The Arrival

        On paper we were looking at an 8 hour flight, 5 hour layover in Paris, another 8 hour flight to Sierra Leone, a 1 hour ferry ride, 1 night in Freetown, and a 5 hour ride to the CRC the next day. But in reality, it was just a little worse than that. I'm not too good with traveling so I probably complained a little too much. Our second flight was slightly delayed and when we landed in Sierra Leone, we landed into a little trouble.  Some big dude decided he was going to start yelling at Les (my team member) screaming "you got a problem!" "say something!", then say just kidding, then start yelling again, it was pretty weird.  He did push ups and kissed the ground when we got off the plane, lets just say he was pretty "pumped" to be back in his country.  Poor Les, as soon as we get in the airport, he borrows an Lungi airport employee's pen and looses it. This guy starts freaking out and cussing at Les saying he is disrespecting him causing a whole scene at the airport. People were surrounding us yelling, others were trying to grab our bags so they could get a tip to carry them 15 feet outside. It was a little scary for the beginning of the trip but the airport is just a chaotic place.  After all that mess, we were on our way to the ferry.  

     The ferry ride was only 1 hour so it wasn't bad except for their bathrooms...wow (possibly the worst smell known to man).  When we arrived in Freetown, we tried to get off the ferry but our car died.  I was a little worried considering we were driving the same bus for 5 hours the next day. Sure enough the next day 2 hours into our ride, the car died again. I was freaking out at this point thinking we're about to be stuck in the middle of nowhere in Africa. Not like we could call AAA. Fortunately they were able to take care of it pretty quickly.  2 hours later, we arrived at the CRC.  As soon as we walked in, there a ceremony prepared for our arrival.  The girls were dressed up in grass skirts, face and arms painted in white clay, guys playing the drums, it was amazing. I reunited with the kids I had shared such special memories with just two years ago. They all acted as if I had only been gone for a week, hugging me, holding my hand, asking me how I am while we listened to the beautiful voices of the girls and the incredible drum playing by the boys.