August/September 2012

August was supposed to be a happy month filled with fruity drinks, sandy beaches, sea turtles, old slave trade forts, and national parks....and then Air Nigeria had to go and **** everything up. They grounded flights and I lost my ticket. Solution? Visit America instead.
I had a 22 hour layover in Accra though and got to hang out with some PCVs there and they took me around and I tried some local food and shopped around for fabric. Accra is far more developed than Monrovia is. They have a Holiday Inn, a shell gas station, and a mall....with a movie theater. I'm rather jealous. The taxis are nice and not falling apart, you get the whole seat to yourself and the people are much more used to seeing a lot of foreigners. We also saw a funeral procession that was taking place down the middle of the road. Ghanians spend a lot of money on funerals, they are quite a big deal there. When I told my friend Becca RPCV from Ghana and Liberia about how impressed I was with Accra (I do realize that upcountry Ghana is not that well developed) she said, “I know. When I was leaving Liberia and driving from the capitol to the airport, the taxi car was smoking a lot and caught fire once.” Crazy how close these two countries are but how far behind Liberia is due to the war.
Airplane food tasted like heaven...whatever that tastes like. I giggled in the JFK airport while using the vending machine, and rode the escalator twice. I ate so much cheese and other fatty American foods that my GI tract was very mad at me. I saw my parents, sister, friends, and old co-workers and bosses. I threw rocks into Lake Superior, enjoyed the Minnesota state fair, bar hopped nearly every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and ultimately had a blast. But I missed my dog …. a lot. I did buy him lots of yummy treats and toys for when I got back though. I also bought a dog crate to carry him back home in. That made it back to Liberia. I'm still surprised by that. I got stuck in JFK airport on my flight back. Deja vu? And sleeping in the JFK airport the second time around is ten times less fun since I didn't have my fellow PCVs from LR-2 to keep me company. By the time I landed, I hadn't showered in three days and was still wearing my original clothes (because they checked my spare clothes bag). Also in that bag was my toothbrush and deodorant. I was very happy to get it back finally in Liberia. After a hot shower (my last for awhile) I got a ride back to Bong Mines from the amazing and incredibly kind Craig. My new roommate, LR-3's Rachel Riti, had been watching over and taking amazing care of my dog, cat, and turtles. I can't thank her enough...but I think the bags of Cheetos and chocolate helped.
Naw wei was beyond happy to see me and never left me from his sight for at least the first five days I was back. He had been stressed by my unexplained departure and was very skinny (his ribs were clearly showing) and he had been acting out of character and picking lots of fights with other dogs. Monkey got big! Rachel fed her well. And because I'd left for the states just as Rachel was moving in with her own puppy, Otis, we never all settled in together. That was week one and two of my return. Me, Rachel, Naw wei, Otis, Monkey, and turtles.

School started (late) like I predicted it would again this year. I'm teaching 9th grade General Science, 10th grade Biology, 11th grade Biology, and 10th, 11th, and 12th Computer Class this year. In addition, I also asked to be 11th grade class sponsor. Basically this means I represent them, fill their report cards, and carry their complaints to administration. I'm very close with my 11th grade. They were my 10th grade last year and we all survived summer chemistry together. I know them all quite well and want to help them reach 12th grade. I also don't want them to have to deal with another dysfunctional classroom situation as was the case with Chemistry last year. Although, the chemistry issue has been fixed. Rachel is teaching chemistry to the 10th and 11th sometimes to 12th and General Science to 8th. We are the science power PCVs or as one Liberian man said to Rachel “Chemistry! You must be a medical doctor.” So pretty much everyone thinks we're the smarties.

My 11th grade class and I are excited to to the World Map Project this year on one of the outside walls of the school. We'll be painting a map of the world that is about 3m by 6m and this way, students will be more likely to learn geography and remember it. I can't tell you how many seventh graders could not point to Africa on a map. Also, the 11th graders and I need something to do for my last year. This is a fun and educational experience. After a few months, we will finally get to the painting process and before then I'll have to go buy paint. I estimate the project to cost less than $70 USD including brushes and paint. If you're interested in helping out with this cost small, let me know. I'll keep you updated on the map's progress.

And DONE! Blog is updated and current!....for like maybe the first time ever. ENJOY, and don't forget to read Early June where I remind you to send goodies :)

June, July and August 2012

June, July and August 2012
June, July and August was a blur of activities. Mainly graduations (which involves all night dance parties with super loud music right next to my house...and all the free rice you could eat) and fun with LR-3, the newest group of two year PCVs to arrive since my group a year ago.

LR-3 arrived on June 8th, 2012 with not to much of a hitch. The welcome party (including me) at the airport shuffled their many bags and selves onto our buses and Peace Corps cars. 35 new Peace Corps Trainees. We took them straight to Doe Palace in Kakata and they got settled in after a short initiation of the Kola nut and the mandatory and fun 'group photo'. They spent eight days on the compound before going off to live with home-stay families. Before they did that they went off for site exposure to visit PCVs already settled at site. I adopted Rachel and Lauren for the weekend and it was quite the fun weekend. I had them haul water, do their own wash by hand, cook Liberian food, help me grade test papers (it went super fast with two extra people helping), took them swimming in my famed swimming hole, fed them boiled peanuts and fried plantains from the road, took them to the final football match of the year: 6th grade vs. 7th grade, and introduced them to the wonderfulness of palm wine. It was action packed, but they took it like champs. Afterward, they headed back to Kakata for more training, and I prepared for the what was to become the party of the year...maybe the whole decade....Naw wei's Birthday Party.

