Confidential Documents

Good morning and happy Monday. Just a quick posting for this morning.

There's been a bit of a problem with confidential government documents leaking out into public domain. But unlike in other countries where this is often done on purpose for political gain, its being done here by accident.

The government printers (who print everything from budgets, to copies of various acts and policies) are giving away scrap pieces of paper to local bakeries to use to wrap and package bread products.

As such, people are showing up to these bakeries in the morning, purchasing their croissant and then getting some bit of information on revisions to various fiscal incentive policies not yet disclosed to the public...

Satellite TV in a Mud Hut

This past Saturday, the US lost to Ghana in the round of 16. When we drew Ghana, I was a bit concerned as Ghana is the only African team to make it out of the Group stages and thus, I assumed that even FIFA was keen to see an African team go through to the Quarterfinals...

But I figured, drawing Ghana would be better than Germany. Either way, the US and England were f-cked.

Before the match - I was quite excited (evidenced my smile and the wearing of blue sunglasses with the US flag on the sides). I fancied the US chances and believed that we would pull something good out. I mean even Pres Clinton decided to stay a few extra days in South Africa so he could watch the US team play again.

I was down at a beach this past Saturday called Mama Beach, at a new 'hotel' called Eden Park. Eden Park did not yet have a TV, so I grabbed a member of the staff who was from the local village and we headed out of the complex on a little dirt path to the village of Mama Beach. After about a 20 minute walk with eyes fixed on me (as the only white man to go through these parts in a while - I surmised) we got to the 'Cinema' as Wilmot (the man from the hotel) described it.

The 'Cinema' was simply a mud-brick built hut, with no windows and aluminum siding for a roof. It was an easy building to spot as it had three large satellite dishes attached to the roof. Inside were long wooden benches facing a little 15 inch TV on one side and a 23 inch TV on another side (also with wooden benches in front of it). After paying 1000 leones (or about 25 cents US), Wilmot and I popped inside. We missed kick-off, and Ghana had already scored their first goal. About 60+ men were sat tightly in this blisteringly hot hut - with all eyes fixed on the 15 inch TV - yes, the football match was relegated to the smaller TV. Managed to get a decent seat and quickly caught up with a few of the locals about the game so far.

As the only America and white guy in there, they all assumed I was cheering for the USA.

They were right.

Every time the US did something good or bad, I ofcourse reacted. This pissed off a few guys and made others laugh. At one point some guy yelled at me "We only cheer for African teams in this hut". To which I responded "Thats great! I only cheer for American teams in this hut."

All in all - in was a great viewing experience and nice to watch with real Sierra Leoneans and not members of the expat community. The most comical thing however, was that during the second half, another group of people (men, women and children) popped into the hut to watch the other 23 inch TV. When they first turned it on, it was about 10 minutes into the second half. I assumed they would also put on the match and therefore accommodate another 50/60 people willing to pay 1ooo leones.

But - as usual in Sierra Leone - I was completely wrong. Instead, they played an old Jackie Chan movie from the 80s. The film was in Chinese with English subtitles and featured a scene where a sort of soccer-like sport was played. For about 20 minutes of the second half, more eyes were on the Jackie Chan film than the USA-Ghana match. In fact, whenever someone scored a goal in the movie, the cheers were louder than when anything good happened in the Ghana-USA match.

The USA - Ghana match ended with Ghana victorious and the locals apologetic to me. They all believed that the USA was a good team and that we would do better in the future. But ofcourse, many of these guys got a little cheeky and made sure to emphasize their delight in seeing an African team beat a 'Western' team. Although the USA never colonized Sierra Leone, I found this comment to be interesting:

"Its nice to see an African team do well in the Cup. We used to be your slaves. Maybe if we win a few more games, you will become our slaves."

We agreed that if Ghana won the Final, that I would return to the village and work for this man for a week.

Wilmot told me later that he hoped that Ghana would not win the Final for my sake. When I asked him why, he explained that the man I made this deal with was responsible for take care of the outhouses in the village.

The Rains...

The rainy season is finally here. (See picture). I (like many other rainy season virgins) was quite excited for the arrival of the rains. I figured it would cool things off, clean up the streets and be exciting!

What I didn't think about was that after its been raining for 48 hours straight, with no end in sight, rain loses its excitement and fast!

Luckily the rain has just let up after a couple of days of non-stop deluge. The weekend however is looking pretty moist and we expect it rain non-stop for another couple of days from tomorrow.

So far, I've been pretty lucky with the rain. I've not been caught out on the street. Not lost power for more than a few hours and not had any leaks or electrical problems (unlike many of my colleagues and friends).

The rain does have a terrible effect on the common Sierra Leonean, who typically leaves in a pretty shotty building or poorly constructed shack. Freetown is built on hillside, so a lot of these places wash away in the rain. Sadly, this results in an unnecessary loss of life and only serves to exacerbate the poverty situation in the country.

Beyond this for expats and NGO workers, the rainy season means DVDs. Often the rain is so bad in the evenings, that people are reluctant to head out and thus they spend weeks watching movies, TV shows, etc on DVD.

To this end, I've made a list of a number of TV series that I've never seen. First up will be the West Wing (yes - I've never watched the West Wing). I had figured I'd watch all of the seasons of 24, but after watching the first season (in which the daughter gets kidnapped three times in one 24 hour period), I decided I'd give the other seasons a pass.

On another note - tomorrow is a big game - USA v Ghana. Ghana is the last African team in the World Cup, but f-ck that. I'm hoping Team America comes out strong and makes it to the quarterfinals, even if that means steamrolling Africa's only chance of making a run to the finals...

On the Road to Kenema

Wrote this rather quickly so apologies in advance for any missing words or misspellings....

I've been back in Freetown for about a week now after spending about 10 days in South Africa. Thus, for those curious here's a few stories from my trip to South Africa, which was obviously heavily influenced by the World Cup - Go USA!

I arrived Cape Town on 5 June, yes, my birthday for those of you that didnt know it. And yes, it was a big one, my 30th! With the 20s behind me I arrived customs with a sense of seniority, maturity and an abundance of grey hair on my chin. Luckily, the rest of my hair in more important areas is still dark brown. And what did I do with this new level maturity earned through 30 year of experience - I told the customs guy to 'fuck off' in Zulu (by accident). We were having normal Customs guy chit chat and then I was trying to say some proverbe but instead told him to fuck off by accident. I made the mistake of saying this before he had stamped my passport and officially welcomed me to the Republic of South Africa. He explained to me politely that he had 'absolute authority' to send me back to the UK at which point I realised something was not right. After a few mins of explanation, he laughed about it, taught me another way of telling a person to fuck off and stamped my passport.

The plan for the first weekend was spend a few days with a good friend of mine and his family in Cape Town. Saturday was a beautiful in Cape Town, so we played with his kids, made breakfast for everyone and then went out for a round of golf at the country club he had just joined. My buddy is Kenyan, and was basically the only 'black' face at the country club, that was amusing in itself. But we had great fun, despite me almost killing a 70 year old man with a drive that landed on the wrong fairway - which luckily grazed this man's shoulder and not head. We played with another member who my buddy did not know. He explained that the golf club was one of the oldest in Cape Town and that the owner, who was once a famous SA businessman had opened the club up to Blacks and Jews years ago when that sort of thing was unpopular. My buddy and I, a Black and a Jew, immediately laughed and upped our game from there.

The next couple of days were a littler quiet with my buddy having to go out of town last minute for work. So I assumed the 'father' responsibilities with the kids, although I didnt get the benefit of sharing the bedroom with his wife :-(

After a couple of days of fun and GREAT food, I made my way to Joburg.

