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'.