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Sunday, November 6, 1977, 8:00 am, Day 649
I thought that I had written since I arrived in Freetown, but I guess I hadn't. I came down about 5 days ago. I've been having a good time this time. There hasn't been any just sitting around the house like my last time here. I've gone out 4 of the nights here. The money has been flowing pretty good, but I guess that I can afford it, for awhile at least.
Monday, November 7, 1977, 11:00 pm, Day 650
I haven't been able to find the time or energy to sit down and write since I've come to Freetown. This time I've turned over a bit of a new leaf. While here, I have so far bought two fine African gara shirts, 4 pair of socks, a new wallet, and a carrying bag. My appearence has really been looking good these few days, and I've also felt good myself. Besides the new clothes, I've also shaken my feeling of "krabbitness" (miserly). I haven't been slowed down any by the fact that I've sometimes had to take a cab. When going out drinking, I've been quick to buy a round. I've gone out dancing about 4 nights now and the money has flowed freely during those times, buying drinks for myself and about 2 or 3 girls.
Fatu is my woman here in Freetown, but she doesn't like to dance as much as I do, so I need to buy drinks for a few of her friends also, to keep me supplied with dancing partners.
I no longer have this feeling of hopelessness about ever getting to know all of the new Peace Corps people. I've found that I already know quite a few, and during my stay here in Freetown I've gotten to know alot of them alot better. It is getting back to the "one big happy family" stage again and I no longer feel quite so much as an outsider. I've also gotten to know the higher-ups in the Peace Corps office and the Ministry, and the funding organizations. I've been hob-knobbing with everyone and have felt completely relaxed and at ease with everyone, with no sign of shyness. I've been acting like a normal person.
Maybe it's just the new clothes that is doing it. That was my theory from before. One would think that there had to be something more to it than that, but maybe not. We can't overlook the obvious. I feel self conscious when I put my old clothes back on, so I would have to suspect that the condition of one's clothes has at least some effect, and possibly a huge effect on how someone acts.
Wednesday, November 9, 1977, 9:00 am, Day 652
I am finally leaving freetown for sure today. I thought that i might make it out of here yesterday, but I had the Training report to rewrite, all of my packing to do, and alot of other little things.
One of these things that I still had left to do was that being that this was to be my last evening in Freetown for awhile, I wanted to go out and have a good time. So, last evening Jim Olsen and I went over to Omar Kiyam's (OK's), which is a bar and night club here in Freetown where all of the people go when they want to find women.
Fatu met me there, but besides just Fatu, I also met Modu, Kariatu, Isatu, Fatmata, Teresa, Maria, Baby Joe, Alice, Diana, Besieu, and a few more of whom I didn't get their names. Fatu says I am foolish, and she is probably right, because each of these girls managed to talk at least one beer out of me, and most of them were 2 or more beers each. Altogether that evening I spent 20 Leones just on buying drinks and taxi fares. I am made of money though, and I had a good time, so the money doesn't really matter. I danced about 2/3 of the time, and i was getting a wide variety of dancing partners.
Fatu is my woman, and I am her man, but for the middle part of the evening she disappeared on me. Therefore, I had Fatmata lined up for the rest of the night. At about 12 midnight, we decided to leave OK's and either go home then or go over to the After 8. This place is another bar along the same lines as OK's, but it is forced to play second-fiddle. After 8 is always empty until OK's closes at 1:00 AM, and then it quickly gets packed.
In the process of leaving OK's, Jim with Diana, and me with Fatmata, a little palaver, or argument, started. It was between Maria and Fatmata, and they ended up fighting. It was me that they were fighting about. Alice informed me that "I got luck", being that it is an honor for the girls to be fighting over me. I said that that kind of luck I didn't need. While they were fighting, Jim and Diana and I sort of slid on down the road away from OK's.
We were in the process of waiting for a taxi, or waiting for Fatmata, whichever came first, when who should come running up but Fatu. I thought that I might be in for a little argument of my own then, but luckily she was in a good mood and didn't seem to mind that the other girls were fighting over who would come home with me. We found a taxi then and went on over to the After 8. Things couldn't have been better then, because I was with my favorite woman, Fatu, and jim had also found his favorite, Diana.
At the After 8, Fatmata finally showed up. Lucky for me, she and Fatu are good friends, and that Fatu has senority in this situation, so that Fatmata gracefully backed out, leaving me lined up with Fatu for the night, which was just where I wanted to be. The After 8 is better for dancing than OK's. Every record is a good one, and so I danced just about every dance. At one point they put on a record which was an old American favorite about doing the Twist. There was no one up dancing at the moment, but both jim and I were really moved by the song, so as soon as it started we got up and danced with each other, both of us trying to do the old-fashioned twist. It was great. All of the other people in the place were watching us and everyone got a big kick out of it.
At the end, Jim came home with Diana and I brought Fatu, and fatu and I had a good night together. I enjoyed it and it was satisfying. Fatu is my Freetown girl. I still need to arrange things a bit more up in Kamiendor, though.
Thursday, November 10, 1977, 11:00 pm, Day 653
I'm back in Kamiendor now, and its good to be back home. The best reason why I like it here is Sia Kundi. Her husband, Tamba Kabba, is still down in Sefadu. The chief sent Sia Kundi back up here to Kamiendor a week ago to make sure that she was here, ready to cook for me when I came.
She told me that she had gone down to Segbwema, and while she was there, saw another person riding a motorcycle like mine. She said that she thought he was me, and so she went running through the town, trying to catch up with him, only to find out that it wasn't me after all. When she saw the material that I bought for her, she really liked it and she said, "I sabe buy". It feels good to have someone like Sia Kundi around because she bolsters the ego.
Friday, November 11, 1977, 9:00 am, Day 654
I just came back from looking at the progress of work, but I was disappointed. Almost no work was done while I was away. Mr.Lansana says that they broke 414 headpans of stone, which is 4 days' work, but they used the stone which was supposed to be used at the last water-crossing on the footpath. The path was to be 6 feet wide, but they only made it 3 feet, and then they broke up all of the remaining stones, so that now we will have to find others to complete the crossing. They didn't do any other work. i had expected them to finish work on the last 200 feet of footpath. That would have taken just one day. I also expected them to finish leveling the pumphouse area, and finish collecting and breaking all of the required pumphouse and well stone. Then, if they were working good, I had hoped that they would have collected and broken most of the tank and standpipe stone. None of this I met done. It looks like work just basicly stops while I am away.
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