bryan meeker in sierra leone

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Things

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

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

Blue Pen is for writing notes.

Red Pen is for titles and subtitles in notes.

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.

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.

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.

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 :)

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..)

I love and miss you all. :)

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

>> So. I think a lifetime ago I wrote about my typical day. It's changed.. I wake up around 630 or 7 AM to the sound of roosters crowing outside my window, women pounding leaves to make sauce, children running around, and my dogs barking at anything and everything.. I move to my porch, where Sandy is usually sweeping it or the compound around, asking how I slept, drawing water from the well for bathing, etc. We're usually laughing pretty quickly unless I didn't sleep well in which case Sandy usually recognizes quickly to stay out of sight (I'll say I'm crabby like that once a week. Something about the mice crawling up my mosquito net, the bats having ridiculous sex in my attic, or the roosters deciding that YES, 3 AM IS MORNING! is an obstruction to good sleep). I get out my crank REI radio (which Foday dropped and broke the battery housing) so I start cranking. I listen to Capital Radio (http://www.capitalradio.sl) from about 7 to 830ish, at which point I usually lose the signal. I don't know why. Something about the planet spinning. I usually sit on my porch, read some books, write, wonder what I'm doing, decide whether or not to go into town before school, and bathe. It's dry season by now, which means that if I don't bathe by about 10 AM, it's not worth it, because I'll be sweating by the time I leave the latrine. I pull water from the well, put it in my broken blue bucket, and walk to the latrine, strip down, suds up, wash down, and get dressed. Because if I stayed home I wouldn't be productive, I usually take my belongings to the school. Because my school has switched to a shift system, I now only teach in the afternoon, but from 10AMish to 1PMish when my shift starts I'm in the staff room, reading, writing, being rude, being funny, talking about America, talking about Libya, talking about how Americans do NOT love war, (thats worth another blog post in itself), and relaxing. I usually visit Mr. Bangura in the carpentry workshop and listen to music on his radio. At 1 PM we have devotion. The children sing religious songs, sing the national anthem, and then it's off to class (in a perfect world, mind you :P) I only teach SS2 sci/arts, SS2 commercial, and SS3 arts/commercial, so at the most I have three classes. Imagine me teaching perfectly. Good. After the classes, around 3 PM, I either go to town to get the necessary items (bread, units to text, peanut butter cakes, honey, etc.) or I go home. ((It being the dry season, my first goal is usually to get home and GET OUT OF MY BLACK PANTS)) I get onto the porch, either lesson plan (although I've now planned all the way through to 2012 I feel), read, write, relax, drink palm wine, think about home, take a nap, write some more, or go visit Mr. Bangura, the Councilor, or my fellow teachers and friends. At about 5 or 6 PM, my neighbor brings over food. I pay her 40,000Le a month (~$10) to make food for me. This is a good deal (although I'm planning to increase it to 50,000Le next month (prices are rising here.. rice was 600Le a cup when I first got to Gbendembu and it's now 900Le). I eat. At about 6 PM I usually take another shower because at this time it gets cooler and once you're wet everything feels cooler, etc. People visit, we talk and laugh and drink and relax, I light a candle, the candle burns down, and people depart. I lock down my house, check it again, and either settle into bed with a light and a book or lay down. The mice and bats wait until I am suitably asleep before they begin their shenanigans and in a short spin of the globe, I do it all over again :) I love and miss you all! :)

Sunday, April 3, 2011

My Parents Come to Visit (it's a long post.. go get that drink)

>> Sometime around last fall, I began talking to my parents about the possibility of them coming to Sierra Leone. I had known from the beginning that (being a loser) this experience would be difficult for me (and for my parents as I'm their only kid). They were supportive of me wanting to come home halfway through my service (and that was helped by a close friend of mine Miles who is a PCV in Honduras who did the same) but we also began to broach the idea of them coming to Sierra Leone, to see my host family (who I loved), my village, my school, and the general beautiful chaos that is this country. The details we needed to work out were numerous, but we finally decided that we would give it a try. Blogspot sucks with bullet points.

Fast forward to this past Sunday (March 27th) and me waiting at Lungi International Airport at about 9:15 PM for my parents' flight (an hour late). It's a really weird feeling, I'm not sure how to describe it, to see a flashing red/white light over your head and know that your parents are inside it, the same parents you haven't seen for nine months. Indescribable. They landed, and after taking forever to secure their luggage, we moved quickly to my waiting Mercedes-Benz sedan (courtesy of a friend who drove) and we went like crazy people to the ferry. *A note on the ferry: The last ferry is at 9 PM UNLESS there's a big flight coming in that will likely have people needing the ferry. The bmi flight my parents were on, even though it arrived at 9:15, was big enough for the ferry to wait. We arrived at the ferry around 10 PM and it was there waiting for us in all of its rusting white flourescently-lighted glory* We crossed over, and I fed my parents some chicken and rice I'd bought them and their first STAR Beers, which they both enjoyed. After reaching the other side and having tried to debrief them on the next few days, we moved quickly through a darkened but busy Freetown to the Hill Valley Hotel where we moved to our room, talked about everything, and fell asleep.

