More Photos from Sinoe

Here's a collection of photos from Sinoe. Enjoy!

Fore!

Last week, we enjoyed a much-needed staycation. I've never had a whole week in Liberia to just relax, curl up with a book or two, sleep and explore. On Wednesday, we made plans to go play golf at Firestone...which usually happens about once a year. Despite the heat, sweat and multiple sunscreen applications, we had a blast! I really enjoy golf, and I think all or most of us decided that we should play more regularly. By the time you rent clubs and pay a caddy, green keeper and ball-spotter, it ends up being about $15 (Green fees: weekday $5, weekend $10. Closed on Mondays.). The best part is that you can be absolutely horrible and wear whatever you want (ever golfed in Chacos in the States?! I think not!) and you're still allowed on the course! We played 9 holes in about 3 hours and 15 minutes...which is much better than the last time, which took more than 5 hours! This was only my 3rd time playing golf and I shot 69 on a par 34 course (9 holes), haha. My strategy included hitting the ball in the trees so that you could play in the shade! My strength getting distance and height, and I really should work on my putting! Anyway, here are a few photos from our golfing day at Firestone.

Camping in Buchanan [for the last time]

After canoeing across rivers and exploring Edina, we set out for our favorite camping spot in Buchanan. We have camped in this spot multiple times, and we absolutely love it! It's beautiful, secluded and just a great escape from our normal routine.

We had a few hours before the sun went down, so we did alittle swimming, enjoyed a long walk on the beach to collect shells (I've never seen so many shells in one place in Liberia) and did some rock climbing. As daylight faded, we set up camp and collected firewood. We started our fire, started making our dinner (Denty Moore stew on top of mashed potatoes) and settled in for an enjoyable night around the fire. We talked and laughed, had a visitor that we gave our leftovers to, laughed some more, enjoyed the stars and then began to settle in the sand for the night.

I think we all drifted off to sleep around midnight. But less than an hour later, Deb popped up saying, "Josh, Josh...did you hear that?! It sounded like an explosion." I was still half out of it, but rolled over to figure out what was going on. Deb thought she heard something near the truck, so she clicked the remote so the light would flash and the alarm would beep. As soon as she hit the remote, you could hear someone running off into the bush.

CRAP! Someone WAS around the truck...and were there more people?! We waited a few minutes because we didn't know what we would find, and then we all approached the truck. The driver's side window was completely gone and there was glass all over the sand and on the seat. We all started shinning our lights around the beach and the treeline, wondering if we were being watched. We walked around the truck, and realized that there were multiple attempts to break the passenger window, but they were unsuccessful.

Amazingly enough, we called the Emergency Response Unit in Monrovia to ask for a contact in Buchanan. We were give a number, spoke with a very helpful police officer who told us they were on their way to us. We waited for awhile, but still aware that someone could still be around, so we jumped in the truck and just wanted to get to the road. We ended up meeting the police on the road, and they wanted to see the crime scene. We went back to our beloved camping spot to show them the glass in the sand, and then began to follow them to the police station. We were alittle spooked, and when the police headed away from town and into darkness, we decided to head to town to get friends, and then we'd find the police station. We called the police officer and told him that they were driving too fast, so we lost them, and would be at the station soon. We went to wake up Cramer and Alvina and Alvina's dad and then went to the depot. It was literally 100 yards around the corner from where we decided to turn around...but you can never be too safe.

We figured out that the things stolen were: the cooler, a refugee bag with minimal cooking supplies and Josh's backpack with his clothes, Bible, phone and camera in it. We had to fill out a report, drive our truck to another place to leave it for the night (since there was no window) and then ended up invading the Smith house, where six of us piled onto two mattresses on the floor that Alvina's family members had given up for us. We got a few hours of sleep, but then had to be back at the police station at 8am to give our statements. Deb and Josh went to the station--Deb was the one dealing with the police officer on the phone, and Josh because his things were stolen. They came back later and said that me and Davy had to go and give our statements too. It was pretty funny--a handwritten 'form' where I had to put my name, DOB, tribe, mother and father'snames, and the time, location and scene of the crime and the police report. Then we waited around for the UNMIL Police to show up with a digital camera so that they could take photos of thetruck for evidence. After the photos were done, we went back to the Smith's house for lunch (potato greens and red oil), went on a driving tour of Buchanan and then headed back to Monrovia.

