Wrapping things up

So, it is my birthday and here I am in Liberia. Good people around but desperately missing home. I am very much looking forward to celebrating it Rome in 10 days!

Some pictures from my birthday...

My Cake made from layers of homemade crepes, bananas, pineapples, coconut, Nutella, and jam. So creative and so nice of Nathan, Danielle and Caitlin to make it for me!




Carefully cutting into the creation




Danielle in process of making the cake




An update: I am in Ganta right now and I have completely moved out of my Gbarnga house. I will be here until Friday at the latest and then I will head down to Monrovia to spend the weekend at Amy’s beach house before getting on a plane at 3:25 am Monday (next Monday). I will be observing at the “Child’s Recovery Center” this week. It is a step down clinic from the hospital before the children go home. Malnutrition is one of the reasons the children are there, among other reasons. Audrey, one of the program directors has noticed that there have been some unexplained deaths at this clinic and so I am going to observe for the week to see if I have any suggestions for improving care. This clinic has not professional staff and is purely women who volunteer their time. So, we’ll see how that goes. I can’t do much in 4 days.

So, since my time here is wrapping up I thought I would make a little list of things that I have gotten used to, things I will never get used to, things I have missed from home and things I am looking forward to doing at home.

Things I have gotten used to:
Cold bucket showers- I would still prefer a nice hot shower or bath, but it wasn’t too bad
Feeling like I am constantly in a parade- people yelling “white woman!” and me having to wave and shake hands when I walk anywhere
Only having electricity for part of the day and having to work around the generator schedule
Being forced to be creative with meals
Sleeping with a bed net
Nothing running as planned or on schedule
Lighting burners with a match
Filtering all my water

Things I will never get used to:
Feeling bloated all the time from the heat and dehydration- seriously I feel about 50 pounds heavier than I am from the bloating. I have also totally gained weight in Liberia. Not happy about that since I gained weight before I left because I assumed that I would loose weight here. My meals are heavily carbohydrate based. I don’t like the food here, but the bread is fresh baked and good. Therefore, I eat a lot of bread. And a lot of canned foods. I have been eating eggs although I do not prefer to because it creeps me out a bit. They are shipped from other countries, despite there being lots of chickens around, and are not refrigerated. I have had a couple of bad ones, but they have been pretty much ok for the most part. As the rainy season, the “hungry season” has been picking up, the food availability in the market has decreased substantially and there are almost no fresh foods available. The things that are available include pineapples, bananas, plantains, tomatoes sometimes (not in Ganta), cucumbers, potatoes, rice, peanuts.… not too much else. SO the fruit I do get is high sugar, starchy fruits, and the vegetables are starchy veggies. A standard meal that we make when the items are available is a pasta salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, and chickpeas with garlic and onion and a dressing made of oil and vinegar. Sounds incredibly simple, but it is one of the only things that tastes fresh here. I can’t wait for a nice crisp, cold salad!!! So, back to the start of this little rant- I can’t believe I gained weight. Lots of yoga when I get back and lots of fresh food. Mom, for the short time I am home after Italy, lets keep the refrigerator stocked with all fresh ingredients, K? I can’t wait to go grocery shopping and have options!!
On the topic of food- the stages of eating food with bugs in it. Specifically ants. There are stages of acceptance. 1- throw out the food if you see ants. 2- Pick out the ants/ eat around the ants. 3- eat the food, ants and all. I don't think I will ever get to 3, but I do consider myself at stage 2 1/2- I will pick out the ants, but I will also eat food without even looking for them because I assume that they are in there. Ignorance is bliss!!
Spiders- I have been protected from really massive ones, but there are still some sort of spiders everywhere. I am not as “scared” of the little ones, but I definitely still don’t like them.
Toilets- or lack there of.
Feeling dirty all the time

Things I really miss from home:
Being able to curl up on the couch
Being able to call people easily
My comfy bed
Being able to walk around without flip flops or some sort of foot protection at all times
Going out to a restaurant
Being able to go for a walk without being harassed for money or being shouted at
Yoga studio- I have been able to do it on my own, but so not the same
Being able to work out the way I do at home
An oven
Grocery stores
Running water to wash your hands
Hot baths
My family and friends
William

Things on the agenda to do when I get home/ Europe:
My parents got me a hotel for my overnight layover in Brussels. Thanks mom and dad!!! Things I will do there include a hot bath, nice shower, have a salad for dinner at the restaurant, watch TV in bed, have a cup of tea without sweating.
Things in Italy. See Bill!!!! Have a cappuccino, have more salads, gelato, wine, walking around without people yelling at me, air conditioning, more running water, brushing my teeth without having to use bottled water, the clothes that William is bringing with him- I am sick of wearing the same stuff over and over and over- going swimming on a hot day, relaxing!!!
Home: going grocery shopping and having options for food, hopefully loosing some of this extra weight I packed on, sleeping in, hanging around in my pajamas and enjoying the mornings, seeing friends and family, getting back to a routine.

Things that were good about Liberia:
The people that were here to support me through the hard times
Every day being an adventure- good or bad
Being creative with things to do for fun
Lots of time to read

What I feel that I accomplished here:
Finishing the nutrition cards- visual aids to help with education
Developed good friendships
Brought severely malnourished children to the hospital and got to see some success stories
Learned a bit more about myself
Learned to be very flexible and adaptable
Strengthened relationships with people back home
Helped with some logistical issues in Gbarnga

So there ya go, some wrap up thoughts for Liberia. I will write from here probably one more time, but thanks again to everyone who supported me through this. I think that the first month here was the hardest month of my life, with little exaggeration. I could not have done it without your prayers, support, emails, phone calls, packages and well wishes. Thanks also to all of those who financially contributed to my work here. I was blessed to have to pay very little out of pocket. People from my church, friends, family, Renee and Jon, thank you so much for your contributions. I love you all very much and I can’t wait to see all of you. I will be back in America in 25 days! First though I have to make a stop over in Italy to spend 15 wonderful days with the greatest person in the world. We are planning on traveling all over Italy and I could not be more excited. 10 days until I am in Roma!!!

68 days down, 9 to go!