Hello world!!!
Hope you and yours are doing well. I'm doing well and thankful to the Almighty. As promised, I wrote detailed blogs about my adventures during my recent Homecoming Trip to Salone as Miss Sierra Leone USA; read my
preview blog post and individual posts about my appearances/events. This post will be my activities that are non-related to my Miss Salone USA activities, hence the title "Without The Sash & Crown." I decided to write this post because some people have been saying to me: "from seeing the many pictures and reading your blog posts, you did a lot while in Salone with your many visits to various places and promoting your Miss SLUSA platform and MSLDC, but did you do fun things and enjoy Salone?" The simple and loud answer to that is: YES!!! I think the real question should be: how did you balance being Miss Sierra Leone USA in Salone, and a college student in the US. During my Homecoming, I went to Sierra Leone with a lot of schoolwork; I'd attend events and make visitations during the day for Miss SLUSA affairs; but my nights and early mornings consisted of doing homework, typing out lab reports, working on group projects on my laptop, emailing my professors, and reading books. I had to do this because college was still in session and I was held responsible for my academic obligations in college even while away. I had to learn to practice fantastic time management during this time. I am very thankful to my professors for working with me throughout this time, and understanding my situation. Now back to the fun adventures, here's a list of some of the things I did!
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Eating breakfast in Belgium at the Brussels airport with my boyfriend's brother, sister-in-law, and niece;
I transited via Brussels on my way to Lungi Int'l Airport and back |
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Just landed in SIERRA LEONE!!!
Arriving at Lungi International Airport after being away from Salone for 9.5 years |
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| Taking the ferry from Lungi to Freetown |
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| Quick photoshoot on the ferry from Lungi to Freetown |
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| Quick photoshoot during the ferry ride from Lungi to Freetown |
Family
One of the best moments of this trip was seeing my family members from my mom and dad's sides. Since I've been away from Sierra Leone for such a long time, I got to meet so many of my cousins that weren't born before I left. It was great seeing my superwomen as well, my grandmothers (paternal and maternal) that is.
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Me and my paternal grandma Bola, whom I call mommy.
She raised me during my childhood days living in Sierra Leone and Nigeria. |
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The Rubies!
Me and my namesake and partner in crime, Ruby C. |
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Surrounded by paternal cousins at my grandma's house
Left-Right:
Ruby C., Ruby J. (me), Tymalean, Joshua, and Maclean Jr. |
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Tymalean - My cousin (aunt's daughter) and our future Miss Sierra Leone
She's doing her cousin's favorite pose, the hands on the hip
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Me (Ruby) and my mommy's mommy (Mami Gbangs)
The man in the photo is my mom's older and only brother (Uncle Faray)
and the lady on the right is my mom's sister (Aunty Duba) |
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The 1990 Triplets with Granny
Left-Right:
Isha (cousin), me (Ruby), Mami Gbangs (my maternal grandma), and Armah (cousin) |
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Left-Right: Octavia Armah, Isha, and me (Ruby)
I'm pictured here with my cousins (our moms are sisters);
since we were born in 1990, except Octavia who was born the year before, we grew up like sisters |
Sightseeing
Sierra Leone is a beautiful land that's blessed with many mountains, hills, valleys, etc., so there is always a beautiful view wherever you are. Seeing sights and beautiful vegetation, being at the top of mountains, admiring the architecture of some people's houses, etc. were some of my favorite things to do while driving around Freetown and surrounding areas (especially during my trip to Kono).
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Fly like a bird!
FREETOWN - This Is My City |
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| FREETOWN - This Is My City |
Besides the business/service part of my trip, something that Dr. Fuambai highly stressed on was that I make sure to have fun. Thanks to my former classmates at Murraydeen Preparatory School and Methodist Girls' High School, I had fun in various ways; I told one of my friends that the goal was to "work hard and play hard!" Due to the fact that most of my friends attend Fourah Bay College and FBC students were on their exams, our fun was limited.
Beaches,Restaurants, and Friends
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| Lakka Beach - Clear Water, Clean Sand, Beautiful Weather |
Each beach in Salone has a character and style of its own, raw and tropical beauty from the color of its sands to the waves! This blessing of Sierra Leone is something that my friends made sure I enjoyed, and I went to places like Lakka and Lumley beaches. Due to my tight schedule, I didn't have time to go to other beaches that were farther away. Lumley beach has a lot of awesome restaurants that I ate dinner at, and truly enjoyed the delicious food and desserts there. I also ate at some restaurants and bakeries on Wilkinson Road and Murraytown.