The police told us the following morning that they probably knew who took our things, but that they couldn't go investigate because there was no fuel in the pickup truck. We realize that we will most likely never get our things back, but we were so grateful that nobody was hurt and that there was no altercation on the beach! Everybody is safe...and things are just that, things. We joked that whoever got Josh's backpack now has a Bible, and the police will probably go looking for our things (since there's a few valuables) and they won't have to wait on UNMIL anymore because they'll have their own digital camera, haha.

Needless to say, it was a memorable weekend. We are mostly bummed that we will no longer be camping in Buchanan...and that was our favorite getaway. I guess we can still take day trips there...or stay at the Smith house!

Edina

Wow...it has been a month since I last posted a blog. Sorry-o! Things have been very busy around here! We had a team here for two weeks, then it was Easter, and now we're enjoying a week of staycation! It's only Tuesday, but I am totally loving this much needed rest! There has been so much going on, and so many great things to blog about, but I have just been lazy or not wanting to sit in front of my computer. But, I'm hoping to catch you up on all of my adventures from the past month. First up: our trip to Buchanan/Edina at the end of March.

We LOVE camping in Buchanan. The beaches are beautiful, it's a great campsite and there's nobody around. More on Buchanan in the next post.

We had been hearing about Edina--an early settlement (1832) that is only accessible by canoe or a horribly long and impassable road --and so we decided to check it out...by canoe! We went to the end of the dusty road where there's basically a canoe port--canoes lining up to carry people and goods across the river between Buchanan and Edina. We were trying to figure out the system and waited patiently once we figured out there was some form of a line going on. There was one larger canoe that we thought we could all fit in, but it was loading a motorbike up to go across the river. The canoe driver said he would get a bigger canoe on the other side and bring it back for us. Oh, and when I say canoe, I mean a hollowed out coconut tree trunk.

[The front of the canoe and the back. Yes, you must wear a hard hat while operating]

He came back with another canoe and two younger, much more able bodied paddlers. We loaded up into the larger canoe plus three of us got inside a much smaller canoe. I was in the small canoe--which held me, Josh, a small boy and the canoe paddler--and it wasn't much wider than my hips andwe were about 6 inches higher than the water. It was AWESOME!

It took about 20 minutes to be paddled across the river, with a few stops to empty water out, but if you don't think about the situation, it's a beautiful ride! We were the stupid ones who decided to start this adventure in the heat of the day, and once we reached Edina we all reapplied sunscreen. I haven't sweated that much in a LONG time!

[The beach in Edina and the main road from where the canoe dropped us off]

Edina was beautiful! It was kind of fun disembarking on unknown land, and we really felt like explorers...not sure where to go and had no idea what to expect. And that lasted about 5 minutes, until a man was passing through and wanted to be our tour guide and wanted us to meet his auntie. We obliged and went to meet his auntie--a super cute, super old lady with coke bottle glasses, who hugged and kissed us all. Then he escorted us to the beach and then back to a few landmarks.

[President Cheeseman's home and the Baptist church, which was founded in 1868. The papie told us the benches and chandelier came from America.]

Us girls wandered off towards a steeple that we could see in the distance, and that's when a very drunk old papie wanted to be our tour guide. He showed us former President Cheeseman's old house, along with the Baptist church. We asked him how many people lived in Edina and his answer was, "five people go to the Baptist church and six people go to the Methodist church." (Once we got home and did more research on Edina, we learned that more than 15,000 people live there) After about 20 minutes or so of his tour and of extreme sweating, we decided we should head back to the canoe. We were paddled back across the river, paid our drivers and set off for our campsite in Buchanan. We ended up paying the canoes 100 LD per person, or less than $1.50US as a charter (they waited for us on the other side), and it was a fun little adventure.

Jumping for Joy!

Us girls had some fun jumping for joy on Tuesday.....

Can we say awesome lighting, beautiful smiles and super fun photos!?!

Back in Liberia

In case you haven't heard, I am back in Liberia. I arrived on Sunday afternoon, thanks to the amazing new Delta flight! My travel time went from 24+ hours down to 15! Thank you Delta!

I had trouble sleeping the first few nights, but am better adjusted now. The heat hasn't been bad, which has been a blessing! Ihave gone to five orphanages so far, and it has been really great seeing the kids again! It's kind of strange when you've been away for so long--everyone's excited for those first few minutes, and then it's as if I never left. The good news is that I learned a long time ago that reunions won't be like the movies...but they will be sweet and full of laughter and smiles! Sorry this is short, but here are a few photos from the past few days!