Holy Week and Easter

 

I can honestly say that this past week was the most I have ever attended mass. I’m sure in many Catholic communities they celebrate Easter the entire week. It is Holy Week after all. But in my community, it’s limited to Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. But here, it is the whole week baby!

Granted, I didn’t attend mass Monday or Tuesday, even though they were available. I chose to work at the hospital those days. I’m glad I did. I feel like I got to practice my Krio more on those days not only with my coworkers but with patients as well. Am I perfect? No. Do people understand? Again no. But I’m working on it.

Wednesday was a different kind of day all together. That afternoon, I got to see Makeni’s cathedral for the first time. It’s a beautiful white and blue building right next to the Diocese Headquarters. It was there we had the Chrism Mass. I’d never attended one before. For those of you who are non-Catholics (or for those of you who are like me and are a clueless Catholic who is learning new things all the time), the Chrism Mass is where the holy oils used for baptism, anointing of the sick, and catechumens are blessed and consecrated by the bishop. I’d never attended one before. I was entranced through the whole thing. All the priests and other people with holy orders attended, as well as locals. Once again, I didn’t take pictures. This time not because my phone was acting up, but because the thought never crossed my mind. I was too interested in the process. Each of the holy oils were brought in front of the altar in identical glass containers. When it came time for the Bishop to perform the blessing, he had to stand there for a minute trying to remember which oil was which. I didn’t blame him. Again, they were all in identical containers. But it just reminded me of so much of some kind of comedy skit. It took so much out of me not to burst out laughing in the middle of a very serious ceremony.

I was supposed to attend the Holy Thursday mass as well, but no one was available to drive me. Good Friday had so many church services all happening at different times of the day, I was only able to attend one service. For those of you who read my previous blogs and were wondering if I was able to participate in the play depicting Jesus’s trial, I was not. I just couldn’t find a driver to take me to most of the practices. I didn’t even get to see it. But in hindsight, I think it was a good thing I didn’t perform or attended the play because it was held outside, and it has been way too hot for me to stay outside for a long period of time. But I did attend Good Friday mass later that day and it was inside, thank goodness. Sister Peace asked me to sing a familiar song with her for that service. Most of the songs we sing at mass are in Krio or a local dialect or are songs I’ve never heard before. But Sister Peace wanted me to sing the song “Old Rugged Cross” with her and that is a song I grew up singing and I happily agreed. The way I sing it sounds very country gospel. No one really commented on it, but I don’t think most people here are a fan of country gospel style singing. Though the other day I heard a neighbor down the street blasting a Shainia Twain song from the speakers in their house, so you never really know what people like and dislike when it comes to music.

Saturday night, I went to Conforti Church to attend Easter Vigil mass, which was also new for me. Where I come from, we do sunrise service instead of a mass in the middle of the night. I had never attended a mass that began with a bonfire, but that’s how this one started. It also started with a lot of thunder and lightning. It was very dramatic. The whole congregation stood around the bonfire while the priest tried to light a giant candle from the flame. But the approaching storm winds kept blowing it out. So, we all crowded inside to light it. Then we passed around our own smaller candles and lit those. But the church had open windows and doors, so the wind kept blowing out those candles too. Most of us just gave up after a while. I did think to take some pictures of the Conforti Church while I was there, so yay me for thinking of taking pictures this time.

The next morning was Easter Sunday! There’s something so wonderful and special about Easter morning. When I was a child, that feeling came from waking up to find my Easter basket at the foot of my bed. As an adult, whenever I’m home, I still get an Easter basket in the morning. But even being halfway across the country where Easter baskets and egg hunts are not a thing, there’s still something so magical about Easter morning. There was still a feeling of new beginnings and hope that came with the sunrise. As I walked out my front door, everyone greeted each other with “Happy Easter!” and “He is risen!” It made me so happy to find that feeling in a new place among new people.

