My weekend

Was the last post a bit negative? This will be more positive, I promise. I will describe to you my last weekend as I can't quite get round to telling you yet about work. I have also neglected to tell you about my house mates: Kiki who is a Dutch nurse and is staying here until she can go to her placement about 15miles away, Annette who is a nurse tutor at the Northern Poly here in Makeni (from the Philipines) and Celine from Canada, who does the same job as Annette. So that's us.

Annette had some friends going to Bo, which is another city (town really) some distance away, I don't know how far, but when there is a ride, it's a good idea to take it. So we met up in Makeni: Father Edgar (priest), two Marias who live in Yele (part way to Bo) and me. Oh, we also had a chicken in the truck (live). We had a fun journey to Yele to see the lovely house there where the Marias live - facing the river in a lovely setting - and then we all went off to Bo on these roads that are like nothing on earth! Full of pot holes that even a 4 wheel drive found difficult to negotiate. We met an 'unofficial' road block - a tree across the road - which is how some people earn money here. Edgar got out to pay and pointed to me, the man smiled and waved. He was apparently telling him it was my birthday (it wasn't) and he let us off cheaper. Then we stopped to buy some massive grapefruit at the road side. These cost 100 Le each (6000 = 1 pound sterling) and again there was pointing and smiling. It was my birthday again! I said to Edgar: "for a priest you tell an awful lot of lies" and they all roared with laughter. And that was what the whole trip was like; lots of laughter. Philipinos like to laugh and eat and are great company. So we arrived in Bo and went to where we were going to stay, but after a couple of hours I was offered the chance to ride home again that night with Edgar and the 2 Marias as far as Yele, so I took it. The alternative was to get the poda poda (rickety old bus) back the following day. We dropped off the Marias and Edgar and I continued on the bumpy roads. We found the road blocked by a truck at one stage and just managed to squeeze past it. The front wheel had fallen off. No maintenance here, you see. There was a man lying on the bonnet and I thought he was dead, but no. It seems that is what they do: the truck breaks down and you sleep on the bonnet till help comes. Help was not us, in this case as we drove on. It was a journey Father E described as the night I drove through Sierra Leone with a crazy priest and he wasn't wrong.

The sky here is wonderful at night; no mains electricity means no light polution so you can really see the stars and it is wonderful.

Also good: twice last week I got motor bike taxis (how we get around in Makeni) and when the driver found I was English said how wonderful being colonized by us was and we are all family. I joined the public library when I got here. On my second visit, the motor bike taxe drove me straight up the front garden right to the front door and the library man said to me "hello Anne". I have never been remembered by name in a UK library before. But then I have probably never been the only white library member before either!