Freetown VS London… City change or trade?

Today I did a very nostalgic/strange thing. I nipped into the local supermarket to buy a pint of milk for breakfast tomorrow morning. It wasn’t till I got out of the store that I caught myself and thought, Gosh, I would have done the exact same thing on a Thursday evening in London.

So it got me thinking… how much of my lifestyle has actually changed while I have been out here in Sierra Leone? Bear in mind that this is the time for true and deep reflection as I prepare to finish my placement and return to my life in the UK.

So, I decided to make a table of the similarities and differences between my lifestyle in the UK and in Freetown.

Topic	London	Freetown
Waking Up	Wake at 6.30 to beat traffic on the S. Circular	Wake up at 7.45am (post fixing of Wilks Road)
Walking down my road	Wander past my neighbours, wondering when the people from 256 moved out and show surprise that the woman from 258 has a baby, when I didn’t know she was pregnant	Greet my neighbours as I pass, mostly with their first names, and have regular conversations with Mr footballer at the end of the raod, Isata who works next door and Hassan the local tailor.
Getting to work	Take a crowded double-decker bus or cycle happily to work	Take an overcrowded poda-poda with no rear view mirror into work, a little scared and anxious the whole way
Exercise	Go home... swimming pool is in the other direction!	Stop at the UN pool for a well needed, cool dip after work
Chilling after work	Sit at an overcrowded bar/restaurant, wondering when its holiday time	Have moonlit dinner at Roy’s overlooking the waves crashing into the beach
Watching movies	Go to the Cinema and watch an exciting movie with comfy seats and surround sound	Sneak into a slightly shady Lebanese owned DVD store or movie share with friends
Getting Post	Receive post 2-3 days later courtesy of the Royal Mail	Good Luck... I simply haven't received one since September... even though I know its been sent!
Food Shopping	Shop at my local Sainsbury’s or Tesco’s	Shop at the Local Supermarkets St. Mary’s or Foodland
Clothes Shopping	Overspend at Topshop, Zara and Other high street stores	Overspend... oops! At the local tailor who makes fab clothes!
Internet	Broadband wireless every where... duh!	Spend at least 6 hours a week at the Internet Cafe.
Currency	Spend in tens, i.e. average meal costs £15-20	Spend in thousands, i.e. average meal costs Le 20,000 – 40,000
Power and Water	It’s always there…	Savour every moment of it; the most apt description of it is, ‘here one moment, gone the next’!
Music	Stop off at the your local music store or download off Itunes or Spotify	Lean out of your car/taxi window, and a young man selling compilations of the latest Salone tracks for a Le5,000 (72p), will run over
Calls	Monthly plan, preferring to make calls to friends	Mostly send text messages to friends, calls only when absolutely necessary – and that’s why I got a QWERTY phone!

There are many things in my daily life has changed, however I have noticed that there are a few things I have settled into that are not so different to the way I functioned back at home. I am still doing similar things, only the process and the environment in which I am doing them are drastically different. The difference is mostly in the regularity at which each action occurs.

I have concluded that in spite of the difficulties of living in Sierra Leone and the extreme heat, there are many amazing things here that I will definitely miss and try to incorporate into my life at home. For one, I will try to get to know my neighbours more (because its just nice), exercise more and appreciate the fact that in the UK, we get constant electricity and water!