Arriving in Sierra Leone

I’m in Sierra Leone and I have to go to bed. I’m at the YMCA because the Stadium hostel was full. I had such an incredible last few hours I’m not even sure I could do them justice on this blog.

The flights were fine. They were long. But I got here. Once I got here a friend of the editor’s nephew grabbed me at the airport, then walked me down the street to a bar where Mr. Lewis’s nephew was waiting. Less than a half hour after getting off the plane, I had a Carlsberg in my hand and was being chauffeured to the ferry.

When I got off the plane I was literally shaking I was so nervous. I was at the baggage claim and was completely overwhelmed. I got through immigration and customs easily, but I was still pretty apprehensive. Once I collected my bags and got my shit together (mostly mentally) I saw a man with “David Krueger” on his piece of paper, and I felt infinitely better. He helped me exchange money, find the rest of our party and get a beer. Then all was good.

I instantly felt safe. I instantly felt fine. It’s amazing what one Carlsberg can do.
We drove to the ferry where I saw J.D., the guy I sat next to on the flight to Sierra Leone. He’s on a mission trip for nine months and has a posse of at least 10. It’s cool though, cause I was rolling four deep with Mr. Lewis’s nephew and his crew.
We sat down, the Carlsberg’s kept coming, and I just kept trying to take it all in. I’m sure I failed, but it was incredible. I won’t forget the 10ish mile drive to the ferry until I have Alzheimer’s.

After the hourish ferry ride we switched cars and I was taken to the office. I met all of my fellow coworkers and felt terrible inside because there’s no way I’m going to remember their names tomorrow. Fortunately, I have 3 months to get it figured out.
After introductions and watching some highlights from the women’s world cup I was taken to the YMCA hostel. It’s humid as hell in here. I’m not sure if I can use the water. I’m not sure if I should put up the mosquito net. I’m not sure if I used enough hand sanitizer (which exploded in its Ziploc bag) before I took my contacts out. Hope so.

I usually wing it when it comes to life, but this is a little beyond what I’m used to. I have to get up in 8 hours and go back to work apparently, but have no alarm clock. We’ll see how this goes. I set an alarm on my ipod, but I’m really relying on waking up in the early morning (because it’s hot as hell) and getting ready for work. I’ll be honest, I’m curious how tomorrow’s going to turn out. I’m sure Mr. Lewis is too. But not nearly to the same degree.

Two things I can’t get out of my head. One was an advertisement for a bank I saw on the ferry. It said: “we’re here because of you.” It’s a new company from the UK that recently expanded to west Africa. It’s ironic, because I’m here because of you (the people) too. The second was the conversation I had with J.D. when we met on the plane. He asked: “What are you going for?”

It almost sounded like we were in prison and he was asking “What are you in for?” It just had this tone, like “why would anybody choose to go to Sierra Leone?” Nobody asked me this when I went to Rome. They knew the answer. The Colosseum. The gelato. The history. Have an easy quarter.

This quarter won’t be so easy. But it doesn’t matter. I’m more excited than I’ve ever been. And now I have to try to sleep, which shouldn’t be too hard because I’m exhausted and…

The power’s off. Huh. I have no way of making sure I’m awake in time, no way of keeping remotely comfortable, and I have no idea how to flush the toilettes here. Should be an interesting 85ish days.

I can’t wait. I could excel, fail, or fall somewhere in the middle. Personally, I’m excited to see where I land. I hope you are too. Right now the jury’s out. But I do know one thing:

Sierra Leone, I’m here because of you. I’ll see you in the morning. Whenever that may be.