African Myrtle...

This weekend was another eventful and exciting one as usual.  Saturday morning I rounded earlier than normal so I could make it out to Firestone at a decent time.  My amputation patient was in better spirits today-I'm told that her family is considering sending her to the states to be with her fiancee.  They think it may be better for her rehabilitation.  There are no counseling services available to her other than myself, the nurses, her community, and her pastor.  We all have been trying to support her everyday.  My lady with the tendon/nerve repair was moving her fingers today!  I was pretty excited when I saw it, but then I had to tell her that she shouldn't be doing that because she could potentially damage the repair!  She was just too excited-you should've seen her!

African girls graduating from the Sandy Bush-rite of passage.

Firestone was nice today.  The weather wasn't as hot and humid as last week, so it was alot more comfortable on the greens (and the browns...) today.  The only thing that was missing was my man Victor-he unfortunately lost his father this weekend and was at the funeral.  Keep him in your prayers.  I really did miss him because I wasn't playing as well as I did the first time.  I did have another great tee shot though!  I swear it just takes one good shot like that to make you want to come back and play all over again!  Since Victor wasn't around, Monie was giving me a lot of pointers-he made a great analogy comparing golfing to salsa!  He said that I just need to loosen up and "let it flow" like when I'm dancing salsa.  I was like "ahhhhhhh, I get it!"  And then I hit the next shot into the bunker....I promise I don't salsa like that! LOL!

After getting back into Monrovia we hung out at Monie's house for a bit then I went home to change.  We all headed out to another friend's house for dinner.  The food here has been so good!  I've been eating better here than I have while back in the states!  I'm gonna have to take home a few recipes before I leave here.

This is going to be so hot when I frame it!!

I was all over the place on Sunday.  I only got to play football for about an hour with the guys this morning because all of the volunteers were planning to meet up for brunch-4 of them left back to the states today.  We went to Rozi's again and had a nice time sitting in the sun.  I wasn't in such a rush today so I was able to sit and enjoy a few helpings!  I was planning to go to Mamba Point this afternoon to pick up some more paintings, but turned out that the artist brought some of his work to the dorm for me to see.  It was nice of him to do that because I honestly didn't feel like fighting through all the traffic to get down there!  I came up too!  Got 2 gorgeous paintings-these things would go for hundreds of dollars in the states.  At some point I hope to get them all framed and put them up in my home.  I'm starting to become quite the connossieur of African art!



Resort at Kendeja.

Later this afternoon I went to visit this community were a fire occurred last night which destroyed several homes and left one infant child dead.  I went out there with one of the social workers to assess the degree of damage so that appropriate relief could be administered by the government.  It was a sad situation.  Apparently the fire was started by a candle which set one home on fire.  Many of the homes are made of these zinc walls which are extremely flammable.  Some of the people said the blaze ignited and spread very rapidly from house to house.  One of the women from the village was asleep with 3 of her children and was only able to save 2 of them.  By the time she tried to get back into the house to save her baby, it was too late.  The community was very upset with the local fire department also; they said that the firetruck came to "see how bad the fire was" but didn't bring any water!  Only after seeing the blaze did they go back to fetch some water!!  Completely assinine!  It took an hour for them to return, and by then the fire had done most of its devastation.  I'm sure the authorities will be hearing about this one...

I then made my way out to Kendeja Resort, which is the hotel that Bob Johnson (former owner of BET) built on the beach here.  It's supposedly the nicest hotel of its kind here in Liberia.  The place is amazing.  It's the only place that I've encountered which accepts debit/credit cards.  It has a big pool with a nice deck-and the villas are luxurious.  It's a nice place for a getaway.  I sat out there on the beach and made a cool video of the sunset.  Very relaxing...



Who would've known?!! In Liberia??!!



Guess where I went to next??  Myrtle Beach!!!  It's a beach right next to Kendeja-I couldn't leave without checking it out.  It's a nice place with a little restaurant on the beach that was actually hosting a Superbowl party tonight!  See, even in L.I.B. Myrtle Beach is the place to be!!  I hung out there for a little while and then made my way back to the dorm.  I came to my friend's house to watch the Superbowl, which is where I am now.  This time difference is a trip!  The game started at 11pm out here-which means it will be well into the wee hours of the morning before this thing is over!  Right now it's 14-3 Packers.  Not sure I'm gonna make it through this one...I guess I'll let you know how it turns out in tomorrow's blog.

Gotta get my mind right for this last week....

Oh yeah, I got my Liberian scrub caps today!!  The tailor did an amazing job!  They are so fly!!  Will post pics this week.  I may bring some extra back to sell!

"It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity."

-W.E.B. Dubois