The Basics

Friday July 16

Electricity-- Foremost on my mind, it is available at Uncle Ben's 7pm to midnight. At the clinic the generator only has one gallon of gas ( to avoid theft) at a time so it runs out a lot, when it is not broken. The town is dark in the evenings except for headlights from cars and bikes and the occasional house that runs a generator.

Water--Uncle Ben's has running well water. Faucets at the clinic and the UN compounds were all dry. People use well water to clean and cook outside. Bottled water was used to clean and recycle dental instruments. We drink small bags of purified water or bottled water. We all brought the water treatment pen to use too.

Sanitation--We use antibacterial wipes or sanitizers a lot especially when there is no water for hand washing. Baby wipes are used to wipe off sweat which helps us stay fresh longer.

Money-- $1=4000 Leones. I carry about $20 worth of Leones and my wallet was swollen with bills I could not close it. Credit cards do not work here. $100 bills get better exchange rates.

Laundry-- Alisame who gives us breakfast does bags of laundry for a small fee, hand washed and sun dried.

Internet-- The 4 interns and I share a USB stick for super slow Internet. To stay in touch I need the stick and electricity at the same time since my laptop's battery life is short. I will have to load photos after I get home.

Bathrooms-- Better just wait till returning to Uncle Ben's.

Showers-- Guests at Uncle Ben's have piped in cold well water showers. Staff has camp style stalls where they wash with buckets of well water, which is what the clinic has too. The key to cold showers is to start with extremities and just get into it slow. You should try it.

Religion-- Muslim or Christian, one of the two. If you don't belong no one will come to your funeral and your body will just be abandoned.

Language-- Krio. English is taught in schools and understood by most. Michael said most could speak better than they could spell.

Weather-- Hot and humid, but when the rain comes things can be cool for a while.

Cell phones-- Get a local cell phone and buy "units". I can call on my iphone for $$$ but it is not a 3G world here.

African Time-- All things tend to be late, if they really happen at all.