Another weekend, come and gone...

It’s Sunday night and I’m not sure I’m ready for Monday morning just yet. I had a lovely weekend and wish it wasn’t over!

Friday night, movie night...When I lived in Aberdeen, we used to have movie nights on Fridays. They were always good fun and very relaxing after a busy workweek. This past Friday, Sarah and I decided to get together for a movie night. So, I headed down to Aberdeen and we ended up watching ‘The Bucket List’. Afterwards, while waiting for a friend to pick me up, we made up our own verbal lists of things we still want to do in life! I realized there is still a lot I want to do.

Meeting by chance...Months ago I tried to meet up with someone from a certain organization but unfortunately I called him the day before he was leaving so we never met. About a week ago my driver friend, Osman, told me that a doctor he knows was coming to Freetown for a week and he was to pick him up from the water taxi. It wasn’t until Friday morning that I realized this was the other doctor working for the organization I wanted to connect with So, I told Osman that at some point I’d like to meet this doctor. Little did I know that we would end up meeting late Friday night at the Aberdeen Women’s Centre since Osman had just picked him up and had planned to give me a lift home. We talked about the work he is doing at Connaught and the work I am doing at Children’s and it was interesting to hear about the similarities of what we’re doing. Anyway, Osman and I dropped him off at a hotel, and then Osman dropped me off at home.

Saturday breakfast...Sarah and I decided we would meet at Montana’s for breakfast at 9 am. Little did we know that Montana’s is not open until 10:30. Oops. Needless to say, we enjoyed an early morning walk along Lumley beach and then took a taxi to Bliss and had a lovely brunch there. It was a fun way to spend the morning.

Meeting a newborn...In the afternoon I went to Tengbeh town to meet a friend's newborn baby. He is only 4 days old and I’ve decided he’s adorable. I held him for a long time and at one point he started sucking on his hand. It was a first, so of course out came mom’s camera. The fact that my friend had him in Freetown is pretty incredible. As her colleague noted: Sierra Leone used to be called ‘White Man’s Grave”, so this baby being born in Freetown is pretty significant and a sign of hope for many.

Alusine and family...In the evening Osman drove me up to Alusine’s house. Alusine is the Welbodi driver and drives us to and from work everyday. His wife was very sick last week and his son was sick on Saturday. So, I wanted to make sure they were okay and that his son was on the right medication. He wasn’t. We stayed for about an hour and then headed back to Wilberforce, stopping at a pharmacy along the way to pick up the right malaria medication.

Church...Before heading to church I called Alusine to ask him to meet me at the Regent junction so that I could give him the medicine he needs for his son. Fortunately by the time I reached the Regent area, Alusine was at the correct junction and I could handover the medication while staying in the taxi. I then continued on to church. I was excited about listening to Pastor Michael teach today as I didn’t have Sunday school but ended up having to watch an 11 month old whose mom was teaching Sunday school. He wouldn’t keep still for the first part of the sermon, so I ended up outside anyway. Fortunately he got tired and fell asleep on my lap and I was able to listen to the second half of the sermon!

Ship...From church I went to my flat to drop off a bag of mangoes I received as a gift and from there I took a taxi to Congo cross, a poda poda to Regent road and then walked down to the port. I had arranged to meet up with a new friend, Allison on the ship. After a few minutes onboard, we headed off the ship again and walked around in town for a bit. After a coke and fanta at Mem’s cookery we walked back to the ship. I enjoyed a lovely dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes, veggies (beans and mushrooms!), salad and a tangerine followed by a nice chat on deck 8, We then went to the evening service (which was great) and ended the evening with a caramel macchiato at the Starbucks café. It was a great visit! Thanks Allison.

Bed...And now it’s time for bed. I have a buys week ahead. Lots of work to do and I have the next four evenings planned – dinner tomorrow with the doctor I met on Friday night, meeting up with my friend Ans on the ship on Tuesday evening, International Bible study on Wednesday evening and women’s group on Thursday evening. It’s no wonder the time flies here…