Day-to-Day Life

I have had a request to write about my day-to-day life. This is difficult to write, since no two days are exactly the same. The staff of the NGO is entirely volunteer, so they don’t keep the same hours everyday, some days they have to go work and make money. That being said, I’ll still try to say what my life is like.

On some days, I wake up at 6am and I go workout with some friends. They have a gym in the back of the house that they made from local materials. They live like 10 minutes from me, on the other side of the swamp. The first picture is of the swamp and the second is of my friends working out at the gym.

I then go home and play with the kids a little until they go to school. Then I bath and eat breakfast. For breakfast I eat different things: rice cakes, rice, fish, eggs, bread, and a coke or tea.

Then I just go across the street to my office. Since we have been working on planning all our activities for 2008, we work on that. I have finally completed the plan. I will print out copies and distribute it to the international NGOs next week. I do not believe I can post the entire document, but I will post the highlights shortly. I can’t always type my work there since there is only power every other day or less often.

After this I usually go to town. The walk there takes a bit and people are calling out either ‘pumuy’(white man in the Mende language) or my Mende name ‘Bahugeh.’ People like the name a lot so it takes a little while to reach town. I go to my brother Abdul’s office often times to type and print things. He teaches computers. I hang out with him or go to the diamond buying shop underneath where I have friends I like. I go to some other places in town sometimes, the internet café is close by and across the street from that is a tree often referred to as the Wisdom Tree where many people go to have tea called Atia and discuss things.
I usually have lunch in town with Abdul or others. Mende always eat rice. They love it. If you ask a Mende if he has eaten today he will say no unless he had rice. It doesn’t matter if he ate 10 oranges, only rice counts as eating. It always served with a sauce. My favorites are potato leaf (joala), cassava leaf (saki), and ground nut (peanut). Everything is always cooked with red palm oil. Oh, I also like these cassava cakes that are similar to latkes.

Sometimes I just stay with Abdul until he is done with work and we hire a motorbike to take us home or I just walk home earlier. If I go home earlier I sometimes go for a job when the sun is starting to set and it’s not as hot. After that, we have dinner. Of course rice, often with fish. If there is power I will often work more on things for the NGO at night with my host dad until late. Sometimes we watch DVDs with all the kids and neighbors in the parlor. I also go out sometimes. The big night to go out is Wednesday here, its lady’s night at the clubs. This week I went to see a Sierra Leonean musician that is so popular here named K-Man. The show was really good. I have been hearing him on the radio since I came. There is a local artist that I really love named M2, a female rapper. I think she is coming to town soon and hope to see here. Sometimes we just go out for a drink. Sometimes I go visit neighbors and friends. I expect to be visiting more villages with the NGO shortly.

We usually work on Saturday, but Sunday is the day of rest. Sometimes I go to this nearby village to get palm wine (poyo) right from the tree. They like to say “from God to man.” This Sunday I am taking a bike with a friend to go see a village called Daru.
So, as you can see, my life isn’t that much different than a typical America. The major difference in day-to-day living is a different sense of time. Americans have lots to do and are always busy, busy, busy, but it is not that way here. People take time to greet each other and talk. It is nice. I am never stressed really. It does get a bit frustrating when I want to get something completed on time or have a meeting however.

Next week I am starting my youth group class again. I am going to teach them Math and English so they pass there national exams for junior and senior secondary school. I am looking forward to that. I am also beginning a computer course for my staff. Teaching is fun, but can be frustrating since there is sometimes a language barrier. I really need to focus on learning Krio more.
Anyways, I think that gives and overview. I have also had other requests for blogs that I will be answering soon. Oh, the third picture is of a monkey that a friend has as a pet. The monkey’s name is Mandela. He is tied to a tree so I am always saying ‘free Mandela.’ So please continue to make suggestions for topics! Thanks!