Christmas in Liberia

'Tis the season and all that jazz, but in Liberia, things are a bit different. For starters, the temperature here is consistently reading 90 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. There is no fall, no winter, no snow, no dip in temps to make it feel like it's Christmas. Secondly, the Christmas decorations are a bit different. While I appreciate the effort put forth by some of the people living here, Liberia could most likely win a 'most tacky Christmas' award due to the amount of shiny tinsel trees and gold 'Merry Christmas' banners. Think Chinese imports and you'll get the picture. Also, everyone asks for money around this time. The very Liberian saying is 'My Christmas is on you.' Well, let's just say it makes you feel a little guilty thinking that the person isn't going to have Christmas, but at the same time you get pretty tired of hearing it pretty fast. I have to remind myself that $5 is not a lot of money to me, but to someone else it is. I did give money to a few people, but usually those I knew, whether it was the woman who worked at the grocery store, the beggar whom I speak with on a regular basis, or one of the guards on the compound who has done something nice for me. There are moments where I wish I could give to more, but there are a lot of downfalls with that, including seeing your money spent (and not always, just sometimes) on unnecessary or unsavory things. It's hard to live in a poverty stricken country at this time of the year, but it's also very eye opening to what Christmas is and should be rather than the commercialized version we celebrate back home. I went out on Christmas day to pop some bread in a friend's oven and was greeted with Merry Christmases by just about every Liberian I passed. Very few were looking for money, but rather just rejoicing in the day and that made me feel very happy and uplifted. I can't resist a smile and a 'Merry Christmas' to say the least.

To celebrate the holiday, a had a few people over for Christmas brunch. There were about ten of us total, eating pancakes and potatoes, banana bread and eggs, and of course, lots of coffee. It was delightful. My apartment's a bit small for ten people and cooking food, but we made it work and had lots of fun in the process. There was also a bit of fake snow spraying on the windows from a 'Waldo' (think Where's Waldo) look-alike, and some crossword puzzling going on. Fantastic. After brunch, a few people left to do other things, the rest of us went to the pool. Swimming, sunning, and gazing at the beach are not usually on my list of things to do on Christmas day, but in the tradition of making new traditions, this is exactly what happened. A few chicken fights and exhilirating games of tips later, we retired back to my very cool apartment. Most places that my friends live don't have a/c, or at least don't have it for almost the whole day. They really appreciate taking advantage of my a/c when they can, and I'm happy to share, as I love having company since I've started living by myself and all. Naps and a movie followed. Lots of lounging later, we headed out to dinner at Mamba Point Hotel. By this time our numbers had dwindled to six, though I believe that's a great number for a more intimate dinner celebration. Debbie, Andrew, Matt, Jen, John, and I enjoyed a lovely dinner and few pictures in front of the Christmas tree in the restaurant before heading home. I also managed to sneak in a phone call with the fam to catch up on Christmas festivities in that part of the world and send Christmas greetings all around. It was strange not spending the holiday with them, but I've realized I've become part of a different sort of family over here. We spend lots of time together and go through things here that help bring us together--like the holidays. While I was sad to not be home, I am very grateful that the holidays were still filled with fantastic people and good times.


Friday the 19th was our last day of school before the holiday break. Before the break the school completed a clothing drive. I was able to take the clothing we collected and give it to an organization that really put it to good use. The group, called Orphan Relief and Rescue, works with orphanages in Liberia, helping them feed, clothe, and bring medical care to the children living within them. The in-country people who work for the organization have become good friends of mine. They were part of the group with whom I spent Christmas. I was lucky enough to be able to spend time with them sorting clothes and creating gift bundles for the kids. Even luckier, I went with them to distribute these things to two orphanages right before Christmas. Each child received a new outfit from the donated clothes (from school families and other donors), a new pair of slippers (flip-flop), and a gift bundle with a toy, some candy, a toothbrush, etc. Check out the link below to view the video that one of the guys made of us handing out these things and the kids. It's not very long, but it really gives you a great picture of what they're doing here and the kids that they're serving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83PFkUf5a8Y

This video makes me smile everytime I watch it.

