A little knowledge is a weird thing...

31.10.09

Driving home last night with Moses, the driver I’m using in Freetown, was a bit weird. There are police checkpoints all over town at night-over the summer there was a spat of armed robberies, and so checkpoints are meant to help control that. The checkpoints can take up to 45 minutes to get through, I’ve heard, but usually it’s nothing much (I haven’t had to stop for more than 10 seconds yet). Moses is a police officer, so he can usually get us through checkpoints without issues, which is fantastic, but one officer who stopped us was a little bit vigilant (and maybe a little bit drunk) last night. Moses had a short interaction with him, and then asked if I had understood what had been said…I said no (but that wasn’t true). So he told me that he made a joke to the guard about my being his wife (as he’s done at previous checkpoints) in order to get us through (it works, for some reason!). What he actually said to this last officer, though, was that he was an ex-RUF soldier, so let us through. Jeepers! I’ve heard people brag about being RSLAF or even sobels and kamajors, but never RUF. The rebels from Guinea are apparently here recruiting ex-rebel soldiers…I wonder if that has caused an increase in pride at having been a rebel?
I had a Krio lesson the other day, that was fun. The teacher is super-nice, though I’ll only be able to see him sporadically because of being in Koidu and elsewhere. I’m pretty stoked about going to Koidu…not actually feeling like there’s much for me in Freetown right now. Certainly keeping busy with a good mix of work and play, but I almost feel like I could be anywhere at times… I’m spending my workday in front of a computer, hanging out with people that I just don’t really know. It’s not immensely satisfying at the moment. Perhaps I’ll take my computer and go to the beach tomorrow. Hopefully, my ride to Koidu will be arranged for Tuesday!