Getting Back to Normal

After about a month of everything going wrong that could go wrong, I’m back in my normal room, in my own flat, and with my roommates.  I’ve returned to the office and now instead of alternatively working and napping to get through the day, I’m running back and forth from meetings and starting to figure out my new position.  In short, I’m trying to get my normal Sierra Leonean life back.

I came out of quarantine last Thursday.  I had to ‘released’ from quarantine, which essentially consisted of some guy coming by my apartment and reminding me not to touch people.  Then it was back to the office.  I honestly felt a little anxious as we started to drive through our gates and out into the world.  After having had such limited contact with the world for so long, I just felt out of practice.  But, like riding a bicycle, you don’t forget how to live your life.

On Friday, I found myself at a district health planning meeting where I was the only person who wasn’t from Sierra Leone.  The meeting was extremely chaotic and took place almost entirely in Krio, the native language here.  Krio is similar to English, but it’s different enough that it was hard to catch everything.  The meeting was supposed to start at 9:00, but didn’t start until 10:30.  I’m not sure how long the whole meeting went on in the end, but I had to leave at 3:30.  It was a truly bizarre experience. 

That night, we threw a party to celebrate my release.  Since it was a Friday night, it was a little smaller than the last party we threw, where we had to throw people out at 6 AM because we were ready for things to wrap up.  All in all, it went well, though.  I then spent Saturday doing all of the things I had been thinking about doing while I was trapped in quarantine: getting a pedicure, going to a restaurant and ordering lobster thermidor, laying around all day by a pool.  It was glorious.  And then Sunday, as per usual, was a beach day with my rommates.  So, back to life as usual I think.

I left this Friday for Accra, Ghana.  One of the perks of working during and emergency is that we can use the UN flight system, so I can get free flights to Ghana, Senegal, Liberia, and Guinea.  The downside is that you have to get a medical check every time you want to fly, which is a bit of a pain.  I have to say though, walking on the tarmac to the World Food Programme plane made me feel pretty cool.  At this point, there are so few flights coming in and out of Sierra Leone that there are no commercial flights on Fridays.  The only people in the airport were those of us going on the UN flight and a group of Chinese military people with their own plane.  The arrival and departure boards were blank and the airport was nearly deserted.  Just one more bizarre experience to add to the list.

I’m spent yesterday in Accra and I’m heading to the Cape Coast later today.  I haven’t travelled on my own for a long time, so I’m a little out of practice at figuring things out myself without any drivers or other resources.  But hey, I’m a resourceful girl and I’m sure I can figure it out.  I’ve managed to not check my work email since I left the office at 6 on Thursday and I’m hoping I can stay strong and avoid it until my return on Thursday.