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.