June 16, 2012 was the biggest day ever for Bong Mines and the small Americo-Liberian Mutt named Naw  wei. It was his first birthday, and as I promised...(even though it started as a joke) I kept my word...and the party was on. My neighbors all got together (including my landlady) and started cooking. We cooked 50kg of rice. That's a lot of rice. We fried chicken and made Joll of rice. They also made popcorn for the kids. My good friend Kona who works the bar on the road brought cold water and juice (like enough for 200 people at least) and insisted it was free. I then forced her to accept an 'I went to Naw wei's Birthday Party' t-shirt. Yes... I made t-shirts. It was the only way to get my neighbors to agree to do all that cooking for me. So all nine of them got a shirt too. My Vice Principal, Lansana came with his sound system and we were up and blaring loud Liberian music from my porch. I have lots of pictures... I think a little over 300 people came. We gave out all the rice. My principal came and joined my dancing neighbors on the porch. Holly showed up and Naw wei was so happy to see her. He jumped all over her and she laughed at his handsome red 'health club' tie. (Everyone said he needed to dress up, but all I had were ties from my health club) Emmanuel ran the raffle to raise money for the school, I asked Naw wei for one dance during the evening, the children formed a mosh pit in front of my house, and the owner of the radio station came to do an interview with me about my dog's birthday party. I really didn’t imagine it getting that big. The music ran until 3am and I slept a lot the next day. I told my Country Director about the party and interview and he replied “You are such a goof! Bong Mines will be talking about you for decades!” The interview hit the airwaves two days later and word of mouth also aided in another side effect I hadn’t thought off...everyone found out about the crazy white lady who had a party for her dog. And when I say everyone...I mean it. Alex, a PCV who teaches in Gbarnga, told me his neighbor told him and also asked if he knew me. It was all the talk in Kakata. Then when I went to the Peace Corps Office in Monrovia three weeks later the guards outside asked if I knew the PCV who had the party for a dog. I gave a confused face and walked in. The Capital. My dog's birthday may have been national news.... And I can hear the future dialogue in Bong Mines ten years from now: “Do you remember Leela?” “Was she the Peace Corps Teacher who taught to the school and started that health club?” “I have no idea, but do you remember that dog's birthday party?!” No, I would not be very surprised if that ends up being the one thing they remember about me. :)

Later in June, my Health Club did dramas at the Bus Stop (named so after a small covered area where motorbikes and taxis stop). It was a great public program and the students had the people gathered around all laughing as they did dramas on hygiene, HIV/AIDS, bullying, rape, and prostitution. I estimate we attracted about 100 people over three hours. Amazing kids, I just organize them.

I made a small trip to Monrovia to apply for my Ghanian Visa and had my phone stolen. Yay Monrovia *sarcasm* At that time I still thought I was getting my summer vacation to Ghana....stay tuned for the update on that.

Graduation was very bittersweet at Bong Mine Central High School this past June. 14 seniors tried for graduation, only seven passed their classes and the WAEC exam.  The WAEC is the standardized test given to 12th graders before completion of high school. It's similar in a way to American ACT or SAT exams. Except that these exams are far above the majority of student's knowledge and even the wording, and questions are not spelled right or organized well. It's a death trap if I've ever seen one...one that I have not too much control over. But those seven did pass, they did very well and on top of the seven was Valedictorian, Christina Jamison. Younger sister to George Jamison (currently pursuing civil engineering at the University of Liberia) and daughter of Sarah Jamison (second grade teacher at Cental High and Assistant Dean). I'm always blown away when such humble people can come from such a poor background like the Jamisons and yet strive to make their children do better and go farther. I really don't think children in the States know what a great chance they have...in fact I know most of them have no idea. Picture a world where your family may have to choose between eating and paying for school, shorter school days, unqualified teachers, corrupt administrations, no textbooks, no labs or libraries, and not very many alternatives to grasp. Take that into consideration and finding students excelling and heading off to university is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

I spent the first week of July in Gbarnga' Cuttington University for a summer EHELD training through RTI. The goal behind the summer programs were to get students interested in engineering and agriculture to have a step up of preparing for further education through a involved summer program with PCVs and Univeristy of Michigan Graduate Students. The training and the teaching was beyond fun. Hands on projects like bio-gas digestors, solar cookers, and bridge building and classes like English and computer helped them in ways they could never have imagined or hoped. I helped Ryan teach the computer class which was great because I'm anticipated to be teaching computer this coming academic year in Bong Mines. I was also able to get George Jamison into the summer program and he was so happy to be there. Not to mention there was always fun activities and free food :) Incredible program...I hope it only expands from now on.

I sneaked my way onto the big ass bus for LR-3's village adventure ...yeah, no. I didn't sneak. But I felt sneaky. :) It was a fun weekend adventure away from the 'city' life in Kakata to a remote village in Marigibi County. I think they planned it after the 50th celebration was such a big hit with the rest of us. Anywho, I loves me a remote village so I was on that bus. We had a welcoming program at the village, plenty rice and dancing (I got down and did some cultural dancing with the kids), I drank a considerable...because all I know is it was a lot... of palm wine, and the PCVs played the villagers in an epic game of football. We had to leave the game a draw 2:2 but team Peace Corps did score the first two goals with the help of Country Director Vince Groh of course. :) Settling in for the night included an outdoor shower (nice and warm) and a walk to the schoolhouse with the kids. No generators out here, and so after a few hours of singing gospel and Disney songs (guess which ones we were singing) I had a long good sleep cuddled under a mosquito net.

I also taught a two week crash summer chemistry class in July. The school's chem teacher thought it was acceptable to be flaky about attending class, give confusing notes, administer difficult exams and then fail 17 of my 25 tenth graders. And administration was letting him get away with this ….crime. And if you fail one major subject such as Chemistry, you must take summer school. If you fail two subjects at all, you must repeat the grade. So that would mean those 17 students should enroll for summer class. Problem: Mr. evil chemistry teacher refuses to teach the class. Possible result: All those students fail when really, they'd never really received good instruction all year on the subject. Solution: Miss Stephanie volunteers to teach the class and requests the administration lower the cost of the class from $14 USD to free. Administration says: but they failed, they can not take the class for free. Students end up paying $7 USD (nearly the cost of an entire year of government schooling). Miss Stephanie is not seeing any of this money for her summer efforts. Guess who has to growl under her breath and deal with  all the injustices? Good news: all 12 students enrolled pass the summer class and can move on to 11th grade. They end up learning more than the passing students knew about chemistry.

