Life Through Tim's Lens

I recently scrolled through Tim's pictures and realized he's taken some sweet pictures, most of which I was jealous of.  So I did what anyone would, I stole them all.  Please note: I don't have the expressed written consent to share these.  I am willingly admitting he took them all though.

The 1947 dump truck we use to deliver crushed rock.  It breaks down or blows a tire 80% of the time, but if you own a dump truck you can make some serious money in Liberia.

Recent picture of the zinc roof on top of the school.

A different angle.

This is where our 24 foot rafters came from.  If you look in the top center of the picture you can see the roots of the tree they took down.  It's humongous.  Dear Mother Nature - I fully plan to plant at least 2 trees to square us up.  At least they are going to good use.

This is a picture that Tim tried to take while we were riding in one of the 20+ person overly squished vans (which you will see more pictures later).  He was trying to get a shot of the shadow so you could see the 3 or 4 dudes riding on the top.  I think the picture just turned out cool.

Meet Winnie; he's a character alright.  Yes, he is who we named our chicken after.  He teaches karate in the community and whenever we run into him I usually leave the conversation more confused than when it began.  I would say the picture says a thousand words.

A shot of one of the insides of a room as it comes along.  You can see a few of those 24 foot rafters.

A different classroom.  We just finished plastering and have begun painting.

You read the sign!  Although, it's totally normal to pee anywhere on the side of the road.  

We have befriended the workers at the construction store where we buy a large majority of our supplies (more likely we give them a majority of our business and it just feels like they like us).  They have had us over a few times for a cuisine change.  Their Indian food is incredible, and they even have a Liberian cook who makes their Indian food.  That blew my mind.

We have a cook who prepares our workers food everyday.  Tim and I used to bring a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or some other safe and boring food for lunch.  Now, as you can see, we dig in with everyone else and it is probably my favorite meal of the day.  

The real family style.

This is potato greens;  it's my favorite Liberian dish.  When eating with a group on one bowl it's quite simple, take as big of bites as you can.  

In previous posts I have described the taxi experience.  Finally I can give you a bit of an idea of what it's like.  So you can see the four deep in the back, and if you look closely there is one guy laying out in the back.  The reason for the smug smile on my face is because of a couple of reasons:  1.  The two guys on my left are pretty small and 2. I was able to get some serious shoulder leverage going and am pretty much dominating this backseat.  

This is the 20+ person van/bus.  Again, not easy to see, but it's real steamy in there.  There are also about 2 rows of people in front of Tim.  

Emmanual (the amazing person I have written about in previous posts) invited us to his church in Monrovia last weekend.  He wanted to have a special session as a thank you for Tim and my efforts, and especially Tim (who went above and beyond the call of duty for an extremely heart-felt gesture for Emmanual and his family).  The experience was one that I will never forget.  There was singing, dancing, "hallelujahs," and a ton of other awesome things.

Emmanual bringing the heat (per usual).

David Stern handing me my certificate after being drafted fifth overall.

We were REAL popular!

So among extremely nice words and a certificate, the church also gave us these incredible African shirts. Now, as a way of further honoring and thanking us on top of that, there were flowers, ribbons, and candy pieces that the church members could purchase and pin on us.  We were quickly taken over and swallowed up by so many people I lost count.  Now, they may just be little small, inexpensive plastic flowers, but for people whose salaries are minimal to begin with, it was extremely thoughtful to do.  I have never been thanked or honored in any manner similar, and I was speechless afterwards.  Note: neither Tim nor I were stuck with a pin.  That was also a miracle.  

The guys plastering away.