Soo this will be my last blog post from the U.S. for quite some time. I leave tomorrow for staging in Chicago and then on Wednesday I will be on a plane to Sierra Leone! Now is my time to be a bit sentimental.. Thank-you to everyone reading this blog for your support this past year as I applied, anxiously awaited the decision, and prepared to depart for the Peace Corps. You are all wonderful and I will miss you all.
Here is a video to all my friends and family (sorry family I have many more pictures of friends but I love you all just as much!!)
Monday, May 30, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Just one more week..
At this point my departure is only one week away. So I decided it was time to give you all: Fast Facts of Sierra Leone.
First of all I should explain the name of the blog. Salone is the Krio word for Sierra Leone so the address for my blog is 2 years in Sierra Leone. It is not supposed to say 2 years alone. Come on. I’m not that depressing.
And now on to some fascinating facts!
2. Tropical climate with hot, humid rainy season from May- December and dry season from December – April. At least I am finally out of the snow J
3. Population - ~6.3 million
4. Capital: Freetown
5. Language: English is the official language. Other major languages include Krio, Mende, Temne.
3. Population - ~6.3 million
4. Capital: Freetown
5. Language: English is the official language. Other major languages include Krio, Mende, Temne.
Want a Krio lesson?? Follow this link http://vimeo.com/23664329
6. Currency – Leone. 1 USD = 3,000 LE
7. Sierra Leone is approximately the size of South Carolina
8. The temperature is usually 27-30o C (80-86 F) but during March and April it gets up to 38 C (100 F). Humidity ranges from 70% to 82% all year. Oh man.
9. Sierra Leone means Lion Mountains.
10. 57% of people don’t even make $1 a day.
11. The country has 23 living languages.
12. About 60% of the country is Muslim, 30% Christian, and the rest are of indigenous and other religious beliefs.
13. Animals: 15 species of primates, elephants, hippos, leopards and 630 bird species. Oh and the Hairy Brown Huntsman spider is likely to scare non-African visitors due to its large size and scary appearance. So I will be scared because it is scary. Thanks authors for really putting that all together for me.
6. Currency – Leone. 1 USD = 3,000 LE
7. Sierra Leone is approximately the size of South Carolina
8. The temperature is usually 27-30o C (80-86 F) but during March and April it gets up to 38 C (100 F). Humidity ranges from 70% to 82% all year. Oh man.
9. Sierra Leone means Lion Mountains.
10. 57% of people don’t even make $1 a day.
11. The country has 23 living languages.
12. About 60% of the country is Muslim, 30% Christian, and the rest are of indigenous and other religious beliefs.
13. Animals: 15 species of primates, elephants, hippos, leopards and 630 bird species. Oh and the Hairy Brown Huntsman spider is likely to scare non-African visitors due to its large size and scary appearance. So I will be scared because it is scary. Thanks authors for really putting that all together for me.
14. Woah! Did you know that even a decapitated snake head can bite?? Learn something new every day.
15. Today, Sierra Leone is among the safest African countries. So don’t be scared, plan a trip to visit J
16. 23,000 Leones can get you from one side of the country to the other. That is less than $10. A night stay at a 5-star hotel will cost $150-200. Nightclub entry is between 3,000 Le and 15,000 Le ($1-$5). Again, visit me.
17. A common saying is “A Sierra Leonean has not eaten unless he has had rice.” The main dish in Sierra Leone is rice and plassas. Plassas is a green leafy sauce that covers the rice. There are over 20 words for rice in Mende. Guess what I’ll be having for dinner every night..
18. According to the guide book “booze is a mainstay of village life, with homemade moonshines the norm.. The clear spirit omele is so hard it goes by the name ‘bush kerosene’; not only will it make your eyes water, they may feel like they are going to pop out of their socket.” Great. Sounds like a good time.
19. Which hand to use for a greeting?? The left hand is associated not just with defecation, but also lovemaking and witchcraft while the right hand is associated with positive public actions.
20. Romance – it is common for men and women to have four or more ‘girlfriends/ boyfriends.’
21. “In villages, be prepared too for intense prolonged staring if you look very different; privacy is not valued, and overt curiosity is considered the most natural thing in the world.”
Well I hope you all learned something and have a better understanding of the country I will be living in for the next two years. It will definitely be different but I am excited to go and experience a new way of living!! I just need to remember to avoid scary spiders, only use my right hand, and definitely stay away from omele. Otherwise, I just need to suck it up and enjoy the heat (I mean I complain enough about winter this should make me ecstatic right?), learn to love rice, and be prepared for people to stare. All in all sounds like a great adventure J
As long as I follow the advice of this guy and do what the Sierra Leoneons do while I am there I should be fine.. http://blip.tv/weowntv/makengoh-krio-lesson-1-5179189