For the last 2 nights at the dinner table some of us have been doing the "what's that best and worst part of your day", like a good and wholesome family. Only thing is, I noticed I find my days are all starting to blend into one another and it's hard to find anything jumping out as good or bad. Which was my obvious sign to go sit and think about things. I don't want my experience here in Sierra Leone to become just another job where you go day by day, do whats expected and go home. I know I really love being here, but I also want to make the best memories possible.

So, I've got a few highlights from last week. Top of the list, at a tie, is 2 events that both involve new little friend. The first is a little guy of about 4 name Caesar. He might not look Roman, but he ruled the clinic for a short while on 2 recent visits. Cute as can be with a big white smile and way too much energy. He was touching and pointing to everything he could and asking "what this?". Typical of boys and their toys, the A/C's remote control on the wall (in his opinion a phone), a broken calculator on my table and of course my camera got the most attention. He played the game of Name the color for a few minutes, constantly choosing wrong between the three options of red, blue and yellow and then resolved to " no sabi" (Krio for I don't know it) as the answer to all further questions. Dressing up with the stethoscope and sitting/ turning on the doctors chair also seemed a favourite. Granny seemed at least a bit impressed when I showed her the picture and said he'll be a doctor one day ( that is, if he can learn his colours and ABC's).

My second BIG event was a visit to a local orphanage. Housing 15 kiddies under 8 years. Most between 3 and 5 some waiting for international adoption, some just in foster care. What fun we had. All but the smallest 3 dressed in yellow and blue uniforms attending the nursery school on the compound, just about 20m from there house. The moment we popped our heads in, all eyes were on us. Their "auntie teacher" still tried to continue with a lesson on the 10 commandments, but it was soon clear we had to leave if there was any chance of them learning anything. After their lessons we were entertained with more nursery school songs than I've heard in the last 25+years. Jumping, dancing, shaking, but never really taking there eyes off the white women. I'm really looking forward to seeing them again, hopefully for some fun on the beach.

And of course, no highlights of a week will be complete without the visit to the beach. Although I've only been to 3 beaches here, River no 2 is certainly my favourite. As the name would imply, a beach at a river mouth, however the no2 part is still a bit of a mystery to me since we pass many streams on the way there. This Saturday the usually bumpy trip there was made a bit more excited by a dirty fuel filter, but lucky for us, Abu, our local mechanic was with us - guess what's the solution - I the filter's dirty , just take it out. Well it worked and we made it there and back, had a great time.