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| On the water taxi |
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| Sweet kids on the beach |
Goodbye Sierra Leone! I clumped these two days together because that is exactly what happened traveling home. It's just one big long day. The next morning, we packed up and headed to the Freetown market. My house is a weird mixture of Southern Living and African art, so my family requested that I not buy anything for them, as we are pretty decked out already. I bought three tapestries, three bracelets, two necklaces and two wood carvings. I hate shopping and am the most indecisive person ever so the market was not my favorite place. I felt so bad saying no to people, was worried I'd rip people off by bargaining too low, and could never make a decision so I'd walk back and forth 100 times between shops, deciding on the giraffe that was pointing its head upwards versus the giraffe that was looking down. (I chose the one looking up in case anyone was wondering). After shopping, we went to the Crowne Bakery for macaroons and chocolate croissants. Everyone was going on and on about how good they were and I am happy to say they lived up to the hype. We then headed to the water taxi, which was so much more enjoyable than our ferry experience. The guys had told us that it was a car with rotating tires that also floated in the water. I am embarrassed to say that Jackie and I believed them. In reality, a water taxi is like a private shuttle boat. I love boats and so I was pretty pumped. The whole experience was about 10 minutes. Again, so much more enjoyable than the ferry. We docked at the beach, which was even prettier than the one we went to in Freetown and had some time to spare before loading the bus for the airport. I took some pictures on the beach and some kids playing football crowded around, asking us to snap them. Then we headed to the airport. We passed the time by playing some more rounds of mafia. It was funny, as we were sitting around I felt weird not holding someone's hand. I had gotten so used to it at the CRC and missed it already. We made it through customs and everything and spent the remainder of our wait eating a great meal at the airport restaurant. We had a two hour flight to Ghana. Jackie and I lucked out again and sat next to each other. We talked the whole time about the trip which was really great. Jackie pointed out that the man sitting in front of us kept turning around about every 30 seconds and staring at us. I have no self control and once I started noticing I got to laughing so hard. It was so weird, he'd just turn around and wedge his face in between the seats and stare directly back at us, just smiling. We both got so uncomfortable and had to look opposite directions, clenching each others hands and shaking from silently laughing so hard. I guess I have bad luck with flights. We were happy to get off that plane away from our creepy friend. The Accra airport was so much nicer than Lungi. It is amazing how you can tell how developed a country is solely based off their airport. We only had an hour and a half to get through customs, check our baggage, and go through security, and we were all nervous we wouldn't make it. God must've seen how stressed out Tim was, because this woman led us through the entire airport- dodging a long line so that we could go to the Pilots Only section and get our passports stamped. She was all business and we made it with time to spare. The 13 hour flight from Ghana to Atlanta really wasn't bad. Darlene gave me a sleeping pill and I was out for a good seven hours. A funny but disgusting moment was when Stephanie realized that there were a dozen boogers stuck to her seat. Poor Steph. I also learned how to play solitaire. Apparently it is really weird that I've never played before. We made it to Atlanta and had to go through customs again. Paul and I got stuck in the world's slowest moving line. I am glad I got stuck with him. I was all nervous that we were the last ones and that they'd leave with out us. He was like "I'm sure if we miss it there will be another flight we can take 30 minutes later." So chill. Paul, Deb, and I were racing through the airport trying to catch up with everyone- that definitely woke me up. The flight to Atlanta was really quick. As we started to descend and land, I looked out the window. It was so strange to see all the cookie cutter houses like mine, with three cars in the drive way. My stomach dropped at the sight of suburbia. I was not ready to be home. My mom actually missed the exit for home because I was talking so much and I told her not to worry about it, to keep driving, that I didn't want to go home because that meant the trip was really over. I walked into my room on Saturday and all my Christmas gifts had been moved up there. Seeing the pile of gifts made me feel guilty and I keep catching myself judging other people for the excessive things they have. I know that is the last thing God wants me to take away from this trip. I should be all the more grateful for everything I do have, especially my family and friends. I turned on my computer to already have a facebook message from Johanese. It read "We miss you guys. I can imagine missing you so quickly. I wish there was an added time for us to spend together. Say hi to your dad. I hope he is doing well." Their thoughtfulness amazes me. They are always thinking of others first, even when things are difficult in their own lives. I want to be more like that. Days later, I am still feeling off beat- it is like I am homesick for Africa. I miss Sierra Leone and think about it all the time. It has been a strange transition home. The thing is, I don't want to ease back into "normal life". I don't want to get sucked back into routine. I don't want to forget. I was talking with my mom and dad about what it is about these trips that make them so special and why it is so hard to leave. We talked about how it is not necessarily a geographical location. My dad talked about how these trips always remind him of the sadness of God. I was overwhelmed by the images of poverty in Sierra Leone and I was in one city, in one country, in one continent. If I was flooded with sadness, imagine how sad the God of the whole world feels when he sees the poverty that persists day after day, hears their prayers, and watches the reactions of people like me, who choose daily to ignore it. At the same time, the children and people I met in Sierra Leone were so free with love- they loved with no inhibitions. Those kids knew we were leaving them in 9 days and they stilled poured their hearts out to us, knowing fully well that they would broken when we left. Because of this, I loved them with my whole heart back. I think this trip mirrored the love that God has for each one of us. It was like getting a week in heaven. And joy was joy- it was not attached to circumstance, what car you drive, what kind of house you live in. As I saw how very little many of these people had, I understood that joy wasn't attached to anything but faith in God and peace in life. It was infectious. I loved the simplicity they lived in and the contentment they had in that simplicity. I also loved the Christian community and waking up each day knowing that it was God's day- that I was there solely to love and to serve, and other than that, there was no agenda. The hardest part of the trip was not getting there. It was not the cold showers or the heat, or the long days. The hardest part was leaving. In conclusion, Sierra Leone made me the saddest and happiest I've ever been. When people told me this trip would change my life, I had no idea how much it really would. I am so thankful for the experience and cannot wait to go back.
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