass our villages had left already... What to do?

We waited at the entrance of the garage and literally flagged down like every single car that passed us on the road... whether it was a big dump truck or a personal vehicle... We flagged it down (Getting public transport here is kind of like flagging down a taxi in a big city).  It finally got dark and we didn't have a way back.  This woman (Emilia was her name) asked if I had a place to stay.  I racked my brain.  We have missionary friends in Bissau, but I've never been to their house... Augustu (see previous blog posts to learn who Augustu is) also has family who live in Bissau that I know quite well, but I didn't know where their house was either (don't forget that my phone didn't have charge... I couldn't call anyone).  I only had enough money for transport home (youth hostels were therefore not an option), and all the banks were closed at that hour. I did NOT want to stay with this woman!  I didn't know here from Eve!  It seemed as though I didn't have a choice.  

I told her I'd go with her and from then on, I was her guest!  She paid for everything for me... transport from the garage to her house, etc.  She said that once we got to her family's place, she would charge my phone, and I could use her brother's phone to call Andrew to let him know of my whereabouts. She led me down a very very dark alley to a part of Bissau I didn't know, and the only people at "her house" were men.  She set up the bed in the common area of her brother's house (her brother wasn't there when we got there, by the way).

Talk about being nervous!  She said we would get up early the next day and travel back together.  The brother eventually came back really late, and I made a short call to Andrew to tell him where I was.   I didn't know whether or not to sleep or what I should do.   Was I going to get robbed or was I safe?  Sleep eventually took over, and I woke up early the next morning.  It took a little while for Emilia to wake up and I wondered what I should do in the mean time (I am an early riser).  Because we had arrived so late the night before, they hadn't shown me the bathroom, and the door was locked, so I couldn't leave to look for breakfast.  Eventually she woke up, we took showers, and she sent one of the guys at the house to go look for bread and butter for us. She made me lemonade, and we set off.  

We got to the garage again just as a full transport car to Sao Domingo was pulling away, which would have taken us where we each needed to go without any stops.  Emilia got on a car to Ingore with me (which meant that we would have to make a stop in Ingore before heading home) and we made our way toward Catel.   As we were leaving Ingore, I thanked her for her hospitality and she said something to the effect that it was no problem, she'd make sure to return the visit.... She wanted to meet my husband.  I had let her think the night before that Andrew, my teammate, was my husband.  It seemed safer at the time, in a house full of just guys that I didn’t know to let her think that I was a married and not a single woman traveling all alone. Oh man! Well, if she does actually make it here to Catel, I'll be sure to set the record straight that I am NOT married.

Poor Di learned of my travel excitement the night that she got back and was so distraught by it that she couldn't eat supper and couldn't sleep (she was supposed to have accompanied me back, and if she had, I wouldn't have slept in the house of someone I didn't know).  She came to see me first thing the next morning and apologized profusely for leaving me go by myself.  I assured her that I was okay and that nothing had happened. :)  

Dear Sonsinha had sent Di back with two chickens... one for me and one for Di.  Here is my new chicken, Irene (named after Irene Adler from Sherlock Holmes)... She has quite the spirit!  

I arrived at our house with chicken in hand, and the boys immediately asked me when we were going to eat it.  I informed them that the day we eat my chicken is the day that we will also eat their cat.  Problem solved.

I will never forget the incredible hospitality I was shown this weekend in Bambadinca!  

Me with my new friend Sonsinha, and Di (along with some of the many children that flocked to the camera).