again, i have no shift on the left side on this computer so bear with me please....
First and foremost, i need to give a shout out to Marty Dertz's mom. She used her precious time while writing him a letter to complement my blog and how helpful it's been. i'm so glad it's benefiting someone other than my own family and marty is definitely one of my favorite dude's here. hands down.
i visited my village for the past 4 days and it was quite an experience. i left on saturday morning in a private vehicle. my principal's nephew, Joe, lived in america for 26 yrs and has his own business in bo and vehicle that he drove us to Bo in. so, we get to Mano Dasse and go to visit the school where i will be teaching. it is literally out in the middle of the bush. it's a quaint little school though and on my walk home, there is a point on a hill where i can see my whole village and the river. it's incredible. so after visiting the school, we headed to visit one of joe's friends that lives right next to the school. she is an older white woman by the name of Simon. She's from Switzerland and married a man from Mano and lives out in the bush and does agriculture work. She's lived there for 4 yrs and speaks perfect Mende and Krio, so i'm certain that i have a lot to learn from her. After that, we went to visit my house. It's a cute little house with 2 rooms. each maybe 10' x 20'. i also have an outdoor kitchen, bathroom and bath house. There are 2 papaya trees, 1 lime tree, and 1 plum tree in my yard. woo hoo! so, after this, we went back to where i was staying and i ate and took a nap. i am about 30 yards behind the police station with great neighbors.
during my stay, i was staying with the Paramount chief. For those that don't know, this is a huge deal. There are 129 villages in her chiefdom. i'll explain that later. So, i woke up from a nap and we walked down to the junction in town and sat under the amazingly bright moon and stars and drank a beer or two. By we, i mean my principal and i. it's pretty difficult to describe just how amazing the stars and moon are in a place with no electricity. i've never seen anything quite like it. my first night here, while sleeping, i woke up and almost had a heart attack because something living fell out of a hole in the ceiling, bounced off of my bug net, and ran across the floor. still don't know what it was. holy crap.
so sunday i woke up and went to the catholic church with my principal. he's pretty much my community mentor and conveniently, he was also a Mende teacher for many many years and he speaks excellent english so he is able to teach me about the phonetics of the mende language. so, we went to church and walked around town so that i could learn my way around. i also met more people such as the town chief, town speaker, court clerk, etc. My principal (mr. simbo) is also a section chief. the heirarchy is paramount chief, section chiefs, town/village chiefs. the town chief for Mano is the raddest dude ever. He's super old with huge glasses like mom used to wear in the 80's and white hair. i pretty much expect him to whip out a saxophone and start playing blues. he also explained that he has an extra room in his house that nobody stays in just in case strangers happen to need a place because the mende people like strangers so much. This, i can vouch for, is very very true. so, we went home and again, i took a nap. i'm afraid maybe the people think i'm lazy or seclusive because i took a nap every day i was there, but it's exhausting meeting 700 people a day, having them speak a language you don't know to you, and being stared at constantly. and they all expect you to learn the language immediately which can be frustrating. but uplifting when they are surprised at what you do already know. it's amazing that everyone knows 3 languages and doesn't think twice about it. too bad america doesn't do that. The african's switch freely between languages so often, i will have a conversation in English, Krio, AND Mende before it's all said and done. it's insane.
So Sunday night, right at about dusk, the chief got home and that was an insane introduction. She is, by far, the most queen like, regal, dignified lady that i have ever met and when she talks, people shut up and listen. She had been at a workshop meeting with officials from Nigeria, Guinea, and Liberia on progress of her chiefdom and areas that they were trying to improve. While we were talking, someone came in and kneeled to greet her. whoa. craziness. She even has a chair that she sits in that says EIIR 1961 on it because it was a chair that was made for all of the paramount chiefs in honor of Queen Elizabeth coming to visit in 1961. So, appreciation is a hard thing to portray in this culture, and i made a lame attempt to express my appreciation for feeding me and letting me stay and having people wait on me hand and foot. i think i might have gotten it across this morning when i left, but that's a really hard thing to portray when you are treated like royalty. The gifts that i received while i was in Mano, just for being a stranger, totalled up to 35 bananas, 2 coconuts, 3 giant cucumbers, 1 avocado, and 1 hijacked pineapple. by hijacked i mean that we drove to a nearby village and there was some guy walking on the site of the road with a pineapple on his head. my princapal pulled over, said something in Mande, and the guy handed over the pineapple and disappeared into the bush. Mr. Simbo (principal) then explained that pineapples weren't in season and that he hijacked it and it was for me. Wait. Huh? Wasn't sure what to do with that one. so i took it. i mean, hey, who am i to be rude and turn down a hijacked pineapple.