The good things

I tend to spend a lot of time on here writing about the interesting and not-so-good aspects of Liberia. I think that this place is so different it's easier to write about these things in order to describe my life here. There are many good things, too, they're just harder to remember when you saw someone peeing on the side of the road or your shower and power cut out when you were in the middle of washing your hair (my morning, both). This past weekend, however, was a great example of some of the good times and beauty of Liberia.
A few friends of mine planned a party this weekend at Robertsport. Robertsport is about 2-2 1/2 hours away from Monrovia. Let me just say any opportunity to get out of the city is a good one. The drive isn't so bad for the most part, though the last 40 minutes or so can be a bit painful as the road's very potholed. Robertsport is a beach town. It sits right on the coast, about 30 minutes from the Sierra Leone border. It's beautiful. Also, as it's away from the city, it's much cleaner.
It was a full moon themed party, so we spent the night there at an eco-lodge set up by some South Africans. Basically, there are two double beds set up on platforms covered by tents. The rooms also have a fan, a small table, and two chairs. The water at Robertsport was beautiful for our weekend getaway: clear, calm, warm, just gorgeous. The sand is soft and not as trashy as the sand at Monrovia's finest. The lodge also has a bar and serves food, so we sat around and had a few drinks while we enjoyed the sun, sunset, and full moon. They even made a bonfire out on the beach later into the night. It was wonderful. I met some new great people who will hopefully turn into great friends. Just being away from Monrovia has improved my mood so much, I'm more relaxed and less stressed out. A much needed break from the city!
Other than that, school gets out on Friday for winter break. Though I'm not doing anything, I'm much looking forward to the two weeks off. I love my kids, but sometime's everyone needs a break from each other. I plan to relax, celebrate Christmas with some friends (though I wish I could celebrate it with everyone back home!), and read. Oh reading, I'm so excited!
Be in touch, everyone. I miss you all like crazy and don't hear from you often enough :) I love you guys!

Jailbreak!

Check it out...This is Liberia.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6272043.stm

Apparently the number rose to 150-200 later. No one ever seems to know exactly what's going on. I've also heard three different stories about how they escaped. Some say it's an inside job, others are saying the workers were on a sort of strike, and finally someone said the inmates simply threw bottles and stones at the unarmed guards (the whole disarmament thing) and they let them out. Who knows?

the experience of an ex-pat at Thanksgiving

As Thanksgiving approached last week, I wasn't too excited. I was bummed about being away from home, eating Thanksgiving day dinner with a bunch of people I didn't know, and not being able to spend the whole morning baking and preparing. I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had this year during this American holiday, though. I went to the US Embassy where a dinner was being held at the ambassador's residence. About 50 people attended. It was in a potluck style, everyone brought something, and the ambassador provided the turkeys. It was a beautiful day (a bit hot) and her porch overlooks the ocean where the sun was setting. There was a ship that had been tugged out to sea, but which had made its way back to the shore and had been pushed into the sand not far off the shore. It hadn't been there very long, but it sure looked like it had. Between the weather (hot and sunny during the day, rainy season earlier) and people pillaging it (there's really no better word), the ship looked like it had been sitting out there for years. I talked to some people I knew, some I didn't. Met the Peace Corps volunteers who are here (one of whom recently fell through a roof and has to return to Washington for a broken hand.) Also talked with some people that I've met very briefly before and got to know them better. All in all, not a bad way to spend a holiday which is synonymous with family and football for me.
I went to a friend's house after Thanksgiving and watched a movie. As I had Friday off from school as well, we went out that night to the Red Lion. This is supposed to be an English Pub. In all actuality, while it may be the closest thing, it's not really like an English pub. It is, however, a nice place to go for a few drinks with friends. It's often pretty calm and low-key, except on Wednesday and Saturday nights when there is live music. We met up with some of the marines from the Embassy as well as some guys who work for UNMIL through the US military. Basically we were hanging out with guys from the Navy and Marines, which is amusing in itself. Another good time of being relaxed and just hanging out with good people.
I guess I'm learning to live on my own during my time here. It's a strange new reality for me. I have no family here, no roommates, no pets. I do have friends, though, and they are pretty amazing. I'm learning how to make do at my job, with my social life, and with my new lifestyle (which involves less vegetarian food being readily available.) It's a struggle at times, but plenty rewarding as well. If nothing else, I've already met a few great people along the way and learned a lot about what I can handle.

Election Night in Monrovia and the Marine Ball

There are two things that have happened here in Monrovia recently that I have yet to post about, so let me take a few minutes to do that now. First, I will share with you the experience of an expat living in Monrovia on the eve of American elections. Then, I will tell you about the experience of attending the Marine Ball here in Monrovia.

The elections were a huge deal here. It's one of the first things people want to talk about when they find out you're an American. In fact, it seemed to be the only thing expats and Americans wanted to talk about too. Liberians were super excited for Obama. African nations are ready to see a black man lead a powerful nation like the US. It's a sign of hope for them, too, especially here where things are still broken from the war. Go Obama signs are even for sale here (though you'll find a few McCain ones as well). As you all know, I attended an Obama fundraiser earlier. It's great to be among a group of people who are legitimately concerned about the world we live in in more ways than one. Most people here are working for NGOs or are doing something to try to make this country better and most are concerned about the election and what it's results would mean for the rest of the world.

