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Sunday, March 5, 1978, 9:00 pm, Day 768
I'm fine. How are you?
These last 3 days or so, I've been squeezing in some Bible reading sessions. It's the first real reading that I have done for probably half a year or more. Before, when I was into reading the Bible, I had made it a ways into the book of Numbers. I kept falling asleep when I tried to read this, as well as the one before, Leviticus. This time I just thumbed through the rest of Numbers, and then Deuteronomy and Joshua. But then I hit Judges. I started reading this book word for word, and over these last few days I have read completely through Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, and also one session in 2 Samuel. I haven't ended up falling asleep during my reading these days.
It's been about like reading a normal book. I can't begin to keep all of the names, places, and events straight with just the one reading, but at least it is a start. Most of the stories, I think that I had heard of, but this is really my first time for actually sitting down and reading them.
There sure are alot of miracles occuring here. Also, there is a tremendous amount of fighting and killing. I'm not sure what to make of it all, but I am trying to keep an open mind.
Tuesday, March 7, 1978, 7:00 pm, Day 770
I want to write a bit here and tell you how my financial situation is going. Moiba just paid me back 20 leones of what he had borrowed, so that has brought it to mind. February didn't really come out as disasterous as it was looking. During the first part of the month it was looking like a 400 or so leone month, and I couldn't seem to do anything to stop it. There were factors that helped, so that it wasn't as bad as it looked. First, I made about 30 leones in per diem that month, which helped to relieve some of the costs incurred by staying in Freetown. Second, I gave out 56 leones in loans that month, and so hopefully I will be getting all of that back sometime. Altogether, I spent 270 leones in February, while taking in only 238 leones. That is 32 leones in the red, which isn't too bad after all. Also, starting with our April check, our monthly allowance will be raised by about 20 to 25 leones, so we will be making about 230 leones per month.
So far, for these first 6 days of March, I have spent only 15 leones, for a rate of about 2.50 leones per day. This is because I have spent all of this time here in Kamiendor. If I stay up country, I could save alot of money, but if I stay in Freetown, my money just seems to flow away. The trouble with February was that half of the month I had to spend in Freetown.
I am going down to Koidu tomorrow, and then later on down to Freetown. Therefore, I can expect to spend much more, but I think that with this good start, I ought to be able to keep in control during March.
Wednesday, March 8, 1978, 2:00 pm, Day 771
I have a new possibility for a wife that I am planning to pursue further. The girl's name is Kariata, and she looks to be about 18 years old. She has a good body and a beautiful face. When she first appeared on the scene, about a week ago in Kamiendor, she caught my eye, and since then I couldn't help but fasten my eyes on her whenever she happened by. She has always managed to smile and say hello to me when we meet, and I've done the same. Besides that, I haven't really had contact with her. She hasn't asked me for anything yet, which is usually what most of the women do. I think that is a good sign, as she isn't out after my money, but she still smiles and says hello to me. I met her again today at the chief's house here in Koidu. At first, I mistook her for Finda, the wife of the carpenter here. I didn't think that she looked quite right, and the next time, when I saw her again, I saw my mistake. The thing was that I recognized her the first time that I saw her.That is, I knew that I knew her. The trouble was that I wasn't expecting to find her here at the chief's house. I was expecting to find Finda here, and Finda is just as beatiful as Kariata, so when I saw Kariata sitting there, I took her to be Finda. Then, later on after some thought, and then another look, I remembered who she really was and where I had seen her before.
Later on, after she had left, I asked Momodu about her. He told me that she was the younger sister of the wife of the chief's driver. Did you get that straight? Let me go through it again. Kariata is the younger sister of the wife of the driver of the motor car of the chief. Better yet, she is, as of yet, unattached.
I think that Kariata might be capable of more than fulfilling my requirements of a wife. She seemed to be quite content and happy during her stay there in Kamiendor. She seems to be friends with all of the ladies there. They all seem to know her, and so it won't be like bringing a stranger into their midst. She might be a bit on the young side for me, but she does have the body of a mature woman. By Sierra Leone standards, she is plenty more than old enough. She hasn't hit me up for money, so that if I give her that which I can afford, she should be quite content with it. She shouldn't be out bugging me to give her everything all of the time, like alot of the women tend to do. I don't think that she has any education, but that is only a guess, as I don't know. That is fine, as long as I just plan on keeping her as a wife during my stay here in this country. It would be a big problem and concern if I wanted to take her back home to America with me. What I need is a good woman, who can cook, is content to live in the bush, and can cuddle up to me at night. Kariata would fit this bill.
At the moment, though, I haven't actually made any moves towards her. This is because of my shyness. I don't really know her yet, and it would take more close contact with her before I can begin to feel at ease. That was the case with all of these women. On my first meetings with any of them, I hardly couldn't bring myself to look them in the eye, for fear of catching their glance. As I become more and more used to them though, I can get more familiar with them, show more friendliness and casualness, until finally I sometimes even feel at ease enough to reach over and carress her breast or something.
Nothing much is thought about doing that here in this country. A woman's breasts are still thought of as something special, but they are not off limits as they are in America.
I've just had some good news on another matter. This is concerning the work. I was just informed by the chief's brother, that the chief has today arranged for a tipper (dump truck) to go to Kamiendor. He has been trying to locate one all this past week without any success. No one was willing to go there. The tipper driver that went up with the first 75 bags of cement says that he won't go up there again. The chief's brother says that they agreed on 4 days at 70 leones per day. That is 280 leones, which I think is higher than estimated. I can't be sure until I know how much that 280 leones will include. If it includes hauling the cement from here to Kamiendor, and if we can get the tipper to haul up the 80 boards that I bought today, all this as well as the sand transport, then it won't be a bad deal. If this is just to include the sand transport, with everything else being extra, then the deal doesn'y look too good. I have to wait until the chief gets home this evening, so that I can find out from him, just what has been arranged.
Moiba came down with me today to buy the boards, and was going back to Kamiendor tomorrow. He was grumbling about having to pay transport, but now it looks like he could travel up tomorrow with the tipper.
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