Day 1 – Arrived safe and sound in SL!

Wow, nothing I could have read, watched or dreamt about could have actually prepared me for this…….

Arrived in Lungi yesterday evening and was very happy to see someone waiting outside the airport with a sign with my name on it.  No issues with baggage or getting through security although there was a big slash down the front of my suitcase. Hopped in Sultan’s waiting jeep and sped through the streets to try and catch the ferry to Freetown, it took me a few minutes to figure out which side of the street we should be driving on as he zipped between people, animals, cars.

I used to think Bangkok was a flurry of sights, sounds and smells but it’s nothing on SL. We had a 3 hr wait for the ferry to Freetown and this has given me a sense for the differences of time between Europe and Africa. Time just passes, no stress - people talk, eat, drink, buy and sell. Gaggles of beautiful little kids started surrounding the only white chick at the port – Opodo!!! and they taught me my first few Krio sentences while using any opportunity to reach out and touch me. And then look away giggling.

The ferry ride was another shock to the senses, from the dead dog floating beside the ferry to the kids using it as a target to spit at. Just as we approached Freetown the workers came and dumped the rubbish bins overboard into the already heavily polluted water.

The drive from the port to Allen town; my new home, was a blur of lively bars and clubs, bonfires and make shift markets and shacks densely populated with people. I reckon it’s going to take a few more days before I am settled enough to start taking in the details of this new place.

At about 10pm we arrived at Idrisss’ house, my new home in Allen town. It’s too dark to see much but it’s a full house of welcoming faces. I toast the New Year with a glass of warm champagne and a concoction of food that I have yet to know what it was. Time for bed! And to my surprise and delight there is a cozy double bed waiting for me J

After 12 glorious hours of clammy sleep it’s time to see what I’m in for in the light of day J I wake to find a sweetly written note has been pushed under my door, welcoming me to Sierra Leone with a message ‘I need to get to the point I want you to be my friend, my best friend’ by Idrisss’ youngest daughter Idiatu.

The 2^nd is a holiday, which is nice as I slept til after 11am. Time to meet the family; Pricella, Idrisss’ heavily pregnant wife, Idiatu and Mary mar his two daughters and a few other brothers and uncles make up the clan.

After breakfast Pricilla took me aside to give me some advice while I’m here in SL. Apparently there will be elections this year, which means that I should not go out with anyone as I could be taken as a sacrifice for the elections – although I have not felt threatened in Lungi or here in Allen town I don’t think I will be going out on my own anytime soon.

I also got to meet the other volunteers, Giga a very clued in 19 year old from a little village in Austria has been here since July on his civil year before college and speaks krio fluently with a thick African accent. Andy also from Austria studied chemistry and is trying to set up a plastic recycling project here and Charlotte from France who is writing her Masters thesis on agriculture in Sierra Leone. They both live on the farm near waterloo and have been here since September. I am very grateful to have some friendly, experienced people to show me the ropes here!

My first day at work starts tomorrow, we will have a team meeting in Allen town and then travel to the farm to give me an overview of the facilities there before figuring out where I can be best put to use.

On another note, I have never had such an emotional shower; okay it’s not quite a shower, more like a hole in the ground and a bucket of water. I went from feeling like the ‘clichéd stupid white girl’ not sure how anything should work to feeling extremely invigorated by the simplicity of life and the back to basics of everything. I have a feeling this little adventure is going to be a rollercoaster of learning and feeling.

Anyway that’s it for now!