How about some tear gas with that lunch?

As some of you know, I eat lunch at a cook shop (Liberian slang for a hole-in-the-wall place) called Lowise's bar and restaurant. I shouldn’t call Lowise’s a restaurant; it is more like a shack. Heck, it doesn’t even have electricity…you have to eat in dim light even when it is sunny outside because of inadequate windows. I guess it is Lowise’s idea of a romantic lunch during the depressing rainy season. Monrovia is usually dull and dreary in the rainy season. The unrelenting rain keeps most people indoors. Despite the rain, I walk over to Lowise's at least three times a week for lunch.

Because the rain is relentless and crippling, people pour in to the streets as soon as the rain stops, even if it is for a few minutes. I am one of those people. On Friday, I walk over to Lowise’s to have some fried greens with fish and rice. I am savoring my lunch while I notice loud noises coming from outside. Now mind you, this is Monrovia, it is loud all the time. However, the loud police sirens alerted me. I got up from my unfinished lunch and walked over the entrance of Lowise’s to see what is going on. I notice police in full riot gear gathering right outside Lowise’s. I am usually unperturbed by these kind of activities, but this is Liberia; a simple demonstration can turn in to a violent life-threatening incident in a matter of few minutes. I ask the ladies serving food at Lowise’s what’s going on with the riot police. They say the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) – the main opposition political party in Liberia – is holding a rally in protest of high unemployment rates in Liberia. Well, these kind of protests are common in many countries… it does not sound dangerous, does it?

Before I finish gathering information from the ladies, I hear people screaming from the outside and something similar to shots being fired. First instinct, duck for cover! Next thing I know there is thick smoke pouring in to Lowise’s. My eyes, nose, and throat immediately start burning. Then I realize it is tear gas. People are still screaming outside, running helter-skelter, while the ladies working in Lowise’s wrap their faces in cloth and lock the entrance door so nobody can enter from the outside.

So, here I am ducking under the table, with my eyes, nose, and throat severely burning, and no way to get out. I had nothing to cover myself and I was writhing in pain, wishing that this unprovoked tear gas attack will end fast. I waited under the table for what seemed like eternity, even though I think it may have been only 15 minutes, all the while coughing, crying, and suffering from the intense burning sensation. I call my boss while waiting and alert him to the incident. Since our office is just around the corner, he was able to witness the incident from his window, without having to inhale the tear gas like I did. After a while the ladies unlocked the door and I bolted back to my office (just around the corner). I washed my eyes and face with clean water and, like any crazy person who is addicted to work, went to a meeting.

I do not know the complete story behind the rally or the occasion for a protest by the CDC. However, from what I witnessed during lunch, the attack by riot police seems unnecessarily brutal. I saw a happy group of people singing and marching and the next thing I know the riot police are throwing tear gas at them. The sad part is that the tear gas attack happened about 100 feet away from a school. I can only imagine how terrified the children may have been. Such is the state of ruling political parties in many countries, they use brute force on opposition, sometimes without provocation. 

So, there you go folks…that was my Friday afternoon. A little tear gas served with my lunch. How did you spend your Friday?

Birthday celebration in Liberia

On Monday, May 21, I turned another year older. Not any wiser, mind you!

In a country severely lacking in fun things to do, how does one celebrate a birthday? Or any special occasion? Well, you adapt to the local situation and make it simple. I still tried to make the best of it with the help of family.

The day before my birthday, I received the best gift. A coffee maker!! I know, I know! You all probably think what's so special about a coffee maker? Well, let me tell you what makes it special. There is no such thing as decent coffee in this entire country. People here drink instant coffee. If you are someone like me, who is used to living on 8-10 shots of espresso per day and a gallon of coffee, you will find this country absolutely horrid. In my knowledge, there is only one place in the entire country that serves filter coffee and espresso. And that depends on the day. Some days they don't have either. Sometimes it feels like it is easier to obtain blood diamonds and illegal wildlife than finding a decent cup of coffee. So, imagine my joy when I received a coffee maker! I was so thrilled that I thought of sleeping next to it in the kitchen.

