New Sweet Salone post: An update
Meryl Olson
Sorry guys, been awhile since I updated. Things have been pretty busy with starting data collection and collaborations at Njala. On Tuesday I gave a public lecture at the School of Environmental Science at Njala about a paper Ernesto and I are currently working on about changes in tree species diversity and carbon storage in shade coffee over time. Surprisingly, there was great turnout and the students were really interested and asked great questions about how to conserve biodiversity in Sierra Leone, among other things. The School of Agriculture has asked me to give similar lecture on May 31. In other news, the beginning of the rainy season (now) signals the start of Delicious Fruit Season. All the best ones are in season now- mangoes, oranges, pineapple, avocado. I had no idea there were so many different varieties of mangoes. There are little ones with thin skin that are more acidic and have a mild mango flavor. There are big ones with thicker skin that have a HEY I’M A MANGO flavor, almost papaya-ish, that are green when they’re ripe. Those are my favorite because they’re huge and they peel easily- more bang for your peeling buck. And Bashiru has a tree next to his house that is apparently a hybrid variety that have an interesting, but delicious flavor. I’ve literally been eating 5-10 mangoes a day. Bashiru’s wife, Asatu, said she’d send a little mango tree back to the U.S. with me because she’s not sure how I will survive without one. Just to round out the food and animal report, the kittens are doing well. The calico one, Lily, is a fatty and is fulfilling her prophecy to become a Total Shit. She thinks her teeth are a valid way to communicate. The striped one, Tiny, is in fact tinier and also less of a shit. She’s also turned out to be a better hunter- I’ve watched her take down a lizard and consume it entirely. Lily just waits around for Tiny to kill something and then steals some. I’m back at Pujehun now and life is pretty sweet. I had a dresser built so I actually have somewhere to put my stuff, and I bought a rain barrel to collect water so that I don’t have to go to the river to wash clothes. It’s the little things, really.
