Watching the world go by...

Friday could not arrive fast enough, I was ready to be on my way home.  I woke early to try and finish packing and prepare myself for the grueling journey back to Monrovia.  The plan was to leave at 10am.

After chapel I had some time to spend with my sophomore students.  Graciously they gave me a red Liberian shirt.  I know they had struggled to find the money to get me the gift and it made t that much more special that they had done it.  They told me the shirt was red because I had said it was my favorite color.  I am glad they were listening in class!

Emmanuel Jonah was at my door around 9:30 ready to load my bags in the truck.  He had spent the entire day previous ensuring we were starting with “ok” tires and a spare.  The original plan was that we would use the Land-cruiser, but when Amos left earlier in the week, he decided to take it, instead of the truck (the presidents vehicle).  When Amos warned me about the vehicle switch earlier in the week, he said you will be taking the truck, there is no spare and the tires are not good....good luck.

After a few delays loading, picking up one passenger from the hospital, and a few arguments......NINE of us were on our way to Monrovia in the truck.  There were six in the cab and three in the bed....something about third world kept popping in my head.

We made it about an hour down the road and had the first flat, left rear.  I was not surprised as this tire was low before we left and I had put air in it hoping for the best.  Thankfully we had the tools to change the tire and were back on the road again in relatively short time.

The second tire, left front, went out about 30 minutes down the road, and of course prior to any point that we could have the first flat repaired.  Fortunately, we stopped right in the middle of a small village.  A few discussions later a man shoed up with a small bicycle pump.  We tried to air the tired, but could hear it leaking out as fast as we were putting it in.  Ultimately, we removed the tire and it along with the initial flat were strapped onto the back of a motorcycle and send 15 k ahead to Ghanta for repair.  

Meanwhile, we sat on a bench in the shade in the middle of this small village and watched the third world go by....or it may have been watching where the world went by.  I vowed to myself that next time I have to wait 30 minutes for AAA I would not complain

As we were sitting there a young girl kept brining bowls of oranges, ready to sell.  Only a few at a time.  It was not long before they were being purchased by our group, and every so often she would bring more.  Each time, the price increasing just a bit :)

A few hours later we were on our way again, it was late in the afternoon and we were only a third of the way to Monrovia...it was going to be a long night.  Every so often we would stop briefly to drop something to someone or Emmanuel would honk and waive saying it was a relative.  Interesting how so much distance traveled, yet there would be familiar faces to those with us.

It was not long before it was dark...very dark..as usual along the road.  I thanked God that most of the cars we encountered actually had some lights as that has not been the case in the past.  As each mile went by I wondered where we were, I could not recognize much in the dark even though I had been on this road many times.  As we entered the outskirts of Monrovia, I was starting to se some familiar signs and knew we were almost there.  Finally we pulled into the ABCU guest house around 10:30 am.  A deep sign of relief and the peace knowing the road was behind us.