So, after the chief arrived home, what used to be an empty house turned into a parlor full of people that come to talk to the chief or just generally sit in her presence. It's rather interesting to watch. I'm not quite sure how she does it though. i would imagine that it's exhausting to constantly talk to people that you know come to talk for a reason. i was exhausted just listening and i don't even know the language.
So monday, i woke up and got ready for a community meeting led by the paramount chief. i put on my Africana dress and went with Mr. Simbo and waited awhile for the town bell to be rang and the chief to show up. She arrived and held a meeting in which they spoke in Mende. Some about me which was translated on the spot and some about the local road rebuild project. The chief explained who i was and what i was doing there and the community asked questions like whether or not i would be willing to hold adult math classes outside of school for those who were interested and possibly other courses. They also asked about whether or not i would be staying in my house alone because they were concerned about my safety. I was completely touched by their sincerity and welcoming of strangers into their community. After the meeting, several people came to introduce themselves. The community health officer explained that he is interested in sciences such as chemistry and physics so after i told him i studied engineering, he was pretty pumped that i would be able to teach him past the education that he already has. Like others, he informed me that they realized that i was here to help the community and education was a problem area and if anybody tried to mess with me, that he would quit his hospital duties and come to stand outside my house as a personal bodyguard. haha. it's unreal how safe i feel there.
So, after introductions and holding the hands of a lot of curious little kids, the paramount chief suggested that we go visit my house. by the way, i've successfully dodged the pumuey comment by waiting for the kids to say pumuey and then flipping the scripts on them and calling them Mende muey. They aren't really sure what to do with that and all of the adults think it's hysterical. Anyway, upon seeing my house, she informed the mason that was present that we needed to do an extension ASAP b/c i needed an indoor toilet and kitchen so that i wouldn't have to leave my house at night. how do you even say thank you for this sort of thing? i'm befuddled.
so monday, we took the cheif's car and went to the teeny tiny villages surrounding our town. They are all very beautiful. Also, Monday night, whatever creature was mentioned from above about my first night scare returned, but this time, it made it inside my bug net. i've never moved quicker in my life than when i woke up to an unidentified varment inside my net and crawling on my head. i sprung to the foot of the bed frantically shining my light and saw/hearn nothing......sneaky little varment. i think because of my malaria medicine causing wild dreams that i imagined that it was a giant hairy spider. Spiders don't bother me, but they do when they catch me off guard. it sounded like a crab might sound on tile floor though and it totally freaked me out. but naturally, i got over it and went back to sleep.
This morning, i woke up and hopped on board a bush taxi which was an interesting experience. We left at 8 sharp and it took about 2.5 hrs. to go 38 miles bc of rough roads, stopping to cram more people in, and stopping to fix the taxi. At this point i was so burnt out and overwhelmed that when people spoke Mende to me, all i could really do was blink at them. i felt bad, but my brain is really on overload. The past 4 days have been crammed full of learning names of people that expect me to remember and also trying to learn the language i don't know that everyone speaks. Sheesh.
Until next time.... over and out.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Update on site and pics.
Found out today that I will be teaching in a little village in central southern Sierra Leone called Mano. It is in the Southern district and has a population of about 1,500 people. It is in the Moyamba district if anyone cares to google
After summer school, they drew a giant map of Sierra Leone and when they called out our sites, we went to stand on our stars so we could see which volunteers are around us. I am super stoked and I'm pretty much out in the middle of nowhere.
