Monrovia is a new and different beast entirely. We were prepped for our visit and told all the things not to do, how not to make yourself a target, where to go, and where not to go. It was the same prep, for the most part, that you would get in any big city. As trainees, we were not allowed to walk in large groups, walk alone, and for the first few days go out without our tour guides, a LR6. We were given a stipend and told to save 5 dollars, because for the first time, Peace Corps was having us get home alone... more on that later. Monrovia is the is the only place in the world where you mix the poorest of Liberia and the fancy of America in one beast.
The morning of the 9th we were told to meet at Doe Palace by 7:30am, and told, that if we were one of the first cars to leave that we could stop for doughnuts/coffee at a tea shop near the office. Tell 56 trainees that coffee and doughnuts are up for grabs and watch them fight it out, which was the mentality in telling us and not monitoring who went in what cars, by times they arrived- HA. Peace Corps arranged for us to be carried to Monrovia (we chartered a bunch of taxis), to stop in Redlight (taxi hub) for a tour, then continue to the office in Monrovia. After we finally settled in a car, and by settled, I mean squeezed, It was me, Melissa, Megan, and Mike in the back and Bridget in the front (mind you this is like a Honda Civic). After about an hour of driving we arrived to Redlight.
Redlight is a half mile/mile of jam packed selling, motorbikes, cars, people, trash, and mud. It reminds me of an ant farm. You see the path and the hundreds of ants on the path, going back and forth, going over each other and under each other, with some jerk kid and his magnifying glass burning all the ants (aka sun). Redlight is basically the same thing but with people- except in Redlight the jerk kid has shaken the ant farm to make pure chaos. Redlight itself is about a half mile/ mile in length and takes about 30-45 min to pass through, the roads are a mix between dirt and paved, the cars and the drivers are not good, so there are accidents which involve lengthy yelling matches on why my broken metal hit your broken metal, there are hundreds upon hundreds of people, everyone selling to cars, yelling to get your attention, trying to pass each other with a bucket of things on their heads and things in their arms, sellers with the entire store right next to the street, and pedestrians trying to get a taxi or trying to buy things. We finally arrive to the middle of the beast and stop at the police station to meet Prince (head of security at PC), he has us meet the police chief, we walk over to the transport office and meet the person in charge over there, then we get shown where some of the taxi pick up spots are, and get back in our cab to leave.
We finally arrive at the office in Monrovia and in case anyone was wondering... we did NOT get doughnuts- Ha. We get out and do some security and logistical things regarding top secret Peace Corps information (aka signing onto the computer and learning the code to enter the building) and sit in sessions until around 1:00pm. We finish and go to Eco Hotel to sign into our rooms (my roommate was Melissa) and head out to lunch. We decide to go to a coffee/sandwich place right next to the hotel. This place was a mind trip! We walk into this air-conditioned building with food and sweets laid out in a glass display, the owner was a “china man”, AKA not of African descent, the patio had a covering with grass and vine going up the side, and there are two white blonde women sitting down having a cup of tea. We had, for this one restaurant, stepped out of Liberia, and entered a suburb of America. I ordered a fajita sandwich, which had sour cream, peppers, onion, CHEESE, and chicken all pressed in a delicious bun. Cheese is in all caps here because it is not a thing here in Liberia. Some supermarkets might sell a crappy block of mozzarella, or you can attempt to make your own with some delicious (ehh..) powered milk, but in general it is not a thing you find here.
After lunch, we headed to the downtown area and went to an abandoned hotel call Ducor. Ducor is a 7 floor, ran down hotel, that closed sometime during the war, and if you go to the very top you can see all of Monrovia! After climbing up the stairs and watching out for the gaping holes in the floor... (kidding... but not really) we made it to the top floor. The views from the top were gorgeous, you can see the waterline and entire downtown area of Monrovia. Down a floor or two there is artwork in about 5-7 of the rooms of people who had drawn or spray painted different pictures, which was cool, and some were impressive. After our tour at Ducor we went to Waterside, which is a huge market that sells everything from home goods, to children’s clothes, to meat, and lapa (fine lapa!—meaning nice lapa ). Unfortunately for us most everything downtown is closed on Sunday, you know, to account for the all-day church services. Once we finished getting a layout of the market/downtown we went back to where the hotel was and got ice cream. Yes, ice cream! We walked into an air-conditioned room with lots of little tables in it and a display of 20 different ice creams, just like you would in the states. Of course, like any good American, I ordered the biggest size available and devoured it. About 45 min after eating the world’s most about of ice cream I started to feel ill, just my luck. We get back to Eco so I can lay down and about 15 min after later I start throwing up. Yep, my body was rejecting all the things I loved (all being 1 lb. of ice cream). I threw up for about 7 hours, and decided I had food poising, most likely from my fake American lunch earlier that day. That is how I ended my first night in Monrovia.