Once upon a time. TIME. I was waiting for my taxi to fill (or for all the seats to be bought) and I sat on a bench behind the car. The trunk was open to load bags, and my chicken was laying in the back, it's little chicken feet tied together so it'd stay put. Miss Nugget was going to Kakata with me to be delivered to Holly. Holly did not want a chicken, but she didn't have a choice. In Liberia, it's custom to trade a chicken for a cat. And I had my cat, Monkey, but had not given her a chicken. I'm not really a superstitious person, but from experience, I've seen it to be true. Cats must be traded for chickens or they will surely have bad luck. Case en point: Our second kitten (gifted to us): died from unknown disease or blockage, our third kitten (gifted to me): stolen from the porch by evil doing children and never seen again. Katelyn’s cat (found/gifted): attacked by dogs. And the list goes on with other PCVs. The point being...trade a chicken. And so, here I sit waiting to go and this young boy (maybe 11 years) saunters by the trunk and sees my chicken. He turns, and grabs the chicken and I'm thinking: Hey, that's my chicken! He grabs it's wing and pulls it out from the chicken's body and leans in.....and I'm too surprised and speechless to say much as he bites...yes, bites my chicken. In a second I realize he has bitten a feather off, but in the quick second I thought it was the wing. I finally say “Hey!” and he just holds the feather up to me saying he was just getting the feather. (insert confused expression on Stephanie's face here) I then watch as he strips the lower follicles of the feather off the stock until only the tip has feathers on it. He then spits on the end and sticks it into his ear, walking casually away. My mouth is hanging open as I finally realize my chicken was just bitten by a young boy who is using it's dirty feather and some good ol fashion spit to clean his ear like a Q-tip. I'd been in Liberia for over a year...and I was still being blindsided by the things that people do here.

Early June 2012

Early June 2012

I made PICKLES!!!!! And yes! I’m /that/ excited over them. You come live in the Liberian bush with no ground beef or cheese for as long as I have and you’d get excited over pickles too. I love pickles but I wasn’t a huge fan of them, but when I can’t get the burger, sesame seed bun, or cheese, I’ll take the pickle. Nora was the first to fix pickles last November. I picked her brain. Turns out all you need are: jar, vinegar, salt, and cucumbers. Extras can include: mustard, dill, garlic, and peppers. And so I have made garlic pepper pickles (hot but so yummy), garlic pickled radishes, pepper dill, garlic mustard pickles, and the triple combo garlic pepper dill pickles. I may have too much free time but it’s a delicious way to spend time. The waiting three or four weeks for them to complete the pickling process is probably the hardest part…other than the other hard part: trying not to eat them all in one day.

Who ever eats freeze dried food other than astronauts? Answer: me, the peace corps volunteer without a refrigerator. I remember saying how gross freeze dried food is. Statement retracted. I L.O.V.E. The freeze dried ice cream mom mails me, and I'm currently munching on some freeze dried peas while typing and trying to figure out how best to catch you all up on life since my last post was eons ago. (I see an opportunity to drop my mailing address so you can mail me goodies! )

Stephanie Nys
Peace Corps Volunteer
P.O. Box 707
Monrovia, Liberia
West Africa

followed by a short list of things I love: veggies, mushrooms, ice cream (all dried), chocolate, beef jerky, chocolate, sunflower seeds, hot chocolate, chips (omg Doritos), cheesy things (ie goldfish crackers), chocolate and the dog says he likes pig ears and chicken treats. I mentioned chocolate right? :)

I think it would be fun to do some kind of montage of my summer, but without uploading capabilities, that really puts a damper on that. I'll do my best to remember...at least the best parts and the very humorous parts.

We (PCVs) held a BBQ at the Doe Palace training center in May. We never actually ended up cooking (cause our fabulous cooking staff was working, and we were busy having fun) but I did make brownies! I don't recommend eating too many too fast, but I will never say that I regret it. Never. Holly also brought her favorite kitten from MoMo's first litter down from Nimba with her. A beautiful white and steal gray kitten with yellow eyes and a orange star design etched around the pupils. After a 'fun' taxi ride back with pretty kitty (who tried savagely to attack me by clawing, biting, and crying) and the little yellow Nissan that kept breaking down, I got her back to my house and swore under my breath for a long time. Forget dainty names I realized soon enough, as I watched her fly all over the house and get her grubby paws into everything, I'm calling this cat Monkey.

There was a rumor that the old market space in my town of Bong Mines would be used to build a Total Gas Station! This made me unbelievably happy. I don't really care much about the gasoline, it's the store's shop that I'm talking about. Snicker bars, M&Ms, Butterfingers, wine, cereal, beer, soy milk, oatmeal glazed cookies as far as the eye can see....so to speak. But all of these luxuries do come at a higher price. There are Totals all over Liberia now: Kakata, Ganta, Tubmanburg, ZorZor, Zwedru and of course there are many in Monrovia. Holly tells me the Kakata Total now stocks cake mix.....CAKE MIX! Ahem, anyways ...I found out the Bong Mines Total was not meant to be (at least nothing has been built in five months) but I did get all fired up about having snickers bars be less than 10 minutes from my house. :) I can still get them in Kakata and bother all my friends who read my blog and love me dearly to mail goodies too. *pokes*

The Health Club headed to the radio station to do our usual segment for Radio Bong Mine 95.5 on Tuesday night. It was a big day for us because we had two girls doing the program and it was a well written skit on Teenage Pregnancy. Precious and Anna were with Health Club Vice Pres, Sunday Matthew. It was Anna's first time ever going on the radio, so she was nervous, but I helped her practice her part and she knew it very well by Tuesday. We started the program with a introduction from Sunday and then he turned the microphone over to the girls to introduce themselves. Precious started first. “Hello radio listeners, my name is Precious Toloe, Treasurer of the Health Club. And this is--” Anna takes a big breath and yells....I mean yells...into the microphone: “MY NAME IS ANNA N. CARMUE.” Takes another deep breath. “AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE HEALTH CLUB.” Another breath. “WE ARE HERE TO BRING YOU THE DRAMA: TEENAGE PREGNANCY.” It didn't matter what we all told her during the short breaks in the program....she yelled her way through the whole thing. Sunday and Precious were very mature about the whole thing until we parted ways on the walk home and Anna left our walking party. I have never laughed so much then with those two students in a loong long time. Sunday kept impersonating Anna and I kept trying (not hard at all) to remind them it's better to be too loud than too quiet on the radio. We dropped Precious off to her house and Sunday and I continued on to mine. When we got home, Emmanuel was on my porch with the radio. He had been listening to our program. I said “How was the program?” He said, “It was good.” Sunday said, “Did you hear Anna?” Emmanuel smiled and said, “I think everyone in Bong Mines heard Anna.”

12 Reasons to Date a Returned Volunteer

Read this in my WorldView magazine...just had to post it for you guys. :)

12 Reasons to Date a Returned Volunteer

By Erica Burman

1. We can woo you in multiple languages. Who else is going to whisper sweet nothings to you in everything from Albanian to Hausa to Quechua to Xhosa? That’s right. Only a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.

