Reflections

It has been 2 1/2 weeks since I returned from Sierra Leone. I had great times with my family and friends and appreciated the feeling to be home. I enjoyed all the comfort which was missing in Freetown and learned how nice a hot and properly working shower can be.
I also learned how differently I handle the experiences I made in Sierra Leone. While I was i Freetown, I often accepted the circumstances just because there was hardly any other option. But when I now think about what I have seen, heard and learned, when I now listen to the (often sad) news from down there.....hell, it is hitting me big time. I know, there is something you call cultural shock.....am not sure if this is the best way to name it.....I would rather say it is more the increased awareness which does not let you sleep at night and which puts you in a strange and weird mood....I am not getting confused, I am just getting so incredible angry and I feel so helpless at the same time....anyway, I am sureI will find a way how to deal with this kind of questions and this immanent dilemma....
Besides that, I am quite fine. Suffering from a slight cold, I received the good news that my blood is very fine (I got it checked just to be sure that everything is alright) and even my iron deficiency disappeared. My body is a self-regenerating miracle. Excellent!
I went to Hamburg last week and will head to Berlin on Thursday. And finally.....on Sunday I will find my way to Göteborg and I hope there will be better weather than here.
I had a really good time here with my parents and my brothers, some close friends and others and I am going back to Sweden in a quite relaxed mood and ready to meet the final study challenge - the Master thesis.
Just in case that you are looking for me during the upcoming two months....check the library first :-) deadline is May 24th and it will be a hard piece of work....
And after the graduation in Götebborg on June 5th I will join the funniest game ever - let's do some job hunting.....any news will be published right here.

And here some impressions I got when I visited the nordic beauty Hamburg....

Just To Compensate My Yearning

Renée and I - she stayed with me until the last minute...thanks for everything!

Children are fetching water from the tab on the street....

Our lovely kitchen.....

Loads of nice veggies and fruits - unfortunately mostly too expensive to buy for most people

My absolute favourite.....a 3dimensional poster - painted by hand as most of the advertisements...

Just in case that you are getting hungry at night: boiled eggs, akara (fried rice-banana balls), fried fish, fried sweet potatoe and more. Quite delicious though!

My friend Isata - we went out dancing for one of my last nights and ended up in this super small "bar", which consists of two chairs and two tables and belongs to Momoh's shop.
But it was such a great fun!

Two African beauties - Jojo and Mami

My lovely neighbours - how much I miss your friendly"How di morning?" and the neverending smile

Country Roads, Take Me Home

And the roads took me home....sound and safe. And I am happy to be back, to see my family and the friends I missed while I made one of the experiences of my life..
But it was a sad good bye. These four months were an outstanding experience and I will never miss them. Filled with loads of great things I learned and figured out, sometimes also filled with things which made me sick, tired and sad.
The last day was maybe the worst one. It was not only the good bye making me sad, but something really bad which happened to one of my special friends there - to the lady who taught me how to cook the African way, the lady who let me into her life as I would be one of her sisters, the lady who shared her perspective with me....
It happened about 10 days ago when a little 5years old boy fell into her pot with hot pepper soup. People are cooking on the ground on small charcoals and the boy played with a puppy, did not pay attention and slipped backwards straight into the poz. Burned all over the bottom part of the body they brought him directly into a quite ok emergency and started treating him. He started recovering and my friend started to lose some of the guilt and shame she felt although it was an accident which could had happened anywhere and anytime. She was happy and promised him a football when he would be allowed to leave the hospital. But then, three or four days ago, she told me that the mum took the boy out of the hospital - against the recommendations made by the doctors, other community members and even the boy's father. She took him out and brought him up country and I can only guess about the reason....maybe she was believing a traditional healer could do better than the doctors. The reason does not matter anymore, since it was Friday (the day I left) when my friend learned that the small boy just passed the way...somewhereup country far away from where he could get proper treatment. One might imagine the guilt my friend felt and still feels and it almost broke my heart to leave her alone in this situation. I have hardly seen her crying before, but on Friday it seems that she would never stop.....
You can now guess of the reasons of his death....maybe the injuries were too heavy anyway, maybe the wounds got infected up country, maybe the immune system was weak....who knows. But what I know quite for sure is, that leaving him in hospital would have increased the chances to survive. Now, there is nothing left than to wonder why.... There is nothing else to do than to to grieve and I do it with all my heart.

And I am sad to leave all the great people I met. I can only say thank you to all these amazing men and women I met in the past four months. And thank you to all of you anywhere on this world, following the blog and commenting of my life. I would not know what to do without all your support, critical remarks and positve thoughts you send me over.

This blog will continue - maybe not from Freetown yet, but from whereever I will be. Right now I spend some time with my family in my hometown, but will be back in Sweden beginning of April. And later on....well, we will see....

Thanks for everything and take care or yourself and your beloved ones!

Tokeh Beach and How To Get There