Its important to point out that most of the new infrastructure built for the World Cup was not completed before I left SA last October. So even the airports were a treat for me. Cape Town airport is amazing and new and Joburg was the same way. I arrived Joburg and collected a rental car, disappointed that I was not taking the new Gautrain - which is this high-speed train that goes from the airport to Sandton, the main suburb of Joburg. The Gautrain had literally started operating that day, 8 June and has received amazing reviews. The only problem with it is that there are no signs in the brand new Joburg airport that show you were to go for the Gautrain. But of all things that could go wrong I guess this was a little one.

So anyway, I hopped in my little Kia, made sure I had some South African Rand ready to bribe a police officer if pulled over and headed to my good friends house (will call them the Smiths). The highways had all recently been refurbished and were lined with flags of all the countries competing in the World Cup. More striking that this however, were the SA rainbow flags that seemed to be on every car. Blacks, Whites, etc were all showing their patriotism with great pride. I'm not South African, but having lived there for a little bit and having read enough about apartheid and understanding the divide that still exists - this was really remarkable and emotional. More on this later.

So I got to my friends house (made up of a father, mother, son and daughter) and had dinner. It felt like old times. The father and mother are both US diplomats and the kids are 17 and 20. The son, who is the 17 year old, is sort of like a little brother and the family overall formed a surrogate family for me while living in South Africa. Nothing compares to seeing mom, dad and Margaux ofcourse!!!

We started slow, but the next few days were to get better and better.

Wednesday was a pretty quiet day filled with a lunch, some errands and just hanging out with friends and then dinner. The only thing not quiet about Wednesday was the parade for the SA soccer team that took place in Sandton. Thousands of people poured into the streets to see 'Bafana Bafana' (the SA team) roll through in an open top bus. What struck me most about this was seeing all of these white people (young and old) wearing the yellow/green national team jersey. Some of you will know this, but soccer is not a sport of the whites in South Africa. Traditionally, only Rugby and Cricket are played and supported by whites, while football is the sport of the blacks. Thus, seeing all of these white people wearing the jersey, knowing that none of them had probably ever been to a soccer match, was incredible. Perhaps not as significant as when Mandela wore the SA Rugby shirt in 1994, but still an important sign and step in the reconciliation and evolution of modern day South Africa.

Thursday kicked things up a notch. Thursday started with attending a launch of 'Pele Sport' which is a new clothing line being launched by guess who - yes you guessed it - Pele! Got to see the guy in action showing some moves with a few kids and then shook his hand as he went from a dirt soccer pitch to a tent for a proper press conference. He's a really sweet man and carries a great smile at all times. It was amazing seeing him with kidz who despite their youth were naturally aware of who and how great Pele was.

Following this I had lunch with my old team from Citi and then onto a few drinks with a good friend. Then onto dinner back at the Smiths house to enjoy homemade pizza and to watch the World Cup Opening Concert. The best part of the evening was watching Mr. Smith watch Shakira dance and sing. He had never seen or heard of her before and was completely mesmorised!

Friday morning kicked off with some bad news as Mandela's great grandaughter died in a car accident on her way back from the World Cup Opening Concert.

But, beyond this, it turned out to be a really wonderful day!

We started off at about 9am at US Consulate in Joburg (in Sandton to be precise). There, the US Vice President, Joe Biden, gave a fantastic little speech to about 75-100 of us. Then he decided to walk through the crowd and greet everyone personally. Everybody had a name tag on, so he would approach and greet you by your first name. When he got to me, it was "So Ari, whats your deal buddy?" We spoke briefly and then he was on to the next person. Regardless of your political views, I must say, the Veep was impressive and personable. He got right in your space and made you feel (if only for 10 seconds) that he care about you. Yes, this is the make of all good politicians, but whats more important to note is that this little impromptu meet and great was not planned. He just decided spur of the moment - I'm gonna meet these people and not just disappear for the opening match.

Shortly thereafter, I headed off for Soccer City with the Smiths. Soccer City is the new stadium built for the cup. It will host the final match and is the largest soccer stadium in the African continent, capable of housing 94,000 fans. Really impressive structure and great views from everywhere! The situation in the stadium was amazing. The opening match was South Africa vs Mexico. No 'Ole Ole' chants broke out as the vuvuzelas blown by the South African fans drowned out all noise. But there was harmony between all of the fans and no fights broke out after either goal was scored. The game was pretty exciting but ended in a 1-1 draw. The best part about the match however, came in the second half when I watched a South African boy teach a Mexican man how to blow the vuvuzela. A lovely site and what the World Cup is supposed to be all about!

After the game, we headed back to the Smiths house to clean up and change as we had a party to attend! The party was hosted by one of the 'it' couples in South Africa. The husband, a billionaire and generally considered the wealthiest man or at least the wealthiest black man in South Africa and his wife, a former doctor turned fashion icon. Over the course of the evening I met several celebs, greeted the Prince of Monaco and had a rather enjoyable conversation with a beautiful tall woman. After answering her questions about what I do, I politely asked her what she did in South Africa. She responded "I'm Miss South Africa" My jaw dropped even further than it already was...The party was great fun and after several chats with a varity of people, we headed home at 2am exhausted sans Miss South Africa unfortunately....

Saturday was a real nice day as well. Had my first hamburger in months, courtesy of the good people at McDonalds. More importantly, we had tix for the Eng v USA match in Rustenburg. Rustenberg sits about 70-80km or so from Joburg and is ruled by a tribe that's become quite rich due to the large deposit of platinum that was discovered to be running through the town. After a warm sunny day for the opening match, the Eng v USA match was played at night under much cooler conditions. And more importantly it included English fans which were sure to make things more interesting.

When we got in the stadium, it was clear that English fans outnumbered USA fans by at least 3-1, but by possibly as much as 4 or 5-1. The English flags and fans were everywhere and anywhere, especially in the large and disorganized lines for beer. But despite all of this and the concern of violence or hooliganism, things were pretty safe, fun and comfortable. Only three fights broke out around us. In one of them, two men started pushing each other until one of the dude's girlfriends took her vuvuzela (the horn) and started smacking it over the other guy's head. To be honest - I wasnt bothered by this at all, as at least it was one less person blowing a horn... The Smiths had not been around English football fans before, so for them it was quite an experience. They could not get over how a middle aged man with his 10 year old daughter sat next to him, could scream 'you fucking cunt' or 'you fucking twat' so many times during the game. Exciting game, and the US were a bit lucky - but hey we'll take a 1-1 draw.

We headed home, I made another McDonalds run and passed out.

Had brunch the next day with Smiths and some friends and then flew out in the evening.

It was a GREAT trip. Unfortunately, my bag was lost by British Airways and I'm still without many of my clothes, birthday gifts and World Cup mementos. I think the staff purposely lost my bag after discovering I was American. But then again we Americans do love a good conspiracy theory.

A

The World Cup

As most of you know, I'm on a little vacation down in South Africa (Sowth Affriiikka as the white afrikaners say). Its been about 8.5 months since I moved out of South Africa and I must say it feels GREAT to be back.

Whats really amazing to me is that despite all of the concerns, despite all of the supposed corruption, despite all of the strikes, South Africa has delivered. They massively overspent ofcourse (as almost every host nation of a World Cup or Olympics does) and yes, some of that money could have been spent on schools, housing, etc for the majority of the population which still lives on less than $2 per day.

But this is the price (no pun intended) of wanting to host one of the most significant (if not thee) sports events in the world!

The Cape Town Airport and Joburg Airports are completely different from when I left. They are absolutely incredible and hopefully will assuage concerns of visitors on arrival. This country is serious about tackling its problems, and weak infrastructure was one of those problems.

Dad: By the way, they did manage to finish the Guatrain - which connects the Joburg Airport to Sandton, Johannesburg. 15 minutes!!! Not even NY has a direct train from Manhattan to JFK that takes 15 minutes!!!