An election night party had been planned for a while by the time that election night rolled around. At last count something like 65-ish people had RSVP'd to show up. The party started at 10pm and was scheduled to run into the early morning hours (with the time delay, the first results didn't begin to show here until about 11pm.) There were food and drinks for all. A magician came from an NGO called, are you ready?, Magicians Without Borders. At first when I heard this name, I thought it was way corny and I couldn't wait to see if this guy was going to be a huge nerd. When he started talking to us about the NGO while preparing for his magic show, I knew that he was legit and had a pretty great idea. He and his wife started the group years ago. They travel around to different refugee camps and put on magic shows for the people there. They have been all over the world doing this for many years. He just happened to be in Monrovia on election night, learned about the party, and asked if he could stop by and perform a show. Of course they said yes. He was pretty fantastic. Put on a good show that I thoroughly enjoyed.
The place that was having the party was a duplex, so one side had the party and sheet with a projector on it and the other side had a few matresses so people could catch a little sleep if they needed to do so. There was also a tent and chairs set up out back with another sheet and projector combo. This was great as the house got incredibly hot and it ended up being a somewhat hot, but pretty nice night. At 2:30am, there was a caterer who served breakfast. It was delicious. Her name is Rozi and I think she's catered just about big event I've been to here in Liberia. She's a good cook and quite popular around here. We watched in anticipation as states began turning blue and red. When Virginia went blue, I received a few hugs and high-fives, taking great pride in the fact that my state made the right decision. The election results were announced at around 4:00am and we stayed around to hear Obama's speech. I finally got home around 5:30am. It was a long night, but well worth it. Luckily, Liberian Thanksgiving was on Thursday, so we had Thursday and Friday off from school which gave me some recovery time.

This past weekend I went to the Marine Corp Ball with a few friends. There aren't any reasons to really get dressed up in Liberia, so it was nice to do this for once. It was held at the Royal Hotel here in town. It's not a very fancy place, but it's what we have and it looked very nice for the event. I went with my friend, John, who is from Florida. We had a really great time. We went with some other friends. Open bar, dinner, dancing...what more could you ask for? There are only 8 or 9 marines posted here at the embassy, so it was smallish affair. The ambassador was there, of course, and the speaker was a retired marine who graduated from Darden at UVA. Go 'Hoos! He and I talked about UVA and Charlottesville for a few minutes. After the ball, we went out dancing some more. Met up with our friends at the only club in Liberia and continued the evening. The hem of my dress is ruined now, as the floor at Deja Vu is quite dirty, but it was fun. It was also fun to be some of the only people there in our formal attire. A few others from the ball were there as well. All in all, a good night.

Okay, I'll end there for now. Check back in a week or so (since it takes me at least that long to post) for some other great stories.

Chimps

I have a lot to say, but for now I just want to post a quick note before I head to bed. Today I went to the beach. Sundays are a great day for relaxing, eating brunch, going to the beach, etc...
It was the first time I had been to this particular beach and it was quite crowded. One of the families there had brought their pet chimp, Joe. They caught me looking at Joe as I walked by and invited me to stop and say hello to him. As soon as I got close enough, Joe tried to crawl into my arms. He had his arms outstretched and was all but hugging and clinging to me. Joe was tied up to a post, so he couldn't actually reach my body, but boy was he trying. Joe may be one of the cutest animals I've ever met. He kept hugging me, playing with me, he even held my hand. It's amazing how similar our hands are. When my friend took a picture of us, Joe even looked at the camera and smiled. It was one of those events that really made my day. Joe was super sweet and I fell for him...hard. Unfortunately he kept trying to bite my friends (in a playful manner, of course) and kept getting in trouble from his owner, so we left him, but not before one last cuddle where he laid his little round, furry head in my lap. Oh Joe, I think I love you....

Stay tuned for a post about election night in Monrovia, end of the first quarter news, and my favorite supermarket!

Overdue post

I'm not very good at posting on a regular basis. This I know. I'm vowing to start working on it. What's going on in my life? Well, lots. First of all, life here has somewhat normalized. I think that's one reason I'm posting less. I've become used to things here, so I don't see something and think, "I should post about this..." Basically I've just been trudging along, doing my thing, teaching the kids, hanging out with friends, etc, etc.
On a positive note, the rainy season is coming to an end. October 15th is the day they like to quote as the end of the rainy season. We still get a few storms every now and then, but mostly only at night. The negative side of the dry season is the heat and the dust. It's amazing to me that it's fall at home and it's getting colder, while here it's getting sunnier and hotter. I do mean hot. And the sun-I put on spf 50 yesterday to go chill out at the pool with a friend and still got sunburned. We were only out there for maybe an hour or so, it's ridiculous.
So the other night I was coming home from trivia and saw a tank rolling down the street-just something to think about.
I've FINALLY posted some pictures to a public gallery online. Go to picasaweb.google.com/christy.n.lewis. Check it out!
I went to church this morning. It's only the second time I've gone since I've been here. The first time I went to the Episcopal church closest to the compound. It was interesting. I went with the director and his wife. We were the only white people in the church. After the peace they did announcements and asked all first timers to stand up. I looked at Rory and said, "Well I guess we can't hide." Today I had to stand up too (different church), but I wasn't the only first timer so it was a little less awkward. I also went with some friends today, so that was nice. One thing, there are no air conditioners in the churches here. This one also did not have fans. It was sweltering. You can't do much without sweating here anymore.
About being white in Liberia: I don't think I've mentioned this, but being a white ex-pat is a pretty interesting experience here. Going back to the normalization point, you know you're getting used to things when you walk down the street, you're the only white person in view, and you don't feel awkward because everyone is staring at you. I was really paranoid the first few weeks with everyone staring. Now, it doesn't bother me. I've also gotten used to men telling me they love me when I walk down the street, telling me they want to marry me, calling me their wife, their mommy, etc, etc. I'm also quite good at saying no to people trying to sell me things and avoiding the beggars without being super rude to them. I've only had one get really mad at me for not giving him money. I think he was a bit extreme because no one else has seemed to have had such an experience. They like to tell you that they were in the war and now they're poor and need money. Most are missing a limb or have some other ailment which they like to throw at you as well to make you feel even worse. It works sometimes.
So I've made some really great friends here. Just thought I'd let everyone know. I'll start sharing stories soon. The fun thing is that we're all from different places. I had a huge discussion about cornbread and how it's the best thing ever with an english guy the other night at dinner. He had never had it before and he still swears it's got nothing on Yorkshire pudding...whatever that is. But yes, my friends are awesome, we pretty much spend the entire weekend together, and I don't want them to leave. The depressing thing about this place is that the people here are very transient. People are always coming and going. One of my friends leaves at the end of November, it seems so soon! A bunch of others are leaving in six months. I know new people will be coming, but I still don't want to see anyone leave. We have so much fun together and keep each other in line and on track. Liberia is a really difficult place to be, we need each other here.
Okay, promise to actually post this week. There's still plenty to say.

