I'm in month 2 of 26 here in Salone. I'm a measly 2 weeks away from swearing in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer. I think I've adjusted to life here in Africa.....depends on the day you ask me, I suppose.
We spent the weekend back in Freetown to see Peace Corps Headquarters and to perform an exercise of taking public transportation from PC HQ to our respective sites.
I've noticed my standards for things going towards a downward spiral over the weeks. Don't know if it's good or bad, if anything it makes me accept my new living standards for the next 2 years.
We came full circle and stayed at the Freetown Stadium Hostel; my first home here in Salone. Funny how my perspective on the place has gone a complete 180 degrees! I remember Day 1 and walking into that room thinking how I'd rather sleep on the bathroom floor of an Easy8 Motel in East Oakland. Ok fine, I wouldn't really do that either, but I'm basically saying that it was kinda shit-hole-ie. Not like I complained, it's Peace Corps, not a vacation. This time around, I opened the door to our room, and I felt like I was being spoiled out to a weekend treat! Electricity for a few evening hours, a flushing toilet, running water, a working shower!!! I even did some stretches this morning to conjure up a poo just so I could have an opportunity to actually sit on a toilet that flushes in a spacious well lit bathroom. The shower wasn't in some dark moldy cave where I have to avoid contact with everything. Well ok, it was still moldy and I still had to avoid touching things, but the bathroom was big enough which made it easy to do so.
We had dinner last night on Lumley Beach. I've been saving up my Leones for this dinner so I could splurge and treat myself. I spent Le35,000 ($8 USD) for a burger, fries, and Star beer. Trust me, that was a splurge......."Mi na Pisko Ticha nomo, a no get moni" (I'm only a PC Teacher, I don't have any money) lol! You better believe I enjoyed every bit of that cold burger with the super thin charred patti with a tomato & cucumber slice the size of a quarter. Definitely, the best burger I've had in Salone. Actually, the only burger I've had in Salone, for now. Who cares! It's not freaking plasas! It was fucking delicious!
Last week, some of the Salone2 Resources made us pepperoni pizza. Can you imagine sharing two 10inch pizzas with 50 people. Well, it happened and my 1sq. inch piece was so effing delicious, I savored every moment with it.
Oh and onto the issue with alcohol. Back in America I won't even fucking touch Sky Vodka.....it was always the top shelf stuff for me. Ever been to a gas station in the hood and see those plastic pouches of alcohol? Ya, that's the good stuff here in Salone. Double Punch, Tyson, Fruit Wine, etc.....they're all about 5block (Le500) a pouch. You can get really fucked up on 4pouches of Tyson Whiskey and it'll only cost you 50cents, lol. That's my drink of choice, Tyson & Coke for Le2500.
Star Beer.....the national beer of Salone, lol. For Le4000 you can get a bottle of Star which kinda sorta more or less tastes like a watered down Heineken depending on which bottle you get. Could be good, could be bad, you never know until you open it and take a sip. It's kinda like when you were a kid and got those candies with "mystery" flavor. Ya, it's kinda like that, every bottle of Star is always slightly different. If anything, you should consider it a treat when beer is cold, it's usually served ever so slightly above room temperature. We are turning into Star Beer connoisseurs, lol.
I've adjusted to transportation as well. On our way back from Freetown to Bo, they shoved 11 people into a minivan. This is fancy travel, mind you, it's not a poda-poda. So as 4 of us squeezed into the back and half my ass was on Justin's thigh, I asked him if that was his cellphone or if he was just happy to see me. Since I was sitting sideways at a 45degree angle, I was directly facing Sarah so I could whisper sweet nothings in her ear for the next 4hrs back to Bo.
Our minivan broke down in Waterloo where we spent the next 2hrs at some mechanic waiting to replace the fanbelt and god knows whatever else, lol. Transport always breaks down here.......TIA (This Is Africa). Did I mention it was raining and practically flooding all over the place? Thankfully, we were able to seek refuge under the veranda of a shack next to the mechanic, things could be worse.
While we waited, we were lucky enough to see some ladies pass by selling cham-cham (snacks) like binch-ball sandwiches (onion, pepe, fried bean balls) and fry-fry (giant fried cake balls). I think it's safe to say that no one in our group contracted cholera. Oh ya, I forgot to mention, there's a cholera breakout here. I guess it always peaks around rainy season, sanitation issues, and food handling. Basically poo to hand to mouth.....boom cholera!
So the van was fixed and we were back on our way to Bo. We did some rearranging. This time, half of me was sitting on the wheel-well with my back pressed up against the window and my right boob resting on Michael's shoulder. My left leg fell asleep and to make things more comfortable I was using my waterbottle as a neck pillow of sorts. Did I mention that we're all soaking wet and the furniture is damp? Just imagine a clown car full of moist musty people intertwined like some Chinese contortionist act, lol.
I love Africa, I really do :)
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