the world is my mollusk.: Exercise, Food, and Water.

On Monday night I went with our landlord, Mike, to run with a local group of Sierra Leonans and ex-pats. Turns out this group is about 70 people big, half white, half black, mostly men in their 30’s. Sierra Leone’s Minister of Defense led us in a pre-run chant, and we took off up one of Freetown’s endless hills. The trail was marked every ½ mile with arrows made of shredded paper, meaning we stopped at least 4 or 5 times to backtrack and reroute. I have never sweat so much in my life; it was 6pm and easily 85 degrees with 90% humidity. We ran through little villages, up hills, down hills, through fields, along roads with amazing views of the ocean. We finished and I got ready to head home, only to realize the group is more of a socializing/drinking club that occasionally goes running. The beer was brought out, announcements were made, those returning from abroad were welcomed back, and then came the initiation ceremony for running club ‘virgins’. Myself and 2 other unlucky girls were pushed into the middle of the circle and told to share our names, where we were from, what we did, who brought us to the club, and, according to the announcer: “the most important question of all: ARE... YOU... AVAILABLE?” It was cringe-worthy. Everyone toasted us and sang the club chant again, and we had to chug a glass of beer (or Coke). Then we joined the circle again and everyone sang Swing Low Sweet Chariot, complete with hand motions, which the Minister of Defence acted out in the middle. One of the more bizarre experiences of my life.

A few things I like about Sierra Leone thus far:

Mangoes, obviously.

Women can dress appropriately given the heat. In other African countries I’ve been to, knees and shoulders should always be covered; if you expose either, you’re a loose woman. Mercifully and miraculously, you can wear a tank top and a short-ish skirt here still be considered morally upstanding. This is a nice surprise in a country where the majority of the population is Muslim.

There seems to be a nice balance in relation to white people. In other places I’ve either been bombarded with lots of unwanted attention, or given cold and indifferent treatment. Here, people have seen whites before so you are not a total novelty, but there are few enough of them (especially that don’t ride around in big white aid SUVs) that kids still stare at us and say “hello?” when we’re walking to work. I also like that you don’t get mistaken for a rich tourist. Sierra Leone could easily be a stunning vacation destination, but thanks to the war, most white people here are working with NGOs, and the locals know this, so people begging or trying to sell you overpriced souvenirs doesn’t happen much.

Something I am really getting tired of is the price of food. I’ve been able to find a store that sells things dirt cheap everywhere I’ve been in Africa... not here. EVERYTHING in Freetown is imported. All three of the grocery stores we’ve found have primarily American and English products, double or quadruple their normal price. Case in point: this garlic salt, which still had a 99 cent sticker from the US on it but cost almost 10,000 leones ($2.30). I spotted a bag of muesli for 139,000 leones... roughly $32. Opted for a bag of spicy cream-of-wheat-esque cereal from Ghana for $3, which you could easily get in Ghana for about 70 cents. This is apparently also a result of the war: Sierra Leone was producing nothing, and various countries offered to import their products in. Sierra Leone accepted, and the prices of these imports have gradually risen, while simultaneously preventing Sierra Leonans from being able to sell and even export their own products, like rice and fish.

Having said that, the other day we needed an avocado for dinner and when I discovered the one in our muggy disgusting fridge was covered in mold, I ran 2 blocks down the street and bought a gigantic fresh one for 25 cents from the mama on the corner. At least most fruit and veg remain the same – cheap and amazing. Oh, and we found a Lebanese bakery on the way to work that sells decent chocolate croissants, which have become the highlight of the morning.

We are taking off tomorrow for a week of research in 3 northern communities in Port Loko and Kambia. Probably won’t be posting till we’re back. Prayers for safety and insanely productive data collection would be much appreciated.. we’ve got 7 days to oversee 100 questionnaires, conduct 18 semi-structured interviews, and organize 4 focus groups.

I leave you with some photos of an insane downpour yesterday that lasted at least 3 hours and turned the roads outside the office into literal rivers, confirming that we are indeed in the thick of the rainy season.

Love to you all!