Partied Out!

Hirut & I at the wedding reception.

Argh, help, mercy! Too much partying going on here - I can't cope.

Saturday, after breakfast, we headed to a tailor nearby and gave him our designs and cloth. I'm getting a long straight skirt made from the sequined red material, a long round skirt and matching halter-neck top from the yellow and red tie-dye, then we'll take the other material (the purple one) to another tailor who does dresses well. The standard tie-dye cloth cost me 30,000 Leones (about £6) and the skirt and top cost about the same again to make, so a whole designer outfit for £12. The purple was more expensive because it was hand finished, but still less than £10. Cheaper than Rwanda, where cloth costs around £6 and a dress around £8.

He took our measurements and said it'd be ready in a few days. We went home via the supermarket for Vimto, which is highly addictive in hot weather, then we visited Mama Harolda, Hirut's great grandmother (I think) who is a lovely lady. She lives on Liverpool Street, running a tie-dye and catering business from downstairs which feeds local medical students. Enterprising. Hirut had to translate from Krio for me. Her name is apparently Old Norse. Names in SL are funny, as so many have Scottish or Irish names because of history. Often, people took their pastor's name when confirmed, but sometimes it's through marriage. Lots of places in SL sound familiar too, like Waterloo :op

When we got back, I got to try palm wine. Herbert had some in a jerrycan. It was extremely sweet as it had just been tapped. Literally, you bore a hole at the top of a palm tree and it starts gushing liquid like a birch tree. You collect that in a jerrycan and it's already fermenting, it already has yeast in it - literally an alcohol tree. The longer you leave it, the more potent it becomes. It starts out cloudy, then clears as the alcohol takes over, also becoming more bitter. This was fresh from the tree and was cloudy white, sweet, and slightly fizzy.

Then, on Saturday night it was another party: Llyal's uncle got married and they held the reception at the guesthouse we'd dropped Hirut's mum at before. It was all decked out with marquees and a huge buffet, but unlike any mélange in Rwanda. Everything so well cooked and so full of spices and flavours. Heaven.

I'd only taken one formal dress with me, so Salina (Hirut's mum) lent me one of hers. Very pretty dress. We got all decked up and had a lovely time. Loads more West African music from all over: Senegal, Liberia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria and SL. Had a really good time dancing, but I'm still trying to come to terms with the heat and humidity - it's truly tropical. Luckily, the house is fully air conditioned, as are the cars.

Mama Harolda had given us many jerrycans of traditional Sierra Leonean ginger beer for the wedding. It was extremely refreshing.

Then, yesterday, we got up late again (a wonderful habit) and breakfasted on cassava and curry before falling into the car and going to Lumley Beach, the main public beach in Freetown. Miles of bright golden sand. We found a café to sit outside of, under a big umbrella, drinking Vimto whilst watching the tide turn, and listening to a surreal blend of lively Christmas carols from a loud speaker over the road next to a giant inflatable Santa. People in SL certainly do celebrate Christmas, thankfully.

I eventually plucked up the energy to throw myself in the sea, and was delighted to discover it was bath warm. Like the Indian Ocean on the West Coast of Australia, it was like easing into a hot tub. Not the Atlantic of my youth...

Dusting off the sand, we headed back to the house to get changed for the Freetown Dinner Club, an exclusive dining circle of 70 people sworn in as members on their intellectual merits and career success. They were swearing in two new members. Herbert was giving a speech on the occasion, so we were rather distinguished guests to be sitting next to him.

The two sworn in were both women. One was the head of a school, the other of a bank, and both had to give long introductory speeches which were really good. The first, the teacher, spoke on the topic of 'humour' and kept telling very funny jokes. The second spoke on the ability to 'walk and talk': to be successful in business through self-discipline. Good stuff, and the meal consisted of salmon starter, roast dinner, Christmas pudding, and cheese and biscuits with plenty of wine. Certainly interesting to see how the other half live. I was already feeling rather privileged to be staying in such an amazing house with air conditioned 4x4s at our disposal.

Whilst milling afterwards, we bumped into one of Hirut's distant cousins. "Where are you working now?" she asked. "Kigali." "Kigali! Really? I heard people never last more than a year there."

Comes to something when random strangers are apologising to you for where you work lol Such is Rwanda's reputation as a tough place to live and work in the development world. But I mustn't get too jaded.

So, today is a day of rest. I'm making the most of it and doing absolutely nothing but lying on the couch watching TV and finishing my current read: The Ingenious Edgar Jones. It's quite a unique one.