Tuesday, September 2, 2008
On the road to Kabala


As I write this, Adrienne, Balalie and I are on the road to Kabala. If you are reading this, it means we were able to upload this file to our blog at an internet café in Makeni, which is about 3 hours outside of Kabala. We heard that the internet in Kabala is down, so we are not sure when we will be able to provide another update or pictures. We might have to make another trip to Makeni next time we want to use email.
Although not without a few hiccups here and there (somehow our flight reservation was deleted), traveling went very well. We arrived safely in Kabala with all of our 8 pieces of checked luggage (all weighing just under the allowed 70 lbs.). Balalie and co. were extremely helpful at the airport, and that quality has not tailed off since.
After a ferry ride, we arrived at Jay’s guest house for the night.
One highlight yesterday was buying bikes in Freetown. They are pretty good bikes (matching red in color, much to A-Lo’s chagrin), but they were actually quite pricey (70$ each approx). I guess the used bike market in Freetown is definitely a seller’s one. At any rate, we were off to Kabala, but before we got out of Freetown (thankfully this did not happen later), Balalie noticed that the “motor car done broke.” Long story short, we made what ended up being a 3 hour journey back to Jay’s for another night.
We are looking forward to meeting everyone and seeing our workplaces in Kabala for the first time! Freetown was extremely interesting (an “eyefull” for sure), but it was also very noisy, smoggy, and somehow tiring. (On a side note, it is interesting that we got tired so quick because it seemed like people were constantly doing things for us – unpacking and packing vehicles, for example – I’m blaming it on the jet lag as opposed to wimpyness).
How are we feeling? Currently really good, but please stand by. Our emotions have been changing almost as much as the weather, which is often. Examples – Adrienne (typically) got 3 huge mosquito bites on her face almost immediately, which didn’t put here in the balmiest of moods. I woke up this morning feeling sick already, and I thought it was because I wasn’t being diligent enough with our hand sanitizer. Luckily, I’m feeling good now, so I’m assuming it’s nothing.
Overall, we are feeling a combination of feeling nervous and being out of our element, but also excitement to have started this journey together. If Balalie is an indication of the hospitality that we will receive, I think we can look forward to an awesome year.

Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers. We truly felt supported in every sense of the word in the weeks, months, and days before we left.
Missing you all already,

Love,
Joe and Adrienne.