I attended mass at Holy Spirit Church and got to sing with the choir again. The songs are pretty easy to learn because most of the songs repeat the same phrase over and over and over again. But I really don’t know what most of the songs are saying because they are in another language, or the English is just so accented I can’t understand the words. I learn the songs the way ABBA learned their songs: phonetically. I have no idea what the songs mean, but I can get the notes and sounds down pat. The church had been beautifully decorated by the Sisters and everyone was wearing their Easter Sunday best. Once again, I managed to get some pictures (you’re welcome). Mass lasted about three hours. Listen, I used to attend church services that could last about three hours (anyone from my hometown reading this who remembers Pastor Kunz knows what I’m talking about) and I learned how to last through them at a young age. But in this African heat, that was two hours too long. I went home immediately after and rested in my house. It felt weird not having a giant feast with all my family like we usually do after Easter services, but having some time myself was nice too. Plus, I bought some M&M cookies to have as a treat! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter as well! May God bless you all!

Palm Sunday

 

Today is Palm Sunday. I woke up in a freezing cold cocoon of air-conditioned goodness to the sound of falling rain. When I opened my windows, I was pleasantly surprised to find a pleasant breeze blowing as well. The outside was much nicer than my stuffy house. However, there were swarms of bugs flying around when the rain started to let up. This made the chickens and doves roosting outside happy. I sat on my porch watching them scratch and peck at the ground, which was almost blanketed with flies (I knew I saved my powerful bug repellent for something). When the rain was done, I made my way to mass.

I learned that usually the palm branches are blessed before services by the Bishop at a place called Loreto and people gather them and walk to their parishes from there. But because of the rain, the palm branches were taken to the churches before services began. In the States, palm branches handed out at mass services are usually long thin strips of leaves. But here they use honest to goodness fully leaved palm branches; the kind I believe would have been actually used in Jesus’s time in Jerusalem. People will turn them into crosses like they do in the States. I went to Conforti church this time. We all gathered outside to begin the procession. Auntie P was there in a gold dress wearing a wig and a golden head turban. I told her she looked very pretty. She said I did too. This was a lie. With all the bugs and mud, I didn’t want to wear either of my long dresses with short sleeves. Instead, I wore a long-sleeved white blouse with tan linen pants. I’m always so plain compared to other ladies in the congregation with their beautiful, festive gowns.

The procession went back inside the church after the palm branches were blessed. I got to sit next to an open door and a nice breeze kept blowing towards me as the mass continued so I was very comfortable despite wearing long sleeves. Once again, the children were fascinated with me. I love seeing them. A relative of mine once said that black babies are cuter than white babies. I’m not saying that is true, but my heart melts every time a baby smiles and waves at me in mass. When the mass ended, I walked down to one of the mini marts close by and bought some orange juice to keep up my vitamin C. I was holding my palm branch and the man at the cash register asked if it was lemon grass. I told him no and explained what it was. He nodded politely but seemed confused about what a palm branch had to do with church. I would have stayed and explained, but he had another customer to attended to.

After I got home, Auntie P came over and said she had brought me some rat poison to help with the mice. I was so grateful! I hope it gets rid of them soon. I’m tired of finding droppings and seeing little shadows scurrying into corners.

I feel lonely sometimes, but I truly am blessed to be here. I count my blessings and hope I will make more friends while I am here. May God bless you all!

Lenten Pilgrimage

After Amie left, my days felt pretty ordinary. I would go to the hospital, then come back home. When I was off work, I would go to Father Gabriel’s and learn more Krio. The days felt as if they were blurred together. Ramadan has ended, so everyone was out celebrating the end of their fast. It’s kind of like the Muslim equivalent of Easter. I could hear crowds and music and a whole bunch of celebrating. I don’t really know anyone well enough to go out and celebrate with them. I felt so isolated, hearing the celebration and fun, but not knowing where to go. The celebration felt almost like far off event that had nothing whatsoever to do with me, even though I was in the middle of it.

The only day that stands out is Sunday before last. I was (again) unable to go to Holy Spirit. So, I went with Sister Peace to the Mobonga church service in the bush again. I was able to take pictures this time! While service was going on I noticed something flying around the rafters. At first, I thought it was birds. But no. It was BATS! At night I can always hear bats flying around outside my house. And that’s where they belong; outside. Everyone else didn’t seem to care. But it took a lot of self-control on my part not to run out of the church like Ace Ventura in “When Nature Calls”, screaming, “They’re in my hair! They’re in my hair!” (I’ve had my rabies shots though, so no worries there).