On the day of my birthday, in stereotypical Indian tradition, I arranged a party for my colleagues. Americans usually do it the other way around, but we Indians see it as our responsibility to feed people who have come to wish you. So, I arranged for lunch. Potato greens and rice...the quintessential Liberian dish. It also happens to be my favorite Liberian food. We took a group picture before lunch.

Group hug! Look at me in green!!

After eating a bucket load of potato greens with rice, I had to be wheeled out of the conference room in to my office. My gluttonous self was already thinking about dinner. We went to one of the "fancy" places in town, and there is a reason why I put the word fancy in quotes. It is one of the few places in town where you can get somewhat reliable service and good food, besides cocktails. Barracuda Sushi Bar is housed in the famous Mamba Point Hotel, within walking distance to our house. The sushi is good, the ambiance is pleasant, and they have limited cocktails.

After coming home from dinner, I received the second birthday present. Although I am unable to see it in person, I am most excited for it. It is a Heidi Norton sculpture. The artist will be shown at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art starting August. The sculpture I/we own is listed on her website, but I am posting a picture here as well. It is a mixed media + live object sculpture, with a living fern and other objects encased in resin. Even though I haven't seen it live, I am absolutely fascinated by it. I cannot wait until I return to the US and see it in our home.

Heidi Norton sculpture

Despite living in Liberia away from most of my friends and family, I managed to have a wonderful celebration because of one person. At the end of the day, all that matters is that we are together.

Trips to the "bush" and cow meat soup

You cannot rebuild a health system sitting at the central ministry in the capital (Monrovia), you gotta travel out and see what's going on in the interior. In my quest to explore the state of affairs in the counties and villages, I travel often. One such trip was to Lofa County. The capital of Lofa is Voinjama, a small town quite far from Monrovia. Located only a few minutes from the Liberia-Guinea border, Voinjama is a small but busy town in the middle of the jungle. It took us 8 hours to get there, mainly because of bad road conditions... and that's during the dry season. It takes longer once the rainy season starts. Sometimes we stop in one of the towns on the way, stay overnight, and continue the next day. The road is paved only till Gbarnga (3 hours north west of Monrovia), and then it is dirt road. The local slang for all villages is "bush". Locals say "bah! you gone to the bush?". "Bah" is a term of endearment, meaning friend. Liberian English is a language of its own, with varying dialects and pronunciation. I have to switch gears between the drivers, my staff, and the housekeeper. One of my staff even speaks a mixture of English and Mano (a local language), making it difficult for me to understand what he is saying. But, I have gotten better at it. I now understand 75% of what he says, it used to be 20%.

The paved road is nothing to talk about, just an old road that is ridden with pot holes. I wonder if some of the potholes are from the heavy rains or remnants of bombings during the civil war. I do not recommend anyone with back problems travel on these roads, you will need spinal surgery after a few trips. It is interesting to watch our drivers maneuver through these huge pot holes... most of the times we end up off-roading while I cling on to my dear life by holding on to the railing in our Land Cruiser. I pity all our vehicles, they take such beating when we go to the bush. The dirt road, on the other hand, is a beauty. The soil in Liberia is very fertile with a red hue, almost rust-like. Our white vehicles return looking rust-colored after every trip. It is quite beautiful driving on a red dirt road surrounded by thick green jungle interrupted by rivers and streams with the occasional goat or monkey jumping on to the road... it almost looks like a painting.

The red dirt road to Voinjama

The soil is so fertile that villagers have to burn the brush so it doesn't grow back within days. Cutting the brush won't do, you gotta burn in to the ground. Even then, new sprouts arise within days. A mixture of perfect tropical weather for vegetation, heavy rains, and fertile soil makes Liberia a heaven for plan growth. Unfortunately, this natural resource has not been  harvested to grow food for the population. Prior to the war, Liberia used to export rice, now 85% of food is imported. Various international organizations are helping rebuild the agriculture infrastructure.

