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Published: March 14th 2010
Kusheh I am still loving my time in Salone and my Krio is, slowly but surely, improving! I am also transitioning and taking on the "roles" of a proper African. I am doing my cooking outside with a
coal pot above an open fire, handwashing my clothes in a big bucket, and yelling my destination into the taxi's rolled down windows. I have yet to carry something on my head but the time will surely come!
Over the weekend, I cruised around the Western Area Peninsula visiting places such as
Waterloo and
Tombo. Tombo is really nice but reminds me a lot of Smokey Mountain and Hapilan (two slums outside of Manila) in the Philippines. Tombo has a bit more structure though (with a plethora of well-built mosques), and is not located "on top" of the water like Hapilan.
Sunday, I met up with a couple friends at a private beach near Bureh Beach. The beaches here are beautiful! Here I met some neat people from all walks of life: Americans, British, Germans, French Guinea, Ethiopia, etc. We had great food such as the traditional
Groundnut Soup (peanut soup), a meter-long fresh Barracuda, fruit, Lebanese coffee, and then
there was homemade Rum Cake and Cheesecake - it was amazing.
Tuesday, I went to a local football (soccer) game, which was a lot of fun. The people here are very passionate about this sport. Although I tried my best to watch the game, many people, especially kids, kept distracting me by calling me "
white man", which you better get used to. Sierra Leone isn't at the top of many must-visit-vacation spots (yet!!) so people, especially the
pikins (kids) do not see too many white people.
Thursday, I met up with an organization called
Extra Mile, where I learned a lot about the education system in Salone and the many things its lacking. The founder of this organization and I were on the same flight coming here and chatted it up a bit. It's amazing to see how many people are willing to help you with research, contacts, accommodation, and such things, especially if they know you're traveling alone.
I will now leave you with a popular song here by a Nigerian artist:
Timaya, God You're 2 Much ... one of my favorites!!
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Aaron
non-member comment
Lovely!
I love hearing your updates! The cross-cultural exchange, the natural beauty, and immersing yourself in another culture makes me all itchy to travel again. Also, while they might not have too many tourists, I'm sure they have a lot of women so why do they call you white man!? And if I fly over there to visit you, will I blow their minds being an Asian?