hi everyone! well, I got here safe and sound on Thursday evening after about 35 hours of traveling from Richmond. Dan and his collegue, Joseph, were there to meet me at the airport, and I was so happy to see them!! And the helicopter ride back over the water to Freetown was not nearly as scary as I was expecting. It's a big Russian helicopter, piloted by Ukranians, and it holds about 22 people and all their bags as well. Kind of fun, actually.

I think I am finally over the jet lag. No more staying up until 4 am. If anything, I am up in the middle of the night because it's so hot:) We try to run a generator for a few hours in the evening, but turn if off when we are going to sleep so that we don't run out of fuel. There's not much to report yet -- I have found a grocery store or two and we went to the central market on Saturday for some fruit, vegetables, and used sheets and towels :) Probably donated from well meaning groups in the States -- but sold to expats nonetheless. We took a driving tour of the beach area, to know where the hotels and the swimming pools are. And we found a gym, that some of Dan's coworkers have mentioned, so at least we don't have to try to run in the heat, on the street- fighting the traffic.

So far i've eaten pizza and falafel. i'm ok there. and we are going to try and cook dinner, but its hard, because without a refrigerator we can't keep much food in the house, and we can't have leftovers... so we are experimenting with a few possibilities!!

Just wanted to let you know I made it here ok. It's nice to be back. I'll write more soon.