Sunday, May 22, 1977, 11:00 am, Day 481

Fred and Jim and a few more assorted volunteers who are staying at the rest house wanted to go out to the Cape Club for a high-class dinner, and then afterwards to enjoy the music of Savanah '75, the second best band in Sierra Leone. I didn't go along with them because then there would have been only one female to about 5 or 6 males, and I didn't like the odds. Instead, I caught the bus to downtown and stopped in at the City Hotel to see what was up. The City Hotel is a Peace Corps hangout, and when I got there I met about 15 volunteers already sitting around on the balcony. As it turned out, alot of them were going to go out to the Cape Club also, to listen to the band. I decided to go also, as the odds had now improved to about 1 female to 2 males, and among the females were Wendy and Polly and Ann, from around Moyamba, where I spent Christmas.

The band was just starting its first song when we got there, at about 10:30. The music was good. It was all African music, mostly all with the same kind of beat, but it is good to dance to, and the only kind of music that I have danced to. It was about 2:30 when we all finally left. Besides dancing with those 3, I also danced with Kathy and Linda. Both of these girls were also at the Moyamba Christmas weekend party.

Linda was really going wild out there on the dance floor. She didn't fit with the impression that I had of her before. She would be up there, arms and legs flying all over, sometimes almost like the Charleston, but even more so. I thought that we ought to lock her up in a cage (one of those go-go dancers cages that you see in the movies). I was feeling a little embarrased just dancing with her, her style being such that it couldn't help but draw attention. I thought that she would tire herself out pretty quick, dancing that way. In Sierra Leone, I've learned that you cannot go all out in your dancing because some of the songs sometimes last a full half an hour, and that the dances go on for 6 hours or more. If you don't learn to pace yourself, then you will never be able to last out the evening, or even the song. It looked to me like Linda wasn't pacing herself, and so I told her that I didn't think that she would be able to last the evening. She proved me wrong! She just about danced every song, taking it upon herself to do the asking, knowing that if she waited until us males asked her, she would end up sitting out a few. She kept this frantic dancing up all evening, never showing a sign of getting tired.

Of these 5 girls that I danced with, I think I liked Polly the most, because her dancing style seems to just almost exactly the same as mine, that made us compatable on the dance floor. I might not say much, but I do like to dance when the occasion presents itself. A few of the times, when asking one of them to dance, I didn't say anything at all. To communicate, I just used my hands and my eyes, along with the rest of my body. You would be surprised how good you can communicate without actually speaking. I used my hands to motion what I wanted, and would use my eyes to make sure that we are communicating. Mutual eye contact is the all important factor. Without it, you might possibly still get your message across, but it would lose an awful lot of its effectiveness. The eye contact shows that you have respect for the person, that you in fact, recognize that person as a genuine, living breathing human being. When you get that impression across to the other person, and she returns it in kind, then that sets a very firm foundation for communicating. Without it, it is hard to communicate.

I've been reading a book all this past week or two. It is called "Helter Skelter", and is the story of the Charles Manson murders of Sharon Tate and the others. It is written by Vince Bugliosi, who was the prosocuting attorney for the case, and so it is really thorough and factual about the murders, the motives, and the trial. It is a wel written and informative book. It gets a bit gruesome sometimes when it relates the killings and even sometimes seems to make you sympathize with Charles Manson, with his cause and his ideas. At times you lose sight of the gruesomeness of the things he did. This was towards the middle of the book, and I was getting thoughts such a maybe this book was having a bad influence on my thinking, making me feel as one with the murderers. Now that I am nearing the end though, everything has been put back in a realistic perspective, so that I could see that Charles Manson's murders were indeed bad, and he and his people should be punished for them according to the law. It is a good book. It seems to be totally unbiased and truthful about everything that happened, and is therefore a good historical account of the murders and trial.

Thursday, May 26, 1977, 12:00 noon, Day 485

I spent Tuesday helping Jesse survey his proposed dam and reservoir site. I made a map of the area, from which I was able to figure the reservoir's capacity and also how much materials would bee needed for the dam. On Wednesday I took a lorry to Segbwema, where I spent the night. This morning I then caught the lorry to Sefadu. This has been the most that I have ridden on the lorries here. They aren't really all that bad. These that I have been on have been fairly new and the drivers seemed to be driving safely. It takes more time and more money to travel by lorry, though. I would rather have my motorcycle with me.

I am now hanging around my co-worker's brother's house here in Sefadu, hoping that someone will come along before too long, who would have a key. I left my motorcycle and campbed and stuff here, and so I can't do anything else until I get them.

Thursday, May 26, 1977, 9:00 pm, Day 485

Tuesday, May 31, 1977, 8:00 pm, Day 490

I arrived in Kamiendor that Saturday afternoon. It had been almost 3 weeks since I had last been here, and I found myself misplacing some of the people's names. Alot of the people I haven't seen yet, since I got back, because it seems that they are all out on their farms. For the first time since I first came up to Kamiendor 6 months ago, I have my house just about to myself. The family that lives here (one man, 4 wives, and 6 kids) has mostly been gone all of these past few days. Some have come for one night or so, but most I haven't even seen. Before, this house has always been loaded with people.

I am letting my rice chop situation hang loose for awhile longer. I've been lucking out so far. Each day I've managed to eat at least once, and one day I even got fed five times. I probably average about three times eatting per day, so I am not starving or even feeling terribly hungry. I've been able to get "belly-full" a few times even, and that felt good.