What a week it's been

So it's been a bit of a long week. I got a new student on Monday, which just totally disrupts the rest of my class and makes my students go crazy. It also brings my class number up to fifteen. This girl is Nigerian, so that's another nationality on the list as well. Unfortunately, the craziness didn't just last for one day, it lasted the whole week. Of course, even on the bad days my kids have their bright and shining moments. We were working with the word family -it the other day. We had reviewed it a few times before, so I thought my students were ready to start trying to write their own words from that word family. I put eight letters on the board and told them to make as many words as they could. Well, they didn't quite understand the assignment. Most of them just starting writing words that began with one of the letters on the board. This is still good, but not quite for what I was looking. I went to the board and we started to review their words. I wrote sit on the board and asked what rhymed with that word. One of my boys got very excited, his hand shot up in the air and he stood up and yelled very loudly, "TITS!!" Now, he didn't say this to be crude, in fact none of the students seemed to pick up on the situation, including the boy whole yelled it out. I, on the other hand, had to turn away after quickly replying, "That's not quite was I was looking for," in order to keep from bursting out laughing. I had another student today say the word 'fuck.' She said it to one of the other girls and then said it a few more times, rolling it around in her mouth as though she were trying to get the feel for it. She looked at me and said, "I don't know what this word means, what does it mean?" I simply replied that it's not a nice word and we shouldn't use it. She was content enough with this answer and didn't say it again. First graders, even when I hate 'em, I love 'em. Oh, this one's for Maya. One of my girls looked at me today and serious as can be said, "You know the best singer ever Hannah Montana, she's real in Spain." They still have trouble with what is real and what is not real (refer to Mary in our first math word problem.)

In other news, it's been a while since I last posted. There was a huge storm on Monday night. Lightening struck close to (or perhaps even within) the compound twice. I know this because I nearly had a heart attack each time I was awoken from my sleep by bright flashes of lightening and huge cracks of thunder. The lightening struck some wires and blew out my TV and microwave. It also knocked out the internet. They've been working on it for the last few days, but so far no luck. I've only been able to access the internet from the school and the past few days have been so crazy there hasn't been much opportunity to sit down and write for a bit.

Last weekend was busy. It was also very fun. I hung out at a local pub on Friday night with some ex-pats. I feel like I'm starting to have a circle of friends here. We had a few drinks, played some darts, and threw around some (semi) witty banter. After that we disbanded, went home, and went to bed. I am generally exhausted on Friday nights. Saturday, however, I started early. I went to an Obama fundraiser (yes, even in Liberia we're raising money for our favorite presidential candidate). It was at a man's house who's a special representative I believe. Needless to say, security was tight. Guards with guns and everything, which after the disarmament here you don't see too often. It was a lot of fun, though. We all watched the VP debate, played Palin Bingo, ate delicious food, and had a few drinks. Quite a bit of money was raised as well.
After the fundraiser, we went to a party. Sunday, now this day was wonderful. Got up, ordered in brunch, and spent the day at the beach. A different beach this time, this one was cleaner and the current wasn't as forceful as usual. All in all, a very nice weekend.

Liberia wins again!

