Locals look for reusable materials at a recently demolished building down the street from us
The highlight of the week was getting to see our good friend Jim who’s in Monrovia for work – what a treat! We were so excited to see him that I forgot to take a picture, but maybe we can remedy that later in the week when we see him again. We talked for hours – he’s been coming here to work for a long time, and has a deep understanding of the culture and history. When we met Jim and Joan in the late 90s in Costa Rica, I never thought that (1) they’d be living down the street from our friends Mike and Wayne in San Antonio or (2) that we’d have Jim sitting on our sofa in Monrovia twenty years later! The kind of things that make life interesting.
John was gone all week to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, for a workshop all week. He had a great time, and came home with stories of a lovely city with modern streets, highways, and tall buildings (at least in the main part of town) – a stark contrast to Monrovia. (For example, his ride home from the airport in Monrovia took almost two hours, yet it’s only about 25 miles.)
Last weekend, a second TDYer arrived from Buenos Aires, so our consular team met her for coffee last Sunday morning. She is as delightful as our other TDYer from Chad. We had a very productive week and are learning so much from them. Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Minga on Friday as she completed her time with us. The embassy closes at 1PM on Fridays, so some of us went to a local restaurant for sushi. Afterwards, Minga, Fernanda, and I poked around in the little tourist shops to see if there were any treasures we needed, then we came to our apartment for sundowners – a very nice afternoon.