A day In the Life
So far every day in Africa has held new adventures for me. I
have yet to grow bored even while inching through Freetown traffic for hours. I
would like to recount a recent day in my life. It was a Sunday and so I
attended church at The Covering. Church is quite the experience with visitors
from the community the kids and the staff there was something like 150 people
packed into a medium size sitting room praising God and worshiping. After church I left to drive a young lady to
the Ferry that crosses over to Lungi Airport. We left with time to spare but were
stopped by a traffic cop. This particular civil servant spent 15-20 minutes
attempting to extort money from me. He was not successful but now there is just
enough time to reach the ferry before it leaves so long as nothing slows
traffic for the next 10 miles. So I made a mad dash through Freetown to the
Government Warf and arrived just as the ferry was blowing it horn to leave.
There was seconds to spare but we made it.
From there I decide I will drive to a local stretch of beach
and read for a while as I wait out the rain.
When the rain slows I take a stroll down the beach where I get to
participate in hauling in the fishing nets, play a pickup game of beach soccer,
and run into one of the visitors to TRS Church. Sorri is a young man that I had
met on previous trips who live a few miles from The Covering but comes to the
church every Sunday. He introduced me to his family and proudly showed me the
family fishing operation. They have a
wooden boat and large drag nets that they use to harvest fish. Local women buy
these fish and then re-sell them at market or in the street. I got a lesson in microeconomics.
I latter received a call from my American African friend
“Santigie” Andrew Sisco asking if I could exchange a propane bottle for him.
Andrew is a missionary who moonlights as a DJ at African nightclubs. Upon
returning to the Sisco home I run into Morli a young boy who lives across the
street. Morli invites me to the 20th anniversary party for the generous couple
who care for him. There were a lot of people and a lot of food. Africans are
big on ceremony so there were multiple speeches and multiple prayers before we
ate. There was even a ceremony of libation where a drink is poured on the floor
to honor the dead. I ate many new foods to include fish balls, what I think was
the male reproductive glands of a goat.
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