This week seems to be going by faster than usual. I had a good weekend, kept busy and relaxed all at the same time. I think that that made the beginning of my week seem less stressful which has in turn made the rest of the week go by more quickly. Also, today was the first day this week that I had a full class. Many of my students are Muslim, so with the end of Ramadan they either took a day off or left early on Tuesday. They were all back today, though, chipper as ever. Like I've said, my kids are very sweet and generally kind, but they are a handful. Why none of them try to be mean out of ill-will, they are sometimes rude and have trouble following directions and listening. Oh the joys of five and six year olds. I put a math problem on the board on Monday that was a word problem. It was the first word problem I've introduced them to so far. My kids are still non-readers, so I wrote it out and then read it aloud to them, trying to make them more comfortable with words while working in math. The trouble with the problem was not the fact that they couldn't read it or that they weren't used to working with word problems in math, the trouble was in the fact that the problem used they hypothetical you. "You are six years old and tomorrow is your birthday. How old will you be?" The biggest concern all of my kids had (and I do mean all of them) is that their birthday was not tomorrow. "But Ms. Lewis, my birthday's not tomorrow. Ms. Lewis, my birthday's not till March." This and that half of my kids aren't six yet. "Ms. Lewis, I'm only five." "Ms. Lewis, I'm only five and my birthday's in April." I eventually changed the problem to read, "Mary is six years old and tomorrow is her birthday. How old will Mary be?" Then came, "Is Mary real? I don't know Mary. Is her birthday really tomorrow?" To which I answered, "In math, Mary is real." Then, "Like Mary had a little lamb?" I must give them credit for being persistent. I eventually just gave them the answer so they could see how word problems work and how the problem of the day would be set up for the rest of the year. Things very rarely seem to go exactly as planned in my classroom, but that's what makes my job very un-boring and exciting.

In other news, the debate evening was an experience that defines life in Liberia. I went out with some friends to dinner beforehand, arrived and it was raining. We got there around 10:30ish maybe, though the debate wasn't starting till later as we were watching live and what with the time difference and everything... Anyway, it was a bunch of ex-pats sitting/standing around drinking and talking, waiting for the Presidential debate to begin. Not all of us were American, either. There is an intense interest in the American elections by those from all over the world. The rain, however, tends to thwart even the best laid plans here. The tv was hooked up to a projector, showing the screen large on a blank wall in the living room with chairs and couches set up around it. The feed to the tv was the problem. It went out about an hour before the debates were scheduled to start. When it didn't look like it was coming back on, a few people started leaving. It flashed back on right when the candidates were being introduced, everyone was happy. We caught maybe the first 30 or 40 minutes of the debate, and it went out again. It came back, went out--this time in between even less now. Basically, Liberia wins again! I should be happy we were able to see as much as we did. If nothing else, it was a great night to hang out and meet a few new people. What I'm really hoping for is a strong enough internet connection to catch part of or watch the recap of the VP debate. Now that should be interesting.

Another week goes by...

So believe it or not, it's raining again here in Liberia. Yes, ladies and gentleman, the rain just never seems to end. Never thought I'd hope for October quite so strongly before now. It's getting warmer here (and more humid) every day. Hard to imagine it turning to fall back home, though I do miss the prospect of turning leaves and cool autumn days. I don't think I've explained the road situation here. The roads are very...interesting. Some of them are paved in asphalt. A few of these have lines (usually only a middle one, though) and even fewer of these were done properly so the rainy season hasn't destroyed them. The Chinese (yes, that's how people explain the road process here) came and were paid to fix some of the roads. Unfortunately, no one quite informed them of the rainy season, so when it came they had to put all projects on hold. Some roads were right in the middle of being repaired. Also, they didn't make the roads well enough to make it through the rainy season. So the rains came, the roads fell apart. They are basically just potholed messes. Now, if the paved roads are destroyed by rain, I'll let you imagine how the unpaved roads are holding up. To get to school, we follow the main road called Tubman, out to Old Road in Congo Town. Tubman is paved and actually in fairly good condition compared to the paved roads in downtown Monrovia. Old Road is not. There a numerous ways to get to the school, but one of them involves going through part of Congo Town where it doesn't even seem like there should be a road. I don't think anyone can quite imagine what this road is like. It's dirt similar to Virginia clay. The holes are so big there is absolutely no way around them. You can only drive about 10 mph down the road due to the people and the holes. When it rains, the holes fill with water. At this point, they become small ponds. You think I'm kidding. This is why everyone (except the taxis) drives big SUVs here. The water reaches up to the top of the wheels at times. Yesterday, it rained so much that one of the roads flooded outwards through the neighborhood. Today, I saw a car in the neighborhood whose wheels had sunk into the sandy-red clay due to the mini-flood. I took a few pictures, but posting still isn't happening here. The ride is always interesting, sometimes painful.

A few weeks ago the core teaching staff took a tour of the Mercy Ship here in Monrovia. Mercy Ships is something worth looking at if you don't know what it is. It's a Christian organization where volunteers come to their ship and work in impoverished areas for a certain amount of time. There is a mini hospital on board and they tend to target some of the main problems in the areas at which they are stationed. The docking in Monrovia is the longest one they've done yet. They will be here for ten months total, to mid-December at this point. It's a huge ship (used to be used to transport railroad cars) which has been completely re-done with new floors added and everything. Mercy Ship Africa's hospital is focused on three different issues affecting Liberians right now. Other than the hospital, volunteers go into communities and do work there. They also need to people to go into communities and inform people of Mercy Ship and do screenings. It is completely volunteer run, so the people that work on the ship are actually paying to be there. They often fundraise through their local churches, families, donations, etc. Since some people live on Mercy Ship for years, they also have a school on board, Mercy Ship Academy. Today, they brought their students to the campus of AISM for a sports/field day. They have about 35 students through grade 12. Our numbers are up to about 65 through grade 9. This seems like a big difference, but both schools are quite small. It was a big success thanks to much time and planning by one of our teachers. It was a fun, relaxing day and a great way for our students to interact with those from a different community. Also, as all of their kids live on the ship, they don't get to go outside and run around too often. The ship has a play area and the deck is open for bikes and such, but no real grassy area to just run and play, so that was great.

