I can’t believe that it has been a whole month since I wrote my last blog post. I told myself that I would blog weekly but that was obviously a pipe dream.
So much has happened this past month!

My family arrived and we are finally all together again. It has been wonderful reuniting with my husband and kids, trading stories about what happened in Atlanta and in Freetown while we were apart.

The house is noisy, as it should be. Sheba was beyond excited to see everyone again and she’s finally happy all the time. She has stopped following me around, as she can now pick and choose who she gets her belly rubs from.
The kids bonded with the new puppy Cuddles but sadly, she passed away suddenly, after they had been here for just one week. We don’t know exactly what happened – she got sick overnight and by the time we took her to the vet in the morning, it was too late. We were heartbroken and we also spent the next week worried, hoping that what she had was not infectious, and that Sheba wouldn’t also get sick.
Thankfully, Sheba was ok, and I vowed not to get another dog again, we were just fine with Sheba!

The kids have had a blast in Freetown – we have been going to a different beach every weekend, and they have been collecting sand in bottles for their friends in Atlanta.
Gold sand. White sand. Black sand. Brown sand.
They know we are here to stay, but I think they are hoping that this is a vacation and that they will go back home at the end of summer, and be able to give the sand to their friends.
For now, we will continue collecting sand and making memories that will hopefully help them bond with Freetown.

They have met the goats at Papa’s house. Sadly, I don’t think the goats are pregnant – I think their bellies are just full of poop! I am truly in danger of having the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology revoke my board certification, since I can’t diagnose pregnancy! I will have to appeal on the grounds that these are goats and that said goats have never let me get close! I am really bummed though, because I was really looking forward to cute baby goats, but it has been 4 months since my arrival and their bellies are just as big as they were when I arrived! The average length of pregnancy in goats is 5 months, so maybe there is still a glimmer of hope, but I am not very optimistic.
The kids have also met the crocodile at Papa’s house. They love said crocodile and ask to go visit him/her frequently. I can’t with this crocodile, I just can’t! If anyone wants to adopt a crocodile, please let me know. He/she is 4 feet long, cute, has a good temperament, and is in need of a good home.

We are still without any furniture – our container has arrived at the port of Freetown, but the ship line’s computer is down worldwide, so we likely have another week before we can get our stuff. It has actually not been too bad, I have learned that we can do very well without stuff and that I can survive without TV for months!
I can’t wait to get our medical supplies though – all the kids have had some kind of medical issue and I realize we need to set up our home clinic pronto! It seems like every other day there is a medical issue – fevers, infected wounds that need incision and drainage, a broken tooth, etc. The humidity is quite unforgiving and it seems that minor skin infections progress really quickly here!

Oh, and I broke my promise to myself to not adopt another puppy. What had happened was – we were jogging on the same beach, and saw this cute, fat, puppy that looked EXACTLY like our dog Tramp who went to heaven last year at age 16. We had promised our dogs Lady and Tramp that we would bring them to Sierra Leone, and we did bring their ashes from Atlanta to Sierra Leone. BUT, we had recently watched the movie “A dog’s life”, so we took one look at this puppy and knew that Tramp had been reincarnated. Long story, short, we came home with a new puppy called Tramp!