Before going on one of my trips to the bush I was informed of a restaurant in Gbarnga by fellow expats. Even my drivers sung high praises of this restaurant. I wanted to check it out and we stopped for lunch. They had only one dish that day - cow meat soup. That's how it is in the bush, people serve what they get on that particular day. Some days it is nothing. I always carry Clif bars with me because you never know if you will get food in the bush. Shout out to my pal Lissner who taught me the wonders of Clif bars. Even though he tried to get me to like the white chocolate macadamia flavor, I prefer the dark chocolate flavor. Anyway, I digress.

My staff and I sit down and order the only option we have. By this time, after two months of living in Liberia, I have come to accept the fact that it is normal to find mystery meat in your food. Liberians do not understand the concept of cooking or cuisine, they dump everything they can lay their hands on in a pot and cook it. As I talked in my previous posts, expect to find anything from feet, fat, and organs to meat, skin, and other unidentifiable parts of an animal. When in Rome...

We sit down and wait for our cow meat soup. The waitress assured me it is cow meat. That doesn't mean anything in Liberia. You always get a melange of animals regardless of what they tell you. So, here comes this cow meat soup. What Liberians call soup is actually stew. Looks like chunks of meat+fat floating in an oily stew. Fine, it is not any different from other stuff I've eaten. Remember my post about Lowise's restaurant and palm butter? Well, that was one of the many instances.

Cow meat soup - meat and other stuff swimming in oil

I dig in to my oily stew, scoop out a spoonful on the plate of rice that comes with the stew (everything comes with rice or fufu). Halfway through my meal I notice strands of short thick hair. Eh, this is nothing. At least it is not a dead roach. I pick the hair out of my food and continue eating while pondering where the hair came from. Then I receive the answer to my pondering. In the second spoonful, I notice a chunk of cow hair sticking to the skin. Ah, so this is not just cow meat soup, it is cow hair soup as well. The culprit is a piece of cow skin with a tuft of hair still attached to it. I look at it and wonder which part of the cow it came from? Is it the hump, the tail, leg, which part? Should I call it leather instead of skin because it has been cooked to death? Looking at the length of the hair, it could be the skin from a cow's tail or back. I am posting a picture of a smaller chunk of hair, because even I couldn't stomach the idea of taking a picture of the larger tuft of hair (yes, there were more than one chunks of hair). Notice the lone strand of hair on the side and a small tuft of hair sticking to a piece of skin, next to the rice.

Hair sticking to cow skin, a lone strand of cow hair, and a burnt matchstick - all in one spoonful

Then there was a burnt matchstick in my food. Oh well, at least I didn't get coal. I take out the piece of skin/leather with hair, the matchstick, and continue eating my soup. I am not going to stop a little tuft of cow hair and burnt match ruin my lunch. I may have eaten some strands of hair here and there, but my stomach can easily digest that. Hell, it has digested worse things, what's a little hair going to do? Three of us finish eating, pay our bill, and I left the tuft of cow hair on my plate. Nary a word from my staff. They noticed the chunk of hair, but it didn't bother them. I assumed from their reaction (or absence thereof) it is common to have animal hair in your food. Once again, when in Rome...

We finish lunch, continue on our journey to Voinjama with bellies filled with cow meat and hair soup. Once in Voinjama, I had the best food I've had since I moved to Liberia. I discovered the United Nations Pakistani battalion in Voinjama. They let outsiders eat in their "officers' canteen". I had the most amazing Pakistani/ Indian food prepared by Pakistani chefs. Chicken jalfrezi, lamb korma, naan, dal, vegetable pulav, the list goes on. More about them in the next post.

Building stakeholder participation and the challenges of being an outsider

This week began with a frenzy of meetings and trips to the counties. One of the key steps in building capacity is seeking stakeholder buy-in. The recipients have to buy in to the principles before we begin building capacity and strengthen the health system. Stakeholder participation is key!

In my efforts to strengthen the Liberian health system, I am committed to build capacity at both central ministry and the county health department level. I have already made the rounds at the ministry, having met with the key deputy ministers, assistant ministers, and senior management. I presented my strategy and won them over. I have also convinced non-ministry stakeholders - USAID, NGOs, and EU - to support and participate in my efforts. This week I am focusing on county heath departments. I just returned from a trip to Bong and Nimba counties where I met with the County Health Officers and their teams.