Well with those two tidbits I'm off. I'm going to watch the presidential debates later tonight. Oh the exciting life I lead....

oh meanderings...

I'd like to start by saying thanks to everyone who writes comments on here, sends me emails, or skypes with me every now and then. It really means a lot to me to hear from friends and family! I've received some emails lately from people who are worried about me here in Liberia. My last post mentioned that I've been having trouble meeting people here and forming friendships. I should say, though, that I'm not sad to be here. If there's one thing I've learned it's this--there is a difference between being sad and being lonely. I'm living by myself, working with a very small staff, and live on a compound that's not the most social around, and I'm one of the youngest people here--it's an adjustment for sure. That being said, I'm not upset about the choice I made to come here. I'm happy to be here and I'm enjoying myself.
In other news, I have been making a few new friends lately. This means getting to get off the compound every now and then which is wonderful. Just going out makes life a little less stressful. The people I've been meeting have also said that in Liberia it takes everyone time to start meeting people, which is reassuring. I was told that for being here for just four weeks, I'm doing a pretty good. Who knew? A group of ex-pats started up trivia here a few months ago. It happens on Thursday nights at an Indian restaurant just down the road. You all will be excited to know that my team won last night. This means that my team hosts trivia next week. So this week I will be making up trivia questions. If anyone has any good ones, send them my way, I may need the help. There are five rounds: a Liberia round (of course), a picture round, and three other rounds which each have their own theme. My team won a few weeks ago, too. It was very exciting.
A head's up on the weather here. We are currently in the rainy season. I look forward to the non-rainy season arriving (hopefully at the end of this month). When it rains, it pours here. My students also go crazy cause they can't go outside and play. The 'roads' here get horribly pot-holed during this time, and half the place floods. It's quite interesting actually. When it rains, though, it disrupts any connection which requires a satellite, etc. I think I mentioned this last time, but the internet is the first thing to go, whether at the compound or at school. If you email or comment on anything it may take me a bit to get back to you. While I'm usually lucky enough to be able to access my blog and email on a regular basis, the work of sending information over the internet from my side is a bit much for connection. I've tried uploading pictures on here a few times, but to no avail. I'm trying again now. If they work, you will be seeing pictures of my apartment (in all its glory) and the school.

I realize I'm not doing a very good job of posting on a regular basis. I apologize. I've realized that the problem is each time I think about posting I become overwhelmed with the amount of stuff about which I could write. I can't decide which is most important to share and I don't want to spend hours writing a five page post (which no one would read as it would be too long). I've decided to settle on simplicity. I'll share what I can, when I can. Liberia's not changing so fast that the things I share today won't be relevant tomorrow. I figure I can share a little about life in Liberia at a time and then about life in general as well.
So for starters, it's Monday. Monday is always a bit difficult. That being said, it's still better than Friday as far as my students are concerned. By the end of the week, they are exhausted and have trouble focusing in class. Really, this actually begins on Wednesday, but they do try their best. I'm still struggling to meet the various needs of my students. Some are completely prepared for the first grade, but others should still be in kindergarten. I have students who cannot write the alphabet or count to twenty. I have some that just don't listen. I will tell them the answer to a question and then ask the question again and they won't know the answer. This is a very common occurrence in our classroom. It's also very frustrating to me because I feel like I'm running up against a wall and I'm not quite sure how to get around it. As I said before, though, my kids are sweet and generally kind to one another. Many of them have led lives of luxury so right now it's just getting them out of the mindset that everything should be given to them and everything should be the way they want it. We have had many discussions about respect and they seem to listen and try hard to use their manners and be respectful to me and to the other students in the class.
As for life in general here in Liberia--it's been interesting. The most difficult part has been meeting new people and making friends. A lot of ex-pat groups are kind of clicky here, so sometimes it's difficult to mix and mingle. Not only that, but just going out is hard. We only have one car for all of us that work at the school and Gary (our school director) often needs it for school things. We are not supposed to take taxis according to the US Embassy and we cant walk anywhere once it starts getting dark. So basically, you can get out between 4:30 (when we arrive home from school) and 6:30ish when it starts to get dark here. Otherwise, you have to arrange for transportation from friends or private taxis which can start getting expensive.
The compound is mostly older people from the UN, so they don't tend to be the most social group around either. Basically, I get a bit lonely at times. I'm not used to living by myself and being stuck in one area. I go for walks around the neighborhood often, but you rarely see anyone else out and I feel a bit of skepticism from the locals. I'll write more on this some other time. For now, I'm going to continue lesson planning in hopes of getting my students back on track. I really will post again sometime soon.

