Fabric shopping...

Happy Saturday. Today a group of us went downtown for a shopping trip! We mainly went to the fabric street- which really is a street lined with small shops left and right, selling all sorts of fabrics: African prints, cotton, linen, lace fabric - you name it, they probably have it. On the street itself there are zillions of stalls, with ladies and men selling fabric, shoes and many other goods. And then there are people...people buying, selling, looking, bartering, eating, sitting, sleeping. Busy busy busy. It is definitely fun but also a bit tiring. I did manage to find some great fabrics...for shirts, skirts and capris. Funky African prints for skirts, and you can't pass up some linen at $3 a yard. It was a successful trip, topped off with a stop at Crown Bakery for lunch.

Week 40...

This week has flown by and there have been many highlights (with surprisingly very few lows). Here's a re-cap...more details will follow.

On Monday a Dutch photographer, Robin Utrecht, was at the clinic taking pictures. It was great to see his work. Some photos have even appeared in newspapers in Holland this past week. I’ll post some of the pictures here too.

On Tuesday I found out that the child I sent to the ship in Liberia for a CT scan can most likely have surgery onboard in the next three weeks. I am so excited for the family.

On Wednesday I went for a run and was joined by Osman (the boy I recently blogged about). He managed to run with me for the full 15 minutes, with flip flops on, a handful of groundnuts, conversing the entire way about school, family, food, etc.

On Thursday I witnessed an EXTRAORDINARY catch of fish on Lumley beach. I have never seen so many fish at one time. We even went back at 830pm for some night time adventure and came home with some fish…pictures to follow soon!

And then there was the fun and games in the office one afternoon. The pictures says enough.

Stay tuned for more…

The perfect Sunday in Salone...

It was a usual Sunday morning;
Wake up, eat breakfast, go to church.
But today, a group of us from church planned a beach trip.
So, after the service we talked and made plans.
We arranged to meet at our house as soon as possible,
So that we could leave sooner rather than later.
We knew it’d be a long drive out there,
And wanted to have plenty of time at the beach.

Well, this is Africa, so it definitely ended up taking longer.
First of all we noticed our tire was flat.
So we had to stop at the gas station to get ‘breeze’ (air).
Once back at the house we ended up changing the tire.
The guys also took a long time to get to our house.
They had there own reasons of course.
All legitimate, I think.
A number of text messages and phone calls later, they arrived.

So, at 2 pm, 6 men & 5 women climbed into the Land Cruiser.
Off we went.
The road was exceptionally good (relatively speaking);
Some work had been done (because the new president lives there?).
Having a local driver with us definitely sped up the trip too.
Not that he was driving too fast;
But he certainly knew the vehicle and how to maneuver potholes!
We got to No. 2 River beach in record time; just over an hour.

The beach was amazing; it again looked different.
The river was narrow, there were many rocks and a large shallow pool.
The company was fun;
More men than women for a change,
And even the Mercy Shippers were outnumbered this time.
We sat, talked, read, swam, listened to music, ran, etc.
We enjoyed ‘ultimate cookies’ and other snacks.
Most of all I enjoyed swimming in the ocean while watching the sun set.

Shortly after the sun slipped under the horizon,
We packed up and climbed into the Land Cruiser.
It was the beginning of the end to a perfect day.
We drove back in the dark, tired but content;
Talking about travel, music, Disneyland, and other random topics.
Once at the house we got vehicles sorted,
And soon everyone was off to their own homes.
It was the end to an amazing day.

Lazy Lumley afternoon...

After a very relaxing morning - with electricity, surprisingly enough- Luzanne and I decided to take a taxi down to Lumley beach to chill. Very brave of course, two white women, stepping into a taxi with three Sierra Leonean men. But we made it. We stopped at a place called Bunkers - a two-story beach bar/restaurant - and chose a table that overlooked the ocean. We made ourselves comfortable; extra pillows in the chairs, feet up on the ledge, a drink. Perfect. It was becoming a very lazy day. I basically read my book ('The Bookseller of Kabul'), dozed off and also enjoyed some photography. It was a perfect afternoon and we finished it off with a 45 minute walk on the beach! Here are some of the pictures I took:

Guess who I saw again today...

After a lovely afternoon at the beach, a friend and I walked back towards the clinic, to get a ride home. On our way, we met up with Osman and bought some groundnuts of course. This time I had my camera with me; so here are some very recent shots!

Reunion on the beach...

So, yesterday was Training Day 1.

This meant a 15 minute run on Lumley beach.

It was easy.

A good start.

However, after about 2 minutes of running, I had to stop.

Not because I couldn't run, but because I saw someone.

Osman.

An 8 year old boy who sells groundnuts on the beach.

I met him last year and often stop to say hi,

And sometimes buy groundnuts.

Which I then have to hold onto while running,

Or stuff into my running shorts' pockets.

It had been months since I had seen him.

I think he went upcountry for the summer holidays.

And of course with the elections, school was out longer than expected.

So, it was quite a surprise to see him on the beach yesterday.

I asked how he was doing, he said great.

Actually, he looked good. He's gained some weight.

He said school started on Tuesday,

He was glad to be back.

He had been upcountry, to visit his father.

When I asked where, he just said 'far far'.

I told him I was glad to see him again.

He just smiled.

Osman has the most amazing smile!

I'm glad he's back.

Seeing him made my day.

(PS: Nicci, I hope it's ok I used this picture)

3 months till Christmas...

Wow, unbelievable.
Only 3 months till Christmas.
Time is flying.
13 weeks to be exact.
And in that short time I am thinking about training for a 10k run.
A run which we'll organize ourselves.
Along Lumley beach of course.
And preferably not uphill!
We'll see how it goes.
Right now I am happy if I can run 15 minutes without a break.
So I will be impressed if I accomplish this goal.
We're starting our 'training program' tomorrow!

Monday...

It’s 17:45. The last patient just walked out the door. I’m now sitting outside, near the laundry room, waiting for a ride home after a fairly long day. I’m pretty hungry and am looking forward to dinner at 18:30. I’m listening to the rain drops landing on the ground. It’s Monday and it’s raining. It's been a long day and I'm tired. I’m secretly looking forward to the weekend already and hoping for nice weather. Fortunately, it’s starting to rain less. Rainy season is coming to an end. We had two beautiful Saturdays in a row and managed to get back out to River no 2 beach! What an amazing place.