It seems that nature keeps showing up where it doesn’t belong. My house has now become a den of cockroaches and mice. I’ve taken the appropriate precautions like buying containers for my food and avoiding leaving dirty dishes out. Sister Peace says she’ll help me find traps and other ways to get rid of them. But the venders that sell the stuff keep moving around so we have to find them first. Until then, I’m armed with my broom and flip flops. FEAR ME VERMIN!

Last Saturday was interesting. After the stations of the cross on Friday, Father Luigi told me about a pilgrimage that the Catholic community was participating in. Everyone was going to meet at 8:00 am at Conforti Church then walk to every church in Makeni while doing the Stations of the Cross. I didn’t think I’d be able to do that, but Father Luigi said he can’t really do that either, so he offered to drive me to the final location. The pilgrimage would end at Bishop Bob’s house where a mass would be held in his garden. I was ready on Saturday. I made sure to wear a hat, moisture wicking clothes, and comfortable sandals. When Father Luigi and I arrived, I found a spot to sit under a tent where the Sisters were sitting. The Bishop’s Garden is more like a grove of trees, so it was very shady. Plus, there was a nice breeze blowing, so it didn’t feel too hot. I really liked the Bishop’s sermon. He talked a lot about how the people need to pick up their garbage and not just throw it in the street. “It’s filthy!” he said. “You should be ashamed.” As someone who was raised to never litter, that sermon got my Woodsy Owl seal of approval. It got much hotter later. I was relieved when the mass was over.

Later, Father Agustus from Holy Spirit Hospital Management came to visit me to see how I was doing. He felt how hot it was in my house and asked me, “Would you like air conditioning in your room?” I told him that would be lovely, but that would probably be very expensive. So, then he said, “I’m going to call someone to install air conditioning.” Now usually, most things here don’t exactly run like clockwork. If something is delayed or takes a while to get done, most people just shrug and say, “It’s Africa.” It has the same energy as someone from Brooklyn saying, “Eh, it’s New York.” But this was not one of those times. The very next day, the air conditioning crew came promptly in the morning, and I now have very effective air conditioning. I live in my room now. The rest of the rooms in my house are just places I visit occasionally. God is so good. I am so well taken care of. 

Visitor from the US Part II

Amies’s visit continued with her coming with me to Holy Spirit Hospital on Monday. We had a meeting with Dr. Turay, Sister Julianna, the Hospital Manager, and Human Resources. The meeting was mostly about the possibility of other LMH volunteers or Mission Doctor volunteers joining me here in Makeni. Amie wanted to know what kind of doctors were needed and what resources were available in Holy Spirit Hospital to accommodate any doctors who would stay. After the meeting was finished, Amie was given a tour of hospital. After the tour, Amie and I went to the hospital canteen for lunch. While we ate, one of the Nigerian Dramas was on the TV. I found out they’re actually called Nollywood shows, but I just keep calling the shows Nigerian Dramas. The show we watched was called “Virgin Nurse”. We got pretty invested in the plot. About seven people were killed in the first 10 minutes of the episode, and one of them ended up getting ghost powers.

The next day, Amie and I traveled to the southern region of Sierra Leone to a place called Serabu in the district of Bo. There’s a hospital there that could use more doctors, so Amie went there to see what was needed and if she could send any volunteers there. She had asked me if I wanted to come along and I said, “Absolutely!” I want to see as much of Sierra Leone as I possibly can. The southern parts of Sierra Leone are much greener than the northern part where Makeni is. Don’t get me wrong, Makeni’s still green. But the northern landscape is mostly made up of plains dotted by trees. The southern region had forests and even more farmland. We met the Bishop of the Bo diocese while we were there, and he made us reservations at a nice hotel called “Bo Inn”. After dinner at the hotel’s restaurant (which had signs that said things like “Vodka is just fun water” and “Vibe check”), me and Amie looked up more episodes of “Virgin Nurse” and ate some chocolate. We each got our own rooms. In my room there was a TV that didn’t work, and the water didn’t work, but there was air conditioning! I had the best sleep since coming to Sierra Leone! I loved it!

