life as they know it
The postal serviceIn the West it's a great Indie band, and throughout the rest of the somewhat civilized world, it's an institution that will carry your written message or a package to your intended recipient. The postal service is totally fubar here in Salone. Well for one, not too many people have what you would call an address. Outside of Freetown (and even in Freetown) people live in shanty huts situated in the woods or the side of a mountain. The government really hasn't sorted out a method of controlling where and how people live. Secondly, even if you do have an address - like the places where I have thus far lived, you're lucky if you will receive any mail. Mail sent into Salone will most likely be lost in transit, or mishandled and forgotten in some container somewhere. Sure there is a massive Post Office located in the corner of Siaka Stevens and Gloucester Streets, but the place is pretty much vacant with many empty windows. There are a few clerks seated in booths reading a newspaper, listening to the radio, or flirting.
With that in mind, now for my own encounter with the postal service. On Friday, I went into town on my own for the first time. I took a taxi and asked to be let off at St. John. I wanted to visit the Internet cafe to print out a legal document that I had prepared, and I wanted to get it notarized and sent home to the Bronx. The one way cost of a taxi ride is Le600. When we arrived at St. John, I gave the driver Le2000 and he handed me Le1000. I then sat there and looked at him for two seconds. He then turned around and said "Eh, yu sabi Salone moni, ah?" I replied that I sabied his money and that I am expecting more change. He promptly returned my change and I continued on my way. I got the document printed, took it to the lawyer on Lamina Sankoh Street, got it notarized, and walked further downtown to the DHL office on Rawdon Street. DHL is the most reliable mailing service but it costs an arm and a leg. DHL quoted me Le170,000 to mail one document to the U.S. I promptly walked out and thought to check prices at the post office. Le3500 for regular post (which will most probably never arrive), Le8000 for Express post (might arrive in 2 months), and Le10,800 for Registered Express (should arrive in just over a week). I opted for the last method and they covered my letter with stamps. There was just enough room in the front to stamp Express somewhat over the mailing address. Then I had to take it to another window to get it registered. The man had to paste a barcode over the stamps as there was no more room in the front of the envelope. I then walked to Congo Cross - which was a 45 minute walk.
Weddings with devils
Mathew told me about a wedding he attended yesterday. The groom is Sierra Leonean but lives in London. He came to marry a girl who lives in Waterloo. Apparently, the wedding was so very disorganized that some people had to leave and go out to a restaurant to dine. (Nothing here works according to time except the last ferry which will be sure to leave you stranded in the middle of the night) Many of the weddings hire what's called a gumbe. It's really a drum that's placed between the players legs, and played with the hands. It is also an ensemble of instruments that's played by a gumbe orchestra. There is the gumbe - the drum, there's the angul (angle) - the triangular iron rod beaten with another straight iron rod, there's a so (the o written as an inverted c. Pronounced 'saw' in English) - it's a ribbed piece of metal on which the player slides a piece of metal up and down. The gumbe is something that is a part of the wedding program. After the wedding, there are a group of people outside who are members of the oje (the o is written as an inverted c and the e is written as an inverted 3) also known as the egungun (or egugu) society. The egugu is a secret society of the Fourah Bay Krios. The society has it's own masked devil, or a masquerader from the spirit world. These devils who wear egugu klos (the dress of the devil), do an egugu dans (dance of the egungun devil) on the egugu gron (o written as an inverted c) - which is an open space where the egungun devil dances. It's a very demonic dance that involves wearing of masks, and gyrating of the hips. The sad thing is, this takes place even after some "Christian" weddings. So much of the demonic world is mixed into the culture here that sometimes even subconsciously, people make obeisance to the devil.
Christianity in Africa
I was told about some churches in Nigeria, Kenya, and now in Salone where churches are formed just to make money. I heard of one educated man in Nigeria who had a bit of hard luck finding a job. He approached a preacher for advice and the preacher told him that he should go to Bible school and learn to be a preacher. It's a sure way of making money said the preacher. Prosperity message is widespread here in Africa. Pastors tell their congregations to draw a picture of a car in the mud, and pray to God and God will give you a car. God will multiply only according to how much you give, they preach. If you only give Le500, you'll only get Le1000 in return. If you bring Le1,000,000, God will give you in return Le2,000,000. In many churches, members (I should say patrons) are required to parade to the offering box which is in plain view of the congregation, hold up the white envelope which contains the offering so that everyone will see that you are making an offering, and place the offering in the box. These churches will not allow you to drop change into the box. Mathew told me that he visited a church and was served alcohol for communion. I told him that he is not to take communion in any other church but his own. It's a sad country that needs a lot of prayers. However the people do have tender hearts, and they are easy to talk to and will almost always listen intently to anything new you have to tell them.
....
I understand that tomorrow, I will be leaving for Waterloo. I shall bid goodbye to chicken, and a room to myself. Mommy Dupigny and family have been extremely nice to me (though I burnt the cloth over the wooden table used for ironing - I was using a coal goose!! That thing is dangerous). I shall bid goodbye to the nice wooden pepper grinder on the dining table - the kind you find in fine Italian restaurants. This pepper grinder was what I lived on. It made everything taste a little better.
Dennis killed a small green snake in the compound on Wednesday. It was about 2ft long and didn't look so dangerous. He burried it in the back just 3 inches into the ground. I am sure I'll be seeing a lot of snakes in Shenge.
posted by bthomas24 @ 8:14 PM
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