The two counties were polar opposites. While the county health team (CHT) at Bong was unresponsive, aloof, and nonchalant, the team at Nimba was active, participatory, and invested. A sea of change. Our project (RBHS) is well entrenched in to the Nimba county health system. See picture below. Our County Coordinator and the County Health Department Director (CHDD) share the same office space. That shows how well we work with the ministry at county level. Perhaps Bong could use the same level of involvement in order to become more invested in our efforts. It's on my to-do list.

Integration between the County Health Department (CHD) and our project (RBHS)

It is always challenging for an outsider to get local stakeholder buy-in, especially when you are someone like me. But I like the challenge. It allows me to prove myself and gain the trust of stakeholders in the process. I am sure I am not the only one who experiences this phenomenon. The new person is always tested, especially if s/he is an expat. It is part of the game, and I like a good game. The situation gets worse when the new guy is promoted within less than two months on the job. While it is frustrating to deal with such petty drama, it also makes me stronger and more invested in doing what I came here for.

I am going to visit the remaining county (Lofa) this week. I am traveling with my staff to a town called Voinjama, which is less than an hour away from Guinea. Too bad I cannot cross in to Guinea... I need a visa. I do not have enough time to get a Guinean visa before leaving on this trip. Next time!!

I ate at a Bangladeshi restaurant during my trip to Bong and Nimba counties. We stopped in a town called Gbarnga (pronounced - banga) to eat at this restaurant called Mama Zone's. The name struck me as strange, especially for a restaurant run by a Bangladeshi man, but I guess they are trying to blend in to the Liberian society. I came to know the restaurant exists in Gbarnga because there is a big Bangla UN military contingent nearby. Word on the street is that there are around 2000 Bangladeshi military personnel as part of the massive UN military presence in Liberia. You cannot just walk in to Mama Zone's and order Bangladeshi food, you have to order it an hour in advance. They prepare according to demand. The Liberian food, however, is readily available. We called ahead and had chicken curry. It was quite mediocre, even a disappointment.  As wonderful as it is to see non-Liberian food in the middle of the country, it is disappointing when the food is not good. Lesson learned! Next time I will stick to potato greens and fish.

More to come later this week...my trip to Lofa, other happenings at work, and more importantly, food!!

Lowise's Bar & Restaurant and the glory of palm butter

I love everything about food. I like knowing where it comes from, how it is prepared, what ingredients go in a particular dish, the smells, the taste, the experience, everything. I should be morbidly obese considering my love for food, but I've managed to stay in shape because I practice mindful bingeing. It is a delicate balance of being cognizant of what I eat and eating copious amounts of food frequently.

I could be like most expats here and bring my own lunch (sandwiches anyone?), but I like to experience local flavor and explore. Most of my local staff eat at a place called Lowise's Restaurant (yes, that is how it is spelled). It is pronounced Louise. I have been eating at Lowise's for almost a month with no problems. I usually have someone fetch it for me because I am running in between meetings or buried in papers, but once in a while I walk over and eat at Lowise's. It is only a block away from my office. The restaurant serves only one special every day. They have the standard dish - dry fish and rice - and one daily special. I can never remember the schedule of daily specials, but I particularly like some of the specials. Cabbage with fish, and potato greens with fish are my favorite. I specify fish because if you don't, you will end up with a melange of meat in your dish. I have identified pork knuckles, beef rib tips, chicken feet, and fish heads...all in one bowl. As adventurous as I am, I prefer to eat one kind of meat at a time. I am not a big fan of beef, I prefer my pork in the form of bacon and pork belly, and I like my chicken feet in black bean sauce (dim sum). So, I stick to ordering my dishes with fish alone. Liberians tend to use almost every part of an animal, so expect to see fish heads, fins, tail, pretty much everything in a dish. Here is a picture of the daily standard dish - dry fish and rice. They say it is dry fish, but it is a whole fish, usually a snapper, deep fried and served with jollof rice. It is quite delicious, if I may say. Look at the teeth on that fish. One of my friends said it looks angry. Of course it is angry, it's been fried to death!

