Characters: The Neighbor Teacher Lady

Madame, as she's generally called, is incredible. I have no idea what her age is, but she's feisty and intelligent and a superwoman. She teaches at a Franco-Arabe private school, where her husband also works. They have an 18 month old girl who's my favorite kid on the compound. Of course, the little girl used to be so afraid of me she'd cry every time she saw me. Now she knows that I'm a Tanti and thus not totally terrifying. Madame also has a nine year old from a previous marriage. Her parents were a doctor and a nurse, and she really wanted to go to college, but she just didn't pass the concours, so she went to a teaching school instead, where she met her current husband. Her ex-husband, she tells me, was a jealous, controlling man, who most importantly, didn't love her. This is a pretty incredible idea considering that love in marriage is definitely not the main consideration for most people here. She left him because he didn't treat her right, and now she's married to a man that she didn't love at first, but who clearly respects and loves her, and who she now loves back. It's really refreshing to watch them sitting on their porch in the evenings, passing the baby back and forth and talking about their days.

When I first arrived at the compound, she handed me a nice local broom and said "On est ensemble ici" which translates to "We're in this together". She's made me meals, she's given me advice, she's braided my hair, she's sat and laughed at my stories, and when I cried so hard that my family couldn't help but hear, she came in my house, hugged me, and told me to stop crying or she'd cry too. She's essentially my sister here, and I respect her so much. She's not a part of the family in the compound, so she's a stranger too, and sometimes they aren't so welcoming. Because I moved in, her family had to move into a larger apartment, and due to the cost, they have to board with other women as well, who are noisy and crass, she tells me. So she made sacrifices for me before she even knew me. She told me it was because she heard I was a teacher and she knew that I would be a good neighbor. She's one of the most beautiful Guineans I've ever met in the way that she treats people, in the way she laughs, and in the way she has welcomed me to my new home.