n case. The Tata (a small pick-up) began towing our large explorer sized car back to the city. About 15 minutes into the return journey, we pulled over to see if we could find some transmission fluid just in case, knowing that there were going to be a few places where we'd have to unhook and drive John's car and wanting extra supplies just in case. As we pulled back out onto the road after an unsuccessful stop, the tow rope broke. Bad news, my friends. The rope was retied, with about six feet of space between the two cars now. I was so nervous that we were going to rearend that Tata everytime we stopped that I had to switch seats and move to the back.The journey back took about two hours, but contained some very amusing parts. We got stopped at every UN and police checkpoint along the way, shouts from local children and stares from the adults (look at the white people!), and once back towards the city, a few people trying to get us in trouble with the law
('arrest that car!' not us, the car. Apparently a smaller car is not allowed to tow a larger car in Liberia. We'll just add that to the list of laws not followed here, but since we were white, all of the sudden everyone wanted to see it followed and see us punished for not following it. I can't really blame them.) We also passed some UN tanks cruising down the road as well.Once we got back to the city, dropped off the car, and learned that it wouldn't be fixed within the day, we had to do a little more planning. Should we find another car? Should we go down today if we found one, or should we wait till the morning? Well, we found a car to take and decided to go down that night so we could start our day off in Robertsport tomorrow. The next journey was less exciting, though we did get stopped by a police officer who was conducting a national and international car check. Basically he looked at our car, took some information, and decided that we weren't carrying illegal arms out of the city. It would seem more important to make sure people weren't carrying arms into the city, but whatevs. We were in a hatchback car this time, with the pickup behind us. Now the pickup has a cover over the bed of the truck so you can't really see inside of it. We told the officer that the pickup was with us and he didn't even check it. I'm just saying, if either of our cars were carrying illegal supplies including weapons, it would've been the
covered pickup with all that empty space in the bed.We stayed at Nana's Lodge, the same place the full moon party took place at a few weeks ago. Basically our accommodations were built platforms with big tents covering them. Inside the tents are two double beds, two small tables, and two big chairs. When we arrived we knew we'd probably only be able to spend one night in the tents as there was a New Year's Eve wedding planned for the next day and all the tents were needed for that. We planned to camp on the beach for new year's eve night. As it turns out, someone didn't make it for the wedding and they told us to stay in our tent. On top of that, we were invited to the wedding and the reception that evening. While some of the group went to the ceremony, my, Jen, and Andrew went to an abondoned hotel just down the beach and watched the ceremony and sunset from the second floor. It was lovely.
After the ceremony, we were also invited to the reception. Now I felt a bit odd about attending this reception, but I went with my friends anyway and it turned out to be fantastic. Like I said, it was a small wedding, so everyone was seated at tables on the beach. There were tents set up for food and speakers, and the tables were lit with candle centerpieces. The tables were in a circle so that dancing could happen in the middle. Dancing in sand is harder than it looks. The reception had an open bar with champagne, wine and beer, and liquor. It was good timing for New Year’s Eve. As the evening got later, most people stayed around to enjoy the party. Two bonfires were lit at different spots on the beach and the sky was clear. The night wasn’t cool, but it also wasn’t hot. We hung around, drank, danced, had good conversations, danced with the Liberian children who joined us. It was lots of fun. After midnight, we went for another swim in the ocean. There was phosphorescence in the water. Everytime you moved, the water around your body glowed with little sparks. It was fantastic. Look up and the stars were shining in a clear sky, look down and sparks were glowing everytime you moved. We got out and I dried off by the bonfire. I went upstairs to change into dry clothes, but ended up coming back down. I took a short, ‘accidental’ nap by the bonfire. When I woke up, we danced a little more and chatted before finally going to bed. Needless to say, we won the party once again, just like we did the first time we were in Robertsport.
The next day was perfect for lounging and relaxing. There’s nothing like napping on the beach in the shade with the ocean just a few meters away. I went for a few swims throughout the day, read a bit of the book I brought, wrote in my journal, and listened to music. A wonderful, relaxing day where I didn’t have to worry about school, the city, how I was going to get somewhere, or what was going on at work. I didn’t want to leave. But alas, it was time. We packed up the two cars for the journey back, paid our bill, and peaced out. Luckily, the journey back was not quite as adventurous as the way there. We made decent time, passed by many Liberian New Year parties, and had no break downs, accidents, or stops by the police. Got back to Monrovia, grabbed some dinner, and watched Tombstone. I’m sorry to say I fell asleep during the movie, so I’ll have to catch that one again later…
