The Switch

       In the middle of a chapter book most of the exciting parts take place, and in the book The Bite of the Mango the most exciting thing for Mariatu happened. I have currently read up to chapter 17 in the book and it has caught my attention. When Mariatu was in England she discussed her point of view on what it was like to be in a place so huge that nobody notices anyone. Comparing Sierra Leone to England was hugely different. Mariatu was in England to receive her prosthetic hands and gave details of how different this community was to her community in Sierra Leone. “Everyone on the London streets walked quickly, never seeming to look at each other or say hello. They’d push past without even a nod.” page 144. This tells everyone how people act in Sierra Leone compared to everywhere else. In Sierra Leone the people talk to each other on the streets, and where they are the people don’t even look at each other. The way the bedrooms were set up were a huge difference for Mariatu. “In my London bedroom, all I could hear in the dead of night was the hum of the refrigerator and the electric wires.” page 145. Mariatu explains how loud it is in her bedroom. In her Sierra Leone bedroom it would be extremely quiet at night because there is nothing else around her but nature. Many places in the world are extremely lucky to have the things that they do, because compared to places just like Sierra Leone many places would be considered wealthy. This part of the book really amazed me because it really brought out everything about the two places. Many people living take the most known things for granted. A person living in England has everything they could possibly want, they have electricity, electronics, a furnished house, and even a vehicle, for people like Mariatu they don’t have all these things, and know what it's like to live without them. I think that if a person living in England went to live in Sierra Leone, they wouldn't know what to do. Even Though London has anything a person could possibly want Mariatu disagrees, “I don't like this country, it’s always gray. In Sierra Leone everything is colourful: the clothes the people wear, the trees, and the flowers.” page 144. Mariatu exclaims that she has everything she needs, and colour brings it all to life. This quote also explains how gray London is with all the buildings and walls. I think this part of the book brought out important information about Sierra Leone and how it is extremely different from London.