Party on the water

In order to get to Freetown from the airport, a strip of water must be crossed. This can be done by ferry, hovercraft or helicopter (when they’re working, which isn’t currently). Our way across was the ferry – a large vessel that holds the vehicles on the bottom deck and the people (with a special first class ticket) on the top, indoors. Scott and I were not expecting a party when we entered the large room, but we were soon in the middle of the mini celebration as we traveled to the capital. We were surrounded by people – talking on the phone, laughing with friends, drinking cokes from the snack bar in the back. Music videos from the 1980s were blaring from the TV in front of us, helping to distract from the heat in the room. The “DJ” would stop them halfway and switch to a new song every few minutes. It wasn’t until later that Quami explained the music videos were for sale and this showing was just a sample of what you could buy. In the mix of the mostly African and Caribbean selection was Whitney Houston’s I Believe the Children Are the Future, Michael Jackson’s We Are The World and Paul Simon Live. The whole experience was really just hilarious. To top it off, three slapstick comedians came out in clown outfits to entertain for a few minutes and take up a collection from a laughing audience at the end. As we got closer to the shore, we made our way onto the deck in the darkness. We stood in a makeshift line next to women carrying fruit on their heads and babies on their backs, travelers from our flight, men returning from work and truck drivers accompanying their loads across the river. We were just faces in the crowd to this group going about their night. Just observers, trying to record and store away everything we were seeing around us.