Happy March! Next week marks 4 months in Sierra Leone for me, 5 for Dan. The trouble in Guinea has settled down, a new Prime Minister was appointed according to the people's wishes... so we'll see what happens. And, life in Freetown is moving seda seda. I think I mentioned that I was volunteering on a few projects and waiting on some consultancies to work out? Well, things kind of didn't really go anywhere... surprised? I'm not... but there's always hope that the projects will get to a point where I can get involved sometime while we're here. In the meantime, I am teaching everyday. There's a nice 12 year old girl who's being home schooled, and her last two teachers have left early... and I'm here in the country with nothing to do... so it seemed to be a pretty good deal. I've just finished two days of teaching seventh grade math, science, american history -- it's amazing how all this stuff comes back to you when you need to explain it to someone! She's sweet, and we get along, and it's going to help make the time until I go home for the wedding fly by.

I am teaching in a small classroom at the Aberdeen Clinic run by Mercy Ships. The big thing at the clinic is fistula surgery. So women come in from all over Sierra Leone (and I think the idea is that one day they'll come in from all over West Africa) have their surgery, spend a few weeks here post op, and then they go back to their villages. Every Wednesday, the women who are ready for discharge receive a new outfit (a completo) and there is singing and dancing all over the courtyard in celebration of their recovery. I went yesterday and it was very uplifting. I think I've seen more love and hope at the clinic than anywhere else in Freetown.

Ok, I'll stop for now. Better go, my ride is leaving soon. Here's some pictures of the beach for you -- we went over the weekend with a group of friends and spent the night so that we could see the total lunar eclipse. It was beautiful!! I tried capturing an image of the full moon before the eclipse started, its not great, but I'll add it so you can see. Hope all is well where you are! We're thinking of you... hope to see you all real soon.