In the morning, Amie and I were driven to a place called “Rogbere Junction” where we split up at a gas station. We shared a few snacks together before my ride picked me up. Her driver took her back to Lungi to the airport and mine took me back to Makeni. I was sad to see her go. It was nice having a visitor and a friend to have adventures with. The one who picked me up was a priest from Lunsar called Father Michael. He had some errands to run in Lunsar before he took me back to Makeni, so we stopped there for a little while. He introduced me to the main priest there, Father Francis. They showed me the school next door and told me about all the projects they are working on for their area. Father Michael runs a program that teaches agriculture to schoolchildren. Father Francis gave me a soda and some pineapple to eat while Father Michael took care of some things. I like Lunsar. It’s by far the most peaceful and least busy place I’ve been to since arriving to Sierra Leone. Father Francis and Father Michael told me I should come back and stay for a few days. I hope I can. I want to see everything in Sierra Leone! 

Visitor from the US Part I

I had a visitor from the US of A come to see me! Her name is Amie Garcia! She works for Mission Doctors Association, which is a sister organization to Lay Mission Helpers. I met her during my time at LMH headquarters and she was present at my commissioning ceremony. She came to see how I was doing and to help me get some things I needed. She also came so we could see some more of Sierra Leone together! At 6:30 pm, she arrived at the Freetown airport, which is in a town called Lungi. Yes, I know, the Freetown airport is not in Freetown. But here’s the thing: Freetown is built on the side of a coastal mountain; you cannot land a plane there. Lungi is on a flat plain; it only makes sense. When Amie arrived in Lungi, I was there waiting for her with a driver named Mohammed (I think he’s like the sixth Mohammed I’ve met). After we hugged and loaded her luggage into the car, we drove over to a mission house in Lungi where the local Father fed us dinner and showed us to our rooms. There was no electricity and no fan in our rooms. I felt bad for Amie. I know it can be tough not having any electricity or a way to keep cool after a long plane ride. It was exactly my experience when I first came. Worse, we found 3 huge spiders in her room. That was the most spiders I had seen since arriving to Sierra Leone. Luckily, the Father killed one and we killed two more ourselves.

The next morning, Mohammad drove us to a ferry to take us to Freetown. Lungi is located across Tagrin Bay from Freetown. Every morning, many people use it to take their goods to sell in Freetown or tourists use it after their flights arrive. It’s much quicker than driving around, which is about 3 hours. It takes about an hour to wait for the ferry to completely get loaded and another hour to cross. Mohammad drove our car into the ferry boat and, luckily, we were parked on the side of the boat and were not jammed into the middle, so we got to see outside and have some sea air. I love the ocean. Just seeing the water was enough to make me smile. As we crossed, I watched fishermen out on the water with long wooden canoes and fishing nets. They expertly maneuvered their crafts with their paddles and didn’t capsize when waves from the ferry hit them.

I had expected chaos when we arrived in Freetown and it didn’t disappoint. So many people were on the side of the road trying to sell disembarking passengers their wares. Cars were everywhere and everyone communicated with their horns. But Freetown is very different from Makeni. Makeni is to Freetown what a town like Bakersfield is to Los Angeles. Sure, some people have heard of it, but no one really goes there for a night on the town. Freetown has so much more available. There are traffic lights, and sidewalks, and the stores sell a wider variety of goods. They had chocolate. And Cheerios! I was so excited to go and see more! But first we needed to get to where we were staying. The Vicar General in Makeni had arranged for us to stay at a convent of sisters that had guest rooms available. Mohammed drove us off a paved road and onto a rocky dirt alleyway towards a big, blue gate. When the gates were opened, we drove into a lovely, paved garden full of blossoming flowers. Our rooms were lovely as well. They were decorated with brightly colored curtains and patterned cotton sheets. There were fans that we could use when the power was on and mosquito nets. We were even given rooms that had toilets (apparently, they were optional).

