Crazytown and Bruno

Where to begin. One – I made it safe and sound. All is good. Mom and Dad - please stop worrying and get some sleep! Two – Freetown is crazy. Customs and immigration was pretty much a free-for-all. The 20min car ride from the airport to the ferry was like a dream. I had been thinking about this journey for months, and now it’s a reality. The car lights light up the huts and women carrying bins of water and food on their heads along the road. Aside from car headlights and fires, it was pitch black.

I live with Julian (Kingston) and Laura (England) who’ve been here since October. We have a massive 4 bedroom second-floor apartment. One toilet that works and a shower.

We live in a pretty sweet neighbourhood… the neighbours already know my name. They’ve been waiting weeks to meet me. Jason. The white man living with the only two other white people in the hood. They are a bit confused with the one woman and two guys situation.

The lady across the street has a big family. I’m not good with numbers, but I’m gonna say about 10 kids. Most of them are orphans. They live in a little shack and an old van. I’ve gotta try to remember all their names!

VSO and the general volunteering community are very mindful of acclimatising new people. The first 48 hours have been very smooth thanks to Laura, Julian and Kate’s crew. VSO gave cash to others so that I won’t have to worry about finding and paying for food and transportation for the first week.

Against the advice of others (see mindful acclimatisation), I went with Laura to visit one of her AIDS patients. I had only spent 2 hours in the daylight in SL, and there I was in the impending-death ward in Freetown’s hospital. Not sure I could justly explain what I saw, but it’s something I will never forget.

I did a lot in my first weekend here, so for the sake of binary code conservation I will just write a few random thoughts to finish this blog entry… Its dusty and stinking HOT! It smells like the Algoma Steel Plant. The money looks like it was printed before Christ, and it smells like it is repeatedly soaked in crap and piss. We have a “guard” dog named Zorro. Everyone is super friendly, even the local weed dealer. There are very few white people around, but when you see one, you are best friends. So far I’ve met people from Windsor, Toronto, the Yukon and NYC. First breakfast was French toast with Canadian maple syrup courtesy Kate from Ottawa. Watched Sierra Leoneans sing-a-long to Shania Twain and Celine Dion at a local bar. Yes, shoot me now. We get a few hours of power each day. I once believed that Ottawa and Sault Ste Marie had the worst streets in the world. Wrong. (for Franco and the CSI team) I met Bruno’s parents. The chimp sanctuary was started for Bruno by his adoptive parents (an English couple) in 1995. I diplomatically asked about big Bruno. They didn’t tell me that he ripped the face of a taxi driver and ate two babies, but they say he is still at large! Along with 3 other chimps. So there is a real threat out there! Hahahha. I hope I see him on the street!

I start training tomorrow. Ready to learn some Krio.