The first week.

The first week of school is officially over. It was hectic/crazy, but also fun. Monday was rough. You never feel prepared enough, and I was incredibly overwhelmed. Tuesday was a little better, and by Wednesday I felt like a teacher. I only had ten kids this week. Many students are still returning from their summers. My kids are from all over. Many are Lebanese, the others vary--Cameroonian/Icelandic, Haitian/Canadian, from Benin, and Switzerland, a true smorgasbord of nationalities and races. I love it. The only probably is the language. Two of my girls do not speak any English, all of my Lebanese students' first language is Arabic--basically I find myself explaining things three times using different words each time and corresponding hand motions and props. I'm sure it would be hilarious to be an outsider looking in and watching what goes on in my classroom. My children are beautiful and sweet.
Another problem-they are all below grade level in reading. Some of my students can't make their letters and numbers yet. It's a bit discouraging as I was hoping they would enter first grade with some phonetic awareness and we'd be able to start reading from there. Unfortunately, we're starting from the beginning, reviewing letters, sounds, letter-sound correlations, etc. It's challenging as I was not expecting to have to start so basic. It's also frustrating as none of my students can write words either. This means anytime I'm checking for understanding, I must ask them to draw pictures or we have class discussions. I never realized how much I took reading and writing for granted with my past students. Also, bringing my vocabulary to their level has been difficult. Bringing it down to a first grade level is difficult, then bringing it down to first grade ESL level is even more difficult. Overall, it's been an experience and it's only been a week!
Well, I'm off to a faculty meeting, but I will post again soon. The internet has been coming and going this week, so it's been difficult to keep up with the blog. There are plenty of things to write about right now!

The first week.

Getting prepared for school

Things have been a little rough lately. There are a few things going on at school that make getting ready for students less than easy. For those of you who don't know, the school was shut down for about twenty years due to civil war in the country. During that time, the school was stripped of anything and everything that could be of value. The school was pretty much destroyed. The building once housed about 600 students. We now have about 45. We're hoping to have about 60-65 when school is officially in session. Only a portion of the school is reopened. This means that the rest of the school is still in shambles. The walls are crumbling, have graffiti on them from the war, and some of them don't even have ceilings or roofs. The rooms that have been redone are bright and colorful. They are also fairly large. Unfortunately, I don't currently have a room. Well, I have a room, but it's being occupied by the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps is currently using our school as their base as they begin to start their program in Liberia. However, they are supposed to be in separate offices at the school. These rooms were supposed to be completed before school started. This, of course, did not happen. The construction workers did not work while no director was here, though they have been working very hard since they began again. Then PC decided they wanted changes made to their rooms, which meant all these changes had to be approved by the board of directors for the school. Because of this and a few other things, everything got behind schedule. They will not move out of my room until they have their own. This means I have no classroom in which to teach first grade. The director and school staff have been doing everything they can to expedite things, but to no avail. It's quite unfortunate. I want to feel settled and like I have space I can call my own before school starts, but that's not going to happen. They are expecting the offices to be done in a week or two, so I will be holding class elsewhere until then. It looks like music and art are going to share a classroom and I will use the music room. The music room is not quite finished, though. Basically it's a big complicated mess.
So, I don't want to talk about school anymore. Life in Liberia is different. Groceries are incredibly expensive here. Everything has to be imported, so the price of goods is incredibly high. You can spend a lot of money very quickly when trying to buy food. Most produce is bought at outdoor stands run by Liberian women or children. It's all locally grown and consists of what is in season. You can buy imported produce, but it's (surprise, surprise) very expensive.
It's been raining a lot here recently. Luckily, mostly at night or early in the morning. When it rains, it pours. Just downpours out of no where. I'm on the second floor of the apartment complex, which is the top floor, and the roof is made out of a plastic type of material, so when it rains, it sounds like the biggest storm ever is coming through the complex. It also sounds super windy and like the waves are going crazy and wild.
Okay, I'm going to make some dinner now. Hopefully, I'll be able to update you all soon with some good news.

a little more info...

I've officially been here for two full days now. It's been quite the experience already. Monrovia is different than I thought it would be and the same all at once. I guess one thing to help describe the city is that there are no 'good' parts of town. When you drive around, you expect to get to a place where there are less vacant and destroyed buildings, less people living by the side of the streets, less trash everywhere, and maybe, just maybe, a little less poverty. This place does not exist here. When I arrived on Wednesday, the director and his wife picked me up from the airport. We went to dinner at the Royal Hotel because they have a guarded parking lot so we could park the car and be fairly certain that my bags would not be stolen. After dinner we drove to the compound where we live. As Gary, the director, put on his blinker I was trying to figure out where he was going to turn as I saw no driveway and no building (it was dark, so it was more difficult to see anything). He turned up a dirt 'driveway' beside a pile of rubble also known as a shop that makes furniture. I wasn't quite sure what we were doing. We pull up to a big gate and the guards opened it and we pulled into the complex. Most of the parking lot of our compound is filled with UN trucks. Big white four wheel drive vehicles with big black UN letters stenciled on the side. It's quite a site. Most of the people who live here either work for the UN (duh) or are Americans doing various things. There's a few country representatives to I think. I haven't met too many people on the compound, but so far I like it.