We hadn’t had a chance to have breakfast that morning, so we asked one of the sisters and the watchman if they knew a good place to eat. Both said, “Chicken Town,” which did sound good, but it was Friday and we told them we couldn’t eat meat. They said the restaurant had things other than chicken. Amie looked up the menu and while they weren’t wrong, the only things listed as not chicken were chips (French Fries). We wanted more than just chips. Luckily, we found a cute restaurant called Francesca’s. It was by far the nicest restaurant I had been to since coming to Sierra Leone. It had air conditioning, and clean tables with tablecloths, and a very nice bar. Amie and I both ordered fish and rice. The fish was like butter and topped with a sauce that for once wasn’t too spicy for me. We told the waiter how much we loved the food, and we even got to meet Francesa herself, who not only ran the place but also cooked the food. We made sure to compliment her and thank her.

We returned to the convent and told a sister we would like to go to the beach. Amie and I both wanted to go for a swim. Freetown might not be as hot as Makeni, but it’s still HOT! Lumley beach was recommended to us and Mohammed told us that Freetown was his hometown so he drove us to a wonderful spot and he stayed with us to make sure we weren’t bothered. The beach was almost completely free of other people. Amie and I found a bench underneath a coconut tree and while one of us sat with our belongings, the other would go swim in the ocean. It was wonderful being fully submerged in the water. It was so refreshing. Some curious children came and sat with us for a little while. Some even got in the water with us but they wouldn’t swim out as far as we did.

After we had showered and got dressed, Mohammad took us to a seaside restaurant called “Pearl”. I couldn’t believe how fancy it was. The building itself had no walls, like a beach shack, but it was so clean and well maintained. The waiters wore clean starched white dress shirts and black pants. We ordered sea food pasta and margarita pizza to share. As we ate, we watched the sun begin to sink into the ocean, creating a fantastic sunset. The sun itself was like a red ball. We had to be careful not to stare too long.

The next morning, we ventured out to try and find some breakfast. We had passed a sign advertising “Amie’s coffee and fast food” at a gas station. We had to go and see Amie’s namesake! She said she had never seen her name spelled out the way hers is spelled before, not even in the States. But it turned out it was shut down. So, we just bought some water and went back to our rooms. Amie had brought some trail mix with her, so we shared that and some of the Cheerios I had bought the day before. When we were finished, Amie took me to Freetown’s phone and Wifi store called Orange. The phone I had got in Makeni had been so unreliable and the Wifi was even worse. So Amie took me to get my phone checked out. The people there were so helpful. I can now call people so much easier and the WiFi is more reliable as well. I’m so happy! Later, we got to go to Chicken Town for lunch. We were again surprised to find it was very clean and even air conditioned. The workers told us they were out of chips, so we had plantains with our chicken strips instead (loved it!). Then we bought a few more things at the local mall and packed our bags, ready to drive to Makeni.

The drive from Freetown to Makeni was much longer than the drive to Lungi. We had to travel over several mountains to get back to the familiar plains and hills that surround Makeni. When we got back to Stocco compound where I live, Auntie P was there to make us a nice dinner. Amie stayed in one of the Stocco convent’s guest rooms. The next morning, Amie and I went to mass with Sister Peace at Holy Spirit Church. I sang with the choir again, so Amie sat across the way with Sister Peace. That evening, we had dinner at the Bishop’s house with the Vicar General, Sister Juliana, Doctor Turay, and the Hospital Manager. We had a regular feast! There were fish and chips and plantains and mangos and chicken nuggets (I was not expecting the chicken nuggets) and cucumbers. While we were there, Amie gave everyone boxes of chocolates to thank them for taking such good care of me. The Vicar General also gave Amie a gift of tie-dyed sheets. I have some at my house. They are very proud of them here.

I’ve loved spending this time with Amie. I can’t wait to tell you guys more! 