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| At the beach with my Murraydeen and Methodist Girls' High School classmate, Lizzie |
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| Me and the oh so smart and beautiful, Miss Janet. Even though she was my biggest competition academically, she was my bestfriend at MGHS. We always competed for first place position when it came to our schoolwork. |
Food
As much as I enjoyed eating restaurant food, there was nothing as special as eating home-cooked meals by my Mommy Bola (my paternal grandma). I ate lunch and dinner at her house when I could, and they were delicious! Some of the things I had were: ebeh, peteteh lif, res pap, wet sup, and many more. Whenever people offered to make me or get me food, I'd say that "I won't eat food that's American or non-Sierra Leonean, because I did not come to Salone to eat food I can eat in America or elsewhere, and will like my meals strictly Sierra Leonean!" For those who know me in person are aware that I love eating and this proud foodie loves her rice (typical trait of a Sierra Leonean) and all kinds of wet sup!
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| This photo was taken by my uncle while I was eating fufu en sawa sawa at my grandma Bola's house; it was delicious!!! |
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| On my way to Kono, I bought kasada bred, fray fray, en fish; I don't think this photo does justice of showing how beautiful and delicious this food was! |
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| Tasting and buying poyo for the first time at a Limba kona while on the way to Kono from Freetown |
Being the true daughter of a Limba woman, there was no way I was going to drive past the Limba konas and not taste/buy some "God-to-man" during my drive to Kono. My driver made the recommendation for this spot, and indeed the poyo (palm wine) was creamy and delicious! Sierra Leone, we're blessed!!! After drinking my share from what we bought, I fell asleep for half the ride. On the way from Kono to Freetown, we bought poyo again at a different location, shown in the photo below. I really wish I was fluent in Limba so I could speak it to the poyo seller, who was excited to find out that I'm half Limba. During our trips: me, Tamba (my chaperone), and Mr. James (my driver) referred to poyo as "Limba wata."
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Buying poyo on the way back to Freetown from Kono.
Check out the palm trees in the background! |
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Ahhhh...Good Times!!!
This photo was taken by Tamba (my chaperone) during the time he was making fun of the Limbas (us) and their love for poyo |
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| This poyo was equally delicious |
Common Phrases and Popular Songs
While in Sierra Leone I got to hear some krio sayings that I haven't heard in years, and I found that to be so amusing. Of course I speak krio fluently and understand, but some krio words were so intense that I needed translations. Whenever I wouldn't understand certain krio words or sayings, my friends would tell me that's the "new krio," Some common words that I heard while there were:
bra, yu borbor de; and according to one of my friends, the remix for the previous statement is
yu borbor in borbor de;
no wahala; and many more. Being that it's always a party in Salone (especially with my experience in Freetown), the song that was always on blast in the streets was "Tawa fo yu" by LAJ. I loved this song while in the US, got tired of hearing it so much in Freetown, and then fell in love with it again after hearing it so much there.
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| Beautiful weather, beautiful view! |
Common Questions and Comments
Being that Sierra Leone is a diverse nation with a variety of ethnic groups and multicultural communities, a question that I was asked regularly during my visits/appearances was: "what ethnic group are you?" Due to my last name, some would automatically guess Krio. My usual response was "Krimba," and they would have puzzled faces. During this time, I'd explain to them that I'm half Krio (dad) and half Limba (mom), and do not like to separate because these two ethnic groups have cultivated me to be the woman I am today. I'd also make emphasis that I am Sierra Leonean first, and Krimba second. Being asked by individuals during my appearances and visits if I was Miss Sierra Leone was another regular question I received. I never realized how powerful my television appearances on SLBC's "Lunch Time Break" and "We Yus" would be. Whenever I'd make an appearance, there'll be at least one person who'd recognize me from one of the shows or say that they or someone they know saw me at a previous appearance, and say "Yes I know who you are!" There was even a lady who explained my platform and what I did before I even opened my mouth while at an appearance; that saved me time from my usual introduction. Even during my flight back to the United States, I got recognized by a couple of people and I thought that that awesome. Getting recognized in person was something unusual to me there, because I thought people would only recognize me only with the crown and sash on; however, I loved that I was able to become a household name and regular face during my short time there. I also realized that I have to be very cautious of my image and act appropriately wherever I was.
My ride
The two photos are an example of what the car I used during my time in Sierra Leone looked like on a regular day. Due to the fact that my day of activities started at 8am and won't be done till 5pm or later, I'd pack all the outfits and items I needed for my day; I'd change outfits in bathrooms at the next location. These items include: makeup, crown and sash, snacks, hangers, water bottles, phone charger, hair clips, shoes, hand sanitizer, tissues, mini towel, etc. My driver and chaperone always teased me of living like a celebrity while seating at the back getting myself ready for the next appearance. Fambul den, this was my life without the sash and crown!
If you have other questions about my Homecoming adventures that I haven't answered already, feel free to leave a comment below or contact me via one of my social media accounts.
Ruby B. Johnson,
Your Miss Sierra Leone USA.