2. We’re pretty good dancers. Yeah, we don’t like to brag, but after 27 months in Latin America or Africa we know how to move it.

3. We’ll eat anything. Seriously. No matter how bad your cooking. Returned Peace Corps Volunteers have had worse and will eat it with nary a blink. Sheep’s eyeball? Water buffalo gall bladder? Grasshoppers? Bush rat? Bring it.

4. We know all about safe sex, thanks to our very thorough Peace Corps health training. In fact, there’s a chance that we’ve stood unblushingly in front of hundreds of villagers and demonstrated good condom technique with a large wooden phallus.

5. We’ll kill spiders for you. Well, actually, we’ll nonchalantly scoop them up and put them out of sight. Same goes for mice, geckos, frogs, snakes. Critters don’t faze Returned Volunteers.

6. We have great date ideas: wandering the street market, checking out a foreign film, taking in a world music concert, volunteering… Romantic getaway? Our passport is updated and our suitcase is packed. With us, life is always an adventure.

7. We like you for “you”… not your paycheck. Especially if we are just freshly back from service, a local joint with “character” will win out over a pretentious eatery. Living in a group house? No problem. Does it have running hot water? What luxury!

8. You won’t get lost when you’re with a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Navigating local markets on four continents, we’ve honed an uncanny sense of direction. Or else we’ll ask for directions. We’re not afraid to talk to “strangers”.

9. Waiting for a late train or bus with us? Don’t worry. Been there, done that. We can share lots of funny stories about “the bus ride from hell” that will make the time go quickly and put it all into perspective.

10. Our low-maintenance fashion style. Returned Peace Corps Volunteer guys are secure in their manhood and don’t mind rocking a sarong. Women often prefer flip-flops to high heels. We don’t spend hours in front of a mirror getting ready to go out.

11. Marry us, and you won’t get just one family—you’ll get two! When we refer to our “brother” or “mom”, you’ll want to be certain we’re talking about our American one or our Peace Corps one. You might even get two wedding ceremonies, one in the U.S. and one back in our Peace Corps country.

12. And last but not least, we aren’t afraid to get dirty.

Madness from the month of May

May 2012

I feel that I can finally call myself a true Peace Corps Volunteer now that I’ve been accused of being part of the FBI from a group of Chinese here at my site. I think it’s hilarious…they are very cautious around me. On one hand, I can’t imagine who would ever think that I could pass for FBI…but on the other hand, someone silly, dorky, and bubbly would be sneaky and unexpected. My friend Nora who was visiting (I was informed is working for the CIA). Personally, I think I got the cooler job and have given up trying to convince them otherwise. Maybe one day I’ll mess with them and sneak around with a camera….nah. I don’t want to ruffle and legal feathers. But I still get the small pleasure of them whispering about my top secret job. Heehee.

My family bought me an old model BlackBerry curve for my birthday and with the help of Karen (who carried it in her bag to Liberia) I got it in early May. It’s quite nice really and I took it down to Monrovia and they installed a browser…that’s right. I can get prehistorically slow internet on my phone…when the cell tower is working…and my phone is charged…and I have credit loaded on it. BUT the point is that I can do it sometimes. However, I’ll still have to write you all on my laptop and upload it via USB stick or in Kakata/Monrovia. I also (for the first time since I left home) have a camera phone! I also can load a micro SD card in it…Heeelllooo African music! :) Now I can jam out to this stellar hits on my laptop AND my phone. My students are happy about it. They love their African tunes as do I.

My Health Club decided to do community dramas in Handii. Handii is the small town north-ish of Bong Mines. Handii (like many small towns in Liberia does not have a daily market, they have a weekly market) has market day on Tuesdays. People there must buy all their provisions for the entire week on one day. So, in conclusion, the market is packed and crazy, but tons of fun! You’ll never know if you’ll find a crocodile, ant bear, water dog (otter), monkey, or other bizarre wilderness animal for sale. Unfortunately they are not sold as pets…everything gets put into soup here.

Storms in May were by far the most beautiful of them all. The rain is not too much, and the high winds knock the remainder of the plums (aka mangoes) from the trees. I took more than 30 photos of my neighbor kids racing each other in the rain to be the first to catch the fallen plums. Not to mention eating plums while waiting out a tropical rainstorm is by far the most fun you could have during a thunderstorm. I ate soooo many plums during April and May. The banana mango pancakes were by far my favorite food to make with the plums. I’m already sad when I think about going back to the States and knowing that the mangoes there will never be as sweet as the ones here.

I also got another mental health package from home. Thanks mom and dad! Favorites from this box included more hair dye, body wash (totally a fan of this stuff), the shiny red puppy collar for Naw wei (I’m waiting small for him to destroy is current one first), the book on the plants of West Africa!, and my adorable sister, Taylor, was responsible for the organically made surfboard wax. I love her for that. :) Speaking small about the surfboard, Toothless is doing fine, but we haven’t had time to get away lately. I’ve planned a getaway for just us later this summer.

I also bought a bicycle! It’s a little small for me and I’m dealing with it until I can hopefully find one to switch it with that has a larger frame. Regardless, I never thought I’d sign up to be a Peace Corps Volunteer and take time trying to make sense of cycles and how they work and how to fix one. It’s kind of a lot of trial and error, but I love to learn and who knows when this self-taught skill may come in handy. Getting the cycle back to Bong Mines was quite the experience….watching the taxi drivers argue over who was going to carry the white woman and how they were going to strap it to the top of the little yellow Nissan with the large jerry cans filled with red oil while not upsetting the white woman who wanted her bike to arrive in one piece. But like all the other crazy and chaotic experiences I’ve had here, I survived and so did the bike. I think at some point I should make an entire post alllll about travel in Liberia and its….what’s the word I’m looking for?.....joys. :)

I also now own a generator. Now before you jump to any harsh reactions or conclusions, know that I’ve run the machine three times since I got it and the time of this post. Generators don’t cost too much here. Mine was $80 USD. My house is wired for current (aka electricity) and I have things I occasionally need to charge (ie laptop) especially since the Comium cell tower next to my school (where I normally charge all my stuffs) has been broken for a long time. I don’t trust the charge stations on the road. Things disappear from them way too much. My neighbors were all excited at first when I got it…now they’re less enchanted. “Leela can’t turn on the machine much at all. She can’t watch show inside….no TV?! She only get light inside der.” And I laugh… a lot. In Liberia, you’re kinda crazy if you turn on the generator and don’t watch a movie…but they’ve come to accept that I’m already crazy (I mean, I bathe my dog). I don’t do it much because: it’s noisy as hell, it stinks like gas, gas is expensive ($6 USD for a gallon), and I think it’s cute and campy to live by candlelight every night. I can now add generator tech to my list of random amateur skills.

