Friday. The school benches we raised money for have arrived! Just in time before our departure. Here there are:
The principal told me today that the start of the school holidays depends a bit on the weather, if the rain continues they will have to break up as there are too many leaking roofs…
In the afternoon we went to say goodbye to Freddie. Whenever we are at the beach, we bump into him, who walks along the beach every single day, from Madina to Berekuntu, which is about 12 km there and back again, collecting stranded squid and fish. Some days he even does his journey twice, in the morning and in the afternoon. A day at the beach without meeting him and peaking into his bag to see what he has found has become to some extent disappointing.
I was told that he used too sell weed, then got caught and arrested and his family had to bail him out. Soon after he was selling weed again, got caught again and his family had to bail him out once more. Since then he has stopped his weed business and walks along the beach instead, trying to make money of the things he finds. Usually it is squid or fish, occasionally even some cash. Sometimes he finds items for his house. He carries two bottles of water with him, one to clean himself before praying and one to drink, a carrier bag for his finds and a good portion to smoke. He has dreadlocks and the greatest smile ever.
Freddie kept inviting us to his place at the beach in Madina, which we hadn’t managed so far, but I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.
The very first time we met him was after we visited the Sand Dune Mosque in Gunjur, when we walked back home along the beach. He was at his beach bar and stopped us to ask if we would like to buy a fresh orange juice of him, which we did.
Oskar and I took the bikes and went to see him today. His place is called Full Moon, which he built by himself and rents out to tourists, when there are any. He doesn’t advertise, they have to find him. The place is very simple, two separate rooms with shower, kitchen is outside. It’s a charming place on a lovely sloping site overlooking the beach.
