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Yesterday afternoon, Amistad was paid a visit by several descendants of Sengbe Pieh, the leader of the Africans who escaped from their chains aboard the original La Amistad in 1839. Some of the Pieh family had been present for the keel laying ceremony at Mystic, CT, in 1998 when construction was begun and they just happened to be in Freetown, visiting relatives when they saw the ship in the harbor. It was a real privilege to be able to share the boat that I love so much with people whose family has been so intimately connected with the story.
Later, I was invited to go to Lakka (la-CAH) beach for a party celebrating the 26th birthday of Eboi, one of the Sierra Leoneans who has become a good friend of Gina, one of our crewmembers. Around 2:00, we went to Eboi’s house and sat around for a while, watching American movies that had been given Krio subtitles. As Krio isn’t really a written language, all of the words in the subtitles were in English, which was really strange, since they didn’t necessarily match what was being said by the actors.
When it was finally time to go to the beach, 19 of us (plus the driver!!) climbed into a poda-poda for the hour-long trip, over the typically bad African roads. There’s a joke in Kenya that goes, “What do you call a pair of ears sticking up out of a pothole? A giraffe.” Though there are no giraffes here in Sierra Leone, the sentiment still applies.
A flat tire and an hour and a half later, we finally reached the beach, which is one of the finest beaches I’ve ever seen, even in postcards, though I’m still not certain if it was really worth the bone-crushing ride. We spent the afternoon playing volleyball, swimming, talking and eating, then loaded back on another poda-poda for the return trip, with the apprentice (the young man who collects the fares) riding on the back bumper.
Today was my day off and I slept in, then got up and breakfasted on coffee and pecan pie which Barry and Eve made yesterday while they were on watch. Then, Barry, Eve and I went to spend the afternoon with the Pieh descendants who had visited us on the ship yesterday. Fatmata really pulled out all stops and fed us royally with several traditional African dishes: boiled cassava root with a fish and beef soup, fufu (a rather sticky ball made of cassava flour) with egosi seed soup, and tula (too-LAH), a truly wonderful fish stew, served over rice. All of the stews and sauces were quite spicy and were delicious. Egosi seeds come from a melon that is grown solely for its seeds; the flesh of the melon is simply discarded. The boiled cassava root provided a good base for the soup, but neither Eve nor I cared much for the fufu. Still, when we brought leftovers back for the rest of the crew to eat, I gave the fufu a second chance. (Mom always made my brother and me take two bites of anything on our plate…) Even on a second tasting, the best I can say is that I wouldn’t seek it out as a something to eat again.
These last two days of spending time on shore with Africans have been wonderful. I have gotten a better sense of Sierra Leone’s recent history, as well as many more chances to see the country. Tomorrow, I’ll be back on watch, so I don’t expect I’ll have much of note to report. Soles and bowls, deck wash, set-up for meals, dishes, boat checks, ferrying our security guards back and forth, boat maintenance, etc… It’ll be good when we finally get a chance to go sailing.
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