I also now have purchased plane tickets to Ghana for August 16-26^th, 2012. As much as I *insert mild sarcasm here* /love/ Liberia. Not to mention, I think I’ve hit my frustrating but inevitable ‘one year block’. It’s not an easy post to serve in. The United Nations report from 2011 showed Liberia as the second poorest country in the world. Liberia is /the/ poorest Peace Corps country of all the countries we serve, and you can ask any of my colleagues here, it’s challenging, rewarding, draining, and an emotional roller coaster. For all of those reasons, it’s essential to cool it small, and take a much needed vacation. I chose Ghana since the tickets are pretty cheap, and Ghana is arguably the most developed country in all West Africa. They have paved roads, electricity (for the most part), functioning public transport, a big tourism industry, and a well-established Peace Corps presence. Some of my friends who I’ve told that I’m going are worried since I am going alone (all my other PCV friends are busy with visiting friends/family or they’re special and have money to visit America unlike me). But if I can handle Liberia…I think I have enough common sense to handle Ghana. I’ll re-cap that trip when it finishes, but so far, I’m looking into visiting Ankasa National Park, Akwidaa Beach, Cape Coast Castle, Budumburam Refugee Camp (held 40,000 war refugees from Sierra Leone and Liberia) , and Accra (of course). My plan is thus: relax, swim, look for turtles on the beach, hike the national park, visit the refugee camp, go bar hopping in Accra,  and sleep over night in an old slave trade castle. Then go back to Liberia for my last lap :)

McNugget, my white rooster, is no more. “He coming die now.” He was sick for a day and since I’m not a poultry illness expert, I asked my neighbor Helena. She said that we can eat him…but only if we kill him. If he dies on his own, no way. We cannot eat him. That’s what they believe in Liberia. And so, I gave McNugget to Varney the neighbor boy (women aren’t banned from killing chickens; they just do not do it. The men to it.).  Varney killed the chicken, and my neighbors cleaned and cooked him. We all enjoyed a very chicken-filled meal that day. He was “sweet-o!”. It was the first pet I’ve ever had that I’ve eaten. I don’t know what my animal-loving, vegetarian sister would say, but I tell people “It was a cultural experience”. And that’s very true. However, I have limits too. I would /never/ share the cultural experience of eating dog or cat. But your integration level and local language proficiency can really help you do anything here. I swear by it :)

More gossip came my way in May when some of my tenth graders told me that one of the girls in the class slept with another girl student’s husband. Funny twist is that these two girls are really good friends…and surprisingly still are. I don’t think I’ll ever understand but it was hilarious to listen in feel included rather than their strange white teacher who in need of constant respect. Pfffftt, I enjoy some funny gossip too. Although I did come into the talk and voice that I hoped they all used condoms. :)

Children in Bong Mines are always confused by me and it warrants for great debates and arguments. Here are the top favorites of mine to overhear.

1. “Dat woman!” “Dat man!” “No, dat woman. You stupid.”

2. “Chinee!” “American!” “No, Chinee woman.” And the random “Peace Corps Lady” which I like

3. “Dat weave cap!” “No, dat her real hair.” “No, dat weave.” “Dat lie!”

4. “Quieta!” “No, dat Leela, no Quieta.” (Quieta= Holly’s kpelle name)

And even though she was shorter than me, had long blonde hair….Our names still get mixed up.

April 2012

Late March 2012
Forgot to tell you about the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) Reading Competition at the end of March. It was my school against all the other schools in Fuamah District. Contenders included Pentecostal, Golauunma, Dobli Island, Botoe Barclay, Nancy B. Doe, Gbandi Community, Lawana Public School, and Bong Mine Central High School. Of course we dominated and won by a landslide. :) Our elementary teachers attended a reading enhancement workshop in December to help the teachers teach the students to read and that letters have their own sounds. Along with bragging rights, we also took the top prize: a big ol’ clock for the school (which plays random Beethoven songs on the hour) and a chance to compete in Gbarnga the county capital in May! Go BMCHS! Honestly, I just hope we beat Salala. The PCVs there have been too awesome and need some friendly competition from Bong Mines to show them up a little. :P Look out, Salala! We coming-o!

April 2012
April needs to begin with a few laughs, after all the first day in April is April Fools. I monopolized on that day by texting my Country Director and telling him the Sande (traditional bush school for women) allowed me to join them and I asked him if he thought our PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer) would mind that I had some scarification done. I told him it didn’t really hurt much. He actually believed me and I was pretty impressed. The Poro (traditional school for men) and Sande don’t allow outsiders in. I’m not knowledgeable on this topic in the least.

Also on the funny note, some of you may have noticed my photo albums on facebook include a few funny clips of my student’s writing. Some of my favorite misspelling and other mistakes include these: “ Malaria is cause by men”, “Menstruation is an infection”, and Anjulie Shea’s student wrote “Weed in acid” for types of simple machines….I’m sure she meant wheel and axle. All of these make grading papers so much more fun. My friend Dani also sent me a funny text saying that she was near some small children in her town and she knew they were taking about toilet paper because they said ‘The white people use it to wipe poo poo of their butts’. I found this hysterical and told my mom who instead of laughing, paused and then asked “What do Liberians use it for?” To which I calmly replied “To wipe the rust from the lip of our soda bottles of course”. Aaaaand that summarizes up life here pretty well.

