Tiwai Is fun!

Well I made it to Tiwai! It was not easy and it is not going to get any easier. Yesterday was a very interesting trip. I was ready to head out from Freetown at 8:30am but of course the driver did not show up until an hour later. We left the EFA office at 10am, since loading all my equipment and baggage took some time. They put a tarp over my stuff to keep off the rain. First we went shopping to buy little things, then on to a mercantile shop to load up some really heavy tiles (did not know what they were for and still don't, but I'll explain why I never asked why we were loading on about 200lbs of tiles in a bit). The driver, named Fortune, spoke English that sounded a little too much like Krio for me to be able to understand him. At all. I would ask a question and he would go on for about 5 minutes and I could only understand about 10% of what came out of his mouth, and unfortunately that 10% was not the part that answered my question. Anyways, we got "on the road" at 11am, and headed out on the Freetown "bypass." It was a dirt road that cut through breathtaking scenery - children laughing and waving while bathing under waterfalls, green rolling hills, palm trees swaying, the works! We traveled onward towards Bo. The road alternated between startlingly smooth asphalt to potholes and dirt. And it really alternated - very weird. I think I read something about the road having been dynamited during the war. It took us 5 hours to reach Bo. Halfway there we stopped for lunch, when I made my first faux pax. I thought it was just normal soup/sauce and rice until I took a bite. I can always remember the taste of internal organs (tastes like poo!). Seriously I'd as soon eat a soup made of dog poop. I asked, pointing to my stomach area, if there was any of the "inside type of meat". They say no, and I spoon out a big glop of something, and they say "oh that's just liver!" I say "That's ok, I'll just eat the rice" and gave my sauce to Fortune. I wish I could be a fearless, culture sensitive type of person, but well, I'm not. I'll eat crickets, locusts, rat, any kind of fruit or wild leaf, but when it comes to internal organs, I just can't stomach it (pun intended! sorry!). I also draw the line at eating primate. Bleh. The driver thought I was mad, but I really was just embarrassed. We got some corn on the cob and all was better. So on we go to Bo. From Bo (after unloading those heavy tiles, which took about an hour) we headed down a surprisingly good road towards Potoru. I saw some of my first bush meat - a bush buck and a duiker. It left me pretty horrified - guess I'll have to get more used to this sort of thing.
The good road ended and was replaced by a very small, very very bad dirt road. Night also happened to fall about this time so all you could see was a little bit of the road in front and the 10ft tall grass on either side, with sometimes people emerging out of nowhere. Also, 2 squirrels ran out in front of us, which I learned later freaked the driver out because you're not supposed to see squirrels at night and the last time he saw squirrels at night, one of his family members passed away. We drove the rest of the way to Potoru to pick up Mr. Magona, the station manager. He sat us down to eat a very delicious meal of rice and chicken. It revived me somewhat but I had a horrible headache! Possibly from being jolted around for the last 8 hours. We squeezed into the front of the truck and kept going to the village of Kambama, the entry point for Tiwai Island.
It was pitch black and raining, and when we took off the tarp we found that my bags were soaked. It took a lot of control not to burst into tears right then. OK, I might have shed a couple but it was so dark nobody saw me! It was late, I was tired, I had a bad headache, and now everything I'd lugged 4000miles was soaked. You try being chipper in those circumstances! We took out the crucial wet stuff to dry and left everything in a storage room. We walked down a slippery hill to the boat and river. I had nothing with me except a tiny tube of toothpaste, my raincoat, my headlamp, and a bottle of water. All my clothing was soaked through. We piled into the boat and started off into the unknown blackness across the river. I don't know how the boat driver knew where to go but I definitely said a little prayer on the way across. We were heading to the visitor's center, since going to the research center meant trying to manage the rapids. I held my breath as I walked across the slick bamboo bridges that led to the visitors center, whose glowing light warmed my heart. I sat down and was poured a steaming cup of Nescafe instant coffee and it was so good, even without sugar! I talked to Mr. Magona for awhile, then admitted to my exhaustion. I was shown to a tent, where I fell instantly asleep to the sound of rain, along with a multitude of sounds I couldn't begin to identify.
I woke up fairly early and just sat in the tent, listening to all the sounds of the forest. Mr. Magona and I then walked to the research center, which is about a 15 minute walk away from the visitor's center. This place is gorgeous! Huge trees. Very rainforesty. Emphasis on the RAIN.
Today has been spent sorting through my stuff, seeing what survived getting soaked, drying my books and clothing on huge mats in the sun (and racing to retrieve them each time it starts to rain again). There are many helpful men that are not at all creepy. I am Tiwai's first registered researcher since the war ended. Can you believe that? Oh, and I have a fridge. That just amazes me. I had a little fun stocking up on provisions: rice (big bag, praying it isn't ruined by the rain), onions, 5gallons cooking oil, and veggies. I bought a kerosene stove - very strange utensil for sure. Looks kind of like a 1950's chemistry lab equipment. Right now I am drinking hot tea with milk powder and sugar and it's (surprise!) raining. I heard black and white colobus monkeys calling this morning.
First impressions - it's hot, humid and there are more insects than I ever imagined existed. I was a bit chagrined to find out they have tsetse flies - have already been bitten several times!
The research center has 3 buildings - 1 dorm with 6 rooms and 2 bathrooms, one that holds a larger amount of females and a larger amount of males, 1 building with kitchen and storage, and then the 1 building with library.
Later...I just semi-dealt with the first jerk here I've met. This German man came with a Sierra Leonian man. SL dude immediately started in on my body, telling my new friends in Krio (I understand enough) "How can seh go looking for animals like that?" And then turns to me and asks how much I weigh. I laugh and say "I'm not telling you!" He goes back to talking about how he got a degree in this and that, puffing up his chest. Later on Mr. Magona turns to me and says "Oh, Tommy (EFA dude) said hello on the cellphone and asks how you were. I told him you were fine." SL dude interrupts Mr. Magona with "No she's not fine! Just look at her body!" I turn to my new friends and ask them "Do I look fine to you?" And they all laugh and say "Yes you look just fine!" And then I ask everybody (minus jerk) to come help me find something in the kitchen, and they hurry after me, leaving him alone. I figure that was probably the best way to deal with the situation, even though telling him off would have been much more fulfilling! See, I'm very good at the distraction thing. Haha!