Tropical torrents
The rains continue... in fact they have been so strong that they have swept away half of a sleeping policeman on my road. There are a lot of sleeping policemen on the roads around here (put in to stop the UN troops killing so many children when they were based in Freetown). These cause a lot of traffic jams in the mornings as the taxis (in particular) struggle over them to get up the hill. Anyway, as I have mentioned in the past, the roads have become rivers and several boulders (of varying sizes) have been dislodged, but this is the first time I have seen rains heavy enough to wash away parts of the traffic calming system.
The rains are definitely getting heavier- I went paddling in order to get into a friend's car this weekend- we had been planning to go in search of sunlight but that seemed like a vain hope, so we retired to her house and watched 'The Last King of Scotland' instead- a good, but sometimes violent film about Idi Amin in Uganda and the change that came over him while he was in power there.
Also this weekend, I went on the walk (have been absent from it for various reasons for a few weeks), anyway, it was a nice, easy walk- up whale bay river (no Whales around, no bay and only a bit of a river, tho' am assured that the latter will soon be changed as a result of the rainy seasons). We then enjoyed a pot-luck picnic on the beach (with sun) and the waves were somewhat less violent than the previous weekend :-)
Several people seem to be leaving at the moment (I don't think this is just because it's the rainy season), which means there's a few leaving parties happening. However, it's also the beginning of the research season, when several people come over from various universities to research into various aspects of the social, economic and post-conflict development and structures of the country. I think it's the arrival of so many people coming here for 2-3months that meant when I arrived someone asked how long I was staying for and their response to my reply was 'Ah, well in that case I can be your friend because you're here for at least 6months' (or in my case somewhat longer). There's a lot of comings and goings here, which makes life more interesting but also makes it somewhat unstable and harder to really get to know people properly unless they're here for a decent amount of time.
Labels: beach, leaving party, rain, roads, traffic, walk
Last weekend
Ok, so this is getting fairly bad- waiting an entire week after an event before posting it on my blog. However, work has been fairly busy this week- we've had a major meeting between government and donors to look at how things have been going on the PRSP, aid harmonisation, and various sector strategies since the CG meeting in November. The DEPAC is only one day long, so not quite as manic as preparing for the CG meeting, but it's still been busy. Also, the DEPAC is meant to happen every quarter (unlikely with elections coming up, but still possible) so that people at the top are kept informed on how things are going to reduce poverty.
Anyway, that was all out of the way by the end of yesterday and today has taken a more relaxed pace, meaning I can write a bit on my blog.
Last weekend was a break from the walking, swimming, beaching of previous posts. we left town on Friday afternoon and went down to the beach, about 7 cars worth, but there were spaces- but in any case there were quite a few of us.
Those who wanted to be prepared to roll into bed at any hour sorted out mosquito nets and hammocks and various other contraptions that they intended to us to catch some sleep. we then chilled and chatted on the beach, ate fish and rice (with fruit for dessert), listened to music and started the campfire going.
Now, this is meant to be the warmest time of year in SL, but I'm not convinced since I felt slightly chilly when wandering away from the fire (there was a very slightly breeze which also decreased the temperature slightly). We consumed a lot of marshmallows and there was a fair amount of alcohol drunk considering the hangovers several people had the next morning. I didn't go for a 3am swim (too cold and not looking forward to the prospect of going to bed cold and wet), in fact, slept very snugly and warmly to wake up just after 7.
Someone who was very well prepared had brought a camping stove (and cafetiere) with them- I love the smell of coffee and even quite like coffee beans covered in chocolate but still don't like the taste of coffee, despite housemates and friends trying to encourage me that it's really quite nice and probably won't poison me after all ;-)
A morning swim was definitely in order and was absolutely brilliant- the water wasn't particularly cold and allowed me to work off energy without disturbing those recovering from the previous evening's undertakings.
The journey back to town was a slight fiasco- two clutches gone (one recovered enough to get back to town and the other had to be towed), so a journey that can be done in an hour took well over 2 hours, but all made it safely back to town again in the end, which was a relief.
In the evening I was at a leaving party- two of the leaders of the walking club are leaving at some point in the near future and so we had a pot luck supper to say goodbye to them. Being highly unimaginative I took along a fruit salad- I'll see what I can do about tray-bakes in the future, but having spent most of the day at or returning from the beach, I didn't really feel like I had the opportunity to try anything more adventurous.
Sunday I went to church and heard a good talk from a guy who works for YFC and then relaxed and caught up on sleep in the afternoon (so pretty boring really).
This weekend- well, if all goes well then I hope to go up country to one of the parks. Being in West Africa, we don't get the big animal safari's common in East Africa, but we'll see what wildlife is willing to be capture on camera. Will let you know sometime soonish, but probably not on Monday- Sierra Leone being a majority Islamic country is having a bank holiday to celebrate their Isalmic prohet's birthday this weekend.
Labels: beach, car, coffee, leaving party, weekend, work
