Tenki fo Kam na Salone! (Welcome to Sierra Leone!)

 Post by Kevin

*Note* We only got one picture loaded, so we'll load the others next time we get the chance. 

As promised, I want to venture further into our actual arrival into the Sierra Leone Airport.  I’ve flown into about a half dozen airports in my lifetime and this one was something I’ve never experienced before.  If you’ve ever seen Jurassic Park II where they land a fairly small jet airplane onto an overgrown runway, I remember the experience being very similar only substitute a small jet aircraft with an Airbus (keep in mind that this is somewhere along the lines of hour 46 in a 48 hour trip, so my memory might be a bit skewed).  Being that we were Peace Corps and the media was supposed to be covering our arrival, we were told that we needed to be the last ones to exit the plane.  This was about 25 min of waiting quite anxiously to get out of the plane and see our new home for 2 years.  We finally saw the last of the passengers get off so all 45 of us shuffled to the front of the plane and started to exit.  Stepping from an air conditioned plane into 90 degree heat and 90% humidity was quite overwhelming.  We walked down the stairs and onto the runway to find that the media never showed up because of some other story that they were covering.  We quickly hopped onto a bus to take us to the terminal.  

We were herded like sheep into the VIP lounge of the airport where we were greeted by the Minister of Education and handed a bottle of water (VIP lounge meant the only room with chairs and air conditioning set to about 80 degrees).  We all sat together dumbfounded in this room while we had a very warm welcome from the Minister and our country directors Joel and Gale.  There was an older man sitting in the VIP Lounge when we entered.  As he was leaving, he gave a small speech to us about how one of his best teachers he ever had was a Peace Corps Volunteer and that when he sees all of us coming back to his country he tells God thank you!  It was really awesome hearing that so soon after arriving, to know that Peace Corps has made such an impact on so many people’s lives here in Sierra Leone (Note: this is only one of many similar experiences. Even the President told us that his Peace Corps teacher had a profound impact on his life!).

A few volunteers went out to pull our baggage off of the one baggage claim in the entire airport while the rest of us waited.  After a few minutes we all shuffled out, picked up our baggage from the massive piles and we were herded out the buses.  We then had a caravan including the following: a Peace Corps Toyota Land Cruiser 4X4 (complete with snorkel, spare tire on the roof, winch, and 8 ft antenna attached to the hood of the truck), two buses, and then another badass Land Cruiser.  When driving with us, these vehicles always have their 4-ways on and I’m not exactly sure why they do this.  I feel it’s something that vehicles do here for important people, but that could just be my ego talking.

The airport is on an island, so we had to take a bus to a ferry and then about a 25 min ferry ride across the bay.  It was super dark out by this point, so we could see only what was directly on the road.  We could see a few small tin-roofed huts and people sitting with each other under the small light of an LED lantern or a candle.  We were then greeted by a well-lit ferry that was reserved specifically for Peace Corps.  We got off the bus and went up to the top deck to first class seating (again, a room with a/c).  We were handed a bag of snacks and a malaria pill (we’re on mefloquine in case you were wondering. Common side effect: vivid dreams).  Our first taste of Salone was two fresh picked bananas, two hard boiled eggs, some coconut flavored cookies, and some peanuts (a staple food here) 

 I overheard one of the currently serving PCVs [Peace Corps Volunteers] saying that these bags of snacks cost Le 5000, or approximately $1.15USD.  They told us we had a few more minutes before docking, so we could go see what Freetown looks like before we dock.  It was very dark with the exception of a few street lights and occasional headlights.  Here’s a picture I took:

Not a lot of light pollution here

Once we had docked we were told we needed to walk off the ferry and wait for the buses to unload (this necessity became apparent when we noticed the steepness of the ramps).  We got back on our respective buses and were on our way.  Driving through the capital of this country was my first real moment of “Kevin, What the Hell did you get yourself into?”  I did not see a single building that had lights on (It was later explained to us that during the war, almost all infrastructure was destroyed so almost any buildings with electricity run on individual generators.  They only run the generators when they want electricity, and in many cases this is not often).  It was about 9PM at this point and the streets were super crowded with people selling things by candlelight or by LED lantern.  It was really quite intimidating, but at this point, we were all so very exhausted from the many hours of traveling that we just sat quietly.  We pulled up into the hostel that would be home base for the first several days and were given our room key. 

We went into our room and threw our stuff down.   It was a relatively nice room that had a kitchen area with a fridge and bedroom with a queen size bed.  We had lights in all of our rooms and a hot water heater tank.  We had a fan so we were pretty excited about that.  We would later learn that the hostel generator runs from dusk until just before dawn, so the lights and fan and fridge can only be run about half of the day.  It was at this point that we brushed our teeth and crashed.  The next morning we woke up and realized we did not have mosquito nets over our beds, so we informed staff and were quickly moved to one that had two twin beds with nets, no kitchen area, and no fridge (not that we had anything to refrigerate).  I wished so hard that they would have just installed a net in our first room after I lay down on the second room’s bed.  It was basically a piece of particle board with some fabric on it (I’ve slept on more comfortable floors in my lifetime).

Sleeping Lucy and Desi style!

The first morning we were able to finally see Freetown in the light.  I was absolutely shocked at the number of houses that were crammed into the city.  I would not have been able to guess that from the night before. 

The view from our hostel in Freetown

 

That basically explains our first 24 hours in Salone.  I wish I would have pulled the computer out the first night to dictate my thoughts because now it’s all just a blur.  We’ve only been here for two weeks and it feels like a month.  I have become really close to all of my fellow trainees and am truly blown away by how compatible we all are.  I have noticed that Peace Corps is doing a very good job at easing us into the cultural changes.  The first several days we were confined to a relatively small part of Freetown, and now for the next 9 weeks we are living with a family that is trying their hardest to show us cultural norms before we are sent to a village where faux pas may be more harmful to our relationships (e.g. always always always present your right hand to shake and not you’re left).  It’s been exceptionally great having a family that has had a Peace Corps couple before.  We don’t have to go through all of the hoops of what our American culture is like.  It is also super awesome that our host mother is a teacher and does a very good job at testing Lara and me in the new language.  Lara and I are so grateful for having such a welcoming family (and one that does an exceptionally good job cooking).  We miss all of our family in America, but it’s so nice having a supportive base here in Africa.

Our host sisters: Fatmata, Aminata, Emma, and Kadiatu