Off to Sierra Leone in 10 minutes

Oct 25

Kevin and I started the morning by singing "Africa" by "Toto". We're hyper! The taxi will be here in 10 minutes to take us to Heathrow Airport and then off to Africa. We may not have easy access to internet for the next week, so our reports may be spotty.

Day of Joking and Laughing

Picture 1 - My brother and his wife Toni moments after arriving from Scotland. Toni is in the process of pouncing on me.

Picture 2 - Kevin Wiebe, Marc Odonel, Shawn Wiebe, Richard Wiebe and Angela Wiebe. Ferocious Mario Cart battling raging.

Well, today was a fantastic day!!! We joked around and laughed all day long with family and friends. Numerous old friends dropped by throughout the day to catch a glimpse of the great Wiebe's reunited once again. We only left dad and mom's place briefly to go and get kebabs from the local kebab shop. We already had curry yesterday and I think we might do a repeat when we get back from Sierra Leone. My brothers and I, as well as an old family friend Marco, spent a fair bit of time playing Mario Cart. I'm pretty sure there are few people as good as us at this game. The rivalry was fierce and all the old tricks and tactics came flooding back to all of us just like the old days. It was a pretty noisy room to be in. Everyone is in high spirits and the feeling of being reunited once again is overwhelming.

We're now packed and ready to go for the Sierra Leone portion of our trip. We depart first thing in the morning, October 25. It will be another gruelling flight, at the end of which we will see dad. He has called 4 times in the last 18 hours. Mom thinks he's feeling very left out so far.

R.W.

Searching For Sleep

Well, Richard had just finished proof-reading his post for today when he accidentally deleted it, so I will write today instead :)

We have now arrived safely in London, England with Shawn & Ang (Richard’s brother and his wife) and are enjoying the gift of hospitality my mother-in-law demonstrates oh so well! Richard’s dad is awaiting our arrival in Sierra Leone, and Richard’s youngest brother and his wife are currently en-route here from Scotland. This will be the first time the family has been together in over 2 years!

Us Wiebes must look like a rough bunch as our travels so far have included a lot of searching! My carry-on was searched & re-x-rayed, Ang was scanned & padded down, and when I received my checked suitcase at my final destination, I found my lock broken and a note saying my checked luggage had also been searched! I also have nice black grease mark on the outside of my new luggage to remember it by- how sweet.

Sleep in something we have not had much of at this point. Anyone who has tried to sleep in Economy knows how taunting that two inch recline is- just enough to remind you how much more space you might have had if you had bought one of those leather seats in the front of the plane!

Talking about sleep, there’s a lovely bed in front of me and I’m thinking about taking a nap before Kevin & Toni arrive from Scotland. I’ve closed my eyes, but I don’t believe I’ve slept for about 31 hours... (yawn)

S.W.

Travel Schedule

This is the day the Lord has made- let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Today is the day we begin our adventure that has been in the works for about 2 years- planned with excitement, and covered in prayer.

Thur, Oct 22 (today)- we are taking off from Winnipeg, have a very short lay-over in Chicago, and land in London, England tomorrow. Here we will stay for a couple of nights to get over jet-lag and spend time with Richard's family.

Sun, Oct 25- we take off from London, England and land in Freetown, Sierra Leone!!! Here we will spend some time in the city, travel "up-country," which is outside of the city, and then spend the last part of our trip back in the city.

Fri, Nov 6- we take off from Freetown, Sierra Leone and land the next day in London, England.

Sun, Nov 8- just Rich and I will be taking off from London heading to Venice, Italy! Here we will rent a car, and travel around Europe!

Mon, Nov 9- Monaco

Tues, Nov 10- Switzerland

Wed, Nov 11- Germany

Thur, Nov 12- Austria

Fri, Nov 13- back to Venice, Italy for our 5th anniversary!

Sat, Nov 14- we take off from Venice and land in London to spend one more day with Richard's family

Sun, Nov 15- we take off from London, have a lay-over in Chicago, and land in Winnipeg.

I think that sums it up! We're planning on making a post for each day, but may not be able to get onto the Internet each day. We'll do our best to keep you updated as we take you along on our adventure :)

S.W.

Deteriorating Maturity and Recon Reports

Things are now progressing very fast and Stephanie and I are now rushing to complete last minute tasks. While the last two years have flown by, the two weeks before the trip seem to have slowed to a crawl. Poor Stephanie is bearing the brunt of a rapidly deteriorating maturity level on my part. What little maturity I have left is being scraped together for the last few days of work, leaving very little for home. Things will only deteriorate further when we get to London and my brothers and I are reunited. There will be lots of rowdiness, probably more than a bit of egos clashing on Mario Cart battle mode on the old N64. Mom's going to be giddy, so we probably won't get much help from her.

As for Dad, aka the reconnaissance element, he is already on the ground in Sierra Leone, West Africa. I have deduced from his reports that the air is breathable, and that the environment can support white people. However, the lobster look is quite common for the whites and they like to hang out at any place with an air conditioner. More importantly the ferry crossing from the airport to the capital city was fairly straightforward and the rainy season (monsoon season) is in it's final death throes, with storms every night but only the occasional precipitation in the daytime.

I figured I would post this picture of the neighbour kids and us. I'm hoping we'll get to see most of them in the next few weeks. It would also appear, from the picture, that I was dealing with poultry long before I started working at Granny's Poultry.

Three more sleeps.

R.W.

Cleaning Through the Stress

Well, today we can say it's less then a week before we leave! I've gone through various emotions- including enough anxiety to give me a mirgraine last week. However, I have recovered, and today I am planning on doing my fall cleaning! I anticipate that we will be taking off in fall, and landing in winter. We are very thankful to have friends of ours staying in our home while we are gone- hopefully they won't have to shovel our long driveway!

S.W.

Passports With Visa Stamps Have Arrived!!!

I've been rather stressed about getting our passports back with our Sierra Leone Visa stamps. It's only three weeks to departure. Well, the passports arrived today. There are no more hurdles to conquer. Our trip is now inevitable and the countdown is truly beginning. 21 days!!! Stephanie and I are making our final preparations and checking our gear.

R.W.