Oh you white people - you love Africans!

Since there’s not a lot going on right now, I’ve decided to take this time to write about how awesome all the other interns are. So far, I’ve met everyone but one, who has not arrived in SL yet. We started out as 7, all leaving NYC together, bonding in Morocco, and then all settling down in Freetown. Or settling as much as one possibly can, knowing they are only going to be there for a week.

2 of the interns left on Wednesday because they had a slightly different internship, but we also gained 1 that same day. So we are now at 6. It’s been exactly one week since the 5 of us (our 6^th intern doesn’t count since she just got her Wednesday) have been together. We are literally together every single minute of every single day. And surprisingly, there have been no fights yet.

All the interns have had experience living and working in another country. 3 out of 5 (myself included) are former Peace Corps volunteers, and the other 2 each spent several years working in Asia. We have formed the most laid back group of interns the legal world has ever seen, I’m sure. For example: once we arrived on mainland Freetown from the airport, we were suppose to have someone pick us up from the boat dock. No one was there. We ended up sitting at the boat dock for several hours before someone came to get us. Did any of us panic? Did any of us complain? Nope. We all just sat around and chatted for those few hours. We relaxed and knew that things would sort themselves out.

We have spent the week exploring Freetown, working at Timap, and just hanging out together. I’m totally impressed with everyone’s background and knowledge, and I often wonder how it was that I got chosen to be a part of this. But I’m lucky I was chosen, because I get to hang out with the most amazing people.

Each evening after work, after dinner, we all head back to our guesthouse and find a simple way to entertain ourselves. 2 nights ago we all sat together on the balcony reading. Last night we all played shots and ladders (everyone lost that game). Tonight, I was taught the game Spades, and we all spent hours playing that and talking.

We’ll all be here together for about another few days, and then we’ll head off to our separate sites. While it’s sad to part, we’re all happy to be starting our main job, and excited to see some new places in SL. And we’ve already planned to spend several weekends together, to celebrate birthdays and the 4^th of July. Most of us are also heading out to Morocco after our internship is over, to have a mini-vacation before starting school again. Fez here we come!

All in all, I couldn’t have a blog and not talk about these amazing people I’ve been spending my time with. In honor of this sappy post, I told Ben (my awesome roommate and spectacular Spades partner) that he could name the blog entry. He named it after what someone had shouted at us on the street today.