My little Sierra Leonean adventure (leaving the YMCA)

This week’s been full of surprises. First, after bragging to everyone back home that I had remained healthy my whole time, I got very sick. It was not fun. I’m not going to explain exactly what was happening but suffice it to say I spent a lot of time in the fetal position on my bed on Tuesday. Not quite ideal, but I suppose it could’ve been worse. Hopefully we won’t have to test that.

Then I discovered what’s probably the most delicious snack in the world: Malibu and mangos. Mangos from Sierra Leone are incredibly delicious (I’m just going to declare them “the best in the world” right now and get it over with) and Malibu is an incredible addition to the fruit. A few friends from the YMCA (“It’s fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A”…sorry, I’ve been trying to sneak that into a blog post all week) and I sat on the balcony, watching the rain, eating mangos and sipping Malibu. Honestly, it’s going to be a hard night to top.

Then I had to go back to my guest house, which is no longer the YMCA. I was booked in the most expensive room they had (which explains why it was so nice) and they didn’t have an opening until after my trip (that’s right I have a trip! More on that later.). So I moved to a guest house about a block away from the YMCA (“You can get yourself clean, you can have a good meal, you can do whatever you feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel” … all true!) which is not quite as nice.

So far, of the five days I’ve been there, I’ve had running water for one of them. Wednesday night my door wouldn’t shut, so Thursday morning they fixed it. In fact, they fixed it so well, that Thursday night it wouldn’t open. The room contains a bed and…well….my stuff. But, it’s very cheap and appears to be pretty secure so I’m not going to complain too much.

Now for the big news! My editor asked me if I wanted to accompany a couple reporters on a trip around the country to work on a story. The President recently approved free healthcare for pregnant women, breastfeeding women and women with more than five children. Awoko wants to know if it’s working, or even being implemented in areas outside of Freetown. So we’re going to spend a week travelling to the eastern part of the country, and then returning next Sunday, before venturing to southern Sierra Leone for a week the following day.

Needless to say, blog posts might be scarce in the next couple weeks. But just look at it this way: there should be another onslaught of posts once I get back to the YMCA (EVERYBODY: “Young man, there’s a place you can go, I said ‘young man,’ when you’re short on the dough…you can stay there, at the YMCA I’m sure they will help you today. (Bum! Bum! Bum! Bum! Bum!) It’s fun to stay at the…” best song ever? Probably not. But at least top 10.). And they’ll be awesome! Hope everybody is doing well back home! Shout out to the family in Grand Forks, North Dakota for the family reunion. I miss and love you guys and we’ll see you soon after I get back!