I took a trip up into Lofa to visit Dani and Anjulie (because I miss them and love them…they’re read this someday). Their site is called Salayea (Sa-la-yay) as opposed to Charlene and Kristin’s site Salala (which we make fun and call it Sa-la-lame! They tolerate this abuse). While in Lofa I was FORCED to eat toupurgee (the only Liberian soup I do not like because it’s bitter and has too much soda) and wasn’t feeling too hot before that and ended up with runny stomach (aka diarrhea). When I get home I will have a gastro intestinal tract of STEEL. :) We visited the school and checked out the trees and mountains. You know your site saw heavy war damage if there are bullet hole remains in the trees at your site. We made a day trip to Zorzor to shop as well. Zorzor has a Total gas station!!!!! Let me explain. Total is a gas company here in Liberia and has, until recently, only been in Monrovia. Total is like….mini America. They sell quality powdered milk (still not quite as good as back home), REAL chocolate, soy milk, crackers, all kinds of Pringles, American brand shampoo, international beers, and Lebanese bread. I need one in Bong Mines. So there are now mini america’s popping up all over Liberia so I can buy butterfingers without going to Monrovia (they’re still expensive though). They have Total in Zorzor, Ganta, Kakata and I think Zwedru may have one. Also in Zorzor we bought some lapas and local paintings (which I need more of so I can decorate African style when I go home).

Finished reading House On Sugar Beach! And I highly recommend it. It’s best to read after you’ve been in country for three or four months so you know the locations and understand the lingo better. I also HIGHLY recommend Blue Clay People as well. Loved that book about Liberia. The Darling was okay, great story, but I didn’t like the main character very much.

For my 25th Birthday: I slept, read, sat on the beach with my dog, and ate chocolate cake. It was stressful. :) I also got to enjoy ice cubes, carpet, hot showers, and air conditioning for two nights! I was planning to reach Robertsport to surf, but I wanted my board and dog to come along and my ride fell through. It worked out though because I got some care packages and care letters from my friends and family. HUGE thank you to my Auntie Barb and Uncle Tiny for the chex mix snack box and goldfish crackers. You knew exactly what I needed. It was also a happy birthday to my dad who shares the same birthday with me. He can tell me I’m old all he wants…but he’s older!

A week later I packed up my four best twelfth graders to take them down to a Career Expo in Monrovia. I thought editing and writing MY resume was a pain….imagine teaching it to four Liberians who’ve never done one before. BUT we finished, printed them, found our professional dress, and practiced our interview skills and headed to City Hall. At city hall they got really great workshops on Entrepreneurship, Interview Tips, and How to act on the job and keep your resume (they all say CV here) updated. Then there was an event hall packed with employers looking for new workers. They got to drop their resumes and find out about different opportunities for jobs that they never would have otherwise.  One of them actually got hired from this event. I was really proud of them and I have a better idea what companies are hiring. Because you tell your students ‘go to school for a better future’ but we never tell them what they should focus on because we don’t know what Liberia’s looking for. What jobs are vacant? What subjects are key to Liberia’s growth? How can I prepare my student for that type of job/career path?

I also stopped by to see the NEW Doe Palace Training Center in Kakata. Man…. It’s nice. There is an all new dorm building complete with electricity, air conditioning, refrigerator, hot showers, couches and wifi. LR-3 (the next group of PCVs) are SPOILED. Doe Palace also has an auditorium hall for lectures/movies (I vote the ladder), a main building for offices and cafeteria (with amazing cooks and food!). Palaver huts coming soon. So I enjoyed the A/C and made some COLD powdered milk and ate it with M&M’s from the Kakata Total gas station, yum! The resident dog of Doe Palace (named Peace Corps) had puppies not too long before (maybe April 16th) and so I got to see the cute 6 balls of fluff that are currently (on June 16th) running all over the grounds and making friends with the new LR-3 trainees.

I returned to site to give period exams to find out that one of the teachers charged $20 (Liberian dollars) for an exam that he didn’t even print…he wrote it on the board. Test fees are $15 Liberian dollars and that cost goes to cover the expense of printing (printing in Kakata because all the photocopy machines in my site have been broken for over 8 months now) TIA. The test fee applies to each subject and was agreed upon by the PTA. Anyway, my best friend and student Emmanuel refused to pay the 20 dollars and gave him 15. The rest of the class paid the 20 dollars and didn’t argue at all. Liberian students are scared. Scared the teacher my do something to affect their grade if they refuse. They believe they do not have any rights in the school. This….made me very vexed. And so I whipped up a stellar motivational speech with lots of Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr quotes and stomped back into their class and empowered them to make a stand against these injustices! I asked them if they were going to allow their children to be used by the school system when they became parents. They were all quite shocked. I think they were surprised to find a teacher who cared so much. I also took the information to the Vice Principal and he was happy I did. I know the teachers have a hard time with pay business, but that doesn’t mean they can make the students (who are already very poor) suffer even more.

Chichipoole means gossip here. And lots of that was happening the night the chicken stealing business went down. Here’s what happened. I have two roosters. McNugget and Tater Tot (or Mr. White and Mr. Brown to my neighbors). Every night they come home at dusk and walk into the shop from the front porch which I leave open for them. They settle atop their respectable chicken baskets or sometimes share one and cuddle. I then lock the door for the night. Day 1: McNugget comes home on time. Tater Tot doesn’t show up. I lock McNugget inside and tell myself Tater Tot will come tomorrow. Day 2: McNugget comes home at night. Tater Tot finally shows up dragging a thick rope tied to his foot. He goes inside the shop and I think someone has just tried to rouge my chicken. I cut the rope off him. Day 3: McNugget comes home at night. Tater Tot is late. My neighbor tells me that she thought she saw him a few houses down in a different chicken basket. I investigate. It’s true! I find Tater Tot and take him. The woman there says it’s the man in the house’s chicken. I tell her she’s wrong. I put Tater Tot in the shop. The man shows up asking for his chicken. His story: They woman in the house there *point* sold it to me two nights ago. Translation: That woman stole my chicken and then sold it to this fool who believed her when she said it was hers. Result: I kept my chicken, he got his money back, the woman was rather ashamed, and my neighbors laughed over much Chichipoole.

March 2012

Feb. Extra! (I forgot Valentine’s Day)

We had school on Valentine’s Day and I got three valentines from my students (one was really romantic and mooshy) okay, I’ll fill you in on what it said: ‘A candle may melt and it’s fire may die, but the love you have given me will always stay as a flame in my heart’ and ‘When you love someone truly, you don’t look for mistake, instead you fight the mistake, you accept the fault and overlook the excuses. Love is not how you forget, but how you forgive, not how you listen, but how you understand, not what you see, but how you feel, not how you let go, but how you hold on’.  And I didn’t know what to make of that. I’m sure more than three (two girls, one boy) have a crush on me. I think this is both cute and funny. Unfortunately for them, that stuff is not allowed, and they’re waaaaaaaaaaaaay too young for me. But I can’t say I don’t like that attention and gifts. I use their admiration of me to promise me that they’ll do their homework and go to class. I’m sneaky.

