Sunday, December 18, 1977, 9:00 pm, Day 691

Today's work also took longer than I figured. Today, I put up the framework for the roof, and then put the zinc pan sheets on top. That took me all day, while I figured I would also have time for all the remaining work. Instead, I now still have the door to build and install, the fence around the latrine to take down, and the surrounding area to clean up and grade. All of that I thought that i could do today.

The building has come out looking really nice. People are amazed that I know both masonry work and carpenter work. I'm amazed that they should be amazed. It doesn't take all that much know-how to build a latrine.

The next item is more on what I feel like talking about at the moment. Making this latrine probably fits in here somewhere but it can't be the whole cause. This evening, I gave one woman a slap in the face. It was just a small slap, but still ... I feel that it was well deserved, though. It started this afternoon. I went to the shop and bought a latch for the latrine door. One of the wives there at the shop, took it and wouldn't give it back, saying that I had to give her 20 cents first. She was just playing around, and so we fooled around for awhile, me trying to take it back from her. I never did get it, so I just gave up and let her keep the latch for awhile, and I went back to work.

This evening I again went to the shop. She still wouldn't give it to me. I had finally run out of patience with her, so I slapped her. I then went to the husband and got anbother latch, saying that I had bought one earlier, but that his wife had taken it. When she got around to it, she could give him the latch that she had taken to replace the one that I now took.

That's the situation. One might say that I was irritable and short of patience. This could be explained away by the fact that I have worked just about from dawn to dusk for each of these last three days, and so things would understandably be wearing thin. Also, another situation tends to support this.

This evening when I went out for a dinner I found waiting for me a liquid soup with one big hunk of something sitting in it. It was supposedly cow beef. I claim that it was all bone and skin, and I wasn't about to even attempt to eat it. I let it be known that I didn't want it and made a trip back to my room to pick up a can of sardines to put over my rice.

Yesterday we also had the liquid soup and the cow beef. I ate half of it then, but couldn't bring myself to eat the other half because I felt that it was just disgusting. Today I informed them that that was the last time that I am paying for any beef. I gave them 2 leones yesterday because they said beef was for sale. I wasn't too diplomatic this evening, but I don't think I ever actually lost my temper. Again, one might say I was irritable, and excuse it away by noting that I have worked overly hard these past 3 days.

Now that we have what one might think, I would like to deliver my rebuttal. This is what I think. First, concerning the latch on the latrine, I believe that my slapping that woman wasn't out of line because she had stolen something from me and wouldn't give it back, even though I had given her ample opportunity to do so. Next, my outburst about the dinner I feel also wasn't out of line. That is because the food was so bad that I could not even bring myself to taste it. I wasn't about to quietly go without it either, because that is my only meal of the day, and I pay for it, and so I at least expect it to be edible. Today's wasn't edible. Therefore, I claim that even though I had worked hard these last 3 days and so have every right to be a little irritable and impatient, I have managed to keep calm and cool and collected for at least as long as a normal person would have. I claim then, that it was not the work but the individual situations that caused me to lose my patience.

I also feel that I did real well at keeping my temper under wraps. In both of these situations I could have really gotten carried away but was able to control myself. The woman should consider herself lucky that all she got was a small slap. The dinner, also, came very very close to being thrown on the ground, but I was able to restrain myself.

Having these deeper, violent thoughts aren't all that rare. If I ever really let myself go sometime, then everyone better stand back, because it will come out quick and unexpected and potentially very violent.

Thursday, December 22, 1977, 11:00 pm, Day 695

Well anyway, this person was making an impression on me, such that it was unlikely that I would ever give her anything. This morning she asked me again to buy her sandles. I either said "No" or I just ignored the question, I forget which.

At the market today, I bought one pair of sandles for another woman. Her husband gave me 2 leones for them and I put 50 cents on top because they are good friends of mine. After market, I was sitting in my room doing paperwork. The new sandles were sitting on the floor. The door was open, like it always is.

After awhile, this woman comes in. I am very polite and curtious to her. She sees the sandles and tries them on, showing me that they are her size. I inform her that they are not for her, but that another woman gets them. She ignored me and walked on out the door, wearing the new sandles and carrying her own. I didn't attempt to stop her, as i was busy and she was just fooling around, supposedly, and I didn't have time to play with her.

After about 10 minutes she still hadn't come back, and so I decided to go out looking for her. I was at that time thinking in my mind, "I get for beat one woman today." I found her standing around at the house next door, her own sandles on her feet and the new ones laying on the ground nearby. I informed her firmly that I wanted her to pick up the sandles and carry them go back to my room where she took them. She then said, "No, I no agree." This time I hauled off and slapped her, at the same time thinking, "Alright for you, you had your chance." I then picked up the sandles and went back to my room, satisfied that justice was done and feeling that she had it coming.

I am a bit sorry that I had to hit her, though. This makes two times lately, and I might be starting to get a bad reputation about it.

Comments were mixed about it. Some were all for my having slapped her, saying that she deserved it. The ones that said that I shouldn't have slapped her agreed that the woman had done wrong. Their point was though, that instead of slapping her, I should have gone to the chiefdom police, make my complaint, and then let them handle it. They might be right, but my method gives me a sense of justice being done. It hurts the person who has done wrong, and it gives quick satisfaction to the person to whom the wrong was done.

If the person objects to being slapped, and thinks that it was unjustified, then they can go complain to the police. I'll go along with them. I don't think it will ever happen though, because I don't make it a habit of going around beating people unjustifiably.

There! I stated my case, and it makes me feel much better. Now, on to other happenings.

Today at the market a motorcar arrived, filled with 7 white people. They were something like 2 missionaries of sorts with their family. They came to visit Kamiendor, greet the chiefs, and give a few prayers etc to just the people at large. The family turned out to be from San Fernando, California, and they have been here in Sierra Leone for about 2 1/2 years, based in one town outside of Koidu. We got along good. They didn't know that I was stationed in Kamiendor, and I didn't know they were coming. I helped out on the tour around Kamiendor, and even took them down to show them the construction at the well site. They were friendly and interested in everything, so they were good to have around. They went back to Koidu this afternoon.

There is one strange coincedence about them, though. It so happened that during my trip into Koidu this last Tuesday, I met both of the missionaries, under seperate instances, and by more or less we just bumping into each other. I had never seen either one of them before that time, and then in just one day I meet them both, and then two days later they come visit Kamiendor.

The first missionary I happened to see riding a motorcycle much like my own. People said that he was a Peace Corps, but I couldn't recognize him, so I stopped to let him catch up. When he passed, we both said "Hello", but nothing more. I was sure that he was not a Peace Corps, as that motorcycle was not of Peace Corps type, and I didn't recognize him. I didn't know what line of work he was in. Two other times that day we passed each other in Koidu, waving each time.

Now, the second missionary happened to pull in at the same gas station with his car at the same time that I was there. We exchanged a little small talk, him saying that my motorcycle was good for a hot day like that because of the air conditioning. Again, I didn't know who he was or what he did. Both missionaries also didn't know who I was or what I did. Kamiendor was never mentioned.

You could imagine my surprise then when, here I am at the market, a motorcar filled with white people pulls up, and then I recognize not one but two people among them, both of whom I had just met two days before. That gave me a kinship with them from the start, as they weren't actually complete strangers that I was meeting.