‘The Beach Bums of Bureh’

Makeni is good and I’ve been comfortable here, but getting out of town, especially to a beautiful beach, is never a bad thing for the soul.  It started as a two man operation, just Scotty and myself.  Then we added Xavier into the mix and from there it was a free for all.  We had a packed vehicle on the way there and it was even more packed on the way home.

We left Makeni on Friday afternoon with the sky looking not that great to mildly aggressive, but we soldiered on, determined not to let the weather spoil things.  So long as you kept your eyes angled up, the ride into Bureh was a scenic one.  Mountains covered in greenery all about.  I didn’t spend too much time researching photos of it because I wanted it to be surprise.  It was that and more!

Fresh fish, lots of splashing in the waves and tons of laughs made for a really amazing time and I am already thinking of the next excursion.  On a more serious note, if you ever do go to Bureh, or any other place with strong undercurrents, do be careful.  I was telling someone back home about ‘my last dip’ on Sunday.  It was without a doubt the most helpless I’ve ever felt in a body of water, and I have spent a lot of time in the water over the years.  I really wondered if I would make it back to shore and have thought about that moment a few times since.  Weird.  Ok, enough of that nonsense!

I didn’t want to spend much time with my face behind a camera, but was able to manage a couple of short videos that I put together here, along with a couple of photos from Xavier and Scotty.  Enjoy!

 

‘Annnd, Action!’

I do love my movies, so I was pleased as punch to hear that ‘movie night’ was being resurrected. Apparently it used to be a regular deal among the expat community here in Makeni, but as more and more people left, so too did the desire for communal movie watching.  Xavier (the man behind the projector)  says there is all but two people left from when he first arrived a year ago.  That’s always been one of the bummers of this kind of life.  People constantly coming and going, including the people saying that.  Anyway, movie night is back, and I’m glad for it.

‘X marks the spot…on the wall’

Mavi hosted this week’s showing at the Street Child’s compound.  Street Child is an NGO that looks to help children and families in Sierra Leone out of poverty, of which there are many.  You can read more about it here:

https://www.street-child.co.uk/sierra-leone/

Back to front – Scott, a.k.a. ‘The Oyster Man’, Halima, a.k.a. ‘Mama Bear’, Mavi & Justin (the last two have managed to avoid nicknames, but no-one is ever truly safe)

Back to movie night.  As soon as Scott and I arrived, I was given the task of dicing up a massive pineapple Xavier had received from one of his farmers.  Sadly, I’d just had half of one at our place before we left and was already over it, but I did as I was told and duitifuly started slicing away.

‘Flip a coin?’

Next up was ‘the decision!’  This is always a funny scene, if you’ll pardon the pun.  Watching people attempt to agree on what movie to watch among the hundreds of options available.  It came down to ‘Walter Mitty,’ which I love, and ‘The Boat That Rocked,’ known as ‘Pirate Radio’ in the U.S., which I’d never seen.  I was secretly pulling for Mitty, but everyone decided on the latter.  I must say, I was very pleasantly surprised!  The soundtrack was dynamite and there were some really good laughs in there!  I’m going to go ahead and give if the Stewart stamp of approval.

‘Pirate Radio’

‘Fuel’

You’ll need a pair headphones (or computer speakers) and a decent internet connection to enjoy this properly.  I haven’t been able to get this song out of my head all week.  The video really makes it though!

‘HUGO’

My favorite movie of 2011

I am an unapologetic movie nut; always have been.  Since I watch so many movies I now believe (mistakingly perhaps) that I know quality when I see it.  Of course “opinions are like…..” and who am I to judge?  Am I not the same person who still laughs hysterically at “Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment?”  This despite having seen it in excess of 30 times?  I can’t deny that I enjoy the low brow stuff every now then.  It’s not unlike a health fanatic who craves a chocolate bar on occasion.  The point is, I think I am pretty open minded when it comes to movies.  If I like something, I like it.

“HUGO,” by Martin Scorsese, was my #1 film of 2011.  My friend Jared suggested we go see it and I walked into the theater without having any preconceptions, which is hard to do these days, because lengthy previews are lurking around every corner.  With that in mind, I am not going to tell you anything about it, except that I found it moving.  I don’t say this about a lot of movies, so if you get a chance to see HUGO, especially in the theater, please do so.  It will be worth your while.

