Creature Discomforts

Last week another group of victims (new VSOs) arrived and I jointly delivered a talk on ‘Everything you need to know to survive Freetown’ (but was afraid to ask!). One of the slides was of course about keeping healthy and kitchen hygiene. Jo and I recommended a number of tasks including wiping down all surfaces with a dettol/water mix, treating rooms regularly with bug spray (aptly named TOX in Krio, its pretty bloody toxic) plus brushing your teeth with drinking water. These are a number of methods to reduce the likelihood of marching ants, rats, mice, cockroaches and water borne parasites from becoming too much of a presence in your life!

Its all well and good being able to control your home environment, but everywhere else is another matter. The rainy season washes up all kinds of things and I stood on a dead rats tail the other day! And continuing the rodent theme, at work a rat has chewed through the air conditioning wire so no aircon for 3 weeks and counting! Combined with the cockroaches (alive and dead although you rarely see any live ones), some who lived in the office printer after emigrating from the stapler, plus the ants recently marching across my desk (this might be partially my fault as I eat breakfast there!) , wires across the floor plus a kettle at my feet (which I have flatly refused to allow it to be boiled there unless I’m out of the office), makes the office a bit of a health and safety nightmare! Oh and I almost forgot that there is often 6/7 people and 4 desks in a space that would be cosy for two! So… Samura (the messenger/cleaner) kindly sprayed the office. This has made some difference especially in the ratio of live to deceased roaches. I try not to think about previous spacious offices with a meeting table and fast computers with consistent internet access! However, the Ministry is full of friendly, committed people and interesting characters so you can forgive the occasional bug, cant you?

The photo was taken at the VSO health programme workshop in Makeni last week where I ran a couple of sessions, unrelated to the bug theme of this blog!

Foolish Food Follies

How many VSOs does it take to figure out what is and isn’t milk? Jo and I really needed a brew so we decided treat ourselves at Balmaya. A nice big pot of tea arrived with a milk jug delicately covered with a cotton doily thing with beads on to keep the flies out (juice arrives in the same way). Great proper milk! Not the powdered stuff, not condensed/tinned milk but white stuff from an actual cow! But alas no, it was a kind of beige pinky colour. Jo immediately decided she couldn’t drink tea with that liquid, I bravely tried it, but Jo was right. We sent the tea back, much to the dismay of the owner who informed us that it wasn’t condensed milk (our first guess) and she only liked tea with pigs milk. She didn’t serve tea with cows milk or powdered milk as not many people liked it (hard to believe when you are surrounded by ex pats!) so we had to beg to differ and vowed never to order tea again.
I was silently wondering how difficult it actually was to milk a pig and also how come the milk was approximately the same colour as a pig? It’s the only live animal I have seen in Freetown (down at the Bay slums, by Connaught Hospital), well apart from the poor unfortunate sheep that was baa-ing away outside Monoprix supermarket last week. I had just bought some cheese from the butchers counter next to several hanging carcasses, so I knew its fate. I dread to think how a supermarket humanly slaughters! Anyway back to milk. So Jo and I were relaying this story to friends a few days later and only to be reliably informed that it was ‘Peak’ milk (a kind of tinned milk) and it dawned on me that I had actually believed for about 3 days that people really did milk pigs!!!

Yesterday I bought two large snappers and today I put them on the chopping board and realised that I had totally forgotten how to gut and bone a fish! A skill I’d acquired at 11 sea fishing with my Dad, but I certainly don’t have it anymore! This is why fishmongers were invented! Having a fridge has made me more adventurous with food but having spent half an hour fighting with the slimy things and being totally grossed out by cutting their enormous heads off and impailing myself on their sharp spines, I’m not sure that its worth it although the fish was very tasty. In future, I'll stick to massive tiger prawns (12 for £1!).

Kids Stuff and Fundraising

Two weeks ago I was unpacking my 40kgs (exactly) of luggage, most of it consisting of books, clothes and toys given to me by friends to bring back for local children here. But there was so much donated I’m trying to arrange the free shipment of the rest of the stuff through a very kind construction company. My cunning plan to bring stuff back was neither cunning (random requests for thing from the people I met and would see again who had kids) nor a plan (end up with about 50kg of stuff!) Otto was brilliant and helped me to sort all the stuff out and decide what to bring with me plus of course driving me to all the way to Heathrow too of course via Scuzzy's 2nd home ... huge thanks!!!

So... later this year I’m going organise more coordinated approach to donating stuff... a can feel the need to write a list! Gavin, Alice and I are also trying to get out some essential antenatal equipment too which Gavin has collected. I am also going to be asking all my friends to donate money to local charities here (I'll check them out first) instead of buying christmas cards for work colleagues, so dear blog readers, please let me know if you are going to support me in this (carolergreen@hotmail.com)

Home Thoughts from Abroad

Its about 7 weeks since I’ve blogged so apologies to the faithful handful of followers (Mum and Rosie)! I’ve been back in Freetown for 2 weeks after a rather frenetic time at home and its good to be back, actually I’m very happy to be back, but feeling somehow like I have two realities!

My visit home also included London, Birmingham, North Wales and Anglesey, Solway Firth (Carlisle), the Lakes, Derbyshire (various places including Chesterfield… funny that crooked tower!), Liverpool, Manchester, Warrington, Preston and various parts of Cheshire! No of course I didn’t work my way logically up/across the country. I visited people in a half random order consuming lots of diesel in my little car!

So I’d best continue the roll call from 5th August…..Andy Bacon and his lovely wife (to talk ‘development!!’), The crowd at Fran and Colin’s annual Sutton Coldfield BBQ (Annie and Nigel, Caroline, Angela and the badminton crowd!) the rest of my family (Simon, Linda, Cara and Thomas), Vicky Hogarth who I was at school with and haven’t seen for years, Kathryn, Steve and Imogen, Aziz and Ingvar, Barbara and Richard, Penny, Caroline Lambert, Andrea Campbell, Then it was my BBQ party on 14th August and lots of folks came, already mentioned as well as Emma, Angel and Elizabeth, Margaret Hughes, Catherine, Mark and Bethany, Mandy, Mary Bell, David B and his girlfriend, Nick B and other from Macc.

Sue came all the way from London to spend a couple of nights with me and helped me to shop for torches and other essential Freetown items! The Wales trip included Wendy (some shopping) and Nigel, Sam and Laurie, Bernadette and family and Alison. Then SOLFEST with Rosie which is always fun and fab weather!! Elaine and Steve, Pauline and Laurence (finally to drop off Scuz in Chipping Norton on the way to LHR)….Phew!!! Next time I think I’ll be at home a bit more as it was rather exhausting!

But… I loved being home (apart from the Smokey Martini hangover acquired at Kuckoo in Preston, courtesy of my lovely Sister and the rather gorgeous bartender!!). At least imanaged to catch up with Amanda and Sarah before trhe alcohol affected my memory!

The trip highlights, apart from seeing lots of good friends, was definitely Solfest (see photos on FB) nice hikes in the beautiful countryside and eating!!!!