Lots of stuff

So, life in my village is going pretty well. I thought I would have to kill my dog the other day, but I changed my mind about going through with it and my dog is still happy and alive, and I am happy he is alive. He bit some kid on the butt and my principal had to pay a hefty price for a rabies treatment. He doesn't have rabies. He just likes to chase and play with children because they either provoke him or enjoy being chased. He apparently had bit some kid awhile back, and so now I was feeling like he was a problem that had to be taken care of. Everyone agreed that he had to go, pretty much. All the children love the dog, and I love his company and security. So basically I decided he just needs to be trained. I've started throwing things at him when he does bad things - hopefully this will make him realize the things are bad. He's a weird dog without much training. I don't think he understands how to sit down with only his front legs up like I always see dogs do. I noticed he is either standing on all fours or laying down. He also doesn't at all understand fetch. I think he's afraid of sticks.
I played some football with Shebura and the neighborhood kids yesterday. Shebura told me I sabi (understand/know how to) play, and I even actually made one of the goals. So that was nice, and I'll probably keep occasionally playing with them and hopefully come out decent at football.
Today I made a trip to Port Loko to go to the bank. It took most of the day, but it was pretty fun. I ended up going by myself because the friend in the village on the international highway was given some ridiculous should be out of his responsibility job to do at his school because his principal was out of town. I took a taxi down the highway with this rich woman and a few other people. I could tell she was rich because she had a nice google smartphone. The guy next to me wanted my phone number because he wants to be my friend and go to America and thinks I could talk to the ambassador and somehow negotiate it for him. The rich woman and I basically spent most of the ride telling him how America isn't perfect; you have to work hard and there are plenty of people poor and suffering there. People have a lot of grasping misconceptions here.
So now that I'm rich again I've been able to pay off all the people that have been doing work for me or selling things to me. I bought a big long iron pipe for 55k. I'm going to buy some concrete and other things that will allow me to put the pipes in on my back porch so I can put a railing there, and extend the roof a bit. I'm going to get some gutters on that bit and I'm wanting to create some bucket filling thing but I'm not sure yet how I'll do it. Piping/plumbing hasn't really come here as a trade quite yet, I think. They make houses, so carpentry, masonry, and all that is around, but indoor plumbing is mostly just found in the cities, if at all, so the materials for piping seem rare. Then I gave Shebura 60k to give to his brother who is making a nice bookshelf for me. I'll get that tomorrow. Then I paid my neighbor Mr. Bangura the 10k I owed him for sewing up some holes in my bed sheet. I'm pretty sure I hadn't given it to him yet. I figure he wouldn't tell me the truth even if I had. You can hardly expect honesty when it is perceived that the system is against you and you have family to take care of. I think people just have too many kids. But then there are good reasons for that, I think. Now I'm having Muhammed make me a work table, and that will probably cost me at least 100k.
The current exchange rate is I think 4300 Leone/1 USD. Five block (500 Leone) can buy you lots of stuff. You could get 5 butterscotch candies, or a big scoop of boiled granats (ground nuts, peanuts, which are tastier I think than how we prepare them in the states), or a cup of pepe (peppers), or a bunch of MSG cubes (maggi cubes, supposed to be bouillion that they put in a lot of dishes), or a bon-bon chocolate candy thing, and lots of other things. So 20 cents is quite a bit here. But then some things are still pretty expensive, some more expensive than in the states, but these things are mostly just found in the supermarkets (leb marts) in the cities for rich people. People are poor, so they mostly just stick to eating traditional dishes, which are pretty cheap to prepare. Rice is really cheap, and you can get a big bushel of cassava leaves for five block which will cook at least a couple large portions of plasas. I can buy five crabs for 2000, so I guess that is cheap. I can get lobster here too, and I bet you it's under a dollar.
I've stll not managed to make a traditional dish that is actually tasty. Shebura says I no sabi cook. I haven't even been able to cook decent rice yet. I've really started enjoying the traditional dishes, so hopefully I can start making them decently, because otherwise I'm just eating the little things my parents have sent me and expensive things I bought in the city, and these things will be gone soon. When people feed me cassava, or petete leaf, or other delicious dishes, I'm really grateful because it's all tasty and nourishing. I don't know if I would be able to prepare these dishes in the states really, because a lot of ingredients are just here locally. The cassava, which I'm surprised we don't grow because it's really good for you, the petete leaf (potato) which we don't eat, the palm oil, maggi cubes, etc.
This orphan kid that lives with his grandmother in another village and comes to my town to go to my school just came to talk to me more about living in a spare room I have on the side of the house. He has no money at all. My salone 2 had paid for his school fees and let him live here. I think he's terrified of me, because I'm being a little difficult about letting him stay here and committing to helping him go to school. I don't even know the kid. I didn't want anyone else living here, but I am sort of being forced because this boy will not go to school if I don't help him. It's not very expensive, and I guess I'll have yet another person to help keep outside the house clean. I am okay with him living in the house so long as he is quiet and everything. Where he is living in the house means he probably won't be in my business too much if at all. I am starting to become the part of the powerful, respected, scary guy. There is a hierarchy and I am at a decently high spot simply because I'm the only white dude in town (besides that Swiss guy traveling around Africa in this van he has parked in town for the rainy season): something I feel a bit bad about but may as well make the best of.
Update since last night: Shebura woke me up at 7 this morning to bring my shelf to me from his brother. I'm not sure how he got it here, since it's huge and heavy. Somehow he managed despite being a small boy. The shelf is really great. I want to polish it.
Shebura is telling me that this kid that wants to move in and says he's a poor orphan is lying about it. I'm going to talk with my principal and my Salone 2 and figure it out. I almost look forward to telling the kid to go away.  I haven't really taken kindly to somebody I've never met showing up at my house essentially forcing me to give him a room by guilting me.
Jo-Jo, another friend of mine who is Shebura's age is leaving today to move to the district capitol with his family. I'm fairly sad about it because he was a cool little kid and  spoke English.