What, do I have 'social butterfly' stamped on my forehead or something?

Exasperated yesterday, this was part of the message I texted to one of my housemates yesterday. I was having a particularly annoying day, caused by something I had thought I would always enjoy.

You see, before we came out to Sierra Leone, we attended training, which was supposed to prepare us for change. One of the things we discussed was the Emotion cycle*. In a way, I thought I was doing really well and was not going through the stages conventionally, actually, I wasn't even really going through any of the stages. Forget 'Storming before Norming', I was settled and ready to take on the world. However, it only took a 2 minute walk up Fort Street in the rain, past a hairdressers before I realised that even I, the Great Banke, was certainly not above the emotional cycle pitched at the 'Skills for working in development' course.

The thing is, I have wondering, smiling eyes. When I walk down the street, I make eye contact with people and smile until I walk past. I even say hello when I'm in a particularly good mood. I also have that thing where I always manage to catch the eye of the street sellers and then regret it because I realised I've smiled and given them the impression that I want to buy whatever it is they are selling (which is usually not the case!), then when they come over I have to smile sheepishly and say 'no tenke!'

So I do this when I walk down Fort Street. I see loads of people between HFaC and SLNA - where I work - and because of the culture here, people are mega friendly and genuinely want to talk to you. In a strange way, they all seem to know I’m not a local. I don't know what it is... well once, this guy said he knew I wasn’t from around here because I walked quickly like an 'English man'!

 

So every day, I walk to work and people say hi and shake my hand and its fun. I even made friends with a girl at the local hairdressers who sometimes walks me to HfaC at the end of the day. But the glow began to ebb as I started to tire of saying hello constantly and smiling all the time.

You know, if you're from London, and ‘travel’ is usually personal time for thinking, i-poding and ignoring people. As friendly as I am, even I start to tire when I have to stop every five seconds with a greeting! See, I'm used to saying hello to the people I’m friends with and am equally polite but not over-friendly with the rest. However, I made a mistake of hurrying past the hairdressers in the rain, not stopping to wave because I was late and I didn’t see my hairdressing friend. 2 seconds later, a lady I don't know came out, shouted my name and shouted crossly, 'Banke, you have to say HELLO to us O!' So I’m there thinking 'what? I don't even know you', but apparently this matters not. Furthermore, later on (when I sent the text mentioned at the beginning) a man walked past me mumbling undecipherable words. A few seconds later, he returns and addresses me angrily saying in Krio 'I said hello to you, why didn't you reply?' Shocked I said 'oh, sorry, didn’t hear it, hello'. He then said okay and walked off! And there are more stories! Must I say hello to everybody, all the time?

I GUESS I MUST HAVE ONE OF THOSE 'APPROACH ME' FACES... I guess this is mostly a good thing... Well I guess I'll really mean that in 2 stages time!!!

Bankexx

Footnote

*The Emotion Cycle - Stage 1 is total euphoria, complete amusement to everything new. You love this and could do it forever! Stage 2, annoyance sets in. Everything you thought was fun becomes a nightmare, and you try to imagine the easiest way to find a cosy sofa in front of a romantic movie, with a tub of haagendaaz, completely oblivious to the current situation. As you can tell, my version is also called ESCAPISM or DENIAL. Stage 3 is the depressed 'Why Me' stage, where you moan and 'well at least I'm alive' is the most positive you're willing to get. Stage 4 is the accepting stage, you realise haagendaaz and Will Smith are unnecessary (well...) and you could just enjoy where you are, sit on the beach and watch the beautiful sunset, and it really is a great experience! Okay, I've embellished and exaggerated a little!