ALSO,I mailed a memory card home to mom with all of the pictures and videos I've taken so far, so maybe they'll be up sometime soon online. Sorry I can't post as they happen. Miss you all. Peace.
After summer school, they drew a giant map of Sierra Leone and when they called out our sites, we went to stand on our stars so we could see which volunteers are around us. I am super stoked and I'm pretty much out in the middle of nowhere.
ALSO,I mailed a memory card home to mom with all of the pictures and videos I've taken so far, so maybe they'll be up sometime soon online. Sorry I can't post as they happen. Miss you all. Peace.
average day and other tidbits.
Well, I've been here for a little over a month, and it's incredible how much i've learned. These past two weeks, we have been teaching summer school to Sierra Leone kids, so i'll give you a few of the specific cultural differences.
1. Kids here are incredibly respectful. When a teacher walks in the room, they stand and say good morning, Miss ________. They also raise their hands to answer a question and stand up in class to answer.
2. Their notebooks are their textbooks so anything the teacher writes on the board is meticulously copied. If we draw circles or triangles on the board, they will not draw them in their notebook unless they have a compass or straight edge.
3. Tests are written on the board because of lack of paper, copiers, etc. I had a few students who messed up and had to scribble out on their tests and therefore recopied the test to turn in because of their precision.
4. African kids are not used to the idea of mixing fun AND learning so it's really a task to engage them in classroom activities and show that we can use games, competitions, races, etc. to learn the material that we need to.
Those are the high points of the differences in schools. Now, for a typical day in the life of a peace corp trainee in Sierra Leone. Living in the village will be much different than training, but i can update that later. For now, here is a typical day
Wake up in the morning about 6:30 am. Warm water or pour hot water from a thermos to mix with cold water for a warm bucket bath. Then, go back to my room for some precious Ipod time while getting dressed. Then, head to the parlor to eat breakfast while I talk to my sista and mama. Breakfast is usually bread, 2 boiled eggs, mayonnaise (of course) and plantain (either boiled or fried). African's are still convinced that we can eat a lot.
After breakfast, bid farewells to the family and walk about 15 min. to the nearest junction where the PC vehicles cram us, 12 at a time, into a land cruiser to drive us to the school. During this walk, I greet every single person that we pass in either Krio or Mende. They still get pretty tickled when we get a phrase right and acknowledge that we are trying. We have 3 teachers per class and each teacher teaches 40 min. lessons. So, we have class from 8:30-10:30, have a 20 minute break, and then have class from 10:50-11:50. At 11:50, we pile back into the vehicles to go back to the training center where we eat lunch. It is either typical African food or what we call Fun Food Day. At the center, they are still making American food (as well as they can) for us twice a week, but they mix it up so that we never know what day it will be on.
After lunch, we usually have Language class for an hour and a half and then the rest of the day (until 5) is reserved for lesson planning for our next day's class. Sometimes we have a planned session on cross-cultural, teaching techniques, or other useful topics. Yesterday, we had a lesson on sensitization topics. Tuesday, in summer school, they will allow us to teach on any topic that we want, whether it be AIDS, sanitation, waste management, resource management, etc. I picked to teach on Malaria since it is so common here. Most of us have family members that either have it or have it at some point during our stay.
After our classes, we walk either to Graceland (the bar/store across the street where we drink a couple of beers and listen to American music). We don't head here every day to wind down, though. My family asks me every day if i am coming home quick after school and what they should cook for me. When I do head straight home after training, I usually get home about 5:30. I change clothes and either sit on the veranda with the group of kids that waits my return every day. Sometimes this visit will turn into an intense game of Stoneball (dodge ball) or a game with rocks called Ge-Ge (pronounced Gay-gay). They also often make me do flips in the yard, or a dance party is started where we clap and sing while each kid dances individually. Agnes is the funniest. She is teeny tiny but she can really work it.
