Not a Real Blog Post, part 4

Post by Lara & Kevin

21 October - 11 November 2012

Your 30-second thoughts for the day:

• Today (21-Oct)  the water pump next to our house broke. The pump technician wasn’t in town, so we had to go to the next nearest pump, about 200 yards downhill from our house. Kevin carried two 40-pound buckets of water up the hill from the pump and when he got to the house I said, “Remember how in America we had running water in our house, and you could even choose what temperature it came out?” Kevin probably would have been upset with me for reminding him of this if he weren’t so impressed by the way his muscles bulged after toting water 200 yards.
• Update! On Oct 29^th, Lara “toted” (that means carried on her head, friends) 5 gallons of water from the pump 200 yards uphill to the house.  She did this one time, and was very self-satisfied. Meanwhile, our 11-year-old and 8-year-old neighbor girls did the same thing 4 and 6 times, respectively.  Those girls are bad-asses.
• Sometime in the next few weeks we’re going to be adopting a cat from a fellow volunteer. (S)he is a white/gray kitten and we’ve decided to name him/her Nimbus (like the clouds! We’re so cute).  We’ll post pictures someday.
• The other day, a sheep ate our dishwashing soap.
• Today (23-Oct), there was a goat in Kevin’s school staff room.
• Lara’s conversation with a fellow teacher the other day:
• Teacher: “Gbessay, your face is shining!”
• Lara: “…what does that mean?”
• Teacher: “it means you have oil on your face.”
• Lara: “…ok…and what does that mean?”
• Teacher: “It means you slept well last night!”
• Lara: “ohhh ok. Thank you! [I knew that first statement was meant to be a compliment…but it took some fishing to figure out how oil on my face was a good thing.]
•  I learned this week that the word here for a “curve” on a test is “fortalizer”. This word is also used on some energy drink labels as well as “beeta kola,” a super bitter alcoholic drink that’s sold here and marketed as an energizer.
• The phrase “I beg” is very common here when asking for something. We know it’s a cultural thing, but it irks us.  We are not fans of having people “beg” from us all the time.  Because of this, we’ve started telling people, “Don’t beg. Reason.”  Last week, one of Kevin’s classes managed to “reason” him into moving a test to a later date.
• Oct 30^th: Lara is sporting planted [plaited, or braided] hair for the first time since she moved here. Turns out, braids are way cooler (temperature-wise) than leaving your used-to-be-a-pixie-cut-now-you-look-like-15-year-old-Justin-Bieber hair down all day.
• The last time we were in Bo, we went on a wild goose hunt for small (art) paintbrushes. Our journey ended in a Lebanese-owned store that specialized in bulk drinks (soft and hard), plumbing supplies, wall paint, and painting supplies. It was really weird.
• Some questions that we’ve been asked by Sierra Leoneans:
• “Have you borne a child yet?” [We’re asked this all the time, and in all sorts of ways]
• “Where is your husband/wife/brother/sister?” [Every day. Several times per day.]
• “What kind of sauces do you eat in America [on top of rice]?”
• “What is the staple food in America?”
• “Does the Queen pay Obama’s salary?”
• “Is Obama the president of all 52 states?”
• “Is Brazil in America? How about Canada?”
• “Why do you drink water all the time?”
• “Do you use cream to lighten your skin?”
•  At Lara’s secondary school, there are entirely 3 female teachers, including Lara.  This may explain why students frequently say “Yes sir” in her class and one student wrote “Mr. Flaute” on top of his test paper. 
• Sometimes we have moments where we realize that we miss something we completely forgot existed in our life before Peace Corps. Example: night lights, and wall outlets to plug them into. Side note: we actually have wall outlets, but we don’t have a generator or a grid to hook up to and we have no idea if the wiring is good.

• Last week a helicopter flew overhead and for a moment Kevin didn’t think about it. Then he realized he’s in Sierra Leone and helicopters are not an everyday sight.  Growing up next to an Air Force base had its effects on us.

• So far for Thanksgiving in Salone we have secured 3 pounds of sweet potatoes, 3 boxes of Stovetop stuffing sent from the states, one chicken (currently living), 2 bottles of apple “cider” soft drink, and a pumpkin.  It’s going to be a lovely feast.

Our neighbor, Hawa, showing us how to "tote"

Kevin preparing our papaya sauce for Salone Thanksgiving