...And then there was one.

The last two of my team members left yesterday for Freetown, so I am now the only missionary here. Auntie Cecelia made sure to assure me that I am not alone, because they are all still here! And so far I haven't had a spare moment to even feel remotely bored or lonely. The past few days have been packed full of various activities.

On Friday and Saturday the children had their Hope Royal College sports day. Both days we were informed to be there at 12, so of course both days we did not arrive until 1, and both days the events did not actually start until 2. The sports day the kids did a few weeks back was just a tiny sample of the real deal. This official sports day had over 50 different events. There were tons of running races and relays as well as track and field events. My personal favorite was the sack race. Like many of the events, it was mostly CRC kids against each other. Kemoh Kallon, Kabela, and Idrissa all participated. Kemoh easily got the hang of it and was leaping many feet into the air, he easily won with the other boys all strangling far behind. Idrissa and Kabela were too afraid to jump I guess, because both were trying to run while inside the sack. Which basically amounted to them taking tiny baby steps. It was extremely entertaining to watch.

Other interesting events included African Kings and Queens, carrying your doll, and needle and thread. African Kings and Queens was when each team dressed up two of the youngest kids and they danced. By the time this event occurred, it was late into the second day and more onlookers had arrived and crowded the field to make a ring around the kids. It was definitely intimidating and the youngest King just stood there crying the entire time he was supposed to dance. Carrying your doll was for the younger girls. They all had a plastic doll and a strip of fabric. They had to tie the doll to their back (the typical way African women carry their babies) and run to the finish line without it falling out. Needle and thread consisted of two partners. One held a needle. The second one ran up to them with thread, put the thread through the needle and ran back to the finish line holding the threaded needle. Not sure who though up this race, it was very clever. I couldn't help but to think of the fit the PTA would make about kids running races with sharp needles.

On Sunday we went to a (extremely long) service at 1:00 which was the Thanksgiving service for all the Hope Royal College students after their sports day. It was at Leader Church and consisted of lots of singing, and of course, speeches. I then went over to the CRC and played soccer with some of the boys. I am definitely out of practice, but I like to think I held my own. They definitely were easy on me, they tend to play pretty rough. Only fell once (and have some bumps and bruises to prove it), I have no idea how they play on a field of rocks and dirt in sandals and don't fall all the time. Its insanely slippery.

We had just finished playing when Auntie Hannah told us we were going to a gospel concert at the Bo Town Hall. The only flaw to this plan was that we did not have a driver. I rang up Joseph the MTC driver who graciously agreed to come "right away." He wasn't kidding and literally arrived at the CRC a few minutes later. So of course that cued a mad dash for everyone to run and get ready. Amazingly in less than ten minutes myself, all the kids, and the aunties were ready to go. (That seriously needs to go into the Guinness Book of World Records or something).

While we were walking to the car, Auntie Hannah told me that we would probably have to take two trips. I was confused because the CRC bus is so big, but told her we could do that if she wanted. It turned out she thought that Joseph was driving the MTC van and didn't understand why I was so confident we would all fit in the 6 passenger vehicle. (In retrospect I now wonder how she thought 40 people could have possibly made only two trips with that same 6 passenger van). But luckily we did not have to create an African clown car and we all jumped on board the CRC bus.

The concert itself was lots of singing, dancing, and of course, speeches. There was a good 45 minute interval where some guy stood on stage and encouraged (yelled at) people to buy the CD of the headlining group, who I might add, spent less time actually performing than he did promoting them. Not gonna lie, I dozed off for a while. Time is a funny thing here, and I have stopped bringing a cell phone or watch to events I know will take a while. It has really helped because now I don't obsess over how long they are taking I just pay attention (or apparently, nap). I finally asked Cecelia what time it was, because it appeared that the two hour concert was never going to end. I was shocked to hear it was a few minutes after 11 (it started at 7). We made the decision to leave, and rounded up some pretty sleepy kids.