Stuff that's probably weird but I now find perfectly normal
on Shona in Sierra Leone (Sierra Leone), 10/Mar/2011 21:12, 34 days ago
1) White land cruisers with NGO logos on them.2) People carrying stuff on their heads– like water, large baskets of fruit, plantain chips, piles of clothes, . Other friends have seen someone carrying a fire on their head, and someone else carrying a pair of flipflops (when he was barefooted!)3) Wondering whether the electricity is going to be on when I get up every morning.4) Lights that go dim every now and again, even when the electricity is on.5) The fact that you can buy anything you want from the side of the road on the way home– people pass by the car selling plantain chips, popcorn, biscuits, soft drinks, towels, facecloths, CDs, ladles, tin openers, weighing scales, games of monopoly, the list goes on…6) Roadworks meaning that the path to the main road changes every day– often involving a crossing a plank to get across a ditch.7) Roadworks also meaning that you can walk as close as you want to a large digger doing its work without anyone screaming“health and safety!”8) That I can often get online in the car on the way back from work and go on facebook chat but I have no running water currently.9) The internet being really sloooooowwwww.10) And other times not being able to get online at all!11) Wearing a money belt at work– it’s a safe place to keep cash and my phone/calculator/torch.12) No hot water (currently no running water– although I don’t feel that’s normal yet!)13) Women carrying their babies on their backs, with their little feet sticking out either side– its sooooo cute!14) Little kids carrying babies on their backs– even cuter!15) Hardly any pavements anywhere, so constantly dodging traffic and sewers.16) Night time noises– dogs constantly barking, the mosque at 5am, “crazy man” who often starts shouting in the middle of the night, cars tooting their horns.17) Sleeping under a mosquito net.18) Taxis and poda podas which are so so battered and worn you would be surprised if they would pass an MOT– but still they keep on going.19) There are no landlines here– just mobiles (but only pay as you go – no contracts)!20) Everyone being known (esp in phone address books) by their NGO e.g. Shona VSO, Becky Welbodi.21) The term“flashing” meaning to ring someone and hang up so they will phone you back. Or to give someone your phone number, as in “I’m flashing you now”.22) Never wondering what the weather or the temperature will be today.23) The fact that taxis go where they want, not where you want!24) Traffic!!! ! So bad on Monday that I walked most of the way home. I’d do it every day but it does take two hours to walk all the way.25) That, when the vice president is being driven home from work (he lives about half a mile away from us) the police stop all the other traffic so his entourage can pass on the wrong side of the road (which clearly makes the rest of the traffic even worse than normal!)26) Laughing cow cheese and boiled egg is a great lunchtime combination in white bread.27) Strange combinations of chickpeas and sardines make wonderful dinners.28) Being in an ethnic minority and it being constantly pointed out to me by people calling“White Girl”.29) Constantly being dusty, a bit sweaty and never ever getting my feet totally clean (even when we do have running water!)PS. My Mum added another comparison from last week’s blog about the differences between Oxford Children’s Hospital and ODCH – that children in Oxford all have cuddly toys. At ODCH the only furry animals have long tails and run along the open sewers outside the hospital!PPS The little boy with the tension pneumothorax survived and has been discharged home.