Illnesses

There are so many illnesses and complications at Holy Spirit Hospital that we rarely see in the States. So many things back home can be taken care of easily and are easily identifiable. But here, the people suffer from ailments that could be remedied in childhood. For example, while doing rounds, we came to a patient about 17 years old with a VSD (basically a hole in his heart). I’ve seen cases like this back at the children’s hospital I used to work at, but I never had a patient with this condition who was over 2 years old. One of the first things we monitor when a child is born is cardiac function. Surgery is performed as soon as possible when an issue like this is found. But this boy’s family did not have the resources to get him that kind of care. When he was about 10, he received a surgery from a charity organization in Spain and that helped. But this boy will have complications for the rest of his life. There’s nothing more that can be done except ease some of his discomfort.

Another young patient was diagnosed with tetanus. He had been climbing a palm tree to collect the nuts to make oil (palm oil is very big here) and he fell, and his foot landed on a rock, ripping the skin open. In the States, tetanus vaccinations are given to children, and we are encouraged to receive boosters as young adults. But this young man had never received a vaccination. Whether that was due to lack of resources or lack of education about preventative measures, I don’t know. This young man now has paralysis, lock jaw, and constant pain. To those of you who have never gotten a tetanus booster, get it. The suffering this young man endures is something I would hope everyone avoids. The treatments necessary to ease the effects are expensive and very difficult to find anywhere in Sierra Leone. Even in neighboring countries it is difficult to find.

A teenage patient with Diabetes type one had no idea she had Diabetes type one until she was about nine. She lives in a remote village in the bush and had come to a hospital before where insulin was prescribed to her. But insulin needs to be refrigerated, and she would have to travel every day to receive what she needed. Her family had no car, so a driver was supposed to pick her up from her village every day. But the family needed her at home, and they stopped coming. Soon her Diabetes got so out of control she began developing sores that covered her body, and she began having blood in her urine. Her family went to a local healer instead of coming to the hospital again and she got worse and worse. Now she’s back at Holy Spirit Hospital, receiving the best care that we can provide.

Really the only way to help many of these patients is if someone is willing to sponsor the patient themselves or if the patient can find a charity willing to help them. While rounding on these patients, we were joined by a doctor I had never seen before. Her name is Dr. Veronica. She is from the UK and she is a family doctor who specializes in Diabetes. It’s hard not to notice another “White Woman” in an African community so we naturally gravitated towards each other. After we introduced ourselves, Dr. Veronica told me that her and her husband have been coming to Sierra Leone for the past 18 years. They stay for about 8 weeks at a time. She always volunteers at the hospital, helping support the Diabetes clinic here and caring for patients. Her husband, who is also a doctor, will go into the bush to help there. He also loves football (soccer) and will organize teams in the bush to play against each other for fun.

While rounding, Dr. Veronica would often pay out of her own pocket to buy patients food or even buy medications that they need. She was the one who bought the tetanus patient the treatments he needed, and she often will buy patients the insulin they need as well. Since we are both volunteers and foreigners here, we ended up bonding on a lot of things. We both find the written charts hard to read and both find the heat very difficult to cope with. But we also bonded on the faith we share in God and the love and admiration we have for the people here. I really hope I see more of her in the future. She is such a kind and generous soul. 

St. Patrick's Day

My Saint Patrick’s Day began with me slipping on my shoes and feeling something stuck inside one of the toes. When I removed my shoe and shook it, out popped a brown, speckled frog. This wasn’t the first frog I’ve had in the house, and it probably won’t be the last. They usually hang out in the bathroom. They’re easier to catch than lizards. The only lizard I’ve ever caught was a dead lizard. I usually grab a bowl or bucket and scoop them up then toss them out. This time I just swept the intruder out the door. I made sure to lock up my house tight (Sister Peace told me there have been thieves around the area), greeted the children waiting for their bus to take them to school, and sat with Sister Peace on the cement roundabout curb to wait for Sandy to pick us up and drive us to the hospital. Dogs and goats usually loiter around the courtyard with us. Sister Peace always throws a rock at them to get them to leave us alone. I don’t have the heart to do it to the dogs, but the goats? Sure. Goats are freaky looking. Have you ever seen a goat’s eyes? Demonic.