My apartment is small and utilitarian, but it's not bad at all. We have electricity 24 hours per day, which is a perk that not all compounds have. All electricity is pretty much supplied by generators at this point. Our electricity goes out about twice a day, but only for a few minutes each time. We think this is when they are switching over the generators. They only thing they do turn off at the compound is the A/C. I didn't even know if we would have a/c, so I can't complain. They turn it off twice a day from 9-11am and from 2-4pm. Not a bad deal at all, especially as once school starts I won't be here during those times anyway. I also have a tv with about ten channels ranging from the action channel which shows action movies all the time to aljazeera news channel. There's also a channel which shows american shows like 'Friends' that are subtitled in arabic. We do have the discovery channel, bbc news, cnn news, and espn. There's also another channel that shows mostly horror movies. I haven't watched that one yet.
The compound backs up to the ocean. I can hear the waves as I sit in my apartment and type this post. Unfortunately, we don't swim in the water right here as it is very polluted. There's a pipe a few meters up from where we are that dumps raw sewage into the ocean. There are oceans not too far away to go to, though, for swimming, surfing, hanging out, etc.

We aren't allowed to drink the water here, but we use it for everything else. We wash our dishes with it, shower with it, and brush our teeth with it. Some people have boiled it and then used it for coffee and tea and they're fine, so it doesn't seem to be such a big deal. The shower is hot and just lovely.

It's a city, so there's not a lot of wildlife around these parts. I did, however, have my first encounter with a roach this morning in the bathroom. He was quite large by Virginia standards, perhaps three inches long. I let him have his bathroom time and tiptoed around to brush my teeth. Liberians on the street will catch animals and try to sell them to people. I was offered a boa constrictor the other day when leaving lunch at another hotel. My co-worker said someone had a sea turtle outside the gate the other day when she came home (yes, 100% illegal. Trust me, it's not the only illegal thing going on around here.) She was also given a crocodile by some men once. Unfortunately, Henry was eaten by the guards at her friends compound where he was living in someone's bathtub (the ducks didn't make it either). There are miniature deer as well (Duikers), but I haven't seen one yet.

The ex-pat community here is huge! I went to trivia last night with my co-worker (a little different than what we have at Mellow) and met people working for NGOs, UNMIL, the US Embassy, a start-up microfinance company, and a guy whose biking around the world. They were from the states, England, Norway, Denmark, Germany by way of Uganda, Mexico, just about everywhere. It's really quite an interesting mix of people here. The Lebanese population here is also large. A lot of Lebanese have been here for years, so they're more settled and own businesses, etc.

I have internet at the apartment so I'm able to regularly check emails, etc. It's quite slow, though, as it is at the school. Honestly, I'm happy just to have it. I'm not feeling very well today, so I'm sitting at home on a Friday night posting to my blog. I think the anti-malarials I'm on are making me a little out of it. Nonetheless, I'm happy to have the time to sit down and write this out. I feel like it's been a whirlwind of anything and everything lately! On that note, I will say goodbye here. If you've made it this far--kudos to you. I will post again soon. Next week we're starting to get ready for school, so I'm sure fun and interesting things will be happening then.

I made it!!

Just wanted to drop a quick note to let everyone know I made it safely to Monrovia. The flights were uneventful, I got lost in the airport in Brussels (or rather, I didn't know where I needed to be and they don't post the gate assignments until 45 minutes before the flight), and arrival in Monrovia was hot and hectic. The airport is tiny, there are tons of people running around trying to direct everyone, and as soon as your out people surround you trying to give you rides, watch your bags, ask for money. It was crazy.
Then I went to dinner with the director and his wife. Then moved into my apartment. It's small, but has everything I need (except an oven!). Today I went to the embassy for my security briefing and embassy pass. Some of the things they talk about are scary (where's your safe haven?), but I think they just want to scare you into being careful. Overall, not a bad start. I'm tired, but excited to be here.

Getting Ready

I'm trying to convince myself to start packing for the next two years of my life since I'm leaving for Liberia in nine days. I've gotten most of my shots, my prescriptions, packed up most of the apartment in Charlottesville, sent in for my visa, received my plane tickets, and fought with the health insurance company daily to figure out why my coverage hasn't begun yet. All I have to do now is pack my bags. Emotionally and mentally, I'm sad to leave, but ready to go. I've started the goodbyes and will complete them in Charlottesville later this week. It's time to move on to adulthood and start my first full-time job and move out on my own. Liberia is a big first move, but it should be exciting! I'm hoping to use this space to update everyone on my travels, job, students, social life, and anything else. Feel free to respond with what's going on in your lives and wherever you may be. I look forward to keeping in touch with everyone and sharing big life stories!