Goodbye Sweet Salone…

Rock miner...

boy on the beach

For the 10 weeks while I waas in Freetown, I ran with the Hash House Harriers Club. It is basically a drinking club with a running problem (they have them in countries around the world). Every monday we would run about 3 to 4 miles through the city. We would start at a different spot each week which was amazing because it would give me a chance to see different parts of the amazing city. The next photos are all from my last hash run.

A former GM of the Hash

current/out going GM, great guy

Hash circle

getting ready to be named

Getting named and covered in beer and water, fun, fun

There are a few more pictures from the last few days in town, it was really a great time and the people were amazing. I also got a few really nice dresses made for very very cheap, from some of their awesome fabric.

Women from work. Miranda, Adeola and Elizabeth

Ambassador Carter Perry and I on my last day

My awesome co-workers and I on my last day. We got matching fabric and made different style dresses out of it, great fun.

The wall where I signed on my last night on a bar/lounge/club called The Office

Saturday Afternoon

Security systems, random, yet effective

One of many great tailors there

Iron- that works with boiling hot water, a lot of places don't have electricity, watching this guy iron was amazing.

FE, my hairdresser and I

I’m Baaaaaaack…

After two and a half months in Freetown, I have returned. For the last few weeks the internet at the house I was staying at was pretty slow so I couldn’t upload pictures. On top of it all, rainy season was in full effect, and not just a few showers but monsoon rain.

My time there was great, I got to see and learn a lot. I tried local foods, went up country to the provinces and got out and enjoyed the night life as well. The definitely do know how to party, things don’t actually close there, so most nights out end around 6:30am and were always a great time.

The little kids that lived near the house I stayed at. That little girl wore that red hat every single day, it was 70 plus degrees, daily.

I went up country for work to look into some enviornmental issues going on there. There are a lot of forest reserves in the country that are not being respected and not a lot that is being done to change it. Though there are groups that want to work on it, and are trying to make changes to policy and protection.

A part of the forest taken down by the slash and burn method

house up country

Kambui Forest Reserve

Woman in reserve

kids who lived near work

Family Picture

All of the kids are beautiful...

Miles, lived down the road from me, so sweet.

Rock miner

One of many fruit stands...great mangos

Freetown

They do all of this with no eye protection, or any protection at all actually

Beautiful girl I saw at the club

Mosque up country

Pan houses...tin roofs make awful loud noise during the rain

they were always so happy...

ground nuts! which are in fact peanuts, these were boiled, yum

Ibrahim, who we met while shopping once afternoon

One Month Left…time is racing by

My time here in Freetown has continued to go well. I have made it out into the night life a few more times and gone out on some runs in some different parts of town. I have found out this week that it is great to run on the beach and that a lot of people do it. In general the people here are in good shape and exercises and play futbol a lot.

There was an amputee futbol team at the beach today. All of the players only had one leg and were playing of crutches, and the goalies had one arm. Some were handicapped by birth and many looked to be victims of the civil war here. It was one of the most amazing things to see ever, and I of course did not have my camera! They play at the beach every saturday and also travel around the world to play against other handicapped teams. I will go by next week to take a picture, it really is awesome to see.

Neighborhood in Freetown

Beach on a cloudy warm Sunday afternoon

They are very big on hair and hair styles here. I got my hair braided down the street from where I am staying for $9. They did a great job and it only took about an hour. When I went over to where they were braiding, there was a decent sized group of women just sitting outside doing hair, braiding away in the late day heat, and I joined in, it was great. Picture of the braids below.

Out w/ my friend Cassandra from NY, who has lived here five years.

more beach, my favorite place...

One of the masks here, from the Mende tribe who live mainly up country.

And the pictures continue…

Soldiers preparing for the President's visit. Damn it was hot out there.

I cannot imagine the things this woman has gone through in her life and is still smiling.awesome.

Streets of Freetown, on my way to work.

Celebration for the President in Kambia

Young girl, Kambia

The women who come by and sell fruit at the place I am staying...great mango's. On the left is the mother and right, her daughter.

Fruit ladies again...