I woke up the next morning (10th), and although I didn’t feel perfect, I felt considerably better than the day before, so I got ready to go to Peace Corps headquarters to sit through session. We sat in session until 12/1:00pm and when dismissed, went to an Ethiopian restaurant across the street. I had been feeling a bit ran down still, so I attempted to eat some vegetable rice, and was going to sleep off the rest of the “ICK” after lunch. I walked to Eco with a fellow volunteer while everyone else went to Waterside (the market) to shop, being it was Monday and would be in full swing. I told myself that I made a good decision/ it wouldn’t be fun anyway because It had been raining all day, I don’t think that was necessarily a true statement but I’m going to believe it was just miserable shopping in the rain. I woke up from my nap around 7pm and a group of people were sitting outside on the patio, so I went and joined them, and we spent the rest of the night talking and having a good time.
The next morning (11th) we once again had sessions. I woke up, got ready, and luckily enough for me I felt completely normal! I walked with the rest of the group to get breakfast and ordered myself a peanut butter doughnut, for those of you who know me this was the BEST thing ever, my only regret is that I only ate one. We finished sessions around noon and were told we had to be on the road to Kataka by 2:30pm. This meant 3 things: 1. we needed to have a great “last supper”, 2. we needed to hoard as much “American” food as we could before we headed back, and 3. we had to find and figure out our own way home.
We went to a restaurant called Fusion for lunch, I got a ham and cheese sandwich, and split mozzarella sticks with Melissa. Food came and it was delicious, I had actual yellow cheese on my sandwich, the mozzarella sticks were massive/delicious- step 1 achieved. We went to the supermarket and I bought a pack of cookies (or as they say, biscuits) for my family, some mint toothpicks (they are obsessed with toothpicks), and a jar of peanut butter- step 2 achieved. Last step was to figure out how to get home. From outside we signaled for a cab and although we were a group of 5 (which would be a full taxi), it is hard to find a completely empty taxi so we split into a group of 3 and a group of 2. We got the first cab and Melissa, Rachel and I got in and told him to carry (carry is take in liberian english) us to Redlight, which cost 60 Liberian dollars (roughly 60 cents US). Redlight took us roughly 2 hours to get to/to the middle of! Traffic was miserable, people were yelling at the cars, selling to the cars, yelling at us, and the exhaust from the car in front and your own car fills the area making you want to vomit. We finally arrive at the parking spot and hopped in a new taxi to carry us to Kakata. The taxi driver tried to eat our eyeball (Liberian term for ripping you off) saying it was 200LD per person, or 800LD a car (a lot of people charter cars and pay the entire amount), to get to Kakata, we told him the rate is 150LD and would not pay any higher. He agreed on 150LD and we got in the car. I sat in front and Rachel, Melissa and a Liberian woman with a child and small lap child sat in the back. Just outside Redlight, about 15 min into our journey, our taxi driver stops the car to pick up another passenger, he unbuckles my seatbelt and ushers me to move. Yep, we picked up a Liberian man who was also going to Kataka. I half sat on the bump of the divider and half on this man’s lap, OH, and the car is a stick shift, so I have to move my leg fat every time he wants to change gears-Ha. About 15 min into our new arrangement, I look back and Melissa and Rachel are passed out, here I thought I got the good seat and they would be smooshed, and BAM, I’m sitting on some mans lap and half of my ass is sleeping-HA! So step 3.. accomplished?
In general, taxi culture here is very different then in the states. Here in a Honda Civic type of car they will always put 4 in the back, and 2 in the front, not including the driver. They decide the rate of the drive based off 6 passengers, so if I want some extra room you can pay for 2 seats, 3 seats, or whatever is necessary. The second you pay for the entire car though, they consider it a charter, and the price skyrockets. Drivers here will also stop whenever they want. They are not on your time, you are on their time. For example, for a 2-hour drive, he might stop at every junction to get food/ snacks or to get the car washed.
