Nothing could top yesterday for drama, but as usual things are never boring in Sierra Leone. Now that the cat's out of the bag anyway, at school I tell Mr Le Ferve that Sue and Mr Babia are going to be married. Mr Booma walks up and joins the conversation, and the news is quickly spread across the school. Everyone seems to know everyone, even though Sue's school is miles from mine. Continuing on the romance theme, Mr Le Ferve tells Mr Booma that he (Mr Le Ferve) was going to offer me to him (Mr Booma) but that unfortunately I have a husband. I am a bit lost for words at that, so Mr Le Ferve launches into how I am going to find him a wife in New Zealand. Mr Booma, a solidly-built, nice looking man with a gap in his greying front teeth and a penchant for flogging pricks up his ears and asks that I find him a New Zealand lady too. Mr Booma is fine with just a pen-friend, but Mr Le Ferve stares at me beseechingly, with sheer desperation in his eyes, and tells me that he cannot go on through life without a wife - which is a little different to the conversation we had on Friday.
Mr Booma:
Totally confused?
I walk home with sticky fingers because the small cute girl with waggly eyebrows and beaded cornrows in her hair has turned out to be a grubby stalker who steals my food, doesn't wipe her face or hands, but still insists on holding onto me. As I am trying to get her disgusting grease off me a friendly man yelled out, "Hello! What's your name?". I reply and he responds, "I love you! Do you love me?" I say, "Not quite yet," to which he looks genuinely hurt and surprised.
Meanwhile, despite insisting that she can find Ide a goat, Haja's tactics come to naught, so she sends Ishmael off to get one from Lumley - the nearest big market. Ishmael looks all day but could not find one. Upon returning and seeing Ide's crestfallen look, Ishmael kindly volunteers to go all the way into downtown Freetown and try again. This is miles away and Ide is furious at Haja, who had gone into Freetown earlier that day and had refused to take Ishmael (or Sue for that matter, with her broken ankle).
To cut this 46 hour saga short, many moons later Ishmael finally returns with a beautiful goat. Maybe not as colorful as yesterday's goat, maybe not as plumpy - just a rib or two poking out, but an adorable skittish black and white number who Ide falls in love with and promptly names Bubbles. Bubbles begins chewing the closest thing to her, which happens to be a sack of coal, so it's touch and go whether she'll be alive in the morning. Ishmael paid 290,000L for the goat, and we paid him back for a 30,000L cab ride home (taking goats on the podapoda not a popular move). With a 50,000L bonus to Ishmael for being so accommodating, total cost of Bubbles comes to 370,000L ($125) - nearly 30% more than if Ide had just bought the goat yesterday.
The lovely Bubbles:
