Bank, Kaiyan, Coal-Pot

July 30th, 2011

Bank, Kaiyan, Coal-Pot

Today was an experience to say the least. One of those days where you better laugh, because if you don’t you’ll start to cry. A real test of patience. Don’t worry, I passed :)

It began with a trip to the bank. After being accustomed to an American bank, this seemed to be extremely inefficient- but that’s why it’s called ‘developing,’ right? 

The bank is full of people, some there actually to deposit/withdraw money and others just there to enjoy the air conditioned space. There are two different lines. The first line, the Inquiry line, is to get the bank slip. That took about 30 minutes. Then you move to another Cashier line for an hour or two. People are cutting, pushing and even trying to see how much money is written on your account slip. The b.o. of this crowd seemed to be seeping through the vents. After getting the money, I withdrew a million Leones, you have to scoot aside, hold tight to your wads of bills and look out for shady characters. Then, it’s your own responsibility to find some space in the crowd to count the money and being one of the only white people in the building, I already stick out, but literally every set of eyes is on that money. I felt like I was walking through a soup kitchen flaunting a six course meal. Locals were practically salivating. Awkward.

To make things better, the cashier gave me less than I withdrew (Le 4,000 which isn’t much). I pushed my way to the front of the line, told the cashier, and without questioning, he gave it to me... very weird, unless he knew and was seeing if I’d count.

Girl in the market with cassava, potato, sawa-sawa or kren-kren leaves on her head.

After the bank, it was off to making Kaiyan. Kaiyan is this peanut butter cookie like thing made of ground rice, sugar, peanut and a tad of salt. We walked around the market with the lady who would be helping us make it for a bit. Flip flops were a bad idea today. All last night it had rained, and there were sick, unavoidable puddles of who knows what everywhere. Texas Sam, Kenley, Tammie and I followed the Kaiyan lady through the back alleys of the market getting the ingredients to fill our little buckets. 

Walking around the market.

Market 

I ran into a man pushing a wheel barrel like contraption full of palm oil gallons after hoping over a drainage river which was pretty funny but I think I will have a pretty big bruise on my leg.

Jumping the baby river.

After finishing making the Kaiyan, well, more like after the ladies finished making it, we stopped to buy our coal pots. Kenley’s kindness and great ability to speak Krio was the reason we got the spoons included. Getting the thing home was an experience, I think I gained a lot of respect from my neighbors. I walked all the way home with it on my head, like the locals. I now know why they do that. One, it is easier going long distances; two, your arms simply are not strong enough and three, it is awkward walking with something in your arms like that. Another item checked off my shopping list. 

Waiting for the Kaiyan to be done, helping a bit.

Only two weeks till I move to Futa! I am so excited!

Oh and on a side note, every time I show anyone (local) a picture of MyLeigh, their response is "Ah, she's so hairy." I laugh every time.

Shopping

July 29th, 2011

House Shopping!

Since we are no longer going to Freetown this weekend, we are expected to start the furnishing process for our new houses. Some volunteers lucked out and their houses were from previous volunteers or the community had already furnished it for them. Tammie, Kenley and I had no such luck, so we set out for the market yesterday, today (when it stops raining), and maybe even some shopping tomorrow as well. Yesterday we were pretty successful. It is something you don’t really want to do, but know you have to so it is better just to get it done quick. Plus all the bargaining you have to do with the vendors gets old, especially if they are mean. Here is my shopping list:

• Candles
• Coal Pot
• Wash Board
• Cooking Pots
• Shower Bucket
• Thermos
• Curtains
• Big utensils to cook with 
• Tupperware pots
• Cups/mugs for coffee/tea
• Glass plate
• Tubs with locking lids
• Brooking tubs
• Nails and cord
• Broom and dust pan
• Scrub brush
• Colander
• Mat/rug
• Plastic Chairs
• Chinese lights
• Rags/sponge
• Shower basket
• Giant plastic plate

Some of my purchases (packed some away)

It’s great cause in my village, there isn’t any of this stuff. Plus, if I stock up now, Peace Corps is dropping us right off at site, so I do not have to worry about my stuff getting broken/stolen and I do not 

Summer School Week 2

July 28th, 2011

Summer School Week 2

Just some highlights on this week of teaching:

• New kids showed up on Monday... “Um, Hi. You have missed a week and we have a week left, so there is no chance you can get a good grade. Where were you last week?” The excuses blew my mind:
• “Getting cold wata, Ma.”
• “I hurt my finga, Miss Kenna.”
• “I don’t know.”