Lately, I've been going home to eat and start grading papers while i talk to my family in as much krio as i can remember. I sit at the table and grade papers while the kids in my family study at the same table, everyone huddled around the same table. The past few nights, i brought out the sharpie markers that my dear American family sent me and passed out paper for the kids to color. Their faces are priceless. They will sit for 1.5-2 hrs coloring. I think it's a precious thing for them to be able to have control of their own creativity since they are so often doing chores and don't have the time or resources to do any sort of artwork. The chores are insane. My 9-10 yr old family members carry buckets of water on their head that have about 3 gallons of water on their head from the well. They can't lift the buckets on their own and someone has to put it on their head and then they carry it from the well to the house and usually make multiple trips. They are fascinated by my camera though so yesterday they saw me with it and paused long enough for me to catch a couple of pics. I also usually pass out a little something American at study time. Like gum or skittles. I'm rationing slowly during my stay and they are always appreciative.
After either working on summer school plans or playing with the kids, I usually mix a slightly warm bath since it's somewhat cool here, i don't want to get sick cuz it's no fun! So i head out to the back porch, usually with my older sister kenyeh either washing beside me or sitting and waiting on me to finish. Yep. we wash on the back porch under the African stars if they are out, or even under the clouds since it's rainy season. Let me say though that nakedness here is nothing like in America. Lots of people, at their houses, go topless and kids run around naked quite a bit. It's no big deal to breast feed in front of family members or complete strangers for that matter.
So, supper usually brings rice, rice, rice, and more rice, with some sort of sauce. Sauce is usually some sort of leaf cooked down into some sort of past with fish in it. Everything here has fish and fish bones in it. Even things without fish in it somehow have fish bones in it. Last weekend, I cooked couscous and stew. The stew had cooking oil, chicken, thyme, tomato paste, onions, pepper, salt, and maggi in it. Maggi is MSG and everyone here puts it in everything to enhance the taste. Other foods include all types of fruit. Pineapple, bananas, plantain, avocado, coconut, mango, etc. Also potatoes, yams, pasta, pumpkin, and casava (google it) it's a lot like a potato.
The best sauce I've had was pumpkin sauce. It's cooked down into a sauce over rice, of course, and with fish (see above). The good thing is that I didn't have to give up sweet tea. Lots of people drink tea here. They drink it hot and it took a battle with my family and the language barrier to make them understand that I don't drink it hot, but after witnessing it, they've finally accepted it. I drink warm tea on occasion, though. Oh! I also learned to eat rice with my hands. Sauce and everything. But it's rude to eat with the left hand. It gets kinda messy and gross with the rice and the sauce, but it's kind of fun. Everyone eats from the same bowl with their hands.
So, to conclude my day, I go to my room/bed about 9-9:30 where i usually spend an hour making a phone call once in awhile, writing in my journal-EVERY DAY, and reading a book. And then I start all over again the next day.
Summer school will be over on Tuesday and Wednesday we will meet with our village supervisors. I just found out that we find out today where our site locations are. YIPPEE! We are all super nervous. This also determines which local language we will be learning. It's a pretty big deal. So next week we meet with our principals/cheifs and then we will go visit our sites for 4 days and see our houses and schools where we will be for the next 2 years.
That's all I can think of at the moment. Until next time.......peace out.
1. Kids here are incredibly respectful. When a teacher walks in the room, they stand and say good morning, Miss ________. They also raise their hands to answer a question and stand up in class to answer.
2. Their notebooks are their textbooks so anything the teacher writes on the board is meticulously copied. If we draw circles or triangles on the board, they will not draw them in their notebook unless they have a compass or straight edge.
3. Tests are written on the board because of lack of paper, copiers, etc. I had a few students who messed up and had to scribble out on their tests and therefore recopied the test to turn in because of their precision.
4. African kids are not used to the idea of mixing fun AND learning so it's really a task to engage them in classroom activities and show that we can use games, competitions, races, etc. to learn the material that we need to.
Those are the high points of the differences in schools. Now, for a typical day in the life of a peace corp trainee in Sierra Leone. Living in the village will be much different than training, but i can update that later. For now, here is a typical day
Wake up in the morning about 6:30 am. Warm water or pour hot water from a thermos to mix with cold water for a warm bucket bath. Then, go back to my room for some precious Ipod time while getting dressed. Then, head to the parlor to eat breakfast while I talk to my sista and mama. Breakfast is usually bread, 2 boiled eggs, mayonnaise (of course) and plantain (either boiled or fried). African's are still convinced that we can eat a lot.
