Extended Community

 

I really feel that I’m becoming a part of the community. Every morning from my window seat in the hospital car, people will smile and wave either shouting, “Porto!” or “Sally!” When I’m at the hospital, everyone knows who I am and greets me with a smile or a nice, crisp high-five or a solid fist-bump. I even feel like I’m coming into my own as a nurse here. On Monday, a coworker brought her baby to work. The baby wasn’t sick or anything, but she had me hold him while she went to take care of a few things. I held him, and talked to him, and sang him to sleep. It reminded me that I will always be a Pediatric nurse at heart. Working with children has always been what I’m good at. I’m starting to give more medications and help with more procedures as well. The weather is much cooler, so I have the energy to do way more things as well! Everyone tells me that the rainy season is coming and soon I will be sick of the rain. I’m excited! I am ready to be sick of the rain!

I’m also starting to learn about a new kind of community in Sierra Leone; my fellow foreigners residing here long-term. Most are here working at paying jobs or internships at NGOs. They come from all over the world: England, Brazil, Nigeria, Kenya, Japan, most are from Italy. Two Italian girls live close to me in Stocco Compound. They’ve lived here for about a year, but they’ll be leaving soon to go back home. They know Father Luigi and he asked them if they could invite me to one of their get togethers. They took me to a restaurant I had never been to before called “Fishermans” to meet up with some other people from around the world. We all swapped stories of living in Sierra Leone and how we’ve adapted over time. One lady from England used to live in the house I live in now. She says she doesn’t miss it. It would get too hot because it was always directly in the sun. When I told her that air conditioning had been put in, she said that would definitely help.

The next day, the two Italian girls invited me to go with some of their friends from Bo and Freetown to hang out by a river close by. I was absolutely down! The girls from Bo were also from Italy and the girl from Freetown was from Japan. We drove out of town and arrived at some large, metal gates guarded by men demanding twenty Leones from each of us. When we were allowed to drive through, we saw a lovely, winding river surrounded by palm trees and locals chilling in the sand. I suspect the river gets very high in the rainy season so we must have come during the busy season when it’s still safe. There were families and college kids and couples all either swimming or lounging by the river. Some kids even had a wooden canoe and were standing in it while paddling it around. There was a volleyball net set up on the beach. There was also a swing that little kids would play on and jump into the water with. We didn’t get in the water. We just found some picnic tables, bought some drinks, and hung out next to the water.

That night we went to Relim leisure center. It was the same place I had gone to have a pool day. It was much busier during the night. Someone was having one heck a birthday party that night with flashing lights and loud music. There were also a bunch of Arab men smoking hookahs in their bathing suits at the table next to ours while we ate. Right as we were about to leave, rain started pouring down on us. We drove back to the two Italian girls house at Stocco Compound where they had baked some banana bread for us to share. It was so nice to talk with other people having experiences like mine. They were all getting used to how different everything is here just like I am. Of course, most of them had been there longer. They were able to give some tips on living here too! I hope I can keep in touch with them and learn more from them.

Independence Day

Happy Independence from the British Empire everyone! I realize it is not July 4^th. But in Sierra Leone, on April 27^th, it’s Independence Day! This morning, I woke up to the sound of a marching band playing down the streets. Drums were booming, trumpets were sounding out their victory cries, cheering was everywhere. I had a quick breakfast and joined the Sisters in the car to take me to Holy Spirit Church, where everyone was sporting the blue, white, and green colors of the Sierra Leonean flag. I joined the choir like I usually do, feeling very out of place in my purple and yellow dress, and sat among my peers who were wearing traditional tunics and hats. Everyone was waving tiny Sierra Leonean flags and sweating like crazy in their woolen outfits. I kept letting people use my fan to help them cool down too.

During the mass, we said prayers for the country and the only songs we sang were in Krio or other local languages. After communion, the Young Adults group gathered in front of the church and began a fundraising campaign. I had no idea what was going on until one of the choir members told me it was Africana! If you read my first blog, you will remember that I had talked about Africana but had no idea what it was. Independence Day is Africana! I had no idea! Whenever I asked, people would say it was to celebrate African culture. They never said it was also their Independence Day! I felt so bad that I was so clueless. Luckily, Father Agustus was also there to explain to me what was going on.

