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!