After breakfast, bid farewells to the family and walk about 15 min. to the nearest junction where the PC vehicles cram us, 12 at a time, into a land cruiser to drive us to the school. During this walk, I greet every single person that we pass in either Krio or Mende. They still get pretty tickled when we get a phrase right and acknowledge that we are trying. We have 3 teachers per class and each teacher teaches 40 min. lessons. So, we have class from 8:30-10:30, have a 20 minute break, and then have class from 10:50-11:50. At 11:50, we pile back into the vehicles to go back to the training center where we eat lunch. It is either typical African food or what we call Fun Food Day. At the center, they are still making American food (as well as they can) for us twice a week, but they mix it up so that we never know what day it will be on.
After lunch, we usually have Language class for an hour and a half and then the rest of the day (until 5) is reserved for lesson planning for our next day's class. Sometimes we have a planned session on cross-cultural, teaching techniques, or other useful topics. Yesterday, we had a lesson on sensitization topics. Tuesday, in summer school, they will allow us to teach on any topic that we want, whether it be AIDS, sanitation, waste management, resource management, etc. I picked to teach on Malaria since it is so common here. Most of us have family members that either have it or have it at some point during our stay.
After our classes, we walk either to Graceland (the bar/store across the street where we drink a couple of beers and listen to American music). We don't head here every day to wind down, though. My family asks me every day if i am coming home quick after school and what they should cook for me. When I do head straight home after training, I usually get home about 5:30. I change clothes and either sit on the veranda with the group of kids that waits my return every day. Sometimes this visit will turn into an intense game of Stoneball (dodge ball) or a game with rocks called Ge-Ge (pronounced Gay-gay). They also often make me do flips in the yard, or a dance party is started where we clap and sing while each kid dances individually. Agnes is the funniest. She is teeny tiny but she can really work it.
Lately, I've been going home to eat and start grading papers while i talk to my family in as much krio as i can remember. I sit at the table and grade papers while the kids in my family study at the same table, everyone huddled around the same table. The past few nights, i brought out the sharpie markers that my dear American family sent me and passed out paper for the kids to color. Their faces are priceless. They will sit for 1.5-2 hrs coloring. I think it's a precious thing for them to be able to have control of their own creativity since they are so often doing chores and don't have the time or resources to do any sort of artwork. The chores are insane. My 9-10 yr old family members carry buckets of water on their head that have about 3 gallons of water on their head from the well. They can't lift the buckets on their own and someone has to put it on their head and then they carry it from the well to the house and usually make multiple trips. They are fascinated by my camera though so yesterday they saw me with it and paused long enough for me to catch a couple of pics. I also usually pass out a little something American at study time. Like gum or skittles. I'm rationing slowly during my stay and they are always appreciative.
After either working on summer school plans or playing with the kids, I usually mix a slightly warm bath since it's somewhat cool here, i don't want to get sick cuz it's no fun! So i head out to the back porch, usually with my older sister kenyeh either washing beside me or sitting and waiting on me to finish. Yep. we wash on the back porch under the African stars if they are out, or even under the clouds since it's rainy season. Let me say though that nakedness here is nothing like in America. Lots of people, at their houses, go topless and kids run around naked quite a bit. It's no big deal to breast feed in front of family members or complete strangers for that matter.
So, supper usually brings rice, rice, rice, and more rice, with some sort of sauce. Sauce is usually some sort of leaf cooked down into some sort of past with fish in it. Everything here has fish and fish bones in it. Even things without fish in it somehow have fish bones in it. Last weekend, I cooked couscous and stew. The stew had cooking oil, chicken, thyme, tomato paste, onions, pepper, salt, and maggi in it. Maggi is MSG and everyone here puts it in everything to enhance the taste. Other foods include all types of fruit. Pineapple, bananas, plantain, avocado, coconut, mango, etc. Also potatoes, yams, pasta, pumpkin, and casava (google it) it's a lot like a potato.
