home (one of three)

>> so this trip started with domingo and i struggling to find a taxi. i had my bags, my optimism, my worry, (for the worry, you have to keep it in a 3 oz. container for the airplane apparently, whatever..) and we were in front of the peace corps compound waiting for someone willing to take us to the ferry. our plan originally had been for domingo to drive me in a friends car, but those plans fell through. yes. i was as surprised as you are. finally, we found someone willing to take us (for a price, ugarti, for a price) and off we went down the hill. coming the other way is a purple mazda miata convertible. domingo stops the taxi, flags down the miata. it's the friend and the car we were supposed to use. we leave the taxi, hop in the miata, drive the friend down the hill, and off we go to the ferry, top down, music blasting, suitcases in the trunk, feeling like a dang celebrity. africa notices that i am happy. it begins to rain. long story short, we get to the ferry, enjoy a beer, get on the ferry, watch the wind and the waves fly by (and i admit feeling sadness watching freetown fade away..), arrive at the other side, get to the airport (in amazing time, SO much fun...), and drops me off. i sit down with my bags, enjoy another beer, and wait. a few hours later, i am checked in, continuing to read THE GODFATHER by Mario Puzo, which you should read, I think it's my third time reading it, and then meet some of the Friends of Sierra Leone members. We adjourn upstairs to the restaurant, enjoy a meal, talk about our experiences (similarities and differences) and finally, at 11PM, move into the rain, aboard a bus, aboard a plane (AIR CONDITIONING, LIGHTS, COMFORTABLE SEATS, COLD WATER, !??!), and at 11:30 PM, fifteen minutes early, took off for London-Heathrow, leaving my home behind..