Woof! Woof!

Dogs are everywhere (I think that’s a line from a Pulp song, Jonny please confirm?) maybe Jarvis had visited Freetown. Here there may well be more dogs than people. Actually that’s an exaggeration, but there are a lot. People don’t keep pet dogs in the same way here as they do back in the UK. Dogs generally live on the streets or in compound yards. They roam around fighting each other at night causing a lot of palava. These days I’m so used to it that I just sleep through it. Noises of people talking, music playing, goats and frogs and crickets and dogs and the constant buzz of generators are commonplace and they rarely disturb me now.

Anyway, back to the dogs. There are some really mangy dogs around, full of injuries and fleas and allsorts. But they rarely approach you (unless you’re trying to get into their compound!) and they’re very much just a part of life here. Where Simon lives there are about 6 compound dogs, that are nicer than the typical dogs you see around and they follow him when he goes out. (In fact I remind him of one of the mangier dogs, so he’s nicknamed me after him. It’s not a name I’m going to post on here, because it’s taken off quite enough with Krystle and Simon without anyone else adopting it too!)

Names are important. I was cursed (sorry mama and papa, but it’s true!) with an unusually spelt name, which means that I am obsessive about (a) people spelling my name right and (b) spelling other people’s names right. In Sierra Leone, my name has become even more important to me, but in a different kind of way.

At work here, they always called me “Jayney” and quickly this was turned into my Salone name, Jeneba. So, I am Jeneba. Jeneba Jalloh. Now, whenever I meet anyone, I introduce myself as Jeneba. The other day in the taxi, I was talking to a guy and he turned to the driver (also a Jalloh – the surname Jalloh suggests that you’re from the Fullah tribe) and said “Do they have Fullah’s in England?” he replied “No, she must be from Guinea!” I’m still chuckling from that one.

To make matters more complicated, I also get called Zainab and Yebu, which are different versions of Jeneba, when I’m in different parts of the country. That’s a lot of names to answer to!!!

But why take a Salone name (or three)? There are plenty of English names here; I have Leonean friends called Charles, Michael, Elizabeth, Florence, Daniel. My name is not difficult or unusual.

Do I introduce myself as Jeneba because I don’t want people to know my real name? Yes, in part I do. I meet a lot of people, everyone wants to know my name. Also, using my Salone name makes people laugh, starts a conversation.

Having a Salone name makes me feel a little more settled in, a little more part of this country. But in the process of being here and experiencing so many different things, it also starts to become confusing at where Jayne ends and Jeneba begins. It’s such a cliché to talk about this place changing me, but it’s true. Jeneba in Sierra Leone, is not quite the same person as Jayne who you all know back home. She’s part of a different life and a different world. And I guess the person who returns to the UK will be some sort of hybrid Jayne/Jeneba mix.

I wonder if anyone will recognise her…