We finally arrive to Kataka parking and I’ve never been so happy to be home, or at least in a familiar area. Our entire journey which should be 1hr 30 min max has taken us at least 3 hours, so I am exhausted and still have a 2 mile walk home, so we stop at Kems to unwind. Something I never really consider as exhausting is, overstimulation. Redlight summed up is mass mass mass overstimulation, it takes a huge amount out of you, always needing to be alert, people yelling, and selling/things everywhere- makes you utterly exhausted. Luckily for me on top of being exhausted, my delicious “American” food betrayed me once again, and I was feeling very nauseous. I call it a night early and start walking home. For the first time, the shouting from the houses as I walk on the road of, peace corps, peace corps, is entirely welcomed because I feel completely comfortable in a place that I know. I get home and I’m greeted with dinner on the table, smiling faces, and everyone telling me they miss me. I sit down and chat small (small in Liberia is a little) and tell Princess I don’t feel well and turn in early.
Monrovia was a great experience, sans everything I love making me sick. It was good that we had to get through Redlight by ourselves because, that is something we will need to do in the future, It’s good that we got the lay of the land (aka know where the peanut butter doughnuts are) and it’s good that we got to do something touristy to give us a deeper appreciation of where we are. It was also good to be gone for a couple days because, for me, it made coming back home feel that much better. It was just enough time for me to walk in and with a sigh of relief feel super comfortable/ grateful that I am back home in my bed surrounded by people I care about.
Spider update- The other day I get home and walk into the bathroom and see a spider the size of a silver dollar on the floor. I have a mini panic attack and think I must kill him. I take off my sandal and smack, I miss him, smack, I miss him, smack… like 5 smacks later I finally get him and throw him away. Side note- I’m torn between feeling happy I killed him and massively sad that I took his only life- he only has one life! Anyway, at dinner all proud I tell princess I killed a big spider in the bathroom. She goes totally serious- yeah, I left him for you… Uhhhhh… what? … She told me I had to get use to them so, she saw him, and left him for me. So, I yelled at her and told her we do not just leave the spiders all around the house to help me get use to them! HA!
I’m up to two spiders that I’ve killed so far... pretty proud of myself! Not quite to playing with their legs level yet... all in good time ..
The morning of the 9th we were told to meet at Doe Palace by 7:30am, and told, that if we were one of the first cars to leave that we could stop for doughnuts/coffee at a tea shop near the office. Tell 56 trainees that coffee and doughnuts are up for grabs and watch them fight it out, which was the mentality in telling us and not monitoring who went in what cars, by times they arrived- HA. Peace Corps arranged for us to be carried to Monrovia (we chartered a bunch of taxis), to stop in Redlight (taxi hub) for a tour, then continue to the office in Monrovia. After we finally settled in a car, and by settled, I mean squeezed, It was me, Melissa, Megan, and Mike in the back and Bridget in the front (mind you this is like a Honda Civic). After about an hour of driving we arrived to Redlight.
Redlight is a half mile/mile of jam packed selling, motorbikes, cars, people, trash, and mud. It reminds me of an ant farm. You see the path and the hundreds of ants on the path, going back and forth, going over each other and under each other, with some jerk kid and his magnifying glass burning all the ants (aka sun). Redlight is basically the same thing but with people- except in Redlight the jerk kid has shaken the ant farm to make pure chaos. Redlight itself is about a half mile/ mile in length and takes about 30-45 min to pass through, the roads are a mix between dirt and paved, the cars and the drivers are not good, so there are accidents which involve lengthy yelling matches on why my broken metal hit your broken metal, there are hundreds upon hundreds of people, everyone selling to cars, yelling to get your attention, trying to pass each other with a bucket of things on their heads and things in their arms, sellers with the entire store right next to the street, and pedestrians trying to get a taxi or trying to buy things. We finally arrive to the middle of the beast and stop at the police station to meet Prince (head of security at PC), he has us meet the police chief, we walk over to the transport office and meet the person in charge over there, then we get shown where some of the taxi pick up spots are, and get back in our cab to leave.
