Visitor from the US Part I

I had a visitor from the US of A come to see me! Her name is Amie Garcia! She works for Mission Doctors Association, which is a sister organization to Lay Mission Helpers. I met her during my time at LMH headquarters and she was present at my commissioning ceremony. She came to see how I was doing and to help me get some things I needed. She also came so we could see some more of Sierra Leone together! At 6:30 pm, she arrived at the Freetown airport, which is in a town called Lungi. Yes, I know, the Freetown airport is not in Freetown. But here’s the thing: Freetown is built on the side of a coastal mountain; you cannot land a plane there. Lungi is on a flat plain; it only makes sense. When Amie arrived in Lungi, I was there waiting for her with a driver named Mohammed (I think he’s like the sixth Mohammed I’ve met). After we hugged and loaded her luggage into the car, we drove over to a mission house in Lungi where the local Father fed us dinner and showed us to our rooms. There was no electricity and no fan in our rooms. I felt bad for Amie. I know it can be tough not having any electricity or a way to keep cool after a long plane ride. It was exactly my experience when I first came. Worse, we found 3 huge spiders in her room. That was the most spiders I had seen since arriving to Sierra Leone. Luckily, the Father killed one and we killed two more ourselves.

The next morning, Mohammad drove us to a ferry to take us to Freetown. Lungi is located across Tagrin Bay from Freetown. Every morning, many people use it to take their goods to sell in Freetown or tourists use it after their flights arrive. It’s much quicker than driving around, which is about 3 hours. It takes about an hour to wait for the ferry to completely get loaded and another hour to cross. Mohammad drove our car into the ferry boat and, luckily, we were parked on the side of the boat and were not jammed into the middle, so we got to see outside and have some sea air. I love the ocean. Just seeing the water was enough to make me smile. As we crossed, I watched fishermen out on the water with long wooden canoes and fishing nets. They expertly maneuvered their crafts with their paddles and didn’t capsize when waves from the ferry hit them.

I had expected chaos when we arrived in Freetown and it didn’t disappoint. So many people were on the side of the road trying to sell disembarking passengers their wares. Cars were everywhere and everyone communicated with their horns. But Freetown is very different from Makeni. Makeni is to Freetown what a town like Bakersfield is to Los Angeles. Sure, some people have heard of it, but no one really goes there for a night on the town. Freetown has so much more available. There are traffic lights, and sidewalks, and the stores sell a wider variety of goods. They had chocolate. And Cheerios! I was so excited to go and see more! But first we needed to get to where we were staying. The Vicar General in Makeni had arranged for us to stay at a convent of sisters that had guest rooms available. Mohammed drove us off a paved road and onto a rocky dirt alleyway towards a big, blue gate. When the gates were opened, we drove into a lovely, paved garden full of blossoming flowers. Our rooms were lovely as well. They were decorated with brightly colored curtains and patterned cotton sheets. There were fans that we could use when the power was on and mosquito nets. We were even given rooms that had toilets (apparently, they were optional).

We hadn’t had a chance to have breakfast that morning, so we asked one of the sisters and the watchman if they knew a good place to eat. Both said, “Chicken Town,” which did sound good, but it was Friday and we told them we couldn’t eat meat. They said the restaurant had things other than chicken. Amie looked up the menu and while they weren’t wrong, the only things listed as not chicken were chips (French Fries). We wanted more than just chips. Luckily, we found a cute restaurant called Francesca’s. It was by far the nicest restaurant I had been to since coming to Sierra Leone. It had air conditioning, and clean tables with tablecloths, and a very nice bar. Amie and I both ordered fish and rice. The fish was like butter and topped with a sauce that for once wasn’t too spicy for me. We told the waiter how much we loved the food, and we even got to meet Francesa herself, who not only ran the place but also cooked the food. We made sure to compliment her and thank her.

We returned to the convent and told a sister we would like to go to the beach. Amie and I both wanted to go for a swim. Freetown might not be as hot as Makeni, but it’s still HOT! Lumley beach was recommended to us and Mohammed told us that Freetown was his hometown so he drove us to a wonderful spot and he stayed with us to make sure we weren’t bothered. The beach was almost completely free of other people. Amie and I found a bench underneath a coconut tree and while one of us sat with our belongings, the other would go swim in the ocean. It was wonderful being fully submerged in the water. It was so refreshing. Some curious children came and sat with us for a little while. Some even got in the water with us but they wouldn’t swim out as far as we did.

After we had showered and got dressed, Mohammad took us to a seaside restaurant called “Pearl”. I couldn’t believe how fancy it was. The building itself had no walls, like a beach shack, but it was so clean and well maintained. The waiters wore clean starched white dress shirts and black pants. We ordered sea food pasta and margarita pizza to share. As we ate, we watched the sun begin to sink into the ocean, creating a fantastic sunset. The sun itself was like a red ball. We had to be careful not to stare too long.

The next morning, we ventured out to try and find some breakfast. We had passed a sign advertising “Amie’s coffee and fast food” at a gas station. We had to go and see Amie’s namesake! She said she had never seen her name spelled out the way hers is spelled before, not even in the States. But it turned out it was shut down. So, we just bought some water and went back to our rooms. Amie had brought some trail mix with her, so we shared that and some of the Cheerios I had bought the day before. When we were finished, Amie took me to Freetown’s phone and Wifi store called Orange. The phone I had got in Makeni had been so unreliable and the Wifi was even worse. So Amie took me to get my phone checked out. The people there were so helpful. I can now call people so much easier and the WiFi is more reliable as well. I’m so happy! Later, we got to go to Chicken Town for lunch. We were again surprised to find it was very clean and even air conditioned. The workers told us they were out of chips, so we had plantains with our chicken strips instead (loved it!). Then we bought a few more things at the local mall and packed our bags, ready to drive to Makeni.

The drive from Freetown to Makeni was much longer than the drive to Lungi. We had to travel over several mountains to get back to the familiar plains and hills that surround Makeni. When we got back to Stocco compound where I live, Auntie P was there to make us a nice dinner. Amie stayed in one of the Stocco convent’s guest rooms. The next morning, Amie and I went to mass with Sister Peace at Holy Spirit Church. I sang with the choir again, so Amie sat across the way with Sister Peace. That evening, we had dinner at the Bishop’s house with the Vicar General, Sister Juliana, Doctor Turay, and the Hospital Manager. We had a regular feast! There were fish and chips and plantains and mangos and chicken nuggets (I was not expecting the chicken nuggets) and cucumbers. While we were there, Amie gave everyone boxes of chocolates to thank them for taking such good care of me. The Vicar General also gave Amie a gift of tie-dyed sheets. I have some at my house. They are very proud of them here.

I’ve loved spending this time with Amie. I can’t wait to tell you guys more!