Now obviously if scratch beneath the shiny white surface, you see that the problems that have infringed on SA's development are still in fact there. Quite honestly, if all the money had been spent on social development and housing for the 25m+ in poverty, it would have been helpful, but I gather it would have still not solved many of the problems that SA still faces.

But instead of getting into the argument of where the money could have been better spent - I'd rather just talk about what having the World Cup means (on some level) to both South Africa and the broader continent of Africa.

When I left Sierra Leone last week - the excitement was already building. With Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Algeria, etc all in the World Cup, there was a sense of joy and excitement as some of the be continent's best footballers would be able to showcase their stuff on a world stage, that was for the first time, in their own continent!! Africa is filled with tribal differences, 47 different countries and religious differences. But Africans still rallye behind each other when the opportunity presents itself. Obama galvanised the continent, not because he was Kenyan, but because he was AFRICAN-American.

And I guess in an Obama-like way - the World Cup being in South Africa has provided one very significant emotional outcome. It has provided HOPE. Yes, its cheezy and yes it sounds a bit stupid, but in many ways, thats what this continent needs.

No country, no individual is just going to fork over billions of dollars and be able to fix everything.

But at least for a month, people can get excited by something, which will hopefully be the first of many other World Cups in the continent. Tickets remain expense for the average South African, but at least the games are taking place in their backyard and at least for a month that is usually quiet and slow (economically) things will be exciting.

Africa is the new frontier, not India, not China, not Russia, not Brazil. There are more problems than anyone is willing to admit - but hopefully South Africa's World Cup will be a good one and at least show the world that the continent is serious about business, serious about advancement and serious about becoming a player the world of the future...

Topless Statehouse

Today was an absolutely exhausting day. Worked late, by Govt standards, til 8:30pm at Statehouse. And I've got more work to do from home tonight.

By way of background, Statehouse is pretty much empty by 6/6:30pm, unless there's a cabinet meeting, in which case the President and his fellow ministers could be there until 8/9pm.

There was no cabinet meeting tonight, so as usual Statehouse was empty by 6:30 or so. When we walked out at 8:30, there was almost nobody around. Nobody except for a few of the security guards. All of which were laying down on the grass with their shirts off trying to keep cool. When we walked out one of the doors, they immediately jumped up, AK47 in hand and then quickly noticed our white faces and said excuse me.

Can you imagine Capital Hill police or Secret Service at the White House laying down on the grass or stairs with their shirts off? And then can you imagine them pointing a gun at a member of staff who was working late? I cant...

You know you're back in Sierra Leone...

When a rat runs across your foyer as you walk into your apartment...

When a beetle lands on top of your pizza and gets stuck in the cheese...

When a spider runs off as you grab a fresh towel from the closet...

When your showers are cold due to the hot water heater being broken...

When your apartment smells like mold due to humidity...

When the power goes out just as your bedroom air con is finally beginning to make the bedroom sleep-able...

When you open up your sugar jar to add some sweetness to your tea and hundreds of ants appear on your spoon...

Flight BD 0967

I spent the last couple of weeks out of the country back in the US. Unfortunately, I managed to catch some type of bug or virus just before I left Sierra Leone and thus, spent the first 6 days of my trip in pretty bad condition and the rest of my trip in recovery mode. Anyway, I got better and flew back last night.

The flight down to Sierra Leone (Flight number BD 0967) serves as a sort of warm up to Sierra Leone itself. The airplane is an old 757, single row, with two cabins (not-so business Business Class and very-economical Economy, although ticket prices are outrageous as its the only flight from London). I remember the first time I l flew Aeroflot to Moscow and thought that that was basic service... this flight takes basic service to whole new level. Its not that things are bad or that things dont work, its just basic. Just like the country itself the airplane is sort of undeveloped, functional, but often times chaotic.

On this particular flight, a 9-year old child basically yelled at his mother the entire flight. She played 'dead' or acted like she was sleeping, clearly indicating that she was either trying to ignore him or was dead. Another dude yelled and screamed as he was escorted onto the plane by UK customs agents who were sending him back to Sierra Leone as his visa expired and was not renewed. Then a group of engineers working for a big mining company, got so drunk that they kissed each flight attendants's hand on the way out of the airplane (please note that only 2 of the 6 flight attendants were women). The food is ofcourse terrible, and the movies are shown on a few small tvs hanging from the ceiling. The airplane itself is plain white on the outside. No logos, no names, no words or letters of any kind. (Actually, you can sort of see the remnants of what looks like Hindi written on the side of the plane indicated that this plane was a cast away of a budget Indian airline...oh joy!)

I did manage to get myself an exit row seat at the front of the rear economy class cabin. Lots of legroom which was great! Except... the bathrooms on this plane are all directly in front of the emergency row and thus, people were loitering around my stretched legs constantly asking me to make room for them. But worse than that, I had to deal with the terrible smells coming out of the bathroom. One old man was especially terrible. He'd come out of the bathroom and leave the door open, smiling as he walked back to his seat. It was almost as if he was proud of the terrible smell he left behind and thus wanted me to suffer as penitence for the extra leg room I was enjoying.

Sierra Leone: A great place to lose a few pounds...

I've had a friend in town for the past week. For purposes of this posting we'll call her 'Lenora' (this is her choice not mine...) Lenora has never been to Africa before, so I thought, lets throw her into the deep end and get her to visit Sierra Leone, one of the world's third poorest countries...

Its been a great week and its been fun to discover new places and rediscover old places and watch someone experience everything for the first time as I did 2.5 months ago. Lenora has handled everything pretty well, actually she's appeared comfortable in basically every situation and scenario. This is quite a positive statement on her, but it also reflects the massive tourism potential that this country has if developed appropriately.

Although poverty is everywhere in Freetown, its not quarantined in the same way that it is in a place like South Africa where informal settlements or townships exist housing millions of people who lack jobs, food, electricity and basis supply. And thus, everything sort of blends together and thus, feels less poor (if that makes any sense). This is so much the case that Lenora commented about how things didn't seem perfect, but also didn't as poor or as drastic as we are typically led to believe in the West. Specifically she made the following comment, "People's spirits don't seem impoverished. They may lack money and have little opportunity to improve a very low quality of life, but they don't look starving and don't look truly miserable. They look happy in some way, and more than anything, they seem poised and focused on enjoying whatever little bits they have, which I guess makes them seem richer than they are in some way."

In many ways, I fully agreed with her view. But it also helped that we went to some of the most beautiful and 'developed' places that the country has to offer...

We hit the Senagalese Restaurant (yes thats the name) for arguably some of the best fish and chicken in the country, Beach Number 2 (one of the prettiest beaches in West Africa), Sussex Beach (another incredibly cool spot where you have to wait for the low tide to cross a bay that empties out to get to the beach), stayed in the Treehouse at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Reserve (the treehouse literally is a bedroom up in the trees), took a boat to and stayed on Banana Island and ait at least 1 lobster per day over the last 5 days. There are no 5 star accomodations and no expensive restaurants, yet we managed to catch a lot of sun on a lot of gorgeous beaches and eat a lot of fresh seafood.

And thus, feeling that this country is not poor, is in fact a reflection of the trip you can still have here despite the lack of basic infrastructure, electricity and running water. With the right investors and the right government support, there is massive potential to develop a number of eco-friendly and high-end resorts, hotels, etc.

Overall it was a great trip and Lenora didn't get food poisoning, didn't get robbed, didn't fall down or trip in the disgusting statehouse bathrooms, etc. And to make matters even better, Lenora lost a few pounds (via an age-old Sierra Leonean secret) and is going home with a tighter and firmer tummy which she's excited to show off in the Hamptons...

What is this age-old Sierra Leonean secret? Mosquitoes! Or as they are affectionately known by Lenora "Fucking Mosquitoes"!! Seriously, she got bit everywhere we went. She got bit by Mosquitoes on every major beach, at the airport, at the swimming pool, in my flat, everywhere!! She even tried using various levels of bug spray, which provided absolutely no reprieve from the onslaught. But she did lose a few pounds of blood and thus a few pounds of weight which is never a bad thing... unless ofcourse she develops malaria in a weeks time at which point this age-old Sierra Leonean secret will become an age-old Sierra Leonean curse...