After school, Emmanuel and I went for a walk on the main road. It’s Valentine’s Day and true, I don’t have a Valentine (although I got many offers…mainly all older men), but that doesn’t mean I’m going to sit inside my house and not go spy on the social lives of my students. Live vicariously through others! And I was curious about who is dating who at school. (Don’t judge me, I don’t have television…remember?) Anyways, I discovered a lot of interesting gossip that night and caught many of my students by surprise when I went to the dance club with Christina, Nora, and Emmanuel. We did A LOT of dancing (I still can’t dance well, but Africans don’t care. They just like to see me dance at all) and afterward trouped up the dirt hill to John Hill neighborhood. There is a photo studio there and you’re not a real PCV or Liberian until you go out in your ‘finest’, dance like a dork, sweat a lot, and then go take a picture having no idea what you look like by that point. Valentine’s Day 2012 photo of the five of us is pure blackmail material and maybe someday I’ll let some of you see it. Maybe… :)

And there you have it. Valentine’s 2012. I also wrote anonymous prank-love letters to a few PCVs and left them in their mailboxes in Monrovia with plastic roses.

March

I did an Embassy stay on March 1-3^rd. Ken Hasson and his wife, Lourdes, were the best parents away from home ever. Ken was a fisheries PCV in Ecuador where he met his wife. Knowing this, you can only imagine the number of hours we spent talking about ocean critters and fish. We ate some amazing lamb, and I got my milk and cheese fix. Fellow PCVs Nora and her site mate, Kaitlyn were also in town so we hit the embassy pool for some exercise….erm, tube floating. I also bought seasons 5 and 6 of How I Met Your Mother from a legit street dvd seller and watched them ALL with Lourdes. She also dyed my hair for me (yes, I’m still red :P I like it, so I’m keeping it) and on my last day in town went surfing with my fellow beach bum, Eric Sturgis. Toothless and I are really carving it up on Liberian waves and aside from the sunburn (I DID put on sunscreen, mom) I had an amazing time. It was a great way to relax and break away from site to clear my head and enjoy some lights, refrigeration (I ate so many ice cubes!), and air conditioning for two days before heading back out into the bush.

One of my fellow teachers James Kumaru gave me a woman chicken! Her name was Miss Nugget. Unfortunately, PJ thought it would be fun to kill her while I kept her tied for her first three days so she became familiar with her new home. And so my neighbors gained a free chicken for their soup the next day…and McNugget and Tater Tot were sad.  So I’m still on the lookout for a woman chicken…

As you may remember, there is no UNMIL or UN base in my area. As far as I knew, the only other non-Liberians working in my district was China Union. Until I met Henry Snider and was introduced to the Nepelle Project (http://niapeleschoolnutritionchallenge.com/donate/). Really great NGO work going on here and I was happy to meet Henry and the non-Liberians working with the project. Penelope Chester came from Canada to work on/check the status of the project and it was a real pleasure sharing ideas and information. Her project is doing an amazing job establishing sustainable farms at rural schools so that the schools can feed the students. I recommend their great work and like I said on facebook, since I do not yet have a project that requires funding, you can share your love with the Nepelle Project.

PJ got sick in mid-March. I debated even writing about him in my blog, but decided to (in fairness to reality. This blog includes the good and the bad). It was an internal blockage, rupture, poison…something internal that no matter what I did (Oral rehydration salts, pepto bismol, etc.) could not fix. He died not to long after. It made me horribly sad and put a huge reality check on life out here in Liberia. Life is not easy on animals, and there are no vets in the interior (one in Monrovia) and therefore, there was nothing I could do for him. Something that could have easily been fixed or operated on in the states was a death sentence here. I had PJ for about a month and a half….I can’t even imagine loosing Naw wei and I hope that never never happens to him. He’s my only best friend out here and source of laughter when he does goofy stuff.

The MOE (Ministry of Education) sent my school two new teachers this month. Aqwei teaches Chemistry and Francis Kollie teaches Biology. Great news, huh? Except that the MOE only gave them money for travel here and nothing for housing or food. These two are recent grads from the University of Liberia and (as of May 2012) are still not on government payroll. Nice, huh? So it’s been just a liiiittle frustrating as you can only imagine. Where will they sleep? How will we (the teachers who make small pay/are having trouble with our own pay) feed them? As a result of this trouble, the two teachers are not in Bong Mines very much and stay in Monrovia more. Which means our kids don’t get taught. This is supposed to be getting ‘fixed’ next school year so we’ll see what happens. Until then, I sometimes help out with Biology, but Chemistry is not my forte and can only offer support in that area…not teach. Once this pay issue gets fixed, I can see Francis Kollie being good counterpart material as he teaches the same topic and is not new to teaching, but new to BMCH School.

My Health Club is now on the radio! I got the idea when one of my  10^th graders invited me to the station where he was volunteering to talk about HIV/AIDS. Afterward, I thought ‘yeah, maybe the listeners understood me and got the message, but this would be better understood by fellow Liberians…my Health Club should be doing this!’ and so I trouped off to find the radio station managers and ask permission and what was required. We secured Wednesdays at 8pm and I went off to inform the Health Club. I helped Victor and Sunday write a script about Malaria (since rainy season was coming) and we practiced it on the porch. We informed the school and friends to listen in and off the station we went. Victor and Sunday did a funny back and forth (Victor knew everything about Malaria and mosquitos and Sunday knew nothing and even thought that mosquitos were for eating) explaining (in Liberian English) what malaria is, how you can get malaria, what does it do to your body, and how can you treat/prevent it. After the skit, now that Sunday knew allll about malaria, he summarized the entire script in the most common dialect here, Kpelle. He’s a natural on the radio and I told him if he gets really good, I may email UNMIL Radio in Monrovia and appeal for them to let us be guests next year. UNMIL Radio is the most popular station here (along with BBC and Radio Monrovia). Victor and Sunday were nervous at first, but finished the program amazingly well and everyone was talking about the funny program from Radio Bong Mine 95.5 FM.