When we got to the hospital, we joined the doctors and other nurses rounding on the patients.  For those of you unfamiliar with the hospital environment, this just means the doctor checks on the patients, then tells the nurses what he wants done that day for the patients. Later I had an appointment with Bishop Bob, so a driver took me to the Parsonage Headquarters. Monsignor John and the Vicar General Dominic were there. I greeted them by saying “Kushe! Ow da bodi?” They were very pleased to see that I was learning some Krio, and I was able to thank them for sending people to make repairs to the I live in house. Bishop Bob made sure I was doing okay. He is a very thoughtful man.

Afterwards, the head of the Holy Spirit Hospital finances department, Ashaiatu, helped me set up a bank account. Soon I’ll be able to transfer money over here so I can buy more food and electricity. I didn’t expect it to happen so fast. Honestly, I just mentioned it to her today then the next thing I know, her and the head of Human Resources, Mohammed, set up a meeting with the bank manager within 10 minutes. I was so impressed. Luckily, I had all the necessary documents with me at the time.

Afterwards, I had lunch at the canteen. I ordered fried chicken, white rice, and cucumbers. I always greet the owner in Krio and ask how her family is doing. The TV usually has a show playing. I enjoy many of them. You’ve heard of soap operas. Maybe you’ve heard of K dramas. Here, they watch Nigerian dramas. Usually, amnesia or love triangles are involved in the plot. When I finished my meal, I made my way back to the nurse ward. I always greet everyone I pass with a “Good Morning” or “Good Afternoon”. There’s one man named Mohammed (it’s a common name here) who cleans the hallways who loves to give me high fives, or a fist bump, or most commonly, a double fist bump. Another man named Joseph opens and closes the hospital gates for cars and bikes entering the hospital property. I always wave to him whenever we drive through the gate, and he always smiles and waves back. He also attends Holy Spirit Church. When I first met him, he told me, “You are my sister in Christ.” I told him, “You are my brother in Christ.” So now we are friends. Today, he waved me over to his post and told me it made him so happy to see me in the choir yesterday. It made him and other members happy to see me clapping and singing and dancing in the “African Way”, as he put it, and he thanked me for participating in the choir. I thanked him for telling me that because I felt so awkward being up there. But he said, “No it was good. It was very good to see you there. Thank you.” So, I’m a choir member from now on.

When I got back to the nurse ward, one of the nurses took me to a patient who was getting a blood transfusion so I could learn how they do it here. It’s pretty much the same as they do in the States, there’s just no computer and there’s no pump. You write everything down and calculate the rate by timing how many drops per minute. You take base vital signs, then monitor the patient for 15 minutes, check vital signs again, then check vital signs again…you get the idea. It was busy today; they had two blood transfusions going on. Even back in the States, if you have two blood transfusions happening, that’s a busy day!

Sandy drove me and Sister Peace home at the end of the shift. The street was absolute chaos today (I mean, more chaotic than its usual chaos) because there was a parade of university students having a funeral for a fellow student. There were people playing trumpets and trombones and clarinets and drums. There were people waving their handkerchiefs in the air and yelling. And in the middle of it all they carried a white and gold coffin. I sincerely hope the student’s body was not in the coffin at the time. Cars and motorbikes kept trying to get through the crowd and their honking just added to the cacophony of music and wailing.

When I arrived back home, I quickly changed, and Auntie P came to start cooking my dinner for today and tomorrow. I’ve been writing this blog as she works. It smells delicious. She tells me her son James has a headache today and had to stay home from school. I hope he feels better soon. Tonight, while I eat dinner, I plan to watch Waking Ned Devine. I recommend it to anyone looking for a movie that takes place in Ireland and loves having a good laugh. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! 

Beautiful Country

 

This truly is a beautiful country. People keep telling me it’s the dry season, but everything is still so green here! I couldn’t help but admire the surrounding landscape as I took my walk yesterday. The mango trees and flowers and the hills surrounding the city are so lovely! This time I was able to have a real, honest to goodness walk. I went all the way to the University of Makeni because I wanted to return a plate to the canteen on campus. Now that I’m no longer getting my meals from there, I wanted to make sure they got everything back. I was able to walk there and back without getting too exhausted. Though, I still got very sweaty and tired. I was grateful when a girl my age and her two brothers offered to have me sit on their porch. Everyone always wants me to come and sit on their porches and talk, or listen to me, or watch a TikTok video on their phone. They sometimes ask me to sing with them, which I love!

