Thursday, April 7, 2011

Things

>> Here are some interesting quirks of Sierra Leone..

  1. Pencil is used for drawing pictures. Pen is not to be used for drawings.

  2. Blue Pen is for writing notes.

  3. Red Pen is for titles and subtitles in notes.

  4. 50% is a passing grade. I have often given a student a 52% with a disapproving glare but found a student pleased with their mark.


  5. When someone departs, they say, "I'm coming." This is either a twist of "I'm coming back" or a misunderstanding of "I'm going," but whenever I leave now, I say, "Okay, I get fo go. I de come" or "I have to go. I'm coming." which means, see you later.


  6. My principal's brother is one of my students. I thought that he was his son. But he's his brother. He's 30 years old. My princial is in his late 50's. Imagine my surprise.


  7. My best friend Foday coined this phrase, "I'm with you." which means that whatever you want, whatever you need, I'm on your side, I'm with you. He has been amazing in this regard- when I am upset or happy or frustrated or giddy, the phrase "I'm with you" comes up and makes me realize that no matter how lonely I may get, I'm never alone :)


  8. Ghosts and witches are prevalent in my village. The ghost, Boxa Boxa, has been known to knock over condiments, spoons, and move things around in houses.. (I think it might be the mice I've seen, but I won't mention that..)

  9. I love and miss you all. :)

4 comments:

  1. Hey Bryan -- been meaning to get an email off to you but having all your contact info doesn't help if I can't find it! Glad to find your blog and enjoyed reading about your parents' visit. Sounds like it was great all around. If you still have my email, pop me a quick message and I'll get back to you. I'd love to keep in regular contact with you, but too shy to do that in blog comments. Thanks for taking care of my, make that OUR, village. -MJ

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  2. I feel like with the copious amounts of superstition you describe in #8, you could easily take over the village. However, your plans will mostly be ruined by some meddling kids and there dog, too.

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  3. bryanjmeeker@gmail.com is my email, MJ :) and yes, that's exactly the problem / solution lol

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  4. #9 is an interesting quirk! ;-)

    But those are amusing / curious. It's also neat (for lack of a better word) that one culture's customs and habitudes can be quirky to another culture... it really is fascinating to me. I wonder how long I'd survive going to a different part of the world being as stubbornly non-confrontational as I am. Probably not very.

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