Still in Sierra Leone

OK, so I am going to try to take advantage of having the Internet so close as much as I can while I am in Bo, so I'll post as much as I can for the next couple months. 

I'm freaking out right now because I am finding out what village I will be living in next week!!! My placement will be a huge factor in how  my life will be for the next 2 years.  It will decide if I am in a town or a small village, if I have another Peace Corps volunteer at my site, how close I am to another volunteer, how often I will be able to get to the Internet, if I will have any cell coverage close to my house, how my house will be, what level of school I will be teaching, the type of classes I will be teaching, what tribal language I will be learning in addition to Krio, ect.  I'm not going to lie I am a little anxious to know where I will be and who I'll be near.  All of the volunteers here have become very close, very fast and it's strange to think we wont be seeing each other all the time after training. Wherever I end up will be my home soon and I really just want to love it as much as I have everything else so far. 

I love this place so much I can't really make you understand so I'm going to keep describing daily things to help paint a picture.  Alright so life in Bo, it is slower than I can really explain.  Everything here takes SO much time, it really makes you appreciate the convenience of the US.  Here we have a huge plastic bin in the bathroom that has to be kept full of water to use for flushing the toilet, and for the OOOH so luxurious and glamorous bucket bathes.  To keep this full requires many trips to the water well. Trips to the well are also necessary for brooking (washing clothes in buckets), cooking, washing dishes, and cleaning the house.  To iron clothes you use an iron the is made of heavy metal and hollow and the inside is filled with hot coals - I know this had nothing to do with the well but I think it's awesome.

Then comes cooking.  The main foods here are different spicy soups/curryish stuff over rice.  The soups, for lack of a better term, consist mostly of large amounts different leafy plants.  To Make these dishes you go through large plastic bags of stems of potato leaves, casava leaves, whatever leaves, and pick each individual leaf off and through away the steams.  Not a quick process, especially if you are a pumoi.  When the leaves are picked off they are finely cut with a knife,  while holding them in your hand (scary for people like me who struggle with knifes).  Once the leaves are cut they are mixed with other ingredients then ground up in a gigantic mortar.  I'm serious, it's huge the grinding stick is probably 5ft tall.  Then you have to go to the outdoor kitchen and start a fire.  The kitchen is outside because it is too hot to cook inside.  The building has 4 walls with a doorway in one wall and small slits for airflow.  On the floor there are small walls less than a foot tall and a piece of rebar that together contain the fire.  Fires are started using coals and small pieces of wood, then when it is hot the pot with the food is placed over it, balancing on the walls and rebar.  Oh yeah you also have to make the rice, and no it's not a quick process either.  Throughout it all the kitchen is full of smoke, I have a hard time being in there with the fire because it's so smokey.  

I have to say though there is something so peaceful and awesome about this way of life.  EVERYTHING has a purpose and there is no need to worry about anything really because everything simply is what it is.  The only way to handle all of these differences is to have a sense of humor about it all and accept it all as is.  I am allowed to do more around the house now.   I was even allowed to clean my room all by myself this week ha ha.  I am hoping to upload pics either with this blog or if not then soon.  Once you see what I'm working with you'll understand why it's not so easy to sweep dirt :)

I am getting better and better at speaking Krio.  I am hoping to get it down better before I start learning whatever my tribal language ends up being.  There is a very real tribal culture here.  I am currently in Mende land, but there are many different tribes throughout the country, mostly staying in their districts.  The tribal culture I mentioned is really obvious when it comes to religion and belief systems.  The main religions here are christian and Muslim, but they are both heavily mixed with very old tribal belief systems.  An example of this is the belief in witchcraft.  There is something called a witch gun that people all over the country are very scared of.   As far as I can tell a witch goes in to the bush and does a ritual involving fire, a type of seed on the fire and some way of targeting a specific person.  When the seed gets hot enough something inside shoots out and it is supposed to shoot the person targeted.  If you have been shot by a witch gun then you get very sick.  If you don't get help for it quickly you could die.  I was told that my Grandma here way shot by a witch gun and that is why she gets sick every few months, it weakened her.  Witchcraft is not a belief only held by people who don't know any better, it is an ingrained idea and is as real to them as medicines is to us.  Educated people here, including doctors, believe in it's existence.  Many of the people here ave small small line scars on different parts of their bodies.  These are for protection against many things, but mostly witch guns, poison and snake bites as far as I have seen.  A man, like a medicine man, makes cuts in your arm with a razor blade and then rubs the different ingredients and ash in the wound.  When the wound heals you have small, black line scars and are protected.  Basically awesome.
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I wish there was a way I could share more of what I'm experiencing with you all so that you could understand how amazing this place and these people are.   Ok, there is still so much more to say, but I can't handle anymore tonight.  I will try to get to the Internet cafe to post this tomorrow and fingers crossed for come pictures!
Keep your fingers crossed for a good site placement for me next week!!!
xoxo