Sports Day

 

Today I had another lesson with Father Gabriel. This time it was about grammar and the culture of Sierra Leone. Afterwards, I went back to the parsonage headquarters, where I met up with Monsignor John and an IT worker who helped me set up my phone and my Wi-Fi. Later, Monsignor John took me to his home next to his church and gave me lunch. It was another fish stew with rice, but this one had chicken legs and meatballs in it too. I got a chance to practice my Krio with his housekeeper. I’m still shaky on some words but I’m getting better.

 

I could hear an announcer on a loudspeaker outside and I asked Monsignor John if there was an event going on. He said that next door there is a school sports field, and two schools were competing in running and jumping, like track in America. He asked if I wanted to go over and I said I would absolutely love to! The children were divided into four teams (though they call them houses): blue, pink, white, and yellow. The children (or pikkin) would choose one person from each house to run the race. For the first event, the competitors had to run around the field 3 times. While I was watching them, I wondered how none of them were passing out from the heat. Then one girl on the pink team passed out in the middle of the race! Luckily, Sister Peace, the sister who will be going to the hospital with me every morning, was there to check on her. I got hot too and very tired, so Father took me back home.