The first thing the group did was sell ribbons and feathers that you could buy and pin on somebody. The next thing was to collect envelopes from everybody who had volunteered to give money beforehand. Everyone was cheering and laughing and singing through the whole process. It was so much fun! Praise God!

 

First African Wedding

Guess who has a new African dress and attended her first African wedding!

Me!

The Porto!

I had been seeing an invitation for a wedding for one of my coworkers at Holy Spirit Hospital being passed around and I was thinking to myself, “How cool would it be to attend?”, and the Deputy Matron Lamrana comes up to me and says, “You will come to the wedding.”

And I shouted “Really?!”

And she says, “Yeah, do you want to?”

And I was like, “Absolutely!”

So, then she says, “All right, I will take you to go buy a dress.” I have been wanting to buy a dress since I attended my first mass here and saw all the colorful dresses, so I was bouncing up and down in excitement!

We drove over to a dress shop where they had ready-made dresses. Usually, you have to order dresses beforehand and have them made to fit you. Most of the dresses they had at the “Ready to Wear” shop didn’t fit me (I was either too wide or too tall), but finally we found one that fit and it was actually a really good look on me. The red and green patterns on a white background looked good against my skin coloring. It also had laces in the back which was so pretty. The only thing they had to adjust was the length. The woman took it over to her pedal powered sewing machine and she hemmed it perfectly in under 3 minutes. Lamrana told me she had a purse that would go perfectly with the dress, and I could use it for the wedding! She helped me so much getting ready for the wedding. I was so grateful to her.

The next morning, Sandy drove me to the hospital where a group of the Holy Spirit Hospital staff were all going together in one car. I was the only one who dressed up before we left. Everyone else was wearing casual clothes and carrying their wedding clothes in bags. Most of the group piled into the back of the car while me and Lamrana got in the front with the driver, Atanzo. The wedding was in a town called Lunsar. It was about a 2 hour drive there. When we arrived in Lunsar, we got out at a house that I assumed belonged to the bride’s relatives. We all sat under a tree to get out of the sun and a gentleman brought out a large container of rice and fish. He started passing out water bottles and spoons and all of us dug in. Some chose not to use spoons at all; they just used their hands and mushed up the rice and fish in their palms and ate that. I went with the spoon. He also brought out bananas and sodas for dessert. It was such a pleasant lunch!

The ladies went inside the house to rest while I decided to stay outside. Big mistake. The wind started picking up and clouds of dust blew over me and Atanzo. We rushed into the car and sat in there to wait it out. Before we knew it, the sky, which had been clear and sunny before, was now completely overcast. The women decided it was time to get ready, so they prepared themselves. When they came out, all decked out in their beautiful gowns, we drove over to the church.

The ceremony was just like the weddings we have in the States: the bride wore a white gown, there were bridesmaids and groomsmen, and flower girls and ring bearers (they call them “page boys”). There were a few key differences. The flower girls threw gold confetti instead of flower petals and there was also a “Little Bride” and a “Little Groom”. Why? I dunno, but it was very cute. Also, at the end of the ceremony, everyone went to the front of the church and started dancing around the new couple. It was fun!

After everyone exited the church, there was another container of fish and rice in the back of the car and more water bottles. We ate our fill, then piled back into the car and drove to the reception. We got lost at first; we almost ended up in the middle of the bush! But we got directions from everyone we passed on the trail and managed to get back on track. The reception was at a resort with a lounge and a pool. Right as we got there, it started to rain. Luckily, I had brought an umbrella (for the sun, not for rain). But there was a covered area, so we were good. There was a DJ playing a bunch of African music that I had never heard before. We stayed to dance and eat a little bit, but we had to leave early because we had such a long drive ahead of us. Luckily, we got to stay long enough for the traditional “throwing money at the couple as they dance” dance. It reminded me of the “pin money on the couple’s clothes” dance we have in the States.

When we got back to Makeni, I was so tired and dirty but so happy. I had so much fun with my coworkers, and I was so glad to experience something else that is uniquely a Sierra Leone experience.