There are fruit stands all around the city. There is a woman who comes to work twice a week, and one’s that come by the place. They also sell lobster, shrimp and fabric, really anything you could want, ha. There women in the picture were very excited to see a photo of them selves, this is one of many I took of them. They were amazingly nice, and so happy to see a picture of themselves and their work.

I also took dance classes with some women from work. My dad says, I shouldn’t call it African dance class, since I am in Africa, it’s just dance class…the girl dancing is 18 and she travels with 3 guys that are sensational on the drums…

Dance class drumers

The awesome dance teacher.

Celebration for the President

Mango sellers, these kids loved the camera

Month One…loving it.

I know, I know, finally….

Group of 12 and 13 year old boys at the beach

So, after a few requests, I thought it made sense to blog here in Sierra Leone, West Africa where I will be for two and a half months. It will mosst likely consist of mostly pictures, because some things are too awesome for words.

So far things have been great. The people are beautiful and friendly and the views are beautiful. Though the roads leave much to be desired you can get around, thought Freetown is very crowded. Many people fled here during the war and never left, so a country that was once much more dependent on farming now has over a million people in the smallest city there is.

It is hard to think that only ten years ago these people were suffereing under one of the worst civil wars ever. Resilance in a people, in a country, is awesome. Things here are slowly progressing, but I think what matters most is that they are changing.

On our trip up country, this woman couldn’t decide whether she wanted her picture taken with her hoe or her knife, last minute she threw her knife down and decided on this (while covering up her kid’s face, priceless)

Women's group singing for the President

They carry everything on their heads its awesome.

Pretty little girl with the President's women's group. all the children here are beautiful

It takes close to forever to upload things here, but the pictures are the  best way I can speak to everything I am seeing. There have been some funny moments and some things that have really made me think. There are a lot of untapped resources here that could really be profitable for them if they just used them…I think there are many reasons they have not, but one is because they have over time become accustomed to getting things from the western world…

Things are simple here, almost every morning on my way to work I see the same little girl, sitting on the same little pot using the bathroom on top of a hill in front of her house, with out a care in the world, it makes me smile daily. There are not always bathrooms and some people live in make-shift tin housing so you do your business where you can…

Beaches are amazing, sun is as strong as it wants to be and the water, well it feels like a nice warm bath...

The beaches are amazing. The first I went to was connected to a hotel where I had amazing, grilled lobster, definitely rivaled Boston’s and the price was much more reasonable..ha. The second time we went to River No. 2 a beach where our landlord has a house. He is a hilarious Lebanese man (a lot of Lebanese live and work here) with a gorgeous son, and hilarious friends, we sun bathed, listened to Frank Sinatra and ate and drank until our hearts were content…

The streets of Freetown

School boys during the President's visit to Kambia. There are SO many different school uniforms is SO many colors, you'd think the education would be better....

School kids in Kambia

They were selling mango's for the cheapskie on the way home. Each mango tastes better than the next in this country...

The food here is cool. I stay with Americans so, it’s not a huge change, but all the meat, eggs, produce are all organic because they don’t process anything here, which is definitely good. Can’t drink the water…I use it to brush my teeth but that is about it. The mango’s are superb, and they have rice with basically every single meal. The only traditional dish I have tried so far has been Groundnut Soup/Stew, which is basically peanut soup with chicken in it, but it is definitely good.

Boy selling mango on the side of the road

The roads are pretty awful here, though one of my co-workers who has been to the states said that the ones in Boston reminded him a little bit of home, which I had to laugh out loud about, because I was kind of thinking the same thing, ha ha. Many of the roads are not paved, but they have started, though not yet finished, many projects to change that.

The main language is Krio it is basically broken English with a little bit of french and spanish mixed in at times. I take classes at work on Tuesday afternoons. I have some co-workers and security guards that won’t speak to me in English anymore, in hopes that I learn faster, I can’t say it has done any good yet, ha ha, but it is definitely helpful.

Well, that’s all I got for now, I have no more upload patience or energy for tonight.  But I will be taking more and posting more of the ones I already have soon!