Although, a friend of mine who's had Malaria did have this to say: "Getting malaria was not so bad. Both times I just found myself tired and a little fluish, so I'd stay at home and paint my finger and toe nails. Seriously its really not so bad. It's a lot like when I got Typhoid where I also stayed home and painted my finger and toe nails...."

Happy Easter, Happy Passover, and Happy Tuesday...

Public Urination

Despite what you may think, this is not a blog about people peeing in the street or down back alleys. What this is, is a story about taming a certain minister who is known to be a bit of a loose canon.

There is a certain Minister who is quite old, quite difficult, but also very well respected and thus, quite safe and comfortable in his ministerial role. He's quite sharp at times, quite with it at times, but also has a reputation for being, for lack of a better phrase, a bit crazy.

He actively protested during the reign Siaka Stevens who ruled the country from 1971-1985, and thus was thrown in jail and held as a prisoner several times. Perhaps its a result of his years in captivity that this Minister has become a bit koo koo.

What do I mean by 'koo koo'? This is what I mean: Imagine you're flying to London from Freetown. You're sitting in business class. The flight attendant has just brought you a hot towel to clean your face and hands and then serves you a glass of champagne or orange juice. You sit back in your chair and relax as the 757-200 aircraft pulls away from the apron and heads down to the end of the runway to take off. Its a beautiful sunny evening and just as the plane takes off, you catch a glimpse of the beautiful hillsides covered in tropical fauna that surround the airport. 20 minutes later things seem calm and relaxed on board as the pilot comes on the PA system to announce that the flight will be on time and that they don't expect any turbulence.

Then, all of sudden, a tall thin man, wearing a Govt of Sierra Leone pin on his suit jacket gets up and stands in the aisle (despite the fasten seat belts sign still being lit up). Seems a bit peculiar as he's just standing there. And then without hesitation, fear or concern for others, the well dressed pees right there in the aisle. The bathroom is just 10 feet away, but no, he decides to pull it out and pee right there in the aisle. He's careful not to pee on other passengers, keeping his stream of urination focused solely on the one aisle that runs down the middle of the plane. He finishes up, gives a little shake and then sits back down in his seat as if nothing's happened.

Now, imagine that this well dressed govt official does this 2-3 more times on other future flights??!!!

Yep, this is the Minister I'm speaking about above. With this reputation, its no wonder that people are a bit afraid or uncomfortable when dealing with him.

And thus, I embarked on a particularly contentious meeting with him, a few other Ministers and a few other Govt counterparts to discuss a particular investment/project that had gone bad. The discussion had the potential to get explosive with people blaming each other, but somehow the Minister and others kept things together, with a bit of moderation from myself. At the end of the meeting, we arrived at a consensus of the best way forward which was completely in-line with best international practices and thus, the meeting was success. Several of the attendees complimented my efforts and seem to greatly appreciate the focus I attempted to assert on focusing on solutions and not on who to blame.

For me, the meeting was wonderfully gratifying as I continually spoke as "We" in reference to the Govt of Sierra Leone, which I finally feel a part of (even if its indirectly).

But the most successful part of the meeting came when the Minister stood up for a minute and stretched his 6'3" frame. He sort of stood around for a good 3 minutes and fidgeted a bit. To be honest, he looked like a little kid who needed to use the bathroom, but wanted a parent to take him/her. And just as he adjusted his belt buckle, I prepared for what seemed inevitable...

But...

The Ministers sat back down in his chair... I've never been so happy to see a person sit down in my life...

Casual Friday....

In the US and elsewhere, Friday (especially in the summertime) means casual attire or 'Casual Friday'. In the African continent, this takes on a slightly different meaning as Friday means 'African Attire'. And thus, my colleague, Marianne, the daughter of a prominent Govt official, decided to take me to her tailor to have some proper African clothes made up. After reviewing several magazines and fabrics, Mahmoud (the tailor) came up with this gem of an outfit for me.

The top or shirt goes down to about mid-calf, and has some ornate details on the front, French cuffs, and yes, a lion on the back. The lion is considered a fairly regal animal here in Sierra Leone as it appears on the country's crest / national emblem. As many of you know, my name also means lion, and thus, I am now known as "Lion" throughout the Statehouse when I wear this shirt. It confuses the security woman who calls me "Mr. Tony", so she now calls me "Mr. Tony Lion". (Clever eh?)

I must say these clothes are extremely comfortable, although sitting down is a bit difficult as you have to hitch up the shirt every time. I've also got my shirt caught on a few loose nails popping out of the walls a couple of times and have been lucky not to rip anything.

But all (or at least a vocal few) seem to admire me for wearing it. As they say, victory favours the bold and the Sierra Leoneans do seem to genuinely appreciate when you embrace their culture and traditions. In fact, the President's main body guard was yelling at my driver this morning for where he parked as he was dropping me off. (The President was about to come out of the door that our car was blocking) But then I stepped out of the car in my baby blue gown and the dude (a former member of the rebels, the RUF) started smiling and clapping. A couple of fist bumps later and suddenly, he wasn't so angry at where we were parked...

And yes, I finally shaved my head again and got rid of the hair... after all its 90 degrees here and 100% humidity and every little bit of air flow helps cool you down...

Back in Business

I returned to Sierra Leone yesterday evening after being in the UK and Austria for a week. Did some snowboarding in Kitzbuhel, Austria (which I recommend if you are an overpaid banker or financial type or if you have lots of disposable cash from a recently deceased husband/wife or grandparent). I mean seriously, seeing people in Prada on the slopes was a bit ridiculous. I kept it real in my 5 year old camoflage snowboarding pants, green helmet and green jacket...

Anyway, it was quite weird to be back in a 'developed' country (or countries). Not worrying about electricity, having flushing toilets and being able to order a hamburger I knew would not make me lose 8 pounds lighter later on that night was pretty cool. But landing at Heathrow definitely felt like sensory overload. One of the best parts about living down here has been learning to live with much less. As an expat, I still live better than 99% of the country, but compared to living in London or Joburg or New York, there's still a big difference. And in this lesser lifestyle, you somehow find more to entertain and amuse yourself. You learn to appreciate simpler things... but I will stop here as it could get pretty ridiculous and way to preachy and cheezy.

What I will say is that I did sit down on the toilet every time I had to go while in London and Kitzbuhel. Even when I had to pee, I would sit down. Why you ask? I'm not a woman ofcourse, but it was the fact that for the first time in two months I was in a semi-clean public bathroom and thus I felt the need to celebrate the fact that the bathroom was cleaner than my office, cleaner than Statehouse and thus worthy of housing my behind for a few minutes... Like I said, its the little things in life....

Living On A Farm

Every morning I wake up to the soothing sounds of chickens, dogs, goats and birds. From about 6am onwards, the roosters coo, causing the dogs to bark and then to chase the goats, which causes the goats to make whatever you call the noise they make, which annoys the birds who then start to attack the goats, causing the people to shew the birds aways and yell obscenities in Krio at the top of their lungs.

To make matters worse, the electricity usually shuts off for a few hours from about 7:30am onwards. This usually means that I shower with ice cold water (electric water heaters don't work), and shave using a flash flight to ensure that I don't cut myself. I'm not gonna lie, it was super frustrating for the first few days, but now I sort of enjoy it in some weird sick way.

The good thing about Freetown, and Sierra Leone in general, is that (as an expat) you learn to just get on with life despite the lack of basic conveniences. This in turn, helps one to reevaluate whats important, whats necessary and what's completely superfluous. In many ways, it helps you to narrow the scope of what you 'need'.

