Today was interesting. I expected to be teaching basic interviewing skills in class this morning, but I arrived to discover that it was a holiday (All Saints' Day) and no one bothered to tell the faculty. So I joined a big march (about 500 people) organized by Amnesty International in support of reparations for survivors of sexual violence. As a result, I got my first West African sunburn and now I'm exhausted. We walked a few miles to the soccer 'stadium,' with little schoolkids cheering us on all the way (they love to wave at us and yell "aportu!" which means white person).
There was an incredibly long series of speeches at the stadium which involved way too much yelling into the microphone. Then a rapper named Yok7 performed a couple songs for the kids. It was without a doubt the laziest lip synching effort in history. But the best part was his backup dancers -- three of them, all wearing identical Yao Ming jerseys. Awesome. It was like watching New York City street performers who forgot how to dance.
People wear lots of second-hand clothing from abroad. In Freetown, I saw a man wearing the exact same San Antonio Spurs t-shirt I have at home. I told him so -- he looked confused. I've seen a Don't Mess With Texas shirt and a Cowboys jacket, which made me happy. Today I saw a green basketball jersey that said 'Cougars' -- I could've sworn it belonged to one of my high school teammates. I also saw a New York Mets t-shirt that was mis-printed and said 'Mest.'
OK just wanted to share my unexpectedly strange day. Goodbye.
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1 comment:
That's hilarious. That's like Scott seeing his old car that was such a piece broken down on the side of the road after we sold it. Well, sorta like that, I guess. I am glad you survived the march and can't wait to hear more.
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