Now that I've posted some pictures, maybe I can start writing about the trip. Actually, I've been writing about this trip all day. We're spending these few days just documenting everything we've done these few weeks...
Anyway, before we left, Amy (the course instructor) made a comment about not really feeling the distance because we're traveling by plane. However, I think our group definitely felt the distance since it took us 2 extra days to get to the country.
I had our flight plan posted earlier on the sidebar and it was crazy enough as it was. 3 different flights, one of which included a stop. Boston to Amsterdam to Brussels (to Senegal) to Freetown. We had only an hour for our connecting flights and we missed the first one. It was just way to far. We had to go from the "International" part of the airport to the Continental part of the airport. And we even had to go through customs because we were entering the Schegen States. So it was utterly ridiculous. Ben even tried to run to the terminal. Anyway, it took two hours or so to figure everything out and in the end, KLM booked us a flight to Nairobi, Kenya leaving the next night. From Kenya we fly to Ghana and from Ghana to Freetown. They put us in a hotel near the airport for the night. So instead of being in Africa, we ended up staying in a pretty nice hotel with an amazing buffet. We got all our meals at the hotel, curtesy of the airline. We even ventured out into town that night even though none of us had winter coats. It was freezing cold in Amsterdam. Yalu and I couldn't believe we were back in Amsterdam so soon. I mean, we enjoyed ourselves last time we went but didn't expect to visit again so soon.
We chilled the next day, trying to learn some Krio and Temne (local languages). We got to the airport super early, did some gift shopping, and then checked in. The airline also gave us a voucher for 10 Euros and we got dinner with it. That was totally unnecesary because all of our flights fed us meals. We then spent many more hours on airplanes, going in the wrong direction. By the time we finally got to Freetown, none of us were feeling all that great. Three flights in a roll is just way too much. I had to take motion sickness pills twice.
Freetown (Lungi) airport was another adventure. I'll write more later because I'm getting really tired. But at least we got to the country. I think after we missed our flight, all of us were crossing our fingers, not knowing whether we'll actually manage to get to Sierra Leone
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