The best sauce I've had was pumpkin sauce. It's cooked down into a sauce over rice, of course, and with fish (see above). The good thing is that I didn't have to give up sweet tea. Lots of people drink tea here. They drink it hot and it took a battle with my family and the language barrier to make them understand that I don't drink it hot, but after witnessing it, they've finally accepted it. I drink warm tea on occasion, though. Oh! I also learned to eat rice with my hands. Sauce and everything. But it's rude to eat with the left hand. It gets kinda messy and gross with the rice and the sauce, but it's kind of fun. Everyone eats from the same bowl with their hands.
So, to conclude my day, I go to my room/bed about 9-9:30 where i usually spend an hour making a phone call once in awhile, writing in my journal-EVERY DAY, and reading a book. And then I start all over again the next day.
Summer school will be over on Tuesday and Wednesday we will meet with our village supervisors. I just found out that we find out today where our site locations are. YIPPEE! We are all super nervous. This also determines which local language we will be learning. It's a pretty big deal. So next week we meet with our principals/cheifs and then we will go visit our sites for 4 days and see our houses and schools where we will be for the next 2 years.
That's all I can think of at the moment. Until next time.......peace out.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Salone Shinanigans.
Short update: i don't have long, but i'll do what i can. Not a whole lot to tell other than funny stories. i'm pretty well adjusted now and everyday is class and sitting asking questions about the culture and language. My older sister is so helpful.
1. My sista Kenyeh told me how when i first got here everyone was so scared of me and even my mom said, "Kenyeh, her eyes are sooo white!" I thought that was pretty funny.
2. I've got to play a lot the last week with the little kids. I learned a game called Ge-Ge with stones that involved throwing them up and catching them in order and it's impossible to beat Nepor. She knows this and said, "Don't try an African girl at this game." Being competitive though, i just talk smack back and keep practicing til i beat her one of these days. I also learned stoneball, which is dodgeball with a plastic back packed with dirt) and i am undefeated. Agnus is hard to hit though because she is so tiny. Also, the kids are fascinated by hacky sack.
3. I came home the other night from me and my sista walking a fellow PCV home and all the women in my family were naked on the back porch bathing so i was like, what the hey, let's do this. and i went and got my bucket. TIA ya'll.
4. The PCT sitting next to me in the computer lab is Katie. She said her neighbor here in Africa just had a baby. Well, she happens to like babies so she wanted to see this newborn. Upon meeting the child, she was asked to attend a ceremony in which they asked her to name the African newborn. Evidently, it's traditional to name a baby after your father, so her neighbor's newborn baby's name is James. Also, they offered to give her the baby on multiple occasions....every day to be exact.
5. My younger sister Nepor thinks it's funny now to impersonate me, speak sophisticated english, and tell everyone she is from New Jersey. It's pretty entertaining. She has a great sense of humor. When she gets dressed to go somewhere and someone asks her where she is going, she says, to New Jersey. She also says she used to be white but she has stayed in the sun too long. silly girl.
6. We had a dance party on the porch the other night. 8 yrs. old and younger only. We clapped and sang while each child got up individually to dance. These girls can shake it. Little Agnus was the most surprising, she might be quiet, but i was mistaken about the shy part. and her English is perfect. They finally talked me into dancing so they could all laugh hysterically.
7. My younger nephew Foday never ever speaks unless it is to greet me. I'm currently working on this issue. However, he did speak up to rub it in my face the other day about Ghana beating the US in the world cup.
8. When we go to watch the world cup here, guess where we do it. in 1 of 2 places.....1. a huge sweaty room in Africa with a projector and fans, or 2. a big sweaty room in Africa with a projector that sells beer and is called Obama Hall. We watched the Ghana/USA game there. I went with my host dad and the rest of the PCVs. It definitely got rubbed in our face when we lost.
9. My family tells me every day that they are trying to make me fatter than I already am. I'll just let that one marinate.
