3 months in: And this is what I have learned..

1. Milch is growing on me.  It's not milk.. hence why it's called "milch".  I'm not quite sure what it is... but I can finally drink a nice glass of room-temperature milch and not gag.

2. A "toastie" is staple food item here.  Thank goodness for the george foreman! a nice grilled cheese sandwich is always a good alternative when you just don't feel like eating rice.. again.  For the second time. Today.

3.Africa is the one place that I don't shower before going out. Because I am guaranteed to sweat more than I did in my marathon- in only the first 30 seconds off ship!

4.  The Africa Mercy Starbucks, Aaa-mazing.  75 cent lattes, any size you want!

5.  White-man tea = Hot water, small milch, small honey, steep tea bag for 5 min.
     Black-man tea = Hot water, lots of milch, lots of sugar. no tea bag.

6. When you stay overnight at a hotel, your 2 core questions are: "when does the electricity turn on?"  and, "do you have running water and a mosquito net?"

7.  Black babies are waaaaay cuter than white babies. (sorry to all my prego friends) and they don't cry near as much either!

8. The "fast-fast" is not something you want!  But it is going around the ward, and if you don't wash your hands you might just get it!  (other common names you may know it as: hershey squirts, hot sloppys, the scoots, etc.)

9.  If you're bored, a fun way to pass the time is to play "I Spy" in the ocean trash that floats by.

10.  If you do your laundry while working night shift, the patients will fold it for you.  Just kidding! ..but seriously..

11.  African's are way cleaner than white people.  I feel like such a dirty grunge compared to them!  They somehow always have sparkly clean shoes even when walking on muddy roads, and they wash EVERYTHING!  My dirty old backpack is not a sign of how far I've traveled, but a sign that I'm a dirty white person!

12. The ship gangway is run by Nepalese Gurkhas.  Google it.  They are hard core, and can take you down in 1.2 seconds.  You want them as your friends, but you don't want to play ninja with them.

13.  If you want to prove that you are invincible, ride an okata (motorcycle-taxi).

14.  When an english person says, "don't forget to bring your swimming costume!", they don't mean your swim suit that looks like cat woman with a cape on the back... they just mean a normal swim suit... my mistake.

15.  If your pale, white, American skin has not seen African sun, it won't matter how much sun screen you put on, you will still get burned.  And the African's will wonder why the heck you painted your skin red, and "does it hurt when I touch it".  yes, so stop poking me.

16. If you need new shoes, just go out into Freetown.  There are flip flops EVERYWHERE.  I don't know how so many people lose their shoes, but you can spot flip flops floating past the ship, in the piles of garbage on the street, just laying around the streets, washed up on the beach, in piles in the woods.. even on a vacant island in the middle of the ocean!  and I'm not talking 1 or 2 here or there.. I mean PILES of mismatched flip flops!

17.  Sierra Leonian's like to point out the fact that I am white, as if I didn't know.  small kids (or grown men) point at me on the street and yell, "opadoh, opadoh!" (translated: white person!).  While I was waiting for a taxi once, a man walked past and said, "wow! a real opadoh!"... I had no idea there were fake ones! I have started responding to these comments with "black man, black man!"  which gets a lot of laughs from the locals :)

18.  There are rats the size of cats here.  and they like to run across my path at night on the dock when I'm running.  and it is possible that I screamed bloody murder once or twice :)

19. et me describe to you a poda-poda, which is the most commonly used public transportation here:
      -picture a 1960's VW van, painted up with ridiculous sayings.  The door is about to fall off and is held on with strings.  The seats are taken out, and 4 wooden benches are inside.  that means, 4 people per bench, plus the driver, plus 2 people in shotgun, plus the "apprentice" who sits by the sliding door and yells out the poda's destination, and collects the money.  Do your math: 20 people in a VW van.  add in a goat and a few chickens for fun, and you have the usual day-to-day Freetown transport!  And at night, it actually becomes a dance club inside-- complete with banging loud music, and black lights.  And I can get across town for 50 cents in this amazing party bus, what could be better?!? :)

20. my new favorite thing is to buy things while I'm in a poda-poda (taxi van).  Everytime the poda is stopped (which is very often due to traffic) people come up to the window to sell things-- water, juice, bread, street meat-- are my usual purchases! why go to the store when the store comes to you?!

21.  Don't drink anything when you are out in town!  You don't want to have to pee!  The usual "bathroom" is a cement slab that you squat on, and wash your goodies off the side with a teapot of water. yumm.

22. best thing I have learned: I love Sierra Leone :)  I am pretty sure that the most gorgeous weather, landscape and beaches are right here!  And the most loving and beautiful people as well!