Dear Mom & Dad;
Greetings from Guinea, the pearl of West Africa. Pardon me for using the blue pen as I know black is easier to read on this grid paper, but it is the only one I have with me and I want to get this letter off with someone who is leaving for Conakry today. In fact if I have to break off abruptly, it is because they have come for my letter. Last week was the Feast of Tabaski, and a great number of people who claim Maci as their ancestral home but who live elsewhere came back to visit their families and pass the holiday together. This to be followed by a big meeting on Friday to discuss the development priorities of the sub-prefecture and try to make some positive decisions. In order that Allah should smile upon the development of Maci, they spent the entire day and night leading up to the meeting in holding special prayers and ceremonies in all the major mosques and, notably, in performing several large sacrificial feasts for which countless goats, sheep and cows were slaughtered. The platters of food prepared numbered in the hundreds, maybe the thousands. It all culminated in a night spent reading the entire Koran out loud in the main mosque in Maci. It was attended by hundreds of people. In all, it was a very impressive example of public mobilization.
I was invited to participate in the big meeting the next day, but Iknew it would be held entirely in Pulaar (no matter what they might tell me in advance) and I wouldn't be able to follow except in the most general way.
Well -- my friends are here and they are in a hurry. I'll try to write another letter tomorrow and finish the story. Know anyway that I am well, things are going well, and if I am writing less often lately it is because I am more busy than ever. So long; I'll write again right away.