Heart of Gbanga!

Hello everyone, its Tiffany for a change!  Things are starting to get a little better here now that we have starting adjusting to our new life.  Although I am not sure we will ever fully adapt to our bathroom that constantly smells like an outhouse, or the cockroaches, HUGE spiders (literally one the size of my full hand in our bathroom the other night!), or mice in the kitchen.   We still have no furniture with the exception of our bed; however, on the bright side, we got one element on our stove working (though only when the generator is on at night), and I think we may be able to make the remaining three propane burners work soon so we can cook without electricity.  We have been reading a lot and have been into town a few times now.

The walk into Gbanga takes us about 30 minutes each way and unfortunately due to the rainy season, we have been doused with torrential rains each time we have walked.  All along the way little kids run out along the road from their huts singing “white man, white man, white woman, white woman!” with the adults joining in every so often.  The first part of the walk is along a red dirt road, full of muddy potholes with woman vendors in little wood stalls selling groundnuts (peanuts), bananas, plantains, eggs, hot peppers, onions etc.  Then we get to the main paved road that is loaded with people on dirt bikes and taxis honking their horns endlessly as we try to make our way among the people on the side of the road (again being pointed and stared at calling us white man and white woman).  When Kevin and I sit on our porch or really do anything it feels like we are an attraction at the zoo where everyone stops to watch to see what we might do next.  We thought our neighbours were our entertainment, but really I think it is the other way around!  Today we went into the main market in Gbanga which is hidden behind other stalls, and once you get inside it is a maze of vendors in wooden stalls under corrugated tin roofing with muddy, narrow paths in between.  It smells like dried fish, body odour (no one wears deodorant), overripe produce and feels extremely humid.  Doesn’t it sound like a place you want to buy your food for dinner!  It is actually pretty cool but I think we are still getting the white person price and as much as we try to barter, Liberians don’t seem very willing to budge.  Nonetheless, we got one envirosac full of plantains, eggplant, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, and bananas, which cost us just under $3US.  Unfortunately, we just missed pineapple season along with several other fruits and avocados (butter pear here), although the seasons are short here so it should hopefully come back soon. 

Our meals have mainly consisted of bananas for breakfast, some type of sandwich (cucumber and tomato) or crackers for lunch, and rice and beans with tomato sauce or something similar for dinner.  Our options are fairly limited, although we are starting to get creative with what to do with rice!  I am very glad I brought some spices from home to change things up a bit!  The other night we went into town for dinner out at a Liberian restaurant (I use that term loosely as there is only one item on the menu) where we had pepper soup, which is bright red and super spicy with unknown chunks of meat in it served with rice.  I don’t know if it was the random and potential bush meat, the spiciness of the soup, or the realization that it was not made with safe drinking water, but Kevin’s stomach made sounds that night I didn’t know were possible!  Haha so we may not eat there again!

The job itself is going fairly well, although so far it isn’t really what I had expected.  So far I have just been doing administrative tasks and will be responsible for the finances here.  I am hoping to get into the field to see some of the sites where dams and rice swamps are being built but right now we have no working vehicle and no money to fix it, so it might be a while.  Money is extremely tight with the company so it feels like things are often at a standstill to get accomplished.  Nonetheless, I am hoping it will get better and the job will get a bit more interesting.

Well this is getting very long!  We will keep everyone updated and hope all is well with you! We miss our friends and family very much and look forward to hearing from you!

PS. We tried to put some pictures up of the house we are living in but it didn’t work because our connection is too slow but we will keep trying!

Love,