A Slow Week in Banga

We are reaching the end of the rainy season here in Liberia and if you ask a local, they’ll tell you that it won’t rain at all after October 15^th.  So we have been having no rain during the day, but a fair amount in the evenings, making sleeping a bit less sticky.  This past week has proven to be quite uneventful for both Tiffany and me.  Tiffany has been doing office work since her last foray into the field for the season’s first harvest and I have been reading a book that Tiffany recommended.  It’s called Emergency Sex and for anyone who has done international aid work or is interested in it, you have probably heard of and read the book.  This book was quite different from the others I have read since coming here, but I really enjoyed it.  Emergency Sex reveals the stories of three individuals who worked for the UN in several different countries during the 1990’s.  The tag line for the book is ‘A True Story from Hell on Earth’, which seems very indicative of the places they chose to work in.  The story starts in Cambodia in 1991 where they establish a democratic election, to Somalia in ’93 then onto Rwanda and Haiti in ’94 and then to Bosnia and Liberia.  The stories they tell of the situations they put themselves into are unbelievable.  Well worth the read for anyone interested in being blown away!  I’m sure Kelly could attest to that.

The other small point of interest is that Tiffany and I have purchased some living room furniture!  We are very excited about this and can’t wait to sit on something other than plastic lawn chairs.  We are getting a small couch, two arm chairs and a coffee table.  They’re a set, come with cushions, and are made out of bamboo with cushions on them.  We saw the guys working on them when we were walking into town a few days ago.  We haven’t gotten them yet, but they should be finished in the next day or two.  We haven’t really figured out how we are going to get them back to our place, but I’m sure we’ll work something out.  I’m pretty sure we paid a white man’s price, but we did bargain with them and got it for around what we were willing to spend. 

On Saturday we decided that we would go into town to a restaurant called Serengeti for lunch for a change of scenery.  We took motorbikes for the 10 minute drive there and found that we were the only customers.  We ate rice with kidney beans in a palm oil sauce with chunks of some fish and another meat (with think it might have been porcupine or some other small animal).  It was decent but we make better food at home and for cheaper so I’m not sure how often we will eat out up here.  Plus we were only gone for an hour, so basically it wasn’t really worth it.

Other than that, as I said things have been quite slow.  Tiffany and I played cards last night and whenever one of us lost, we had to take a small shot of Pastis.  Pastis is a very strong alcohol I believe is from France and is made, I think, from anise seed, so it tastes a lot like black liquorice.  Pastis is also super cheap at $2 US for a two sixer and you can buy it anywhere.  Needless to say, Tiffany drank a little too much and had a rough time getting up this morning.  Luckily for me, I slept in.

Oh yeah, as many of you know, I planned to grow out my hair and beard.  Unfortunately that idea came to a quick end when I realized how hot I already was.  So I asked Tiffany to give me haircut with my beard trimmer.  Regrettably, the trimmer died mid cut and she had to complete the rest with a pair of children’s scissors.  I now have no beard trimmer and a haircut that looks like it was done by a blind man.

We hope all is well with everyone at home and that you all have a great Thanksgiving!