The next morning meant visits with some Peace Corps administration and then back into the Benz for the long journey to Bo for my host family. Having my American family meet my African family (the ones that took care of me for my first ten weeks in country) was incredible (and incredibly surreal). They hit it off immediately. We ate food, we laughed, my host father talked about how mature, amazing, independent, assured, etc. I was, and I did my best to downplay it. I'm mediocre, really. My parents got their first taste of real African cooking (petete leaf, groundnut soup, pineapples, mangoes) and we were all amazingly comfortable with each other. This was also when my parents had their first taste of palm wine. While the palm wine in Bo is good (I’m being generous), the palm wine in my village is far superior (I’m being modest). My parents did like the Bo wine though, and I was anxious for them to try the wine I can get locally in Gbendembu.

On the second day I took my parents to our training site, showed them were I spent my time those first ten weeks, and even got to have a drink with them at Graceland, our old stomping ground for after-training drinks and comiserating. Again, having a beer with my parents at the same Graceland where I drank beers with my fellow volunteers many months ago? Surreal. I got the picture of all my parents like I wanted, and it was just an 'aw shucks this is great' couple of days :)

On the next morning, (March 30th for those keeping track), we had a vehicle pick us up and take us to Masiaka where we traded for another that took us to Lunsar where we traded for another that took us to Makeni. I hate trading vehicles this much but it's pretty much standard. In reality, it gave my parents a more realistic view of what I have to do. I paid big money to charter cars so my parents would be comfortable, but for them to see the switching, the haggling, the bitching, the agreeing of how transportation works here was better than anything I could have planned. From Makeni, I wanted my parents to have the real experience of riding a poda-poda, our typical 18-30people small mini-busses/big vans that most people take. The road from Makeni to Gbendembu is.. challenging, and while my parents were probably sore from it, the experience is something I know they'll never forget. Something about not being able to move while you move up a rocky slope with a small child crying in your face and the person next to you's body odor mixing with your own... perfect. Once in Gbendembu, we moved to my house (after greeting just about everyone we saw, who were of course curious), and had petete leaf and I more or less hid my parents. We also had some of the local palm wine, and my parents remarked on the differences. (They found, as I know, that each gallon of palm wine is different). They were tired, needed to wash, and the last thing they really needed was to go be dragged around the village. I felt that we could start introductions the next day.

The next day, March 31st, involved me taking my parents just about everywhere for introductions. They met most of my teachers, the Paramount Chief, the people in town who I like, and any and every child that came in our way. I should mention they'd already met my dogs in Bo and in Gbendembu and enjoyed them thoroughly. For lunch, we moved to Pastor's house, a good friend of mine, where she had prepared porridge. This isn't the porridge you're thinking of. It has fish, chicken, potatoes, cassava, onions, salt, peppers, spices, bananas, and probably some ingredients I'm forgetting. It's considered a 'commoner' dish because of how simple it is (i.e. what do we have in the kitchen, hun?) but I love it and hoped my parents would too. They did. The Pastor is quirky, but her sense of humor and ease with my parents made the lunch truly enjoyable. We also had “Pop” which is a millet drink. I hope my mother is able to reproduce this sometime(?).. After lunch we moved to the school where my mother addressed the gathered SS students. She spoke of dedication, motivation, of the responsibility of education, of progress. It was (again) so surreal to see my mother giving a speech to my students. We moved to the classroom, where I worked to complete my World-Wise Schools program; the students wrote a letter to American students and my parents had brought their replies. Now, my students got to reply back. My students LOVE this program, even if many of them asked for phone numbers and to be taken to America. Such is Africa. After this, we went on back to the house and relaxed. I made a few more introductions, and my parents and I had a long-awaited discussion. I love my parents. We went to my principal's house for dinner, and then into town for them to meet Sori Bangura. We had some beers, and watched the gathering storm on the horizon. When one lightning bolt was brighter than the rest, we called the evening and hurried home. It didn't end up raining for a few more hours, but when it did, it was substantial.

