The government has yet to announce the start of the school year. It is technically scheduled to start on Sept. 10th but rumor has it that the government may announce a Sept. 17th start date. Not to mention the other rumor of school not even starting until 2nd term in January, after the November elections. Regardless of start dates, we are continuing registration activities at Our Lady Of Guadalupe JSS/SSS (OLGSS).
I've been helping out at the school here and there for registration, proctoring entrance exams, etc, etc. Aside from that I've just been kinda hanging out. You'd figure I'd be bored out if my mind but I'm not. I'm doing actually less since PST is over but the weeks are flying like crazy.
I'm really enjoying Lunsar. The people, the town, my house, my dog <3 Pot-Pot <3 ......it's all been great. I thought there would've been an adjustment phase of not being around other Americans everyday, but I haven't. I've been doing really well being on my own. I mean, I do have Michael as my site mate but we don't see each other everyday and most of the time it's just in passing. We're both doing our own thing and it's great where we each have our own space in Lunsar.
Today was really chill. We're still in the middle of rainy season so I usually stay close to my house during the heavy downpours and the streets are all muddy with flooded ditches.
So on this rainy day, Hawa walked me through on how to make ginger beer. Ginger beer, though relatively easy to make is a muthafuckin bitch to scrape the skin off the tiny little gingers that they have here and grate each and every one of them..........food processor, where are you?!?!?!
Abdulai and Lamin from down the street came by my house. They usually stop by everyday and want to impress me with whatever contraption they've invented from scraps they find on the streets. Sardine can toy cars are really popular here with the kids. Abduali though, has created this 2 truck bed big rig with scrap metal. It was really cute how he would pull his truck and glance up at me to see if I was looking. I told him that he needed to put a load on his truck so he grabbed four giant snails on my porch and dragged them around through the mud and puddles.
Watching children play in Salone really makes me happy. Living conditions don't matter, children will always find a way to play. In America, kids go to toy stores and everything is all packaged up for them. Whereas here in Salone, toys are anything you can pick up from the streets and put together. Another one of Dulai's toys is a kite he's made out of plastic, twine, and sticks. He shouts out "Yekia! Luk mi!" as he runs up and down the street smiling because I'm watching him.
The rain started pouring down again so Dulai & Lamin spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the steps with me, teaching me Temne phrases. The children here are so helpful when it comes to language learning. They are very patient and are willing to say things slowly over and over again so you can learn.
Taking in Lunsar one day at a time has been a great gameplan for me. I'm here for the next 2 years so no need to rush to the finish. When I envisioned myself in Peace Corps, I had pictured myself doing these large extravagant things but, it's really been the small things that have been standing out the most so far. Anywhere from sharing a meal, chatting on verandas, to playing with children.
I know I'll definitely have my ups & downs here in Salone but I've been really happy so far and I'm excited for what the next 2 years will bring me. :)
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