It doesn't matter

The title of this blog is what I quickly became known for in the village for saying. However, i usually say it in Krio which sounds like,"ee no matter" Literally translated, "it doesn't matter." So, when they say, "Nepor, it's raining, get out of the rain!" or "the black flies are biting you." or "the rice is cold", they make fun of me for using this as a response and joke that everything is always fine with me. True.

Now i'm in Freetown, I went ahead and posted the huge update from the last month at site. sorry it was so long, but no internet access! So, this one is new and a little more recent. I am now in Freetown for a few days because of my little rat friends. I am now the only PCV that does not have a house and when the rats started to chew through a desk to get to food, I decided to take action. Me and my friend and Ramatu and my principal placed a garbage can by the wall with bait in it so the rats would crawl into it and not be able to crawl out. So, when I woke up in the morning, I captured 5 of my furry friends. Long story short, I got bit by a rat and now I'm in Freetown for precautionary rabies shots. This means that my classes are covered for the week and I am staying with the medical doctor watching satellite TV, posting blog updates, roaming and shopping in Freetown, eating American food, and sleeping in A/C. It's not so bad. haha. So, that is where I currently stand and I will use the rest of this update to tell a few stories from myself and friends:

Bryan Meeker - Gbendambu - So I talked to Bryan shortly after going to village and was told about how a rooster woke him up every morning. He approached his neighbor about it and his neighbor offered to kill it. So, that night, because the rooster was driving Bryan nuts, his neighbor killed it and they feasted on it.

Jessie Logerfo - Panlap - So Jessie and I often call to share funny stories and this one in particular I asked her if I could share because it's definitely a first. She thought she was being peed on one day by a little boy but when she turned around, she realized that there was an infant being breastfed and the mother was holding this child at just the right angle to spray breast milk all over Jessie. bahahaha. In africa, lots of women bare the boobs and it's no big deal. You can be sitting in church or a meeting or on public transport and boobs start flying and babies start sucking. This has become an everyday normal thing for us here and I thought it was funny enough that she was being peed on until she finished the story. Classic Africa.

Alli Sinning and Meghan Welsh - Moyamba - Please see Alli Sinnings link on my blog for her remarkable story of the "Walkabout". I actually heard of this story in my village where my neighbor asked if I had heard that my friends were asked to pay a ridiculous amount for a taxi. Evidently, after the walkabout, her village broadcasted the ridiculousness on the radio where my neighbor heard it. Simply stunning and amazingly inspiring. This is usually how rough/heated/frustrating situations turn out in this country. As an amazing, unforgettable experience.


On my second day in school, after witnessing a student of mine doing homework that I gave on the first day, I realized that the students did not understand a word of my English and that's why they didn't talk to me. So, on the second day, I decided to make things a little more laid back in class. I talked as slow as possible and had an experimental math competition. I seperated girls and boys. There were 11 girls and about 22 boys and I explained the rules. One enthusiastic little boy in the front obviously understood the rules of the competition, so I asked him to stand up and explain to the class in Mende what the rules for this game were. After that, the attitude of class completely changed and I told them I thought the girls could win. All the boys had a fit and laughed hysterically right before the outnumbered girls beat the brakes off of them. It was glorious!

This past Saturday was one of the best yet. I have evidently hit the lottery for small African villages that have the most village dances. This includes setting up a huge stereo set and dancing til 3 or 4 in the morning. So, last Friday, we had a jam for no particular occasion and Dia came to participate. We danced all night and then on Saturday, we sat around and ate/shared American candy and walked around my village to check it out. We crossed the amazingly beautiful railroad bridge and were showered with bananas from strangers. Typical in Africa. So, after Dia left and I dropped her at the junction, I sat around learning some Mende with some locals and accepting more gifts. My final total for the day came out to be 20 bananas, 5 oranges, 2 guavas, and 1 papaya. It was a great day keeping time with wonderful people who are more than willing to answer any questions that I may have about culture or language. I realized that this was my job. I was not supposed to be anywhere on this day doing anything other than walking around a West African village eating fruit and stopping to talk to everyone that talks to me. How cool is that? Why can't I make a career out of this?

One man in particular is our town cheif, Mr. Emmanuel. he's a little old man with white hair and a deep voice and huge glasses from the 80s. His clothing style is super smooth and his English is impeccable. I half expect him to whip out a saxophone and start playing the blues. Anyhow, he sits around and tells me about the good ole days and how he used to work for the steam engine and how the youth and educational system today differ from 50 years ago when he finished school. He is absolutely fascinating and has a room built on his veranda specifically for when strangers come to visit. It's his stranger room and he was the first to explain to me that the Mende tribe loves strangers and most people have this type of room on their veranda.