Unexpected Visitor

After my pool trip on Saturday, I had an unexpected visitor late in the evening (or “evening tem” as they say here)! Janice England, who is a part of LMH, lived in Sierra Leone for many years, and she made many friends while she was here. One of them was a young man named Sheku. He showed up at my front door that night and introduced himself. At first, I had no idea who he was, but then he showed me a picture of Janice and I was happy to meet him. He offered to show me around the area where I lived, and I was so grateful. I have walked around a little by myself, but not very far. He showed me several stores within walking distance, and where to buy food and other things I needed. Passing them on the street, I would never have known what they were. 

 

Some buildings have self-explanatory signs. For example, I can figure out that “Brothers Barbing Shop” is a barber shop. But others, I never would have guessed based on their signs and advertising.  He even showed me where I could buy an iron for my laundry. They call it an “electric goose” here. I kinda see why. The shape is kinda…goose shaped.

 

He also taught me how to “top up” my “orange money wallet” for my Sierra Leonean phone. “Orange” is the name of one of the phone companies here. He explained that’s what all the shouting on the loudspeakers at night is about. While I lie in bed trying to sleep, I hear those voices and at first it sounded like “Oan onnay! Topa topa topa topa”, and I knew they had to be advertising something. But now I realize, the voices are saying “Orange money! Top up, top up, top up, top up!” It’s nice to know what they’re saying.

 

I was driven to mass on Sunday by my designated driver Emmanuel (Sandy drives me to the hospital). I think Sunday is now my favorite day. I get to see people and talk to people and interact with people. I think living in Sierra Leone is turning me into an extrovert! People are always happy to see me and I’m genuinely happy to see them! One lady who leads the choir even said I can join the choir if I want! They meet every Saturday night! I hope I’m able to find a driver to take me! There wasn’t a meeting with the young adult group to discuss Africana this time. Though they say they will meet next week.

 

When I’m at mass or at the hospital, I can really see the British influence on the culture in Sierra Leone. For example, people say “biscuits” instead of “cookies”, and “chips” instead of “French fries”. They also call “tape”, “plaster” here. Whenever we’re putting an IV in a vein, the nurses always say, “Get the plaster,” and they tape that sucker down tight. Even the food has British influence. It’s very common to drink Ginger beer and eat fish pies here. One of the nurses brought some to the nurse’s station and gave me some. I told her it reminded me of something at a Ren Faire. She responded with a laugh and a blank nod. I don’t think they have Ren Faires here. They also don’t put a lot stress on the “R”s in words. For example, they pronounce “work” as “wok” and “market” as “makit”. Another example is the sur name “Rogers”. They pronounce it “Rogas”. It’s a common last name here, and hey, if you pronounce “Rojas” phonetically, it sounds like “Rogas”. So now, wherever I go, I say “Na me name Salleh Rogas”, which means “My name is Sally Rogers”. It makes people happy. They usually ask, “What’s your real name?” And I tell them, “Sally Rojas.” (I pronounce it phonetically). They are always surprised and pleased and say, “That’s a Sierra Leonean name!”

 

I’m mostly doing small things at the hospital. I counted out 15 pairs of gloves and placed them in a box and hand rolled cotton balls for the nurses. I also took a few patients to get X-rays. Is this what I was expecting when I volunteered as a nurse in Africa? Yes. I know this kind of stuff isn’t very exciting for you guys reading this blog. Maybe some of you were expecting me to be desperately putting in IVs while my patients convulsed and heaved dramatically like in a soap opera. Here’s the thing. I volunteered to help in any way I could, and if the way I do that is doing small things like rolling cotton balls, then for now, until I learn more about the hospital, I am absolutely happy doing that. If anything, I’m relieved. I was afraid everyone would expect me to jump right in and take over everyone’s jobs. That’s the last thing I wanted to do! I want to learn how everything works, down to the last detail. I had a meeting with Dr. Turay today. He says he’s going to set up a session where I can learn the admission process in more detail. I feel very comfortable with the learning pace they set at this hospital so far.