Blog 8
27/11/07
Over the weekend I went to church, the service was good but well over 3 hours! The singing and music was fabulous and I love how everyone dances in the aisle, it was such a pleasure to watch. Having said this I am fairly conservative about how church should be and so did feel that this wasn’t the right church for me. I might try out a few more. I really want to join a choir, I used to enjoy singing when I was much younger and then just gave it up completely, this feels like a good place to take it up again.

Yesterday as I was lying in bed it occurred to me that at home in London we have numerous candles and even more blasted candle stands, what the hell do we ever use them for? Here on the other hand I use candles every single day and yet I don’t have a single candle stand and just melt and stick them onto any surface. I do have one stuck in a bottle but that is reserved for when I am moving from one room to another. It’s crazy that we have so much stuff at home that we don’t use and certainly don’t need. I would kill for some of the shit lying in our garage and loft. I find myself using everything for something, hardly any wastage at all.

I recall a story my father told me about when my parents were newly married and living in a village, my father invited a senior colleague for dinner spontaneously and my mother rummaged up a very acceptable if not impressive dinner with various bits and leftovers (he even inquired about the recipe!). I see her do it even now, make something out of nothing. I am proud that I am truly my mother’s daughter; I see so much of her in myself!

Amma you would be so proud of how my kitchen looks, how well everything is organised and labelled! How I have reserves of all the essential things and how I never allow myself to waste anything. I wish you could come see me here…

Blog 7
23/11/07
Last night we made a thanksgiving meal pretty successfully considering our limited resources, we were just missing the turkey that was replaced by the small chicken and cranberry sauce which apparently no one really likes. I then went for a concert featuring local and national artists that went on till the wee hours of the morning, but it was totally worth it, I had my picture taken with Alonso the Salone Akon (and if I could bloody load some pictures onto this blog I would!!).

People don’t really distinguish between foreigners here, anything that isn’t black is white. It is very few people who make that distinction. I sometimes hear people in the street say “dis na Indian” which means “This one is Indian” in Krio, and I turn and smile with satisfaction. This is probably because Bollywood movies are somewhat popular here and I have had people asking me if I am related to Rani Mukherjee! I’m very tempted to tell them I am. I have asked the neighbourhood kids to call me didi, which means big sister in Hindi and even though I know it means nothing to them, it gives me a warm feeling when I hear them call me didi.

For various reasons I find myself being given opportunities that I would never get back home. This morning a lecturer that I met from the local university asked me to come in and talk to his development students about gender in development and in particular talk about Kerela. I couldn’t say no, so next Saturday I hope to be giving my first lecture. It’s all such a great learning experience; I would be foolish to turn it down.

Blog 6
22/11/07

It is thanksgiving today and since there isn’t a turkey in sight I have just returned from the market with a semi dead chicken in a black plastic bag. It twitched quite a lot as I walked back to the office and stuck it discreetly in the fridge. I look forward to going home and plucking and cleaning it before we can begin to prepare our roast dinner tonight. We even found Irish potatoes, even though they were extortionately expensive!

James my house mate has broken a VSO record, he has successfully contracted malaria twice in a 5 week period. The first time was not so bad (10%) the second time however, which he is still battling, has knocked him out (80%!) He has been extremely unlucky. I on the other hand have not had any health issues yet (touch wood), and hope to remain healthy.

The last couple of weeks have been good. I feel like I am having more ups and downs. I am beginning to enjoy Makeni more and more, as I explore the town and get to know people and just generally feel more comfortable here. I guess I just feel quite content and happy regardless of the downs. Work is going well, I go through phases of being confident in my ability to deliver what is expected of me and wondering who in their right mind would give me a responsibility like this often within a couple of hours.

Today is a good day I am getting my head around how to convey something that I am only familiarising myself with now to a group of people who are not at all familiar with it at all. I am working hard and doing a lot of preparation and planning (and for those of you who know me better you will know how much importance I put on the planning stage of things!). I am learning the importance of just trying something out even if you aren’t sure of what you are doing and how you are doing it and inevitably of making mistakes because that is the only way you can learn. On the other hand I am also learning the importance of actually learning from your mistakes as I observe others and myself at times repeating the same mistakes over and over again!!

Blog 5
16th November 2007
Yesterday was the new President’s inauguration. A truly historic moment, many people flocked to the national stadium in Freetown to listen to his speech most of us however caught some or all of it on the radio. It was a national holiday and so I spent a large chunk of the day cleaning the house and washing my clothes, I feel so domesticated!!
The day before that I was out for drinks and bumped into Farley Flex, the judge from Canadian Idol, hanging out in Makeni. I knew he was coming here to do some PR work for War Child Canada and met him and his team in our local and only Lebanese restaurant in town.