Off the diving board...

I've been waiting for so long to come to Sierra Leone for the project I've been working on, that I couldn't believe that everything was finally happening. One week I was booking my flight, and the next, my boyfriend was dropping me off at Logan and I was boarding a flight to JFK. [And let me say, the people at JetBlue were amazing. Because most of what was in my carry-on was for our projects here, and some of the items in my checked bags were also for the projects, they waived the overweight baggage fees (which would have been really expensive).] Then from JFK, I flew to Morocco, spent part of a day there, and then took an overnight flight into Freetown (actually Lungi Airport, which by car is quite far from Freetown - so most people take the ferry across the bay).

Arriving at Lungi is definitely an experience. First is the immediate wall of humidity when you step off the plane, and the fact that at 5:15 AM its still almost 80 F. Then you follow the herd of people into the airport, and head to customs - actually more organized than I imagined. Then its the single baggage claim and grabbing your luggage. I was lucky to meet two women coming in from Germany in Morocco, one of whom had only one bag, and so helped me with one of mine. Following one of the women, a pediatrician, we all headed towards the exit, where customs(?) is also located - this and actually exiting the airport were all a bit of a loud, crowded, blurry mess. But once we got to the Pelican shuttle (the Pelican is the ferry), paid and checked our luggage. Not that I was really awake enough to appreciate it, but as we sped across the bay, we got to watch the sunrise. (And thanks for the tip babe - I watched the horizon the entire time and didn't get seasick!)

Once I arrived, I borrowed a phone and called Katrina, who has been here since October. She and her boyfriend came and picked me and all my stuff up, and then allowed me a few hours of blissful sleep on their couch. Then it was chilling on their amazing porch (the picture on the right is from their porch looking out to the beach), then heading to probably one of the poshest places in Freetown for lunch (which I won't be doing often on my pay), and then moving into my temporary room at St. Edward's in Kingtom (just search Kingtom, Freetown, Sierra Leone).