Getting settled

Yesterday, I got a chance to go out and see some of the sights of Monrovia. They took me to the US Embassy and to a few of the local markets that they shop at. The embassy was nice. It is right on the coast and has a nice pool, tennis court, and beach volleyball. After a brief tour of the embassy they took me out to the streets. Here, all the markets are ran by the Lebanese. The stores are quite impressive. They are your typical store with isles and isles of items for sale. Most items are pretty expensive. I bought a box of honey nut cheerios for $9 and 6 hangars for $3.50. They have pretty much every American item you can think of. Out on the streets they were selling everything from chicken and goats (that were hog-tied and displayed on the sidewalk), sunglasses, food and cell phones. It rained most of the day and when we were out on the town it really began to pick up. We made a break for the car and back to the apt we went. The rain did not let for the rest of the day.

The rest of the day we just hung-out back here at the apt and I continued to unpack and situate my room. We were invited to go watch blackhawk down with one of the neighbors. I dont remember his name but he and his wife are from Jacksonville, FL and he is here training the Liberian Police.

Starting tomorrow, I will begin the check-in process at the UN Headquarters. I have to take my UN driving test, I have to sit-in on some briefs, fill out some paperwork and meet some folks. They are telling me I should expect to be in Monrovia checking in for about 3 weeks. Once I am complete I will be headed out to my team site; Gbanga. This site is located ~3 hrs (by road) northeast of Monrovia. My plan is to enjoy these next few weeks of A/C, electricity, and running water, because from what I'm told, Gbanga will be "roughing it." I am told that my team site has people from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Ukraine. I am excited to meet them all.

Sorry I have been able to post pictures but the bandwidth we have here is making it difficult. Ill keep trying and look into other options.