SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM

Guest (Hans): Morning!
Asher: Morning!
Guest (Hans): Well, what've you got?
Asher: Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam; spam bacon sausage and spam; spam egg spam spam bacon and spam; spam sausage spam spam bacon spam tomato and spam; but we've actually run out of both bacon and sausage so really all we've got is spam; spam, baked beans, plantanes and fulah bread; spam and pasta; spam, curry, rice, onion and spam; spam on bread; spam and ground nut soup; spam and casava leaf;
background voices chanting: Spam spam spam spam...
Asher: ...spam spam spam egg and spam; spam spam spam spam spam spam baked beans spam spam spam...
background voices chanting: Spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam!
Asher: ...or Lobster Thermidor a Crevette with a mornay sauce served in a Provencale manner with shallots and aubergines garnished with truffle pate, brandy and with a fried egg on top and spam. (alright we don't really get lobster here in Kabala)
other Guest (Gino): Have you got anything without spam?
Waitress: Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
(adapted from Monty Python)
Actually there is much wonderful food here, chicken, beef, many different rice dishes! But in all honesty I can make that spam taste really good! and its easier and safer than some of the meat in the Kabala market. I guess the stuff in the photo isn't even Real SPAM; its cheaper, lower quality, knockoff spam! But fear not, there is much to look forward to.
This past weekend I drove up in the red patrol (now out of the ditch and running fine) to Yarra, a village some 27 miles from Kabala to where the Sesay's have a farm. The vehicle was loaded down with more people than is legal, some hanging off the top and the spare tire on the back. Ia getting used to the roads, so the 21 miles to Badela was not so bad, but the 6 miles to Yarra from there is the worst road I have ever driven on in a vehicle (much harder than on the Honda), not to mention one laden with 10+ passengers and luggage. But it was entirely worth the trip. We were caught walking to the local gold mines in a torrential downpour which drenched us through and through. But it was difficult to imagine the life of the people mining there to sell gold at a fraction of its actual cost. It was not until we returned to Kabala that we discovered that Sierra Leone has never reported an ounce of gold exported from the country. All of it leaves through illegal and untaxed routes. Not a penny of the money earned is going to repair that horrible road which might help those same people travel to the market more regularly to sell their gold.
After seeing the mines we walked for 3 miles in the growing dark past Kumba's farm and on through the bush to the Seli River. It was an absolutely gorgeous spot. After a well earned sleep we awoke to see the fish jumping in the pool. After coffee and bread we spent the entire morning and into the afternoon fishing off the rocks, swimming in the water and enjoying many laughs, stories, games and food. It was hard to leave and come back to the real work here in Kabala on the school.