"Do you know where I can find napkins?"

There is a significant population of Lebanese folk living in Sierra Leone. Although they are small in numbers, they control a significant amount of land and commerce throughout Sierra Leone, especially in Freetown. One of the Lebanese businesses owned is a market called St Mary's which is pretty much where most of the expats in my neighborhood shop.

St Mary's offers up most things that you'd want or need. You can buy soy milk, you can Hershey bars, you can buy an electronic kettle, you can buy eggs, you can buy flashlights, etc. You can pretty buy anything you'd want from a super market, stationary store or hardware store. However, the pricing for items various wildly from traditional prices in Europe and the US.

For example, some Frosted Mini Wheats, which normally retail for 2-3 USDs in the US sell for about 8-9 USDs here. Tabasco hot sauce has a similar markup. Other items, however, light bulbs sell for pennies on the dollar.

Anyway, I know my way around the store pretty well by this point, know the guys who own and run the store and even negotiate prices when I go to pay... All of this has clearly turned me into an honorary member of the Lebanese community. Here's why:

The other day I was loading up my cart with stuff for my new flat when a middle-aged man asked me where he could find napkins. I responded in the aisle with all the plastic cutlery just one aisle over. Was not really thinking, but I assume he was just asked another patron if they knew where something was. He then found me about 5 minutes later in the aisle where the pasta and rice is found. He literally started rummaging through my shopping cart at which point, I asked him if I could help him?

He responded and said that he was looking to see if I had any more of the Louisiana Hot Sauce as there was no more on the shelf. I responded and said that I did indeed have the last bottle. But I was still completely confused as to where this was going. He then asked me for it, and I said that I was purchasing it... he looked at me insanely confused and said "But don't you work here?" I laughed and said "Pardon?", and he then asked me if I was part of the Lebanese family that runs the store... I said, "Nope, I'm American my friend and just trying to find some dinner to cook like yourself..."

The guy was so embarrassed. He thought I had been restocking the shelves. I felt bad and offered him my hot sauce as I had found a green jalapeno Tabasco sauce that i preferred. And thus, for the first time in my life... someone assumed that I was Lebanese.

The Smell of Urine in the Morning

So - as previously described, the Statehouse in Freetown is nothing like the US Capital building or any other US government building that I've ever been inside of. The Statehouse was built and rebuilt around the time of independence and since then has enjoyed few upgrades, other than a coat of fresh paint. The outside is painted white and blue, and the inside is yellowish/cream colour with red carpeting or cheap tiling throughout.

Now this is not a rich country and thus, its wonderful to see that the Government is not wasting funds on building and refurbishing their offices at the expense of the Sierra Leonean people. So, in many ways, there is nothing to complain about. But every morning I cringe as I walk the three flights of stairs up to our office.

Why do I cringe? Well its not because there are fruit bats flying and shitting everywhere. Its not because there are men sleeping in the corridors. Its not because a security woman calls me "Mr. Tony" every morning. Its not because the stairs are falling apart and feel as though they will crumble under my feet. Its not because of the terrible body odor that emanates through the hallways. Its not because the power is often not working and the building is swelteringly hot.

Why do I cringe? Its because the hallways and the stair wells smell like urine. The smell gets worse and worse every day that it gets hotter and more humid. Imagine trying to concentrate on your work when the smell of piss surrounding you is so strong that it could literally knock you on your ass. Imagine trying to eat your lunch or drink your coffee when every bite and every sip somehow involves a certain urinary aroma. In short - its pretty tough to deal with.

But for what its worth - as I already mentioned - I truly admire the Gov of Sierra Leone. They do basic maintenance on the Statehouse and other Govt buildings, but they don't overspend or build themselves garish offices. Although the Presidents office is clean and well decorated, its still nothing special. And I guess the good thing is that every day that I smell urine, so does His Excellency. One day he'll ensure the Statehouse doesn't smell so bad, but until then he and the rest of Govt are focused on trying to do the right things for their people and this is certainly not something to cringe over...

Chasing the Convoy

The Presidential lodge (or compound or residence or whatever its called) actually backs up to the house that I continue to live in on Lucy Drive. Our house is at the top of this hill, with a serve road behind it that leads down to the Prez's pad. The house has great views of the city, and because it sits so high up and close to the Prez's pad, we actually have pretty good water and electricity services. (Pretty good means, that the power only goes out 3 or 4 times per week versus every day).

Anyway, the real benefit is that every morning I hear and see the Presidential motorcade as it winds down the service road leaving the Prez's pad to take him to Statehouse. No, I don't get excited to see the Prez every day in his S-class Mercedes, but rather I get excited to time the departure from my house so that we can piggy back onto the motorcade and get to Statehouse quickly.

Traffic is such a problem in Freetown, then short journeys can take an hour due to single lane roads and massive congestion. But if you can jump into the Presidential motorcade, you can save yourself at least 20-30 mins. The only catch is that this assumes the guys with AK-47s in the pickup truck behind the Mercedes don't shoot you. And thats a big assumption...

The Chief Wears Nike

Friday was a Muslim holiday, so the government and country had the day off. So after a busy few weeks, I went to the Turtle Islands with a few friends. The Turtle Islands are a set of about 8 islands about 60 kms off the coast of Sierra Leone. There are several hundred people living in the Turtle islands, with a few different island Chiefdoms and then one Paramount Chief who overseas all of the Turtle Islands.

Anyway, we started this trek in Tombo, a small fishing village outside of Freetown. We drove through this little marketplace down to the beach where we were met by a man named Ishika (or "Ish" for short). Ish works for the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone (CSSL), which is tasked with 'conserving' important areas, relics, etc. Ish grew up in the Turtle Islands with hopes of pursuing education and business, but then like many other Sierra Leoneans in their 20s and 30s, the civil war happened.

Re the Civil War: Turtle Islands was not tremendously effected by the RUF (the rebels). A few guys came out on a boat and robbed a few people, but that was pretty much the extent of it. They were there one day and gone the next. No major stories of rape, murder or mutilation, but ofcourse the war cut off the Turtle Islands as there was less inclination to head for shore where craziness ensued. After the civil war ended, Ish, did manage to go study. Where you ask? He chose the warm and tropical Russian city of St Petersburg!! He studied commerce for 3.5 years where he was beaten up a few times (for being black) and where a few friends of his were killed (also for being black). After 3.5 years of being away, he finally returned home to the Turtle Islands. Unlike most of his tribe, he wanted to do something beyond being a fisherman, and thus got involved with the CSSL as 1) it gave him a job and money and 2) it meant that he could do something good for his community by helping to preserve Turtle Islands and monitor the sea turtles that live there.

So we hopped onto a little boat with Ish that is basically a old open plan 15 foot boat (the kind you'd go on a lake with - not a bayliner or challenger or anything swank, but rather just a rear engine with a rod that you use to turn - no steering wheel) with a single 80hp engine and along with his 'Captain' we shot off to the Turtle Islands. It took about 2.5 hours to get there, which was not so bad, although taking my shirt off was a bad idea as I didn't manage to get sun tan lotion onto a big part of my bag and thus, I have a big red spot.

We arrived and were greeted by the entire village (or at least all of the kids). 30 little children stood there waiving as we arrived. Ish sent them away as we landed the boat on the beach, but they were all smiling, laughing and happy. Apparently, there have only been two other visitors to Turtle Island over the past 12-18 months. And thus, this is not a place that caters to tourists.

