Tuesday - March 10, 2020

Greetings from hot, humid Liberia!
There was a shower this morning which cooled things off for a short time only to make it worse later.
We left the hotel about 9 am and traveled to the Methodist Compound where I lived while a missionary.  Several of our friends are still there who worked with security, maintenence and grounds.
Kelly they send you greetings and Flomo says your chicken is still doing fine.  I gave him small money to continue to purchase food for it.

Then off to Waterside to do some shopping for fabric for a new dress for Sunday.  Found two lovely fabrics  - one a purple print and the other a very brightly colored geomectric design to be used for the back of a quilt - or so I thought.  We stopped along the street and purchased cards for our Liberian phones so we will be able to use them here to communicate.  At the same time we walked down a few stores to see some old friends at the BK Pharmacy,  I purchased 100 Cipro, 120 doxycylene capsules (we take this as a preventative for Malaria, and some adult Malaria medication just in case.  All this for $15.00 USD.

Off to spend more than an hour and half in traffic to travel maybe 2 miles to another store to greet an old friend we did business with.   We spent some time with Harris at the National Hardware store and had a cold glass of juice and got caught up on all the news from Liberia according to the business world.  He also has a new son who is just turning 3.

Then to head out the the house to see family.  Again 1 1/2 hours to drive maybe 10 miles.  The roads are being reworked, paved, and limited to 2 lanes rather than expanding to 5 during high traffic areas.
It was interesting to note that with the new design for traffic flow, that if traffic got heavy and people wanted to move faster, they would just move across the boulevard and drive  the wrong way in the traffic flowing the opposite direction.  It was very unnerving, especially after dark.

When we reached the house people came flying from all directions.  Children launched themselves into our arms for giant hugs.  I was amazed at how much they had grown - of course it has been 6 years since we last saw them.  Often, we would have to look and try to figure out who they were and just plain ask.  We met a few grands born after we left and 2 great grands.  One was terrified of me and the other was very nonchalant  seeing he had a white woman as grandma.

The afternoon was spend visiting, visiting, visiting after neighbors and friends heard the news and stopped by to greet us and visit for a bit.  Annie, a mother to several of Timothy's children had come down with malaria and so, of course, I gave her some of the malaria medicine I purchased plus water and oral rehydration packets to keep her hydrated.

Our teenage grands have matured into wonderful, caring, adults who are taking responsibility in the family to step in with help as it is needed.  My beloved little Sausee has grown to almost as tall as me.  He was constantly by my side touching me to make sure I was still there.  Several of the neighborhood children were there as well so we went through all the pictures on my phone and who, what, where they were taken.  It was fun trying to explain snow to them as well as the cold weather.

Riley was curious about grandson Riley in the United States and the fact that he was studying music in college and would be a teacher and direct a band.  Edwin was fascinated to see pictures of my brother Edwin who was a teacher of history.  Each wanted to hear stories of the person they were named after.  Three little girls in the neighborhood were fascinated by the fact the children had an grandmother who was a white woman and were mesmorized by my skin and hair.  I'm sure they had never spoken to a white person or touched one.  They played with the hair on my arms and head feeling the softness.  They probably had plenty to say when they returned home later in the day.

Granddaughter Faith was fixing palm butter and rice for the evening meal which is one of Timothy's favorites.  A bowl was sent home for his supper.  We stopped along the roadside and I got a loaf of Foola bread.  It is like French Bread but very coarse and crusty.  A stop at the local supermarket for some peanut butter and honey and my evening meal was complete.

It is now about 9 pm.  I want to take a nice shower and clean the dust off my body, and fall into bed for a long nights sleep.  Jeff will be by about 9 am to pick us up for tomorrow's activities.  Tomorrow is a  holiday, Decoration Day.  So it will be spent cleaning and washing the graves of the family and then a grand meal.  It will be my favorite - potato greens and rice.

Sweet dreams.

Anne