Some of my JSS 3 kids

• I walked into the second session of my JSS 1 class to find a small boy (8-9), Augustine, balling. “What’s wrong,” I asked, and he could barely speak. I took him outside the room and had Dan take my time slot so I could figure out what happened. Here was our conversation:

“Alright, settle down so you can tell me what the matter is. Take some deep breaths.”

“They are going to flog me afta class, Ma. At break they molested my knee (he meant to say kick, I had him demonstrate) and hit me here and here,” he keeps crying and trying to catch his breath.

“Why are they trying to hurt you?”

“They think I say tha The Church of God is useful!” and he starts crying even harder and I am trying not to crack a smile.

“Ok, well do you think that The Church of God is useless? Is that true?”

“Ohhh NOOO, Miss Kenna. I GO to The Church of God. I neva say dat. Neva! Dey lie dey lie!”

“Ok well let’s tell these people this so there is no misunderstanding. What does this kid look like, and I will pull him out of class so we can all figure things out.” He was settling down down.

“She’s black,” he said to me with the straightest face, totally expecting me to go and get the right girl from my class of 90 kids.

“Ok, well that eliminates Mr. Keller and Mr. Lee,” I said expecting him to get the humor, but it ended up being a joke for myself.

In the end I found the girl from the class, and it was a misunderstanding.

Aymahhida, the Muslim school where I am teaching for these two weeks. Take note this school is about 100 times nicer than the school in my village.

• Another volunteer, who is teaching SSS level, higher than JSS 3, so like high school, told me that during class, a girl lifted her top and rested it above her boobs, and was just chillin there (it is really hot during the day, and that’s most likely the reason she was doing that). No one else seemed to even notice or care and he felt very awkward and finally told her to “Please pull your top back down,” and the other kids started laughing. Can you even imagine some one doing that in the States?!

The view opposite the school, Mena Hill

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.

Albert Louis and Test Day

Albert Louis and Test Day

7-22-11

A 14 year old boy in my first class named Louis brings me a gift everyday during break. First, it was a bunch of pink flowers that he had to climb a thorn tree to get. Its turned into little snacks that vendors sell around the school compound. I think he has a little crush on me, haha.

Friday for both classes was test day. For the class of 16 kids, I wrote out individual tests for each student and each student got their own desk. I made sure that each student knew if there was any ‘spying,’ (cheating) that they would be removed and their test would be ripped up, no first warning. I had no cheaters, so I know that threat works. 

The 90 plus, four to a desk classroom full of pre-teens on the other hand was chaos. I knew it would be before even entering the room. The other two teachers who I divide session time with, Dan (science) and Damien (english) decided to collect all the students notebooks, so there would be no spying. We all realized that was a horrid idea once we had 4 foot stacks of notebooks, newspapers, bags of rulers, backpacks, trash, coins and some food in a corner at the front of the room. Passing it back was even worse. I doubt any of us will try collecting anything from a class that size again. Good lesson. 

One girl was crying the entire class because her notebook was stolen by another student. I bribed the class, by saying “Who ever finds a red notebook with the name ‘Mariatu’ on the front will get a piece of candy,” no on raised their hand, but I had all their attention, “Or any one who point to who they think may have the notebook...?” Still no response so I’m planning on buying her a new notebook and recopy all the notes for her, it’s cute because she was more concerned about not having the notes than the actual notebook and its cost. 

During each other’s tests’, we all proctored spying. Dan is definitely the toughest out of us three, he kick out about 7 kids. Damien is too nice to kick any one out and I threw out some girls who were fighting and pulling each others hair. 

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to an amazing couple of people, Mom and Dad- I love you so much, thank you for always being there for me. 

And to Cadance Alice! Happy Birthday- I know you celebrated big! xoxo

Sorry I missed your special day! Love you all!

Mail!

Mail Day

7-21-11

Thank you Mor and Far for the package! I received it today and it made my day. I loved everything in there- the candy, gifts for host family, mirrors (x3 haha), lemon pepper ( I already had some with breakfast) and the creepy note that said “This box was washed in the blood of Jesus,” made my entire language class laugh. 

Kono is getting bigger everyday, mainly, due to the fact that he is suppose to be drinking solely milk powder and water, and since I don’t like mixing that, I give him meat, sauce and rice. Everyone at the training center adores him, volunteers and Sierra Leonean Staff, he has became like the center dog. 

I am pretty sure coffee is going to be included in the next package from my parents and I am so excited. Here they have this coffee imitator called NesCafe. I need about 10 packages to make a cup to the potency I like. Even then, it still tastes watery. If there was a Starbucks here I would be in heaven!