We finally arrive at the office in Monrovia and in case anyone was wondering... we did NOT get doughnuts- Ha. We get out and do some security and logistical things regarding top secret Peace Corps information (aka signing onto the computer and learning the code to enter the building) and sit in sessions until around 1:00pm. We finish and go to Eco Hotel to sign into our rooms (my roommate was Melissa) and head out to lunch. We decide to go to a coffee/sandwich place right next to the hotel. This place was a mind trip! We walk into this air-conditioned building with food and sweets laid out in a glass display, the owner was a “china man”, AKA not of African descent, the patio had a covering with grass and vine going up the side, and there are two white blonde women sitting down having a cup of tea. We had, for this one restaurant, stepped out of Liberia, and entered a suburb of America. I ordered a fajita sandwich, which had sour cream, peppers, onion, CHEESE, and chicken all pressed in a delicious bun. Cheese is in all caps here because it is not a thing here in Liberia. Some supermarkets might sell a crappy block of mozzarella, or you can attempt to make your own with some delicious (ehh..) powered milk, but in general it is not a thing you find here.
After lunch, we headed to the downtown area and went to an abandoned hotel call Ducor. Ducor is a 7 floor, ran down hotel, that closed sometime during the war, and if you go to the very top you can see all of Monrovia! After climbing up the stairs and watching out for the gaping holes in the floor... (kidding... but not really) we made it to the top floor. The views from the top were gorgeous, you can see the waterline and entire downtown area of Monrovia. Down a floor or two there is artwork in about 5-7 of the rooms of people who had drawn or spray painted different pictures, which was cool, and some were impressive. After our tour at Ducor we went to Waterside, which is a huge market that sells everything from home goods, to children’s clothes, to meat, and lapa (fine lapa!—meaning nice lapa ). Unfortunately for us most everything downtown is closed on Sunday, you know, to account for the all-day church services. Once we finished getting a layout of the market/downtown we went back to where the hotel was and got ice cream. Yes, ice cream! We walked into an air-conditioned room with lots of little tables in it and a display of 20 different ice creams, just like you would in the states. Of course, like any good American, I ordered the biggest size available and devoured it. About 45 min after eating the world’s most about of ice cream I started to feel ill, just my luck. We get back to Eco so I can lay down and about 15 min after later I start throwing up. Yep, my body was rejecting all the things I loved (all being 1 lb. of ice cream). I threw up for about 7 hours, and decided I had food poising, most likely from my fake American lunch earlier that day. That is how I ended my first night in Monrovia.
I woke up the next morning (10th), and although I didn’t feel perfect, I felt considerably better than the day before, so I got ready to go to Peace Corps headquarters to sit through session. We sat in session until 12/1:00pm and when dismissed, went to an Ethiopian restaurant across the street. I had been feeling a bit ran down still, so I attempted to eat some vegetable rice, and was going to sleep off the rest of the “ICK” after lunch. I walked to Eco with a fellow volunteer while everyone else went to Waterside (the market) to shop, being it was Monday and would be in full swing. I told myself that I made a good decision/ it wouldn’t be fun anyway because It had been raining all day, I don’t think that was necessarily a true statement but I’m going to believe it was just miserable shopping in the rain. I woke up from my nap around 7pm and a group of people were sitting outside on the patio, so I went and joined them, and we spent the rest of the night talking and having a good time.
The next morning (11th) we once again had sessions. I woke up, got ready, and luckily enough for me I felt completely normal! I walked with the rest of the group to get breakfast and ordered myself a peanut butter doughnut, for those of you who know me this was the BEST thing ever, my only regret is that I only ate one. We finished sessions around noon and were told we had to be on the road to Kataka by 2:30pm. This meant 3 things: 1. we needed to have a great “last supper”, 2. we needed to hoard as much “American” food as we could before we headed back, and 3. we had to find and figure out our own way home.
