Jiffy Pop

Musa, the 4-year-old neighbor, is a big fan of popcorn

Thanks to Lara's Aunt Chris, Uncle Bruce, and family for sending us Jiffy Pop among other awesome goodies-- not only do we love it but it makes our neighbor Musa's day every time.

Not a Real Blog Post, part 6

Post by Lara and Kevin

29 Jan - 18 Feb 2013

Some brief thoughts and funny experiences:

• In January we went to an all-you-can-eat buffet in one of the mining areas of the country, and were served meatballs with cheese on top and chocolate ice cream, among other delicious things. Then, Lara bought a pack of Pringles to take home. It was almost too good to be true.  The funny thing about this is that the miners who eat at this place every day think that it’s nothing to write home about.  Well, we’re proud to be writing home about it.
• Lara has recently turned to bribing her students with candy in order to get them to do problems on the board. Not her proudest moment, but it’s working for the time being.
• Pineapples seem to be back in season after a 4-month hiatus, and we could not be happier.  We have bought 5 in the last week for a grand total of $1.50. The coolest thing about pineapples here is that even the sub-par ones are excellent by Ohio grocery store standards (who would have thought?).

Pineapples do not grow on trees.

• Kevin had our local tailor make him some cotton trossis [pajama pants] last week, and they are his new favorite article of clothing.  The fabric is bright yellow with red and blue “eyes” all over it.  He looks a bit like MC Hammer in them, but they keep the mosquitoes off and his school trousers clean.  

• One of the saddest things we’ve ever witnessed: a monkey stung by a bee while climbing 30 feet off the ground in a tree.  It’s hard to describe, but picture a toddler two stories in the air screaming at you to come pick him up and rock him to sleep, and the only thing you have to reach him is a 20 foot tall bamboo pole that takes every bit of your strength to carry (and then he won’t climb down it anyway). FYI- everything turned out OK.
• One of Lara’s fellow teachers has showed up to school twice this term wearing a tuxedo t-shirt.  Twice.  Both times she texted Kevin about it. How could you not?  Updated: as of Feb 16^th we’re up to three tuxedo t-shirt appearances. This is looking to be a regular occurrence.
• Lara’s Facebook status was accurate—she really did get “sorted” into a house at her school this week.  The winner is Leone House [also known as the green house, which should seem fitting to anyone who has ever met Lara.  Of course, if there were a Hufflepuff, she would have gone there.

Lara had her hair "planted" (braided) in the "All Go Up" style for her school's sports day

 We're working on a few more blog posts right now, but we're hitting a bit of a dry spell trying to decide what to write about.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Oh, the Places You’ll Go (to buy a new SIM card)

Post by Lara

14 February 2013 [Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!]

Earlier this week my phone stopped working, reading “SIM registration error” across the screen and showing zero bars of service even when Kevin’s phone, which was sitting next to mine, was reading full service.  We took it to our friends who run a phone charging center and they informed us that the SIM card “don poel” [it has spoiled] and that the only solution that will not change my phone number was to get a “Replacement SIM”. Upon further investigation we found that replacement SIMs are not the same thing as new SIMs, which can be bought in any number of places in our town, for $0.50. No, replacement SIMs are only sold on Thursday. Or Friday.  In the Lorry Park (essentially the bus station). Or by the man who manages Amy’s, the bar in town. Or at the Airtel tower, where an official Airtel employee works. But everyone we asked assured us that it was only one of these options.

Perhaps I should back up. One thing we’ve learned about Sierra Leonean culture is that when you ask a question, you will get an answer. It may not be the right answer, and the person answering may have no authority whatsoever to do so, but an answer will always be provided. For this reason, anytime we have a question about anything at all, we make it a point to ask at least 4 people.  Need directions to the cathedral in Makeni? Ask at every street corner along the way, and don’t be surprised if at least one person points you back in the direction you came.  Want to know how much it costs to buy a live chicken? Ask several people before you even bother asking the person selling it. Better yet, don’t ask anyone what you should pay for a chicken—ask them what they have paid for a chicken, bearing in mind that most sellers expect you to pay more if you’re white.  In any case, you have to be aware that when you ask a question, the person you are asking wants to make you happy, and in order to do that he or she would rather make something up than say “I don’t know”. 

So we asked around, and got a different story everywhere we went.  We even sent one of our neighbors to the Lorry Park on Tuesday to scout out the place. She came back and said Thursday is the day to buy replacement SIMs.  Then on Wednesday, Kevin went to Amy’s and asked about buying one, and was told that no, you have to go to the Lorry Park.  When Thursday finally rolled around, I decided to start at the Airtel tower, since it is closest to my house.  The man at the Airtel tower told me to go into the Lorry Park, named several businesses I don’t know, and wished me luck.  Next, I stopped back at the charging center and asked another friend where to go.  He again directed me to the Lorry Park. 

