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Thursday, April 22, 1976, 12:00 midnight - Day 86
I finally made it back to Daru today, but I fell a little behind schedule. I had my list of things which I needed to buy and also the other things which I needed to do. I was supposed to be in Daru by Wednesday morning. In Freetown as well as the rest of Sierra Leone, everything was closed for the holiday Friday through Tuesday. I arrived in Freetown on Sunday afternoon and used Monday up by going to the beach and riding around town and reading a book. I started "The Hobbit" Saturday and finished it Sunday. I finally finished "Centennial" on Monday. On Tuesday I went to the beach again and rode up to Leichester peak but this time I took my camera along and finished up the roll so that I could mail them.
That evening we all went to the Atlantic Club on the beach for dancing and drinking. I only had soft drinks because I still don't like beer too much and I wasn't sick of coke yet. I also had a pizza and I would have had a banana split also but they were out of ice cream. As far as the dancing part goes, the others were only able to talk me into two dances. Even then, it was the girl asking me and the others getting up to join me to keep me company. I can't really get into dancing too much, but I guess that I could improve with more practice. As far as being able to move with the beat goes, I should not go farther than toe tapping because I feel uncoordinated when I try to get my whole body moving to the music.
Wednesday finally came and the stores were all mostly open. I had toasted bread and water for breakfast. A little after 8:00 I went out, got gas and then went to Choithrems Supermarket but it was closed. I wanted a towel and some double bedsheets as well as cinemon there, so I decided to try for some other items on my list. I went downtown and stopped at the bookstore, hoping to find a volleyball because the book shop in Bo sold soccer balls. I didn't see any volleyballs so I went around the shop and finally found a book. A book wasn't on my list but I decided to buy it anyway. Next I stopped by the Peace Corps office and they told me where I could buy a volleyball. I went to the store but they didn't have any. I was able to find one at one of the street vendors. On it was printed "regulation" volleyball, but that must just be the name because there wasn't anything regulation about the size or the weight. Being a cheap kind, it was larger and lighter than a real volleyball. With the volleyball in hand, I took it back to the sport shop and bought a needle so it could be pumped up when needed.
Next I went to the Peace Corps office again and asked where to go to buy maps. I went there (the Ministry of Lands) and checked their sizes. The size I wanted was out of stock so I just got one 4-section map of Sierra Leone and also 4 section maps (15 minutes) which formed a square 30 minutes by 30 minutes with Daru near the middle. I took the maps of Sierra Leone, the first 100 pages of my journal, 2 rolls of film, and a picture description sheet and went to the Post Office. It cost Le6.30 to mail them registered airmail.
I left Freetown at 3:00 and made it to Bo at 7:00 pm. On the way, there was a dark cloud behind me, but there was clear sky ahead. The farther I went, the bigger the cloud got, and the more it moved out in front of me. Just a few miles before Bo, it really started to darken up, and then it started to sprinkle. Luckily it soon stopped, but 5 minutes after I arrived at the Bo CARE house it started to really rain. I couldn't cut it much closer than that for a 4 hour ride.
The next day I still had to do alot of shopping. Remember, I was supposed to be back in Daru Wednesday morning and here it was Thursday and I wasn't back yet. I bought a rake and a hammer and alot of groceries. I also picked up my backpack which Peace Corps had supplied to all of the volunteers.
I was finally ready to get back to Daru and I reached there by 2:00. By 3:00 pm I was ready to head out to Biawala and I also heard that my boss, Les Galagher, was in town and that he was a little upset about my going to Freetown. When I saw him he took me aside and asked me what my reason was and that he was upset with me and that he called up the Peace Corps director, Howard Grey, to tell him about me. Les then told me that if I took off like that again without first checking with him, that he would send me back to Peace Corps with word that he didn't want me anymore. I guess he was right in that I should have checked with him, but I think he was wrong with what he expects out of me and the way in which he told me.
It seems he expects us to know all of the procedures of going about things even though we haven't heard alot of it and we certainly haven't received a written copy with which to refresh my memory about what channels we have to go though to do something. If we do go against standard procedure, he tells us like we did it on purpose and knew what the standard procedure was, and just chose to ignore it. Besides this one about leaving without first checking with him, there is also the time that he got after us because we were hiring people without first getting his okay. When I wanted to hire this person I first asked around on how to do it and was told to just write out a note with the name, job, wage rate, and date hired on it and just give it to the timekeeper. At the next meeting with Les he really got after us about that and informed us that only he can hire people and that we had to ask him if we wanted someone hired. Again, he acted like we were all working purposely behind his back. I am beginning to see why the rest of the people try to stay clear of him, because it seems that the only way he talks to me is by getting after me for procedures that I failed to follow, because I didn't know the procedure, with him thinking that I should have known the procedure and just chose not to follow it.
In Daru when I saw him, I just let him say what he had to say, and didn't try to explain the predicament because he is a hard man to talk to, and trying to explain the situation would have just made him madder and he was already on the verge of sending me back as it was.
Saturday, April 24, 1976, 5:00 pm - Day 88
I didn't go out to Biawala today. Some days I find it very hard to get myself to go out there. On one side I feel it is my job and responsibility to go out there quite often because I am in charge of the crew and when the crew is working I should be there to keep them progressing orderly and to help solve any problems that might occur. On the other side, though, the crew has been putting in culverts alot longer than I have and seem to get by as well when I am not there as when I am. I sometimes think to myself that when I get there, then there won't be anything I need to do, and so why go at all.
Also, I find it very tiring to just go out there to watch them lay a pipe or something. I guess that this work just isn't exciting or complicated enough to keep me interested and thereby keep me busy. I feel guilty about this, I feel I should be doing more, but I don't know what else I can do. This all leads to a sense of frustration, which they warned us we would get before we came, but I didn't think I would get it from there. it all comes down to my wanting to work, my not having any job which I feel really needs me, and then feeling guilty because it looks like I am just too lazy to work. I think that sums it up pretty well.
Watermelon plants? They have been pretty much on their own for about the last week. This morning I got out there and found that they were now up to about 6 inches high with about a half dozen leaves. The place was overgrown with grass also, so the first thing I did was to weed everywhere. Then I prepared a 4th row for use in transplanting some watermelon plants. I made marks on the rows about 1.5 feet apart because the plants were supposed to be thinned to that distance apart. I then proceeded to take out the good plants that had to be removed and transplant them in the empty spots. After that I removed the rest that had to be taken out. I now have 23 plants which I left where they grew and 20 plants which I transplanted. After I placed them in their new home, they lost all body and just lay there all limp and looking dead. I left all the roots on them though and so hopefully they all will revive within a few days.
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