Dry fish and rice

Let's talk about Lowise's Bar & Restaurant. It is quite dingy, inside and out, but the food is good. Service varies by day. I have seen the same lady serve us patrons. Some days she is cheerful and makes small talk, some days she is just plain grumpy and mean. She looks young, talks on the phone a lot when she is not serving, and on some days her accent is difficult to understand. She adds charm to an otherwise dull restaurant. The music is always loud at Lowise's, almost to the point where you have to scream your order. I have suggested a few times they may want to tone it down, but they don't listen. Now I just scream my order. One of these days I hope to catch a glimpse of Lowise. All I know is that she is cooking in the back, she never makes an appearance in the restaurant. As the name suggests, there is a bar inside. It is quite small and they carry beer, water, soft drinks, and energy drinks. I don't drink at work, so I haven't tried any beer. Below is a picture of Lowise's restaurant. I have to give credit to Michael for taking this picture.

Lowise's  Bar & Restaurant

Today's daily special is palm butter. I have heard a lot about this dish since arriving in Liberia. Locals claim that, even though you can find this dish in other African countries, nobody makes it like the Liberians. Beautiful red palm fruits are mashed to create an oily sauce and meat is added. The mashing is done with hands, not a machine. Needless to say, it is a laborious process. As you may know, palm oil is very high in cholesterol. It is not good for your heart, but like most stuff that is not good for you, it is very tasty. The dish is called palm butter, because it practically is meat in a sauce that looks like melted butter. Very unhealthy but oh so tasty! I avoided it since arriving in Liberia because I am afraid of the fat content. I finally caved in and ordered it. I saw the table next to me order it and it looked and smelled delicious. My verdict: it is glorious, but too heavy for my arteries. I may have it once a year. I want to live long enough to visit various countries.

Here is a picture of the culprit. I scooped out SEVEN tablespoons of palm oil before taking this picture, and it still looks greasy. That should tell you how unhealthy it is. As mentioned earlier, there is some mystery meat in it because I forgot to mention "fish only". I was not able to figure out the meat, for all I know it is a part of a cow or Baboon (which is not uncommon here). Did I eat it all, including the mystery meat? You betcha!

Palm butter with mystery meat

In other news, Michael and I went to Miami Beach over the weekend. As I mentioned to my friend who lives near the real Miami Beach, the one in Liberia differs from the one in Florida in two aspects: amount of silicone and number of people. Usually it is just Michael and I on the beach, except for some days when someone brings their dogs to the beach (see picture below). There was a football (soccer for you Americans) match happening on the beach when we went, just a few guys kicking the ball around. We stayed for a while until the sun became intense and came back home.

Dog days at the beach

There is a bar on Miami Beach, which plays dance music at a deafening level all the time. As we were leaving the beach, the bar owner came over and talked to us. His name is Sunshine. I am not kidding. We didn't stay at the bar, but Sunshine invited us to come back again in the evening. One of these days we will take him up on the invitation.

A lot is happening on the work front. I got promoted as the Director of Capacity Building and Health Systems Strengthening in less than 2 months of being here. With promotion comes more tasks, drama, and the responsibility to supervise more staff. I realize it is part of the equation and I am thoroughly enjoying all of it. I will write more about work in the next post. Till then, cheers to palm butter!

Happy Friday...Michael arrives!!

Michael arrives this evening. I am super thrilled. It has been 5 long weeks since I left him in Chicago. I was worried for a moment because all flights to Monrovia were canceled on Wednesday due to a thick haze. We haven't seen sun in Monrovia in 4 days. The entire city is covered in haze. It looks beautiful at times, and I am happy the temperature fell down because of it. No more sweating profusely.

It is funny that our air shipment and Michael are arriving on the same flight. It's funny because the air shipment left Chicago three weeks ago and we have been joking that it will get here at the same time as Michael, even though it is supposed to take 6-8 days to arrive.