Despite this, Ish and his colleagues have done a good job and 'refurbished' a two bedroom house that sits outside the village on a beach overlooking a little lagoon of sorts. By 'house' I ofcourse just mean 4 walls and a roof. There were no mosquito nets, no running water, no power, no generators, etc. Just a basic structure which had been repainted so at least it looked nice. Mr. Tommy, a member of the local tribe, took care of us and did everything from clean up to help start fires. Oddly there were toilets in the rooms, but they didn't flush. So Mr. Tommy advise us to just tell him after we 'made a sh-t' so that he could clean up. A bit odd, and it clearly affected me as constipation set it in for me and for my friends as all of us seemed a bit gun shy about taking Mr. Tommy up on his offer. The English bloke finally decided to go into the jungle which somehow resulted in him cutting his left butt cheek (this will be important later in the story) Anyway, it was a lovely little site to spent a couple of days. There were a few large palm trees which provided much needed shade, a great little firepit area to have a campfire and a couple of hammocks which were ideally located under the palm trees overlooking the beach. In short, it was a simple place to stay, but a beautiful one!!

We fired up the fire when we arrived and I took the role of chef, preparing some afternoon lunch. Pasta, homemade tomato sauce and salad. (We had not yet caught our dinner, so no fish). After relaxing a bit from the boat journey, we went for a walk. This lagoon turned out to be pretty large and thus, we decided to swim across the lagoon to the outer beach where the waves were breaking. We hoped to find turtles, but instead found dozens of large crabs. The crabs are hysterical! They run up to the shorebreak and then stop like afraid little kids. Then suddenly disappear into the surf and the shorebreak retreats into the ocean. They frighten easily, so even if you see a hundred in front of you as you walk down the beach, they disappear and scamper for their wholes as you get within 10 feet. Walked around a bit more and then swam back across the lagoon as the tide came in. This was no easy task as the swim a good 500-600 yards... Exhausted, we made it back despite the current.

After a few drinks, Ish came back to our little house with the Chief of the Island. I didn't expect to see a guy with a spear or anything, but when this dude, the Chief, showed up wearing a full on Nike (Team Jordan to be specific) basketball outfit, I could not help but laugh. It was bright blue with black pinstripes (think Orlando magic colors). He arrived with his two little sons who we gave a can of Coca Cola and then the cheif we gave some snacks and some wine, which he preceded to chug. Wine is not the alcohol of choice on the Turtle Islands apparently.

Later on that evening, we cleaned up, and then prepared a campfire. The village had prepared fish and rice for us (as standard a Sierra Leonean meal as one can have), but was actually quite tasty and good. (I did throw on some hot sauce and some terriyaki sauce to get things going. We capped off the evening under the full moon (which literally lit up the island) with a bottle of whiskey, some smores and what I like to call Turtled Bananas.

(Turtled Bananas = bananas left in their skin, with a big slit in the skin. You fill the slit with pieces of hersheys chocolate. Then you use roast the banana over the fire until the chocolate melts. Then use one of the cookies from an oreo cookie to scoop out and eat the chocolaty banana)

The next day we got up late and went out fishing, after about 15 minutes we had a bite from a rather large hammer jack (some type of whitefish). Reeled it in until the cord snapped just as we grabbing it from the side of the boat. DAMN!!! No luck thereafter, so we instead found a deserted little island beach which only exists at low tide. We swam and laid in the sun, before heading to another deserted little island which houses one of the turtle nests. Still no turtles, but apparently they do exist. We did much of the same (swimming and laying in the sun). Finally got back to our little house where we were greeted by a few more members of the local village. All nice people. (As discussed there are not many visitors to Turtle Island, so us being there is a big deal for the locals as there is not too much to do beyond, fish, eat, hang around, etc). When I say village, I litteraly mean huts with thatched roofs, no electricity, one fresh water well and no stores or commerce of any kind. Also no cell phone reception and thus no cell phones or electronics of any kind. Most people on the island have never seen TV or listened to a radio!!! But somehow they all wore american clothes. Lots of football jerseys, Nike apparel, etc etc.

After a little nap on the hammocks after drinking coconuts filled with Bacardi and pineapple juice, we decided to try fishing again. This time, Mary (an Irish lawyer who works for the Govt), caught a pretty big baracuda. It was about 3.5 feet long. We got back to the house and had Francis cut up a few fillets and the rest we gave to him and to Ish's families. More smores, more booze and more laying in the hammock under the moonlight.

The next morning, I think all of us were sort of keen on staying a few more days as we had finally become calm and relaxed and comfortable with this quiet life, but we had to leave early to avoid the winds to make it back to Tombo. Ha. After about 15-20 mins, the winds kicked up and with that, the waves also kicked up. As George Costanza would say "The sea was angry this day!" (Extra points for anyone who remembers which episode this is from??? How about the one where George pretends to be a Marine Biologist and ends up saving a beached whale which has had a golf ball stuck in its blow-hole which end up there after Kramer hit golf balls into the ocean from the beach a couple days earlier)

I sat in the back of the boat, on the left side in front of where Francis controlled the boat and next to Ish. This is important to mention as it turned out to be the wettest and worst place to sit in the boat. My English friend managed to create a nice little place for himself in the middle of the boat between the two benches where he continued to read his Grisham novel, quietly and dryly. I looked down at him annoyed (soaking wet and shivering) until finally, karma came into play and some spilled gasoline found its way to his left butt check. He jumped up with a burning sensation and then had to jump into the ocean and scrub with some soap until the pain resided. I was ofcourse relieved that he was fine, but pleased at the same time as he never offered to switch seats for any of the boat trip.

Ish was visibly frightened by the waves and roughness of the sea. Several times he tried to convince me that we should turn around - which I declined. To me, it did not seem that bad. 4.5 hours later we had still not made it to Tombo. We finally arrived Tombo, soaking wet and cold for the first time since we've been in Sierra Leone. Ish and Francis were pleased and incredibly relieved. As we walked up the beach to the car, the horrid smell of the little fishing village never smelled so good. I changed shirts, which got a laugh from the surrounding crowd of people that had formed around our 15-year old gold Izuzu Trooper. They laughed at the Live it Up tatoo and ofcourse at the big red burned spot of my back. We raced back to the house (as fast as the Izuzu could handle) and after 48 hours of constipation, I finally relieved myself and gave birth to 7 brown babies... And so it goes...

The Lobster Index

Over the last 30 days, I've consumed 19 lobsters here in Sierra Leone. This works out to 0.63 lobsters per day!! If I continue at this rate, I'll consume 231.2 lobsters over the year!!!

Now, the relevance of this, is that I believe my consumption of lobsters directly correlates to my happiness. As you will see with the chart on the right, my happiness grows as I consume more lobster. (The data does not lie!!)

It is a result of this, that I am suggesting that the Lobster Index be used as another measurement tool to evaluate countries.

My rationale is the following: Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world. I think only Sudan or Somalia is considered poorer, perhaps even Afghanistan, but thats the type of level we're at. However, this does not reflect the every day happiness than many Sierra Leoneans feel. They live simpler lives ofcourse, and face many challenges, but f-ck they get to eat lobster as much as they catch it or afford it. Now, to Sierra Leoneans, lobster is still not cheap, but its not unobtainable and its not out of the realm to eat. Fish like baracuda is more regularly eater, but lobster is still attainable.

And thus, like GDP per capita, I think we should have the Lobster Index for each country. Sierra Leone may be a poor country, but with lobster for lunch and dinner, it is surely a happy country and thus, this happiness should be reflected and promoted to attract others to Sierra Leone. Poor incomes, often poor quality of life, but lots of lobster-eating induced happiness can make the pain go away!

"Hello Tony"

Sorry for the delay in posting, but its been a pretty busy couple of weeks here. So I'll drop a few different Blogs online today for all to read about the latest and greatest here in Salone.

So the big man (Mr. Tony) was here last week (Tuesday and Wednesday). Here was here for a total of 36 hours (give or take).... and let me tell you, its a bit of a circus. Not as bad as it would be in the US, as the Brits are still a bit more relaxed with security than the Americans (at least they are perceived to be more relaxed). But still pretty nutty. Without going into the specifics of his security detail, I can tell you that I know his 'cops' pretty well now. Most I've met in London and some I've done Advance work with before, but there were a few new faces who had never before been to Sierra Leone. All good dudes.