In town, I went straight to Ali, who has a hardware stall across from the Lorry Park, assuming he would know where to point me. To my surprise, he pointed me to a shop that I go to frequently. I went to the woman there who told me she sells SIMs, but not replacement SIMs, and pointed me down the road to a place “next to the police station”.  About halfway to the police station, I stopped into another store and asked the woman there. Again, she told me she sells SIMs but not replacement SIMs, and directed me to the pharmacy that I passed on the way to her shop.  At the pharmacy, the man informed me that he did not sell replacement SIMs, but asked me to wait while he called his friend John.  John informed him that he would have them at Amy’s tomorrow, so he relayed that message to me. 

 
After this, I was a bit discouraged and decided to do some normal shopping before heading to check out the lead at the police station.  Thursday being market day, the place was packed and I got rice, bulgur wheat, eggs, limes, oranges, chicken, tomato paste, bananas, plantains, and onions before finally heading back up to the main road.  At the police station, I was surprised that the female police officer there knew my name. I asked about the replacement SIM, and one civilian standing outside the station informed me that Amy’s is the place to go, to Mr. Bonda.  

 At Amy’s, I was pleasantly surprised to run into my host father with his coworkers who are in town on business this week. I told them my mission and they asked for Mr. Bonda, who apparently was out for the day, but would be coming back with replacement SIMs sometime today or maybe tomorrow.  My host father wished me luck once more, and I was on my way home, to go one more day with no phone service.  In summary, I walked over 2 and a half miles in a giant corkscrew across town today and talked to more than 10 people who were all happy to tell me how I can get a replacement SIM, but I’m still waiting for one of these leads to pan out.  In the meantime, if anyone needs to contact me you can do it by email or Kevin’s phone. 

PS- I sincerely apologize if this story was boring. [Possibly] more interesting posts coming soon!

Testing the Waters

Because when your friend the tailor makes you a matching shirt and bowtie, you have to put them on at the same time, at least once. 

To Market To Market...

 

This is our Auntie Mariama's stall at the market in town.  That's me on the left picking out onions. We can go to Mariama's for rice, bulgur wheat, flour, onions, vegetable oil, coconut oil, margarine, baking powder, blue and red pens, rice bags, blue dye (for making purple chickens), and milk powder, among other lovely things. 

Poor, Rock-less Lara

Post by Lara

4 February 2012

This is one of those stories I know I’ll be telling when people ask me about the 2 years I spent in Peace Corps, and I figure it’s best to share it while it’s fresh in my mind, so please enjoy!

A few months ago, I was on the phone with my dad and he related a story to me from my grandma, his mom.  Apparently she had been talking to someone who had a relative who is a Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa somewhere, and this friend told her that the volunteer she knows is living in such primitive conditions, she has to launder her clothes with a rock!  Grandma relayed that story to my dad, who relayed it to me, who laughed heartily and responded by explaining to him that, at least in Sierra Leone, no one has to launder their clothes with a rock. It tends to come down to personal preference.  We personally choose to launder our clothes by hand, scrubbing stains out manually and occasionally resorting to a plastic brush that we bought for about a quarter in the market.  We have noticed people here who take a rock to their clothes, mostly just the one or two articles that don’t come clean after soaking and being hand-scrubbed, but clothes that have been laundered that way tend to get thin, stretched out, and un-wearable a lot faster than those you hand-wash, so we have never resorted to it.  

Teaching Kevin's mom and sister how to "brook," or wash clothes by hand

A few weeks after this conversation, my dad sent me a text telling me Grandma had been out to play cards with her friends and told them all about her granddaughter in Peace Corps.  I texted back, asking him, “Did she tell her friends that her granddaughter is in such primitive conditions that she doesn’t even have a rock to wash her clothes with?”  Dad responded with, “Oh—she didn’t know you don’t have a rock to wash your clothes with!”

Fast-forward another week, and we were informed that we had a package in Freetown from my family.  Knowing one of the closer volunteers to us was going to Freetown the following weekend, I arranged to have her pick it up for us.  When she got to the mail room, our friend called us and said, “Ok, I’m bringing your package to you, but I can’t believe how heavy it is. Did they send you a rock?”  Kevin immediately exclaimed, “Oh no! Did your Grandma send us a rock to do laundry with?”

Of course the package was not actually a rock. It was, among other wonderful things, two cans of Skyline chili, which is one of the best gifts we’ve ever been given ever.  To those of you who are wondering, rocks are plentiful in Sierra Leone, and free to boot.  If we ever do decide that our clothes need a good stoning to come out fresh and clean, we will have no problem supplying the stone, so please, do not send us a rock.  Love, Lara and Kevin.

 Although we never used a rock to wash our clothes, we did, when available, use them to dry.

The Cutest Thing You'll See All Day

Say hello to the tiniest little tree frog we've ever seen! He hopped onto our verandah one day and we just had to "snap" him [that's how you say it here].  The only not cute thing about this little guy is that we had a total Lion King-esque "circle of life' experience not long after this picture was taken.  Poor guy couldn't last long at a house with 5 carnivorous animals hanging around.  At least he's gonna be famous!