New Fambul Dem

July 27th 2011,

New Fambul Dem (Family)

So, disappointedly, we will not be traveling to the Embassy in Freetown this weekend. Probably for the better because there is some political rally going on and it “could be unsafe,” according to our safety coordinator, Alaka. He is great. Looks like next weekend will be our big trip. I’m excited with a sprinkling of nervous; we have to get back by ourselves and the transportation system (if it can be called a ‘system’) is very... unpredictable. I’ve found that to not worry, you have to look at the situation like, “I know I will get to where I am going, but I am not sure how...or when...” That mindset is becoming more familiar to my American engraved way of thinking, it is very strange.

In other news, I moved in with a new family. If you want some explanation here, write me a letter and I will be more than happy to go into details, but I have exhausted this story and don’t feel like writing it again :) Yes, it is going to be awkward starting practically from the beginning, and getting to know a new family, but I am really trying to make the best of it. Kono is really confused as to where his home is, he follows me around even more than before now. Poor lil guy. 

Here’s the new house.

There is a mom, a dad (rarely home), and then their two nephews who are living with them for the summer attending school. The boys are about 12 (Michael) and 16 (Ibrahim, who’s on the porch in the picture). And here is the best part- the family speaks Mende, the language I am learning, (Southern part of Sierra Leone dialect) so they are helping me greatly with that. I need all the help I can get. 

Kono and I on the veranda of the new house.

The mom and dad have five daughters who live in Freetown and are going to school. The dad seems like he is a pretty smart guy. One daughter, Aminata was in town the other day and she told me that when they were very young, their dad engraved into their heads the importance of education and not getting married until they have finished University. That was great to hear because many of the girls here have to drop out due to marriage or becoming pregnant. Aminata went on to tell me that even the youngest sister, Nancy, who is only seven, knows that school is her number one priority. 

Some funny things thus far about my new family:

• The girls, when visiting from Freetown, try to get me to ‘bluff,’ (no English translation but the closest would be ‘bling bling’ or showoff) by drawing a uni-brow with black pencil on. They all make a little widow peak-like point connecting their eyebrows as well as making beauty marks around their mouths and glitter on their eyebrows... no thanks.
• The mom first tried to convince me to take her to America with me so that she can cook on the coal-pot and brook my laundry. When I told her we have machines that do both of those things and that I already have a mom, she tried to pawn off Nancy on me... no thanks.
• I was again gifted Costco sized jar of mayo and spoon, really?! I am not eating mayo in secret, swear... no thanks.
• A neighbor stopped by and asked if her nursing baby, I’m not sure how old, could nurse from me... no thanks.