Hotel 5:10, Freetown, Sierra Leone

So much has happened since landing on African soil. The flight over was quite uneventful, I met an interesting woman from Sierra Leone but most people on the plane were from Senegal because we stopped in Dakar before going on to Freetown. We were met at the airport by a Representative from SLTU (Sierra Leone Teachers Union) which helped considerably with getting through customs and having our luggage safely loaded in the van that was to take us to the new Pelican Water Taxi. What an experience that was, last time I took a helicopter one way to Freetown and a hovercraft back, the water taxi was a new experience, and an experience it was. The water was quite rough and the taxi was quite small, I thought we were CRAZY to get into it and although it was quite bumpy, no one became sea sick and we arrived safely on the other side. Our accommodations are lovely. We have yet to have the air conditioner work but the fan works great and the room is cleaned every day. No towel swans on the bed but clean towels are good enough for us!
We have been busy touring around. We've visited three schools to see the conditions of some local schools. We've been to the "Big Market" and "Victoria Park" to buy a few souvenirs. We managed to get to a nice grocery store to buy some snacks. We met with the Minister of Labour which was an honour. The STLU staff have been wonderful, showing us around and answering all our questions.
Tomorrow we will meet with our co-tutors and start planning for our workshops. Opening ceremonies are Sunday and the workshops start on Monday. It sounds pretty packed but hopefully we'll get a night or an afternoon off sometime during the workshops.
Last night I tried to put my workout plan into action (a skipping rope). I figured the best place was the balcony in front of my room. Unfortunately I quickly had an audience, who counted how many times I could skip without messing up! Very encouraging.
We've been eating really well. Until the workshops start we can choose our meals at the hotel, after that we will eat the same as the participants (rice, rice and more rice).
Today at one of the schools the principal told us that they found out today that school may be extended for another week. Can you imagine? The last week of school and then the students find out that they have an entire week more of school! Talk about a riot!
That's all for now.