The Computer lab at school got a big makeover when I invited my friend, and RPCV, Thad to come out and help me ‘clean up’ the computers. Thad was doing response work in Kakata and now works there but not with Peace Corps anymore. Anyway, he’s so tech savvy is frightening and so I knew I needed to get him out here to help me set this future computer class stuff. We stayed in the computer lab for almost six hours (well into the night) with the VP and Principal working on the machines. We determined that 10 of the 12 desktops worked and by swapping some hard drives and other odds and ends, we got the 10 working well. We wiped Windows XP off of them and put fresh copies on to clean out any viruses and now, I’m just in the process of putting Microsoft Office on them.

After Thad left, and while I did set-up work on the computers, I had my new TA’s help me! I’ve got my VPI (Vice Principal for Instruction) Mr. Roland Cooper who is my teacher TA. Emmanuel, Benedict, and Esther are my 10^th grade student TA’s. Mr. Cooper and Benedict have had some exposure to computers but Esther had never laid her hands on one before. So it was important that while I did boring and complicated set up work that they played around with WordPad (still installing Word) and become familiar with the keyboard. So they all set to typing up their own notes/lesson plans. Gasoline is expensive here … like $5.50 USD for one gallon. And therefore, I was happy that they were using the computers I was not working on to practice. I’m not sure how Administration will figure out the lab portion of this computer class. I’m a free instructor, but there is no way I’m paying for gasoline for the school’s generator.

Emmanuel and I often go to swim in the swimming hole. He learned how back in his village where there is water to swim. Most Liberians can’t. Christina is one of those Liberians. So we took the inner tubes and I taught her some basic stuff. After an hour or two she was ….sort of paddling around. :) I told her not to be frustrated; this skill is not mastered overnight by any means. During the same swimming trip a got bit by a nasty bug above my right eye. Ever had swelling on your face before? Well, it swells outward…because your skull prevents it from swelling inward. As a result I got to spend the next day looking a lot like the hunchback of Notre Dame (minus the hump). All the Liberians thought I was going to lose my eye and I couldn’t see out of it until 9pm. I’m fine now, and took some Benadryl which helped but made me supppper sleepy. And so I slept the entire day away. Time well spent if you ask me. :)

Once upon a time….TIME! (see, you’re catching on. :) Don’t understand? You need to read Feb 2012) Stephanie moved to Bong Mines on August 24^th, 2011. She didn’t know anyone there and the house wasn’t finished yet. She sat with the neighbors, gossiping and conversing, trying to fit in. They asked her a lot about Naw wei, her puppy who had come with her. She joked that he was only pretty special to her and that she would need to throw him a birthday party next June on his first birthday. The neighbors roared with laughter! ‘Can you believe?’ They said. ‘Celebrate dog birthday?’. Stephanie laughed too, happy to have her new friends. Three months passed. A few random people stopped her on the road to inform her that ‘I’m going to Naw wei’s Birthday Party’. What started out as a joke is now common knowledge. Everyone seems to know Naw wei’s Birthday is coming up in June and they rightfully expect a party, plenty of rice, and good music. Stephanie has been obliged to follow through with what she though was a funny JOKE. *sigh* She is now preparing for the largest party of all time for a dog in Bong Mines and probably the history of Liberia. Naw wei has informed them he would like some chicken bones and a woman for his birthday. Stephanie’s neighbors have convinced her that the party needed Naw wei Birthday t-shirts. And so, t-shirts have been designed by Stephanie and are in the process of being printed by her friend Justin. Oh boy, this party will be crazy. Look out, June 16^th, 2012. Naw wei’s Birthday Party is coming….and we expect over 200 people. The End….for now.

The BMCHS Health Club put on its first live drama performance for the student body. It was about equal rights for boys and girls when it comes to going to school and personal hygiene. In the first drama, there was two families ‘bad family’ and ‘good family’. Bad family believed that sending their girl child to school was a waste of money. She needs to do wash and cook anyway. Good family who sends both the girl and boy child to school and share the house work had to convince Bad Family that educating your girl child is very important too. They wrote these dramas all on their own and ran their own drama practices. I’m pretty proud of their commitment considering they are working as volunteers. The students at school found the dramas comedic and fun and the Administration (who was certain my idea of a student-run health club would fail) quickly asked when we would come and perform again. :P

I’ve decided I need (not want….NEED) a water gun. For two main reasons: 1. Wake up sleeping students in my class 2. Keep pesky children away from my house. If you are able to assist in this, I would be very grateful. Please note that I’d like the water gun to be pressure pumped, hold at least one liter of water, and shoot at least 20 feet (the pesky kids run fast). I promise to only use it on those who really deserve it and will never shoot them in the face.

Oh, and just an update on mailing stuff. All mail is pretty safe to send except expensive stuff. The only real risk is the rats finding the chocolates or snacks before me. So if mailing any foods, try and spare a Tupperware container to protect them. Besides, I have use for the containers. I don’t like sharing my food with the ants.

Naw wei is busy making babies and baby Naw wei’s all over the neighborhood. As a parent, I’m a little late with ‘the talk’ and find it awkward when I catch him in the act. The upshot is that because he has plenty girlfriends, he doesn’t ever hump people or objects (thank goodness). He’s also turning into the neighborhood ‘bossman’ as my neighbors say. The male dogs that used to kick his butt are now getting their butts kicked. Payback’s a …..female dog. :) And now he’s leader of his mini neighborhood pack of buddies. And like I told you before, I know allll about it because I do porch sittin’ since there is no TV watchin’.

I got Mail!!! From Ashy: thanks for the Valentine’s card and candy! From Lisa aka Shmee Shmah: thanks for the letter! From Kate and Karl in Japan: thanks for the card!! From Wendy: Thank you for the funny letter! From Taylor (the bestest sister ever): Thank you for the letters! From Mom and Dad: Thank you for the box with dog treats (Naw wei approves), body wash (I approve), and periodic tables (my happy 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th graders HIGHLY approve). Respectively, responses have been sent out…they’ll get to you in due time.

Peace Corps Liberia and PSN (Peer Support Network) are all working hard to prepare for the much expected LR3. Last year, me, and 21 others came to Liberia as LR2 and now we’re getting ready for the nearly 38 new volunteers coming on June 8^th. We’re excited to receive them and need to make sure everything is ready for them. LR3, if you’re reading this, we can’t wait to meet you! Hope you’re finished with your packing and ready to jump on the plane!

April post coming ASAP. :) Thanks for reading and poking me in the ribs to update when I get busy and forget. <3