Anyway, we had lots of prep to do for the visit. We write briefs, briefs, briefs and more briefs. Then we create presentations, then we do dress rehearsals, then we set up meetings, then we invite everyone to the meetings, then we arrange logistics and advance parties for all of the meetings, then we adjust everything for security, then we run through all plans again, then we change everything, we plan meals, we plan for coffee, we plan for power failures, we plan for water cutoff, we plan for bad weather, etc etc etc. Anyway, finally we execute our plan around his 36 hour trip and luckily all goes down pretty well.

Spent quite a bit of time with the big man along with my other private sector development colleague. This is a reflection of Mr. Tony's belief in thriving private sector being absolutely cornerstone to good leadership and good governance. Regardless of your political views, I find this a hard position to challenge. The Aid model is not sustainable and although helpful, you need private sector players to invest and achieve commercial returns in order to attract other investors and other investors, and so on.

Overall it was a very good visit. Had dinner with his chief of staff and traveling secretary, and a few other colleagues from the London office also came down for the trip. Additionally, we had a big full team dinner with Mr Tony before jetted off. Unfortunately, he had given alcohol up for Lent, and thus no crazy party stories to share. But in general, he's a pretty fun guy to chit chat with and loves to take the piss out of people (as most Brits do). And damn right impressive in meetings!!

And thus, after an insane 36 hours, he hopped on his jet and left. Our whole team waived goodbye and then preceded to get absolutely hammered!! We all went out to a bar called Atlantics which is down on the beach. Atlantics is my fav bar in Freetown. Its down on Lumley beach and is an open air place with tables both inside and on the beach sand. We don't have many bars, but this one is a good one! My head hit the pillow at 3am and I didn't arrive at Statehouse the next day (Thursday) til 11am...

Pitch Black

This week, the major power generation plant, Bambuna, is under repair. Actually, its unclear if the electricity grid or the generation plant itself is under repair. What is clear is that there is no power and thus, everyone has stocked up on diesel fuel to power their generators. This ofcourse includes all government buildings. (Yes, even government doesn't have a steady supply of electricity). So last night, I had my first taste of what Freetown was like before Bambuna came online last October.

Was sitting in the Minister of Trade's office having a pretty important discussion when at around 7pm, the power went out in the building. The entire building, which includes about 15 different ministries, lost power. It was already dark outside and as a result, it was pitch black inside the office. I expected that this would essentially end the meeting, so I started to gather my belongings by feeling around on the floor for my bag and trying to determine which cell phone was sitting on the table in front of me. But, I was wrong to anticipate that the lack of lights and air conditioning could stop the conversation.

A hour and half later, our meeting continued. About half of that time was in complete darkness, until an aid of the minister turned on a little camping light which we placed on the table. Finally departed the minister's office at around 8:30pm. However, this then meant that my colleagues and I had to navigate through the corridors of this building and then walk down 7 flights of stairs using only the light from our cell phones to show the way. (Note to self: Blackberries do a much better job as acting as a flashlight than Iphone's do).

The Red Devils

I may have eluded to this before, but Sierra Leone has two national football (soccer) teams. The first national team is the Sierra Leonean national team itself which has not been competitive for years, which is probably why everyone here supports Ghana when it comes to international matches. The second national team is Manchester United, the Red Devils.

As you drive through Freetown, the most popular sight to see is not the beach, not the buildings, not the people. The most popular sight is in fact the Manchester United logo which seems to appear everywhere. Its on taxis, its on buses, its on buildings, its on the walls of the Statehouse, its on the hats of men, its on the t-shirts of children, its on the cups in the house I live in, its even on the ceiling of the bathroom next to my office.

This is not a problem though when you are in fact a Man U fan.

A good win last night for the lads. ROOONNNNEEEEYYYY!

Can't Wait to Watch Figure Skating!

Sunday here in Sierra Leone, which means its Day 3 of the Olympics. The Olympics are a big deal here in Sierra Leone. Huge! Actually, thats not entirely true. Let me rephrase. The Olympics are big deal in my house. Why? Because I'm living with two Canadians who eat, drink, sleep and shit anything involving snow and ice. One of them is actually going back to Canada next week to enjoy the final few days of this years Winter games.

But they excitement for this years winter games has been somewhat subdued, mainly because they have not been able to watch any of the events on TV. Why? Because we don't have a TV in the house, don't have a satellite, and up until two days ago, we didn't have broadband either.

But now, with broadband, one of the Canucks has a friend who set up a Slingbox back home. It took 48 hours, but as of an hour ago, we now have full coverage of the Olympics a la CTV, a Canadian TV channel. The Canadians are now planning their whole day around the figure skating events this evening. Pretty amazing to see two heterosexual dudes so keen on figure skating.

But in Sierra Leone, life is all about the little things and thus, gaining live coverage via the Internet of the Olympics is a big deal (well it is to my roomates...). These guys are even plotting a way to 'liberate' a computer projector from one of my colleagues so that they can watch the events on a large screen rather than off a computer monitor.

Otherwise, its a busy Sunday here with lots of work to do before the day is out. I may not be an investment banker for the time being, but I assure you that working for the Government of Sierra Leone is in no way a 9 to 5 job either. With a Presidential election two and half years away, every private sector investment into the country has relevance, especially when they can create thousands of jobs and provide access to state-of-the-art technology.

Boom Boom Boom

Most of the expats I've spoken to have had problems with their stomach during the course of their first few weeks in country. I've been here exactly two weeks today and thought I was going to be one of the lucky ones. But... I was wrong.

Just like the Black Eyed Peas song, my body literally went "boom boom boom", and then did so again and again. One's bowel movements is surely not the best of topics to write about, but it seems to be part of every day discussion here in Sierra Leone. In fact, I've never had so many discussions with other people, men and woman, about bowels movements in my life. And the way that people talk about them is actually quite humorous.

The Americans "drop bombs", the Canadians "take a deuce", and the Brits "need a shit". Most stories shared among the expats consist of looking for a toilet in some government building only to find that the toilet either doesn't flush or has no toilet paper or running water. Even women (traditionally more coy on the subject of fecal matter) discuss in granular detail the situation they had to go through when it comes to getting sick.

Anyway, the good part about all of this is that it is nothing to be embarrassed by and is clearly something that everyone struggles with from time to time. People often miss meetings and disappear for 24-48 hours at a time when dealing with whatever situation has come their way.

On Progress

The last 24 hours has been absolutely exhausting. Yesterday I headed out to a town called Makena in the Presidential motorcade. Now again, remember this is not the US and as such, the Presidential motorcade includes about 20-30 cars, only a few of which are marked as govt vehicles, none of which are bulletproof and none of which are new or new-ish. We're basically talking about 20-30 Toyotas, Land Rovers, Izzuzus and other random vehicles which are 5-15 years old. Having said that, it was pretty enjoyable to buzz through the traffic of Freetown which is insane and to head up-country where things are less developed.

The only issue is that about 45 minutes into the convoy up to Makena, our car got a flat. We pulled over and ofcourse the spare tire was also flat. Luckily, or coincidently, the flat occurred outside of a few small houses, one of which contained an air pump. Again I say, coincidence?? Anyway, after filling up the tire, we headed for Makena, sans convoy. By this time it was pitch black outside and for those of you who have spent time in West Africa, there are absolutely no lights on any of the roads. In fact, you're lucky if the roads are paved and even luckier if they don't have massive potholes, police roadblocks, fake police roadblocks or random goats, chickens and dogs standing in the centre of your lane.

But our driver still put on the hazard lights and drove like an absolute maniac - thinking that because he was driving in the convoy earlier, he was still 'technically' part of it even though there were no other cars in sight. We stopped several times as clearly the tire was not on properly or filled up enough and the car continued to pull to the right. Nevertheless, we did finally make it to Makena.