“What goes up, must come down”

*(Had to wait on the photos, so this is a couple days dated)

It’s Tuesday evening.  I had an extra day off this past weekend on account of “Umi no Hi,” which translates to “Day of the Ocean.”  I really don’t know the meaning behind it, but I am always grateful to take a break from work.  Here is a quick rundown of what transpired over the last three days.

Friday after work I went straight home, drank some beer out of my icy cold mug (I keep one in the freezer) and had three packs too many of those rice crackers and peanuts I enjoy so much.  Around 8:30pm Matt C. came by to watch a Swedish movie called, “Let the Right One In.”  It was without a doubt the best thing I have seen this year and definitely the best vampire movie I’ve come across thus far.  It was very understated, which was a nice change from the usual, in your face, over the top presentation seen in Hollywood films.

On Saturday, I met some friends for lunch at my favorite pizza place in town.

After lunch, my buddy Scott and I went to the ‘Beer Festival,’ which is held once a year in the local sports dome.  In addition to beer from around Japan there were a number of international beers.  Upon entering we were given these small glasses and were able sample as much beer as we wanted withing the four hour limit (more than enough, it turns out).  There were a lot of beers I had never tried, so it was an interesting experience.  One of my favorites was a ‘coffee’ flavored ale from Japan (a lot better than you might think) and a Palestinian pilsner. 

About an hour into it all, Matt C. joined the party and the three of us ran into a group funny gals from Korea who were working and/or studying in Japan.  Once we started talking, we all hung out for the duration of the festival.  Afterward, we went to a bar in a different part of town, and from there, to one of the girl’s house nearby for another drink, some Korean style ramen and….sliced fruit.  It was all pretty random, but a lot fun.  Often, these random deals turn out to be the most memorable.

We parted ways around 10:30pm and I rode my bicycle home, downed a quick protein shake and a banana (which didn’t mix so well with all the booze), then I rode back down to the entertainment district for another round of disco with my friends Andy, Rika, and Neil’sticle. (><)  It wasn’t bad, but to be truthful, after the first hour or so, I wanted to throw in the towel.  Despite this, I stuck around til 3am.

Sunday I met up with my friend Ai, whom I’ve known for some time now.  We hadn’t seen each other in nearly three years because she got had gotten married and I was with Katsuko.  I filled her in on all of my sob stories over a light lunch and then we saw, gulp, “Sex in the City 2.”  I am still recovering from that one.  The theater was wall to wall women with a couple odd, bitter boyfriends thrown in for measure.  The movie was absolutely atrocious, but the girls seemed to be enjoying it.  Wow.

Yesterday, I woke up in a sorry mood, but forced myself to get up and do something.  I washed my clothes and then had coffee with the Brazilian gal I had met at the disco Saturday nite.  Woof, what a story SHE’s got.  I could write a whole other entry on her alone, but I don’t want to depress myself.  She’s funny though, so I don’t mind being friends with her….from a distance. 

After coffee, I met up with Andy and Rika again and had lunch at a Vietnamese place (coincidentally, Katsuko had taken me to the very same spot one of the last times I saw her) and then we joined forces with another buddy, Danard, for a day out at IKEA.  Though I really didn’t do anything, I was beat and a little down by the time we got back.  When I rode my bike home though, I made myself do the exercises I skipped in the morning and felt much better about things, at least for a little while.

I knocked out around 11pm, but woke up around 1:15am and noticed I had a message on my phone…it was from Katsuko.  It was not a happy message, but I asked for it…literally.  She confirmed what I had already suspected, that she was seeing her ex-boyfriend again, the one she broke up with to be with me three years prior.  It’s devastating, but it is completely out of my hands and I have no other choice than to move on.  In her defense, she did not start seeing this creep until after we split up (my God, it’s already been eight months since parted ways!?).  I laid in bed for the next two hours writing, erasing, then re-writing a reply.  Needless to say, I did not sleep well and was not exactly in high spirits today at work.  I guess if we didn’t go through these types of things every now and again, we wouldn’t appreciate the great things we come across, though don’t try telling me that right now.

*(It’s now Thursday nite and, while I am not exactly LOVING life, I do feel a little better than I did the other day, thanks to a nice talk with the woman who has never let me down, my Ma)