Thursday, February 2, 2012

Harmattan (and other dry season activities)

Last month I got to partake in one of the more exciting activities since I've been in Sierra Leone: I put on a sweater.  This may sound dull and unexciting to those of you living in cooler climates but to those of us in tropical settings it is certainly an occasion to be celebrated.  During the end of December and beginning of January we get the Harmattan, winds off the Sahara, which makes the climate here considerably more comfortable.  While the coldest it got was maybe only 60°F, a balmy day in some parts of the world, compared to the usual temperature of 95°F it felt like a Russian winter.  The Harmattan has since passed (I'm back to sweating profusely at 9 in the morning) and we are nearing the hottest time of the year: March and April.  Any time I complain about the heat right now people respond, "Just wait for a month, then it'll get really hot."  Great.  If a Sierra Leonean thinks April is hot I'll probably feel like I'm in a pottery kiln.  I've decided I'm going to live in the river for the month of March.  Maybe constant total submersion in the water will save me from melting like the wicked witch of the west.

It's been a while since I've written a blog update, so I'll try to fill you in on the past few weeks.  School started up again January 9 (technically January 2, but everything starts a week late) so I've been back at school teaching for about 3 weeks.  At the end of Term 1 I was feeling rather downtrodden about teaching but having a nice long holiday away from school did me wonders.  I've recharged my batteries and am much more optimistic about teaching.  There are still days when it all feels hopeless but for the most part things are looking up.

Exciting news around town: my school got computers!  This is both a blessing and a curse.  I think it's great that some of the teachers and students will get some exposure to computers.  However, even though our computers (3 of them) are nice, they do not have Word, Excel, or internet.  Those are the 3 reasons I use a computer, so without those programs I don't really know what to do.  I guess I can teach everyone to play solitaire and minesweeper.  In all seriousness, I hope to be able to use the computers to show my kids some cool science stuff (or at least better quality pictures than I can draw in chalk) but we'll see if all the logistics work out.

The other exciting news in Yele is that we should be getting electricity in April!  Some people from the Netherlands have been fixing the hydroelectric dam on the river here.  It was built before the war (although it was never operational) and like most things was vandalized during the fighting.  They are now rehabilitating it and if everything goes well should be running soon.  Of course nothing in this country gets done by the expected date (see above explanation of school start dates) but even if we get electricity 6 months late I'll be a happy girl.  I've already got my prepaid meter installed at my house.

In conjunction with the electricity a team of people have been here building a new market structure (called eLuma) that will make use of the electricity for business owners.  The goal is to get some businesses in Yele that would expand on what they already have (and ideally cut down on transportation costs from Freetown if products can be produced here).  The best part about the whole process (other than having white people in town to hang out with) were the shop applications.  Prospective shop owners have to fill out an application to rent a space including a question about what they would use the electricity for.  Far and away the best answer was: a generator.  Uh... I don't think you understand the concept of electricity.  The hope is that with they hydro power you won't need a generator.  Guess there's a little more education that needs to happen.

As always, love and miss you all.  I think about home every day (and you personally probably at least once, if you're lucky) and hope the good ol' American life is treating you well.