April Fools Day. Foday fooled me. Jerk. We went to the school in the morning where my father addressed the JSS students. We thought this might provide a nice sort of symmetry. Then, my mother was asked to speak again. They both emphasized that education is the students responsibility, that education is more important than athletics, than dancing, than fooling around. I don’t know if any of my students really got the message, but it was great to hear and see it spoken to a group of students by my parents. I’d like to believe that while people are unhappy at my progress in Loko, I am widely respected. (I could be wrong on this. I return home to find my house spray-painted with “YOU’RE A BAD DANCER”) My parents garnered silence from the students, and my principal was very pleased with the entire exercise. After this, we returned home, ate some pineapple, and then joined Sori Bangura for our trip to the river. We picked up some STAR Beer and off we went. I wrote a blog post about the river; it was a really great time and a completely different Sierra Leone than they had seen in Bo or thus far in my village. The river honestly looks like something out of Illinois or Colorado or anywhere in the continental USA, just a beautiful river with beaches. The difference may lie in the naked women who were cleaning their clothes and the lack of Budweiser bottles littering the shore (they were our STAR bottles.. we picked them up). After the river, we returned back to the village and went back to the Pastor. The rest of the day was to be spent cooking. My father killed my chicken (CONGRATULATIONS :) and we all worked in some fashion for the preparation of a salad (chicken, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, mayonnaise, ketchup, onions, luncheon meat) and later of canya (the peanut butter / rice flour / sugar delicacy that I love). It was a great afternoon and evening, even if I did get a little frustrated with the Pastor (after she called me lazy). We moved back to my house, had some palm wine, and relaxed and packed. We visited my friend the Councilor and he was able to elaborate on some of the shenanigans volunteers got into when he was in charge of training (when training was in MY VILLAGE Gbendembu!). The sun set, the gentle breezes began, and we went home to sleep.

The next morning was complicated. Plans changed, were destroyed, re-hashed, and finally we were on our way to Freetown from Gbendembu in the vehicle the belongs to my Paramount Chief. This journey seemed exceptionally long (I think the driver wasn’t sure how to go faster than 50 mph although it may have been the vehicle) but we eventually, after dealing with more charismatic Freetown traffic, arrived again at the Hill Valley Hotel. In retrospect, I feel it may have been better to get a hotel closer to the ferry dock, but the air-conditioning, fast wireless, and running water seemed to win us over. I had one final surprise for my parents, though. We found a vehicle and went off to The Atlantic. The Atlantic might be my favorite place in Sierra Leone. It’s a bar / club ON the beach that has been around since 1971. (Mary-Jean went there). My father mentioned early on that he wanted to get to the beach and while I had initially planned to take my parents to a restaurant called Bash’s, I knew that The Atlantic would be the perfect conclusion to their trip. It doesn’t hurt that The Atlantic has ice-cold STAR beer on draught. We ordered food at ridiculous prices and watched the sun set over the ocean. We talked about the future. We talked about the past. We talked about my service, my frustrations, and my hopes. We talked about my parents, their opinions of the trip, their fears, and their desires. It was the perfect conclusion to my parents visit. We drove back to Hill Valley, I uploaded pictures with the quick internet, and we went to sleep.

We woke up lazily (after having to turn the a/c off because we were cold. BEING COLD (?!?!) An AMAZING feeling. We went to breakfast (where we again were served omelets, bread with butter, a small salad, and a hot dog). There was a large group of Americans present, and I cringed not only at their attitude toward the staff but the carelessness with which they offended the locals. They soon left, in a privately-chartered bus, and I wished them well. Some people shouldn’t leave America, says I. After breakfast, we packed and went to visit one final Peace Corps staff member. It was a great visit, and my parents finally met the woman who has saved me from giardia, boils, dehydration, etc. After the visit, we moved back to the hotel and waited for our ride, which never came. Miscommunication, mistakes, and problems meant that we were leaving for the 2 PM ferry at about 12:45 PM in a vehicle I didn’t know. We ended up having to pay more than we should have both there and for the ferry-Lungi run, but I got my parents to the airport and I felt happy to have them at their destination. Then, we had *that* moment. As when my parents landed, (although we didn’t get to hug until we got to the hotel), we had to part ways again. My mother cried, and my father (who usually doesn’t) cried, which meant I cried. Fail. I think that this sadness was not only the separation but the knowledge that I really had no plan of how to get back to the Peace Corps compound, not really promising for parents about to head back to London. I left, found a vehicle to the ferry, made a new friend, and after breezing through Freetown hit bad traffic but finally, at about 7:30 PM, made it. My parents, as of now (at 11:14 PM), have half an hour to go, and I’m here typing this blog post. It was pretty surreal, pretty amazing, and I am PROUD of my parents for coming. They now have a sense of my interactions, my frustrations, my hopes, and most importantly, as I’ve put it before, the beautiful chaos that is Sierra Leone. I’ve asked my parents to post about their experience. I hope you enjoy that too. I love and miss you all :)