10. Look up the songs Yori Yori by Museke. Main Song we hear everywhere. Definitely the most popular at the moment.
So, I tried to upload pictures, but the internet is way too slow, so I'll probably just mail home a memory card as soon as I can and let someone in the states upload. According to the stamps on people that have gotten mail, it only takes about 9 days for a letter to physically show up in country. Longer to get to us, but not too much longer. Just depends on who is traveling here from freetown. That's all i got for now. I'll get pics to ya when I can. I finally took pictures of my family. They are beautiful.
Peace out.
1. My sista Kenyeh told me how when i first got here everyone was so scared of me and even my mom said, "Kenyeh, her eyes are sooo white!" I thought that was pretty funny.
2. I've got to play a lot the last week with the little kids. I learned a game called Ge-Ge with stones that involved throwing them up and catching them in order and it's impossible to beat Nepor. She knows this and said, "Don't try an African girl at this game." Being competitive though, i just talk smack back and keep practicing til i beat her one of these days. I also learned stoneball, which is dodgeball with a plastic back packed with dirt) and i am undefeated. Agnus is hard to hit though because she is so tiny. Also, the kids are fascinated by hacky sack.
3. I came home the other night from me and my sista walking a fellow PCV home and all the women in my family were naked on the back porch bathing so i was like, what the hey, let's do this. and i went and got my bucket. TIA ya'll.
4. The PCT sitting next to me in the computer lab is Katie. She said her neighbor here in Africa just had a baby. Well, she happens to like babies so she wanted to see this newborn. Upon meeting the child, she was asked to attend a ceremony in which they asked her to name the African newborn. Evidently, it's traditional to name a baby after your father, so her neighbor's newborn baby's name is James. Also, they offered to give her the baby on multiple occasions....every day to be exact.
5. My younger sister Nepor thinks it's funny now to impersonate me, speak sophisticated english, and tell everyone she is from New Jersey. It's pretty entertaining. She has a great sense of humor. When she gets dressed to go somewhere and someone asks her where she is going, she says, to New Jersey. She also says she used to be white but she has stayed in the sun too long. silly girl.
6. We had a dance party on the porch the other night. 8 yrs. old and younger only. We clapped and sang while each child got up individually to dance. These girls can shake it. Little Agnus was the most surprising, she might be quiet, but i was mistaken about the shy part. and her English is perfect. They finally talked me into dancing so they could all laugh hysterically.
7. My younger nephew Foday never ever speaks unless it is to greet me. I'm currently working on this issue. However, he did speak up to rub it in my face the other day about Ghana beating the US in the world cup.
8. When we go to watch the world cup here, guess where we do it. in 1 of 2 places.....1. a huge sweaty room in Africa with a projector and fans, or 2. a big sweaty room in Africa with a projector that sells beer and is called Obama Hall. We watched the Ghana/USA game there. I went with my host dad and the rest of the PCVs. It definitely got rubbed in our face when we lost.
9. My family tells me every day that they are trying to make me fatter than I already am. I'll just let that one marinate.
10. Look up the songs Yori Yori by Museke. Main Song we hear everywhere. Definitely the most popular at the moment.
So, I tried to upload pictures, but the internet is way too slow, so I'll probably just mail home a memory card as soon as I can and let someone in the states upload. According to the stamps on people that have gotten mail, it only takes about 9 days for a letter to physically show up in country. Longer to get to us, but not too much longer. Just depends on who is traveling here from freetown. That's all i got for now. I'll get pics to ya when I can. I finally took pictures of my family. They are beautiful.
Peace out.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Update from Regan via Erin
Regan wanted me to pass on a couple of things she forgot:
1. In Bo, her current town, all of the communities have different names. The community she is living in is called New York.
2. Regan saw her first monkey today (not in a zoo). It was tied to the back of an eighteen-wheeler with a leash and was drinking a pint of liquor.
1. In Bo, her current town, all of the communities have different names. The community she is living in is called New York.
2. Regan saw her first monkey today (not in a zoo). It was tied to the back of an eighteen-wheeler with a leash and was drinking a pint of liquor.
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