Back to Liberia

So this is my first real blog entry and I can tell this is going to be difficult deciding which details to include and which not to. If I were to say everything that has happened or that I’ve noticed, this would literally take forever. So I will try and keep this focused, if not necessarily brief. Besides, I know no one really wants to know everything and that my “adventures” aren’t that interesting or worth a movie deal or anything… yet.

So my year began with a fantastic four day vacation in London where I really got a feel for the city for the first time despite having been there many times before. There was a great “Kenya reunion” as Madeleine and I met up with our two childhood friends from Kenya, Hannah and Rebecca.

From there I have gone to Liberia. I’m in Monrovia now for the first time since I was here last three years ago, and am again lucky to have Ryan, who came with me last time here as well. The amount of change that has occurred in that time is astounding. The roads are smooth. There are lights on the streets and even an extra two lanes. When I was last here in 2007, the place was clearly in the most preliminary stages of its recovery. There were no streetlights. Everyone had their own generators. The roads were rough and congested. The evidence of the 14-year civil war that had ravaged the country and capital city were still very evident.

While it is still clearly a poor country, it is also clearly one that has seen times of peace since the war. There are new buildings being built all over the place down the main street. Car dealerships, new government buildings, and total gas stations with those “bonjour” quick shops in them. Anyway, the point is, things are starting to look up for Liberia.

Yesterday Ryan and I went out to Caldwell about 30 minutes outside of Monrovia to the Jesuit Parish my family helped to start. The Parish was great to see, although like any other place it has its problems.

Work has been ok. I started today at Mayor Broh’s office. Working for the mayor of the capital city of course seemed like a dream job of sorts from the states. And while I still have no second thoughts about it, it definitely was not what I expected. Its incredibly chaotic in the office, I’m kind of amazed that people get anything done.

Anyway, Liberian life is as interesting, chaotic, and at the same time somewhat dull as I remembered. Life pretty much consists of working hard during the day and just chilling at home. There is very little else to do in the way of restaurants, movie theaters or any other outside entertainment. I guess there are the Chinese “massage parlors”, but odds are I stay away from them.

Hope all are well back home. And I hope that my first real post has been succinct enough for some of you to actually read all the way through it.

I have no catchphrase luckily to end my posts with (which is defininitely for the better so I’ll just say peace

O