We went to a restaurant called Fusion for lunch, I got a ham and cheese sandwich, and split mozzarella sticks with Melissa. Food came and it was delicious, I had actual yellow cheese on my sandwich, the mozzarella sticks were massive/delicious- step 1 achieved. We went to the supermarket and I bought a pack of cookies (or as they say, biscuits) for my family, some mint toothpicks (they are obsessed with toothpicks), and a jar of peanut butter- step 2 achieved. Last step was to figure out how to get home. From outside we signaled for a cab and although we were a group of 5 (which would be a full taxi), it is hard to find a completely empty taxi so we split into a group of 3 and a group of 2. We got the first cab and Melissa, Rachel and I got in and told him to carry (carry is take in liberian english) us to Redlight, which cost 60 Liberian dollars (roughly 60 cents US). Redlight took us roughly 2 hours to get to/to the middle of! Traffic was miserable, people were yelling at the cars, selling to the cars, yelling at us, and the exhaust from the car in front and your own car fills the area making you want to vomit. We finally arrive at the parking spot and hopped in a new taxi to carry us to Kakata. The taxi driver tried to eat our eyeball (Liberian term for ripping you off) saying it was 200LD per person, or 800LD a car (a lot of people charter cars and pay the entire amount), to get to Kakata, we told him the rate is 150LD and would not pay any higher. He agreed on 150LD and we got in the car. I sat in front and Rachel, Melissa and a Liberian woman with a child and small lap child sat in the back. Just outside Redlight, about 15 min into our journey, our taxi driver stops the car to pick up another passenger, he unbuckles my seatbelt and ushers me to move. Yep, we picked up a Liberian man who was also going to Kataka. I half sat on the bump of the divider and half on this man’s lap, OH, and the car is a stick shift, so I have to move my leg fat every time he wants to change gears-Ha. About 15 min into our new arrangement, I look back and Melissa and Rachel are passed out, here I thought I got the good seat and they would be smooshed, and BAM, I’m sitting on some mans lap and half of my ass is sleeping-HA! So step 3.. accomplished?
In general, taxi culture here is very different then in the states. Here in a Honda Civic type of car they will always put 4 in the back, and 2 in the front, not including the driver. They decide the rate of the drive based off 6 passengers, so if I want some extra room you can pay for 2 seats, 3 seats, or whatever is necessary. The second you pay for the entire car though, they consider it a charter, and the price skyrockets. Drivers here will also stop whenever they want. They are not on your time, you are on their time. For example, for a 2-hour drive, he might stop at every junction to get food/ snacks or to get the car washed.
We finally arrive to Kataka parking and I’ve never been so happy to be home, or at least in a familiar area. Our entire journey which should be 1hr 30 min max has taken us at least 3 hours, so I am exhausted and still have a 2 mile walk home, so we stop at Kems to unwind. Something I never really consider as exhausting is, overstimulation. Redlight summed up is mass mass mass overstimulation, it takes a huge amount out of you, always needing to be alert, people yelling, and selling/things everywhere- makes you utterly exhausted. Luckily for me on top of being exhausted, my delicious “American” food betrayed me once again, and I was feeling very nauseous. I call it a night early and start walking home. For the first time, the shouting from the houses as I walk on the road of, peace corps, peace corps, is entirely welcomed because I feel completely comfortable in a place that I know. I get home and I’m greeted with dinner on the table, smiling faces, and everyone telling me they miss me. I sit down and chat small (small in Liberia is a little) and tell Princess I don’t feel well and turn in early.
Monrovia was a great experience, sans everything I love making me sick. It was good that we had to get through Redlight by ourselves because, that is something we will need to do in the future, It’s good that we got the lay of the land (aka know where the peanut butter doughnuts are) and it’s good that we got to do something touristy to give us a deeper appreciation of where we are. It was also good to be gone for a couple days because, for me, it made coming back home feel that much better. It was just enough time for me to walk in and with a sigh of relief feel super comfortable/ grateful that I am back home in my bed surrounded by people I care about.
Spider update- The other day I get home and walk into the bathroom and see a spider the size of a silver dollar on the floor. I have a mini panic attack and think I must kill him. I take off my sandal and smack, I miss him, smack, I miss him, smack… like 5 smacks later I finally get him and throw him away. Side note- I’m torn between feeling happy I killed him and massively sad that I took his only life- he only has one life! Anyway, at dinner all proud I tell princess I killed a big spider in the bathroom. She goes totally serious- yeah, I left him for you… Uhhhhh… what? … She told me I had to get use to them so, she saw him, and left him for me. So, I yelled at her and told her we do not just leave the spiders all around the house to help me get use to them! HA!
I’m up to two spiders that I’ve killed so far... pretty proud of myself! Not quite to playing with their legs level yet... all in good time ..