Peace Corps Journal

Thursday, March 25, 1976, 6:00 pm - Day 58

I've been keeping busy the past few days and just didn't feel like writing. Some things have happened during that time. I took 9 pictures and have 7 more to go before I finish out the roll. I find taking pictures here in this country very difficult. People have told me during training that it is dangerous to take pictures in some instances. This thought has really put a cramp in my picture taking ability. People haven't tried to stop me yet, but that is mostly because I have only taken pictures when no one was around or no one was looking. Also, the people here don't see too many cameras and so my taking mine out would attract a crowd, which I don't want to do. Another reason would be that it it too much of a hassle to stop my motorcycle to take a picture. It is also harder to notice something worth taking a picture of, and when I do see something I have to stop my motorcycle and then turn around and go back. I guess I am comparing this to taking pictures on my bicycle. On the bicycle you notice a whole lot more of what is at the side of the road and off in the distance off the side of the road than you ever would on a motorcycle. Also, the motorcycle attracts alot more attention, especially when you have to turn around and go back to stop.

The next new item on the list is that I started reading a book. It is called "Centennial", by Mitchner, and is a fiction history of a ficticious town in Colorado. The biggest thing about the book is that it has 1060 pages and should take me at least a month to finish.

Friday, March 26, 1976, 7:00 am - Day 59

I am in Bo right now. We all came in yesterday afternoon for our monthly meeting with the CARE directors. I rode my motorcycle down. It was my longest trip so far, being about 140 kilometers. The first 65 kilometers were mostly dirt roads and got me as far as Kenema. That part was pretty bad and I only averaged about 45 kph (28 mph). The road from Kenema to Bo is really great. It is brand new and is the closest thing to a superhighway that there is in Sierra Leone. All of the hills were removed by cutting and filling and the curves were not sharp. There was a dotted line down the middle of the road and there was one lane in each direction that was probably 12 ft wide. I took this section at 80 kph (50 mph) for the whole way, which replaces my record of 75 kph which was only for a short stretch around Daru.

We all went out to dinner last night in Bo. After dinner they started buying beers for everyone. I couldn't refuse. My first didn't affect me too much and I should have stopped after my second. After my third I had a hard time getting up so that I could walk to the restroom to take a leak. I made it but it was a real effort. We all left the restaurant and then went to the bar where the beers were cheaper. I am sure glad I wasn't driving. I wouldn't have, in that condition. I would have stayed and slept it off first or walked home. At the bar they talked me into another beer and I finished it. By this time I was really drunk. I started to feel like I had to take a leak again and also felt as if I was about to throw up. The bar wasn't far from where we were staying so that after awhile I was able to pull myself together enough to get up and made the walk home. I couldn't have walked a straight line if I had to. Before I got home I releived myself in both ways. That removed the possibility pf doing it inside the house, so I was then free to go inside. Drinking didn't make me sleepy this time. Al of the other times it has made me very tired but not that drunk. This time I was very drunk and not that tired. I managed to get home and get to bed and get to sleep and I feel alot better this morning, but I still stagger a little when I walk. I don't think I have turned into an alcoholic yet because I realize when I have had enough, enen though I sometimes get talked into a few too many. I don't drink alone and I only drink when we have alot of people going out to have a beer. I still like coke better and that is what I wish for we run out of water at the house in Daru. Beer only comes in handy as relief from the monontany of having coke all of the time.

I will see my first movie in Sierra Leone tonight. "Jaws" has come to town. It turns out that none of us new volunteers have seen it when it was playing back in the States.Some of the other volunteers saw it in Makeni a few days ago and they said that the movie theater wasn't crowded at all.

Saturday, march 27, 1976, 5:00 pm - Day 60

We all went to see "Jaws" last night. It cost Le1.00 and started at 8:30 with movie previews and commercials. I was really impressed with the quality of the theater and didn't expect to find anything quite as good in Sierra Leone. The theater held about 500 people but it was well ventilated and air conditioned so that it didn't get hot because of all the body heat. The ceiling looked in good shape and I couldn't see any warping or watermarks which is a sure sign of a leaky roof and is what most ceilings in Sierra Leone look like. The seats were wooden but they were comfortable just the same. The program started out with a couple of British commercials. The first was for ladys' makeup and the second was for cigarettes. The second was interesting though because it was showing the ferry that goes across the English Channel. It is really hard to call it a boat. It starts out on land by inflating an air bag beneath it to a height of 9 feet, all in about 5 or 10 seconds. After that they have propellers on the top which give it lift at first and when the boat is on the water they then propel it at great speed across the Channel. You might even call it a helicopter even though it doesn't actually get off the ground (or water).

The next item was a preview of a Chinese movie. It was totally about people fighting with karate or kungfu or whatever you call it. These kinds of movies are very popular over here, and there are alot of them floating around. After that we finally had the start of "Jaws". I think it was the first movie I have seen in which I have read the book first. There were alot of things in the movie that weren't in the book, and there were alot of things in the book that weren't in the movie. The shark looked real and so did the body parts that you saw. I would have liked the movie more if it had followed the book more closely like in going into the plot as much as the book did.

I saw and bought my first watermelon in Sierra Leone. It weighed 6.5 lbs and cost me 10 cents per pound. It didn't have much flavor and even the heart section of this watermelon didn't taste as good as a piece near the rind of a typical American melon. I hope it was just this melon and that others that I buy later would taste better.

I came back to Daru this afternoon. Most of the others will be returning tomorrow. They were planning to have a basketball game this afternoon in Bo but I couldn't stay. One reason was that I didn't have enough money left to last me through another day, and the other reason was that I wanted to be here in Daru on Sunday so that I could do some more work on my volleyball court.

I was reading through my booklet of tropical diseases and saw that the symtoms for maleria were fever, nausea, and vomiting. And it was suggested to me that I might have had maleria that time, but I don't think so because I take my arelen pills every week and my fever was gone after a day. I had a headache last night but it seemed to go away just before I went to sleep that night.

We are getting a little more rain lately, even though the rainy season isn't supposed to start until late May or early June. It rained about three times in the past week. It usually lasted no more than an half hour or so, but by the road conditions immediately after, it has me wondering how the road could possibly hold up in the rainy season after a 3 inch downpour. With the sun and the heat here, the place doesn't stay wet for long, and it takes just about the same amount of time for things to dry out as the time it was raining.

Monday, March 29, 1976, 11:00 pm - Day 62

I found out today from my supervisor that the watermelons that are grown here in Sierra Leone are the same size as those grown in America. The one that I bought a few days ago must have been from a weird batch, and I hope the larger ones have more flavor to them. he Also said that oranges in Freetown are now 2 or 3 for 10 cents, while in Daru they are 3 for 5 cents, and in Biawala they are still 1 for 1 cent. The price of oranges has really gone up, but they are still cheap if you compare it to 1 for 15 or 20 cents in America.

This afternoon I finally finished my volleyball net. I spent all of the last half of yesterday working on it. One of the slowest parts was splicing the ropes that go around the edges and also come out at the corners to tie onto the poles. Each splice probably took 30 minutes and there were 8 of them to do. It was slow, tedious work, but the end result is first class. Also on Sunday we straightened out the court and evened up the sides. We got the ditches dug around two of the sides and the other two will only need a little more work to put them in shape.

I saw my first lightning bug tonight. The closest I have come to one before was on the "Pirates of the Carrabean" ride in Disneyland. They give off quite a little flash for such a small bug and it is amazing that they can do it at all.

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