After a whirlwind couple of weeks of intense info sessions (In-Service Training, my sector summit, All-Volunteer Conference, and the West Africa International Softball Tournament) my BFF Amber and I went to Sierra Leone to visit our mutual friend and fellow UCLA grad, Amanda, serving in the PC there as a science teacher. Down south the hills are greener, the food a little oilier and the language a bit easier to pick up.
Highlights include:
- Massive consumption of palm oil and rice. Unfortunately, palm oil is my least favorite type of oil, but at least there were usually some beans too. Hurray protein.
- Salone volunteers live in their own houses, which gives a great deal of independence, but it also means they must cook for themselves, buy food or find a neighbor family to adopt them. While I don't mind Amanda's usual breakfast of wheatabix and powdered milk, I was very happy her neighbor, Auntie Ami, made Amber and I breakfast every day we were there such as the plaintains and omelette pictured at right.
- Palm Wine, also known as God's gift to man, is easily available out in the Eastern Province. Men scurry up palm trees, tap them and then we all enjoy large glasses of fizzy, white 'wine' at some long benches in the shade.
- Amanda introduced me to a pulaar man at her site who makes attaya and cafe touba - I'd been missing sugary caffeinated beverages, even just after a few days.
Many thanks to the girls for being great travel buddies. Hopefully, we'll get to stuff ourselves into the back of a taxi/poda-poda/ferry again sometime soon.
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