In Which TIA No Longer Refers To Strokes
on Zoe Page (Sierra Leone), 20/Sep/2010 09:06, 34 days ago
Waking at 6.30am is quite sensible, except when you’ve been up until 2am and don’t actually need to rise until 10am. Oh well. I switch on the TV (oh yeah – I have a TV!) while I unpack into my (lockable) wardrobe and discover I’ve brought a few more clothes than I remember. Then again, considering how drenched my t-shirt was within 30 minutes of landing last night, there’s a chance I may be going through multiple clothes changes each day.I decide to have a shower and, oh crap, there’s a bucket in there. Do I know how to do bucket showers? Um...no. But randomly there’s also a fully working shower with hot water, so I just use that and decide I’ll figure out the whole bucket thing at a later time.I try my new SIM in my old phone and it works which is crazy since my contract in the UK is still ongoing, and I thought it would need unlocking. I top up (we get 1000 units free, despite promises in the pack that it would be 2000) and text the UK and lo and behold it works. Later I’ll have to figure out how many units it just cost me.I go for breakfast just as Alex and Tash are coming down, so we sit together and order– the standard (maybe included?) continental breakfast for the girls, an omelette for Alex. The bread is massive slices from a farmhouse style loaf, and the ‘tropical juice’ is orange. It’s all good stuff. We read through the packs we got given at the dock last night, which include the timetable for ICT. Somehow it now seems to be down to under a week, which means we’re probably going to be going up country next Sunday.At 10.15am one of the VSO team appears to walk us to the office which is just along the street. We don’t even have to cross over. The building is massive with a view of the water, and reminds me of IH. In fact, there’re a lot of things that remind me of Mexico. Like the heat. And the roads. The day goes on and on. It’s full of really useful and/or interesting stuff but operating on 4 hours sleep, I’m not sure most of us are giving it our full attention. We have a tour, do a warmer, write on post its and flipcharts. In other words, the VSO staples. Lunch is included – an array of rices, plantain and meat things, and as we eat we get to grill Jo, an existing volunteer who has been outabout 3 months.After lunch we get on to facts about the social, economic and political aspects of the country (like the education system here is 6,3,3,4) and debate the difference between reactive and responsive. Then I go to the loo and have to laugh. True to their word, the toilets here have, ahem, supplies in them. And evidently the manufacturers of female condoms have finally found a market for their products.After we finish (and kudos to Victor for fitting his 1½ hour session into 10 minutes as we’re severely over running), I walk with Jo, Alex, Tash, Cheryl and Alex #2 to Jo’s house which is about 20 minutes away. It’s massive, with 4 bedrooms, two bathrooms, a veranda and a monster living room. If that’s the standard of accommodation to come, I’m quite up for moving to Kenema (though I have found out I won’t be living with Maria as we’d thought, but in a newly rented place instead...) We then split off, going variously to drop people off, pick up chicken and chips or hit the supermarket. No prizes for guessing my option.Food Land is not the biggest supermarket. It is not, as the name would imply, a kingdom of produce. But they do sell some important stuff. Like proper cheese, peanut butter and...wait for it... Milka. No way, right? But yes indeed. I resist buying any as it’s not cheap and would melt, but wow! Somehow I don’t think the provinces will have quite the chocolate selection this place does. Cheryl and I walk back via the bakery, and pass a bunch of stalls along the way, some exact replicas of ones in Mexico City. Sir Samuel Lewis Road could totally be Insurgentes if you traded in the Podas for a Metrobus, and maybe got rid of the many stray dogs.Things I’ve learnt today:• God is Good& God is in control (from the front of busses, though the latter was slightly blurred and if you squinted could instead suggest that God is incontinent)• I can get bitten even while wearing 50% Deet• The VSO version of a first aid kit includes hydrogen peroxide (so we can all go blonde?), two vaguely antiseptic looking things, a bottle of vanilla essence, sorry, Gentian Violet, and a Mosquito repellent suitable for use while smothering your children in bed if the picture on the pack is anything to go by• When you go to kick a ball back to some kids playing soccer, and accidentally whack one of them instead, they don’t mind all that much (I won’t name names, but it wasn’t me)• They sell Milka in Sierra Leone. And Nutella. And Dairy Milk. And Ritz Crackers, Water Biscuits and Tesco Baked Beans.• Forget the (blood) diamonds; cold showers are a girl’s best friend• African soaps make Tele Novellas look like quality TV• It’s fine to brush your teeth with tap water as long as you forget to worry about it later