Ready to go...again...

Well, my two weeks are up tomorrow, and I'm finally heading back to my
project, team, and the reason I'm here in the first place.
Sure, the training has been interesting, in a sort of geeky way, but
all the same, I didn't come all the way to Liberia to sit in a room
for 12 hours a day for two weeks and learn about a database that I
won't really be using anyway.

I actually feel quite comfortable at this point in Monrovia...for all
its differences from, well, anywhere else in the world I've been to.
I'm actually fairly surprised at how well I seem to be adjusting, in
general, and specifically to being in Monrovia and Sanniquellie. I
expected to have a much harder time. I got to go to the Waterside
market again today (had to pick up some jerseys for Jens and trainers
for me), and I definitely like it - it feels like 'life'...as opposed
to being in the compound, which feels pretty isolated and separate
from the world around.

Aside from the training, life in Monrovia's pretty easy. If it's any
indication, all the expats who work here have very nicely refined
tans. None of the expats in the field have such a thing. When I've not
been in the training, I've been sitting on the terrace watching the
Atlantic, watching kids play soccer on the beach (note: from here on
out, since everybody else does it, I'll be referring to soccer as
"football", the way it should be), having a beer, chatting with the
head of mission(s), maybe going to the beach, and generally not having
too stressful a time.

By contrast, I understand that during my absence in Sanniquellie, the
compound has no water, a broken submersible pump, no power if the
generator isn't running, no refrigeration, and the fence has been
blown down. Oh, and the hospital also has no water, two broken wells,
and, well...the list goes on.

All of which makes me, actually, VERY excited to get back up to
Sanniquellie and get to work! I'm definitely ready to feel like I'm
doing what I came here for.

Gotta go, just got some interesting news and need to follow it up.
I'll let you know what happens.
ciao
taj