My flights and arrival went smoothly but exhausting. For those airplane nerds among us I flew on two Airbus 330 (Delta and KLM). Despite my hope that the seats would be a little more comfortable to sleep in, I was disappointed and got little sleep on the planes. But I did get to enjoy as many movies as you can pack into 36 hours of travel. Every flight was on time and one flight actually left an hour early because everyone was present; I hope. Customs was quick chaotic then the ride to the guest house was uneventful even if slightly frightening.
My first impression of Africa is how dark it is. Flying into two African cities (first Freetown, Sierra Leon then Monrovia, Liberia) the only lights you could see were at the airport itself. The drive to the guest house proved that as well. The only lights came from cars and an occasional club scene where the lights were consistently blue and red. I was surprised this afternoon to find out how many huge building I passed last night without being able to see them.
There are few traffic laws here. So far I've only seen one traffic signal. Every one just slightly slows down near the intersections and then whoever can edge in first from whichever direction goes...usually at once around everyone else...driving on the wrong side if necessary. Lots and lots of motorcycles with multiple people on them. There are plenty of cars too, just double or triple the motorcycles and plenty of rickshaws (don't know the local name for them.) Plus, there are no sidewalks and the majority of people seem to be on foot-ladies with baskets on their heads, men peddling random wares: pillows, dust brooms, plastic buckets. On the bright side, they do drive on the correct side of the street and the roads are in good condition as far as I have seen.
My guest house is nice. There is air conditioning in each room that keeps the humidity from being overwhelming and I have a private bath as well as a huge closet. The people are very friendly and many of the guest are staying for several weeks like I am. One couple is here from Boston (she is a native Liberian) working at a Christian school that they started and they made me a traditional Liberian dinner of fish (head and tail included), chicken, rice, okra, and some kind of deliciously spicy paste. Additionally, there is a sweet preschool here that I was surprised to see was equally mixed with several different skin colors. The kids were a-dor-a-ble doing art projects, having music lessons, and eating snacks. Addison and Shiloh would have loved it.
Today I spent the day resting and tomorrow I meet the kids!
The plan is that the kids will come to my guest house late morning and spend lunch with me. At 2, our social worker is picking us up to take us to the lawyers office for the adoption decree. Then I can post some public pictures of the kids and me!
No comments:
Post a Comment