Friday, April 1, 2011

Dogs (Again)

>> Just thought you might enjoy an update on my growing flotilla of dogs. Foday's dog Justice, Sandy's dog Tink, their puppy is my puppy Queen. The three of them (the four of us) go everywhere together. When I go to school, they come and sleep in the staff room and then in the classroom by the chalkboard while I teach. When I go home, they go home. It's amusing to everyone in my village, but I'm really pretty okay with being 'the white man who likes dogs.' I recently had a party at my house and made sure that the dogs were fed before some other people (people I hadn't invited, mind you) and had people shaking their heads.. 'Oh, Sago.. you love these dogs..' I think there's plenty worse things I could be known for. (like being REALLY sarcastic, ugh..) I love and miss you all! :)

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Twenty Dollars

>> I'm not going to add pretext to this, $1 is equal to about ~4300Leones now, so $20 is equivalent to about 80,000 Leones. Some prices of common items:

One trimester of school (20,000Le)

One year of school (60,000Le)

Bottle of Water (3,000Le)

Tin of Sardines (3,000Le)

Bottle of Ketchup (3,500Le)

Serving of Petete Leaf and Rice (1,000Le)

Pack of Cheese (4,500Le)

Bottle of Mayo (18,000Le)

Peanut Butter Cake (100Le)

Pack of Peanuts (100Le)

Charging your Phone (1000Le)

Units to Text (2,200Le)

Can of Baked Beans (4,000Le)

Gallon of Petrol (20,000Le)

Transport from Gbendembu to Makeni (10,000Le)

Transport from Makeni to Gbendembu (15,000Le)

Bottle of Brown Mustard (8,500Le)

Bottle of French Dressing (18,000Le)

Notebook (2,500Le)

Pen (500Le)

Soft Drink (2,000Le)

Roll of Toilet Paper (3,000Le)

Bottle of Honey (3,000Le)

Loaf of Bread (500Le)

Pack of Cakes (500Le)

Packet of Water (500Le)

Boiled Egg (1000Le)

Cup of Rice (900Le)

Medium Onion (500Le)

Large Onion (1000Le)

STAR Beer (3,000Le)

Can of Coke (4,000Le)

40 Oz. Carlsberg (6,000Le)

small can of Carlsberg (5,000Le)

Gallon of Palm Wine (2,500Le)

Transport from Makeni to Freetown (15,000Le)

Can of Pringles (14,500Le)

Packet of Oreos (6,000Le)

Battery Powered Light (17,000Le)

Packet of 8 Candles (5,000Le)

Kit Kat (4,000Le)

Ginger Beer (500Le)

You can do all the fun conversions for yourself, but these are some of the prices I've encountered in my time here in Sierra Leone. Food for thought. I love and miss you all! :)

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

We Sing Our Praise to Thee

>> Something I love is the really amazing and incredible coincidences that I run into here :) Here's a bunch recently all involving Illinois:

My mosquito net is from Roselle, Illinois.

The notebooks I purchased (because mine were full) were made in Downers Grove, Illinois.

One of my carpenters' favorite hats is a Chicago Bulls hat.

One of my favorite drivers is never without his favorite Chicago Bears hat.

A man at the checkpoint to get to my village was wearing a University of Illinois t-shirt complete with the Chief Illliniwek symbol.

A man at the recent sport meet at my school had a WGN Radio / Chicago Bears fanny pack

Another man at the same meet was wearing an old-school Chicago Bears jacket

A man on the side of the road (on my way to Freetown yesterday) was wearing a Brian Urlacher jersey.

It's really pretty surreal to look and see CHICAGO on someone's shirt here in Africa but it always brings a smile to my face and makes me realize the world is a little bit smaller. But, I saved the best for last:

SORI BANGURA, a man of high esteem in my town, met me a few months ago. Our friendship was easy, he is a very productive farmer and often has cold beer and good stories to tell. The reason he's in this post? You'll never guess his alma mater. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, class of 1969. Your humble author? The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champain, class of 2009. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES of me finding another alumni from my university in my tiny village of Gbendembu?! That smile on your face? On mine too. I love and miss you all :)

Sunday, March 27, 2011

oh hi, internet

>> It's been awhile. Almost two months. I'm writing a bunch of posts now and I'll time-release them to come up over the next few weeks. I hope you've all been well! I love and miss you all :)