I got to see where Auntie P lives. She saw me on my walk and had me come and talk with her and her two sons. Their names are James and Peter. She is so proud of them. She tells me how smart they are and how she hopes they will go to university one day. They all live with her mother-in-law. Her husband is a pharmacist in Freetown. He’s only able to visit occasionally. It seems that most jobs are in Freetown and families get separated by the need and the distance. I really love Auntie P’s cooking. After having so much spicy, fried food, I asked her to make food without too many spices. Having bland, plain food has really helped my stomach to finally settle. She also does such a good job with the cooking and the cleaning and the laundry (or brookin as they say in Krio). She even gave me some mangos and avocados as a gift! I got to have avocado toast for breakfast!

Today I went to Holy Spirit Church for mass. Everyone in Sierra Leone dresses in such bright colors for mass. For people here, mass is when everyone wears their best outfits and accessories. It’s like my mom taught me when I was a little girl, “You dress in your best for church because you are going to worship the King of kings.” I can’t help but feel that the outfits they wear here would look ridiculous in the States. But here, they look so sharp! Here a man can wear a button up shirt the same color as a traffic cone and black and white checkered dress pants sporting neon pink suspenders and a gold watch chain and he looks fabulous! Today I really admired one woman in the choir wearing an ice blue mermaid gown with a matching headband tied over her forehead. She looked like she was about to perform an 80s ballad

I couldn’t go to choir practice yesterday because I couldn’t find a driver, but the choir leader said it didn’t matter, and I could sing with the choir anyway. Some songs I can catch on to quickly because they repeat phrases so often. But other songs I could only just clap to because I had no idea what the lyrics were. If you want a mental image of what I looked like up there with the choir, I encourage you to watch the movie Forrest Gump and find the scene with him in the Gospel Church choir (although I didn’t have a Lieutenant Dan watching me from the back in his wheelchair). We did sing “I’ve Got Peace Like a River” and “The Servant Song”. I know those songs very well and was happy to sing them.

After mass, one of the choir members took me aside and said on Good Friday they are putting on a play of The Crucifixion and she wanted me to be in it as the part of Mary. I told her I would love to! I love acting. But I told her I’ve been having trouble finding a driver to take me to church and other places. We told Sister Peace about it, and she said we could ask Father Agustus (who works at the hospital), if he can help. Honestly, I’d love to play Mary, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to give me such a big part since there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to make it to any of the practices. I’d be fine with a smaller part, like one of the weeping women or something.

I feel so frustrated that I can’t go places without a driver. I know Conforti Church is closer, and I can always join their choir, but Holy Spirit seems to have more things going on with their young adults and I want to make friends and get involved there. I’m tempted to just walk over there by myself. I’m not going to do that, it’s too far. But I’m still tempted. I couldn’t even stay for a Young Adult meeting after mass because the Sisters drove me to the church, and they had to leave right after. I don’t want to be separated from everything while I’m here. For the first time in my life, I want to be involved in something. I’m usually the person who must be encouraged to get involved in things. But here, I want to do that on my own!

Time Skip

So I was able to get to the play practice today! Sheku, Janice’s friend, came to visit me and he offered to drive me to play practice! I got there just in time. I found out it’s not The Crucifixion we’re doing; it’s The Last Supper and The Trial put together. And I wouldn’t be playing Mother Mary, I would be playing Mary Magdalene who only has one line, which makes me feel so much better about participating.

We all read through the script twice. The first time in English, the second time in Krio. I hope I can make it to more play practices somehow. I can’t rely on Sheku every time. Jesus is going to be played by a young man named Cornelious. He is also a missionary except he is from Nigeria. I don’t think we have a solid idea who is going to play everyone else yet. They had me read for the servant girl who confronts Peter (saying the lines in Krio was hard). Mary Magdalene just says “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” at the end of the play, so I think I got this! I’m so glad I got to go to practice!