Liberia Stories (Part 3)

Arriving at the guesthouse was a relief after the hours of travel, and interesting to see where we would be staying for 2 weeks. The first dinner was rice, cassava leaf, crab, chicken, and some awesome mystery meat, pineapple, and plantains. Delicious!!

Our room was very nice, the main attraction being an air conditioner. There were only two beds, but we were prepared for that contingincy! We had an air matteress! What we did not have was a way to pump up that air matteress, because the pump was dead. :| Yeah, I had to share with Tony. The next important step was setting up the mosquito nets. The room was fairly large, with cement walls and ceiling, so there were only a few nails around the room. Baker decided that we needed to put a nail into a joist in the corner above his bed, so he got a hammer, and got up there, and tried to put it in. He failed, understandably so, because the stance that was required was fairly difficult, and did not lend itself to hammering a nail. I offered my help, and I got up there, and as we passed, the bed broke. We were both standing on basically the same spot, and that is a fairly heavy load, so the fault is not entirely with the bed. This breaking was pretty loud, and follow by several exclaimations, and some laughter, then Baker fixing the bed, loudly. Problem solved! We then put the mosquito nets, and crashed out. I slept hard, except for Baker's talking in the middle of the night. "mumblemumble mumble Reversal mumble mumble!" No clue what he was talking about.

The next morning was a time of attempting to process all that I had seen so far, which was pretty overwhelming, considering my sudden introduction to a totally different scale of poverty, a different kind of urbanism, a different mentality in government, and a different history as a nation. It was fascinating to see another society, but disturbing to see a society that seems so radically different, and not always positively,  in its basic structures and activities. My shower was......interesting, invigorating, novel, crude, unsatisfying, and ineffective. The method was scooping about 2 cups of water out of a barrel, then pouring it over body, I started with the head, so the most area possible was covered with each pouring. I have done this before, including a delightful variation while camping, using a 5-gallon bucket and warm water. This, this was not warm water. This water was whatever temprature it wanted to be, and that was usually cold. I would pour it, and it would run down my back, and my breath would catch in my chest. What a way to start the morning!! Then rinse, and dry off. Partially dry off. Dry off as much as possible, considering the humidity. Dry off just enough that there are no drops of water, but my shirt still sticks to me. Fun.

Friday was my first introduction to the Liberian economy, and marketplace. We were going for a Liberian shirts for Baker and I to wear to church, because we didn't bring "church clothes". It was like Disneyland and Mall of America mashed together, minus planning. The only thing that felt planned was the streets, and by the streets, I mean the physical roadway, where vehicles are supposed to drive, the rest seemed pretty organically generated. People selling things off of their heads, people selling things to people driving past in cars, 3 different offers to braid my hair. The sheer amount of merchandise, and merchants, and noise, and people trying to get someone, anyone's attention. A blanket of commotion, seemingly one big mass, but really made up of individual threads, and those threads can be picked out, with enough concentration. The most overwhelming shopping experience ever, but I have never gone to the mall with a group of teenage girls late at night. The shirt store was pretty funny. The more plain shirt I wanted was $15 (the American dollar is common currency), and the seemingly more ornate one was $10. Didn't really grasp that concept. The Liberians who were with us were Edwin and K.J., and they were giving me input on which shirt would be good. I tried on one of the shirts......it was like wearing a tie-dyed tent, with starch. I asked it was supposed to that big, and the storeowner answers "One size fits all." I looked at Edwin (this is where his size is relevant), looked at K.J., looked at Tony and Baker, and chuckled to myself, and bought the shirt. A picture will be forthcoming in my Picture Edition.

Saturday was supposed to be a planning day for the VBS, us meeting with the teachers we would be partnering with, and really getting some solid prep work done. What happened was totally different. We showed up, and got mobbed by a bunch of kids, the kids we did not expect to be there.  We ended up working on the VBS, but also spending time playing with the kids. Tony invented a game where a ball is rolled between two people holding their hands a foot apart, and the goal is to get the ball between the other person's hands. I lost 23-25, Tony lost 20-25. That kid was pretty good. We also saw some awesome potential for there to be really constructive partnership with the Liberians, particularly on the part of Lo Pou (pronounced Low Poo) and Shepard (pronounced Shepard), Lo Pou being the administrator who runs around putting out the fires, and Shepard being the teacher, and great communicator to the children. It was pretty amazing seeing how gifted Shepard is.

Sunday was amazing. The church service was unlike anything I have ever been a part of. The sheer energy was amazing. The worship broke every stereotype I had regarding what "church" looks like. I think I really got the picture while they were singing the song which had a chorus of "Shake your body for Jesus! Shake your body for Jesus! Shake your body for Jesus!" They were so thankful and joyful, despite the civil war that plagued their nation for 20 years, and the poor sanitation, and the shortage of healthcare, and the minimal education, and the hard jobs for under minimum wage, and the effort required to get food for a day, and the lack of inspiring prospects for the future. I was stunned, and convicted. Here I am, living in the U.S. with so much of all of that, and they are more thankful than I am. Why? The whole service had a very communal feel, which was so cool. I love community, and don't see it very often in the U.S. (This community is a recurring theme) After church, we went back to the guesthouse, and took it easy for the rest of the day.

That brings us to the end of this entry.
I feel like I didn't explain how this is going to work.
Every couple of days I will have an entry, and then at the end, when all the days have been covered, I will have a post which is entirely amusing anecdotes, curious musings, and thought-provoking stories.