Firestone, Bong Mines, and Pineapple

 This is one of my favorite meals our cook makes.  It has chicken and “chicken sausages” in it.  The chicken is more bones than meat, and it’s hardly grass-fed, but a welcome break from fish.

 We drove through the Firestone Plantation to get some crushed rock for our foundation.  Firestone’s property makes up about 25% of Liberia.  Depending on you who you ask, their opinion of the plantation will differ.  The types of houses and properties you see in Firestone are largely differently from what exists everywhere else.  The nicest hospital is on the campus (the President goes there, not Monrovia) and there is even a golf course called “Staff Links.”  I was not asked if I wanted to play.

 One of the houses we saw at Firestone.  Just a smidge bigger than ours.

 Crushed rock.

 WE FOUND PINEAPPLE!!! And it tastes even better than it does in the US.  And I am not just saying that because we eat fish and rice every day. 

 How to dress white in Liberia.  In case anyone is wondering how to dress, or what to wear, I wanted to illuminate that for you.

1.   1.  First you need some form of lighter tee shirt.  White, grey, or any other color that minimizes your sun exposure. 

2. 2. A pair of dirty shorts with lots of pockets.  You carry lots of things in your pockets over here, so a nice pair of shorts with lots of pockets is highly recommended (I suggest REI to buy them).  Also, you want a darker shade as to show the dirt that you acquire from walking on clay roads all day every day.

3.  3.  A hat.  Few Africans wear them, all Americans wear them.  You can’t have that African sun beating down on your face all day!

4.  4.  Now this is also an important part of the wardrobe.  Mid-calf socks.  Clearly shows you mean business on the job site.

5.   5. Shoes should be a running or hiking type shoe.  More points for the older more rundown models.  I prefer a nice set of Brooks Adrenalines. 

6.   6. Sunglasses.  You can’t have enough things fighting these rays.

7.  7.  A watch.  No one in Africa seems to wear working watches, but us Americans live or die by the time.

8.  8.  Lastly, but super important is a backpack.  Every white person in Africa has one.  It doesn’t even matter if you have nothing in it, you NEED it.  Otherwise, you just may blend in.

Authors Note:  That is a permanent stain not a sweat stain that appears to be a man boob sweating issue.  Normally, you would either wash it with stain remover or get rid of the shirt, but since we hand wash things and it makes up about 25% of my wardrobe and 100% of my UW gear, I make do.

 Another new food and treat we have learned of; a beef sandwich with a little mayo and ketchup.  If you close your eyes and use all of your imagination it kind of sort of tastes a little bit like a Big Mac. 

A form of whiskey that most people drink over here.  It tastes as bad as it looks.

 We headed to an area called Bong Mines this weekend.  There are 2 Peace Core girls who were recently station (not sure if you call it stationed or not) here, and we had been told they have a man-made lake close to their place.  Seeing as all I have done is sweat and dream of such things, it seemed to be worth the day trip there.  We weren’t disappointed.

 The Chinese are close by working on the mine.  Previously it had been owned by the Germans, but they left during the war.  We walked up to the lake to find the Chinese fishing.  I found it comical.  3 Americans walked up to a lake created by Germans, to find 5 Chinese fishing in a small town in rural Africa.  Woo.

 The foundation is coming along.  We recently put the rebar pillars in.

 You can’t knock the balance.  Girls balance anything from heavy heavy buckets of water to their notebooks on the way to school on their heads.  It’s impressive and probably a large reason why there are less back issues in Africa (I made that up, but I am sure if you looked it up I’d be right).

A true tragedy I have to witness every day on the way to work.  The greatest shoe ever created, the Air Jordan XI Space Jams, sitting in a pile of garbage.  Alone missing it’s twin, worn, and probably scared.  SMH.