In Makena, there is a 'luxury' hotel which is owned by a long-time friend of the President. By luxury, I mean that the room has a tv an air-conditioner. The oddest part about the room however, is that it overlooked, or rather is overlooked by the swimming pool area. The windows were actually beneath the pool level and thus, anyone sitting around the pool could look into the room. So I figured I'd just close the blinds and that would give me the privacy that I wanted. But nope. I walked into the bathroom, where there is also a window, except this one has no curtain. And it sits right next to the toilet and the shower. This morning I waved at people sitting at the table outside the bathroom window while I peed. And I'm pretty sure I caught an old woman checking me out while I showered.

Anyway, the real reason we were all in Makena had nothing to do with vacation or a 'luxury' hotel. Today, the Govt signed a $400m USD sugar processing/ethanol deal with a big European biofuel company. This deal has been in the making for over a year and now represents the largest single investment into Sierra Leone of all time. As such, there was a big ceremony and signing event. There was a full military display, band and about 250 guests including most of the cabinet ministers, the President, the various paramount chiefs (who's land will house the 30,000 ha sugar operation) and other diplomats and guests. Each speaker, and there were about 10 or so, gave a 2-3 minute preamble just welcoming everyone of importance by name. The amount of protocol followed is amazing. By the time the 4th person spoke, I had memorized the beginning of everyone's speech. Pretty amazing event and I was blown away when even I was named as contributor to making this deal happen. The deal will significantly increase GDP, create 4,000 jobs and potentially bring leading sugar technology to a country that is only using 11% of its arable land.

Back in Freetown now after the 3 hour drive back. To make things extra fun, we drove the last 20 miles on a dirt road along a mountainside on the outskirts of Freetown to avoid the city traffic. Decided to clean up when I got home and just as I slipped into the shower, boom, the power went out. So I continued my shower in complete darkness. This was easy though as I had practiced this this morning at the 'luxury' hotel in Makena where there is no power in the hotel during the day. I managed to use my cell phone this morning as a lamp so that I would not cut myself shaving. The Iphone clearly has many wonderful applications. But using it as a lamp has proved to be its most useful for me in Sierra Leone.

Laters...

"Are you in the military?"

Before I continue, I should mention that I've changed the names of everyone in this blog.

Camouflage clothing is popular all over the world. Snowboarders where camo-coloured pants and jackets, teenagers where long baggy cargo pants in different camo-colour schemes. I've even seen camo-coloured outfits for babies. I myself in fact have two pairs of shorts, pants and surfing trunks that are in variable camouflage colours. Now, this is only relevant because apparently here in Sierra Leone, wearing camouflage is illegal unless you are in the military.

On the way to the beach this morning with my friend Craig, we got stopped by a cop who is apparently famous for stopping people on the way to the beach. Very nice and friendly fellow. He checked Craig's drivers license, and then asked me if I was in the military? I was a bit shocked by the question as it seem pretty out of the blue. I said no, at which point he told me that wearing camouflage is illegal. (I was wearing Billabong surfing trunks in a green camouflage colour). After a short negotiation which resulted in no bribe, we departed and hit the beach. Met up with some friends there and had a fantastic afternoon.

The only issue to speak of was the fact that it took 1 hour and 44 minutes to even order food at the restaurant at the beach (the only one there) and another 1 hour to get the food. Now most of you would laugh at this and tell me this is insane, but this is Sierra Leone and this is the nature of some of the best restaurants in the country. TIA.

TIA - This Is Africa

No coffee from Starbucks, no Big Macs from McDonalds, no sandwiches from Subway. But even more relevant, no traffic lights, no stop signs, and often no running water or electricity!

What Sierra Leone (or 'Salone' as it is also known) does have is beautiful untouched / unspoiled beaches and lots of fruit bats which fly around Freetown in such a way that you think they are going to attack you like the birds in the movie 'Birds'. The country also has some of the most beautiful jungles and forests and is home to people who have been through 'a lot', and understatement like no other.

Although the civil war, which officially ended in 2001/2002, did not result in the death of a million people like the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda, the infrastructure, roads, cities, business, government and every day life was largely destroyed. This is not quite like Haiti, but in many ways, this is a country which is just beginning to regain its lustre which has largely been lost over the last decade.

After a week and half in-country, I've found this to be a fascinating place to live. Although some modern touches exist, there is little about the country that is convenient, efficient and easy. This is not to say that things are bad, but rather to say that everything requires a bit of patience and optimism in order to see even the simplest of tasks through. As is the case for much of West Africa, the economy, the government and the people are going through a period of transition as they try to move the country forward and lay the right groundwork for development, expansion and humanitary improvements.

Re Work

The above picture is of the Statehouse, the powerbase and centre of government where the President and many other ministers work. What the picture does not show or properly reflect is the fun and truly stylish characteristics which making working here so pleasurable. For example, the building has no running water. This means that toilets do not flush and that there is no water to wash your hands with. There is this easy-to-use bucket of water system which if not managed properly results in you covering yourself in fairly disgusting stagnate water. The end result is that you 1) hold it all day, 2) use lots of hand sanitizer and avoid eating heaving lunches.

Another special characteristic about the building is the number of people which sit around on chairs and benches outside of offices sleeping or listening to the radio all day. When asking someone about this, you get a response like "This is how the civil service works".

Yet another special characteristic of the building is the number of chickens, goats and other animals which seem to roam the hallways of power so aimlessly. Perhaps this reflects the high level of security that the building has (meaning none) or that food is never hard to find because if you get hungry enough, you can always just 'kill a chicken'.

But more importantly than any of these details, is the work at hand. For those of you that know me, its pretty hard to imagine that the same kid who pantsed his 9th grade biology teacher and told a college professor that he had family in Kosovo to garner emotional support for a higher final grade is now advising a democratically President and his advisors on how to improve their country.

Essentially the focus of my work is on attracting foreign direct investment to Sierra Leone and helping to push through investment reforms through cabinet that will make doing business in Sierra Leone easier. There are massive investment opportunities in this country in agriculture, in mining, in renewable energy, etc - but its important for the government to put in place the proper people, systems, reforms, laws and controls to ensure that investment takes place in a free and transparent way.

Re Fun

I've already managed to taste a fair amount of the nightlife and beautiful beaches. Freetown is bustling and energetic city. The streets are chaos and the nightclubs and bars are the ultimate meat markets. Imagine going to a place called Aces where you can drink, dance til 7am, play ping-ping, shoot pool or relax outside under the stars. Or you can go to a place called The Atlantic, which is literally on the beach and run into a girl a year younger than you that also went to Great Neck North High School. Even in Freetown, Sierra Leone, I cannot escape Long Island!!!

This past weekend I also made it to Franco's and to #2 which are two of the best beaches within an hour's drive of Freetown. Franco's has both a restaurant (which might be the best in the country) and small motel/hotel which is sat inside a little bay that you wade across (like Moses) to get to the proper beach on the other side. Franco himself is an Italian dude who came here 40 years ago. He allegedly filled his boat up with supplies and spent a few weeks anchored off the coast as the rebels swept through Freetown during the civil war. He believed that the rebels would not come out to sea to attack him. Just down from Franco's I went to #2 which probably got its name from a bunch of British Soldiers who clearly had no creative genes whatsoever. But #2 is #1 in my book. The beach and surrounding mtns are so picturesque you would think you were in Hawaii or Bali or some other tropical paradise. In many ways Sierra Leone really is a tropical paradise, although there are few than 10,000 tourists per year.

All in all - its been fun, exciting and interesting so far. Every day brings new challenges, like showering with bottled water when your water supply is cut off or shaving in darkness when the electricity is on the blink. But its all worked out just fine and I'm truly happy to be here.