Work is going well. I gave a presentation to USAID (where all our money comes from) yesterday about our strategy for this year. USAID invited other teams as well - municipal water, sanitation and hygiene, education, etc. The US government is the single largest bilateral donor to Liberia, so USAID is doing extensive work in this country - ranging from forest preservation to health care. Our strategy received the most accolades of all. Of course it did, I developed and presented it (bragging much?)! I am proud to report that other ministries in Government of Liberia look up to the Health Ministry as a model to follow. A good reason for that is the work done, and continuing to be done, by our project. You can say we are the flagship project of USAID health initiatives, not only in Liberia, but in similar post-conflict countries.

I am planning my trips to the "bush" (local term for rural areas). I should start traveling to Bong, Lofa, and Nimba counties in two weeks. I will be visiting Gbarnga (Bong), Voinjama (Lofa), and Sanniquelle (Nimba) - all county capitals. I might even take Michael with me, if he doesn't mind traveling through the jungle with bare necessities. I am going to visit health centers in these counties, introduce myself, and present them my strategy to strengthen their health system. I shouldn't be using ambitious terms like "health system", because what currently exists is bare bones. My goal is to build a viable system that sustains itself after most international aid disappears. You never know about aid money in the current economic situation, you have to be self-sustainable, at least to the extent of providing certain basic health services.

Anyway, that's my work update for the week. Tomorrow is a holiday in Liberia - Armed Forces Day. However, unlike the US, we do not observe holidays that fall on a weekend on a succeeding/ preceding work day. I was informed that if a holiday falls on a Saturday, you do not get Friday off. However, if the holiday falls on a Sunday, you get Monday off. It doesn't make any sense, just like a lot of other things in Liberia. So here we are, working on a Friday. I should take a hint from the Europeans and go on a strike for denying me a long weekend. I am more concerned that everything will be closed for two days. We already know everything shuts down on Sunday...and I mean, everything!! Now I have to add Saturday to the list because of this holiday. I better shop for groceries, water, beer, etc., this evening. 

Since I like talking about food, below is a picture of a local crab seller. The pic is not very clear, but that is him dangling a big beautiful blue crab. He stands on the street corner, a block from our house, and sells fresh seafood, whatever he gets from the ocean that morning. Some days it is blue crabs, other days it is fish. I have seen beautiful blue crabs and mega-sized tuna (at least 6 feet long). I cannot wait for our kitchen stuff to arrive in the air shipment so Michael and I can have some crab claws. Yeah!!

That's it folks! I will post more next week after Michael settles down. Have a great weekend!

My first month in Liberia

Saturday, February 4, was my one month anniversary of living in Monrovia. It has been a whirlwind journey. From being recruited to work on rebuilding the Liberian health system to getting married and moving across continents, it all happened very fast. One month I was shuttling between Chicago, Boston, and New York, and the next month I am in Liberia. Not on a visit, but to live here for two years. Moving across continents is not a new concept for me. I moved from India to Algeria when I was 11 months old, thus starting my nomadic life. Since then I have lived in 7 countries. This is another step in my nomadic existence. However, the main difference is that I now have a loving partner to do it with me.

Now I am here, in Liberia, a post-conflict country with a rich history that has been through a devastating civil war lasting almost 14 years. Liberians are resilient and committed than ever to rebuild their country under the leadership of President Sirleaf. Also known as Ma Ellen to the locals, the president is a Nobel peace prize winner with a great vision to rebuild Liberia. The United States government is the single largest bilateral aid donor to Liberia, which leads to the reason how I ended up here.

The US government's work towards rebuilding Liberian health care is contracted to a few development agencies. JSI Research and Training Institute, the non-profit arm of John Snow, Inc., is the largest contractor. I was recruited by JSI in December 2011 to rebuild/ strengthen the Liberian health system and build capacity. My prior work in other countries impressed them. Accepting the position meant moving to Monrovia for a period of two years. There you have it folks, that's how I came to live in Monrovia.

In the one month I've been here, I've met with all the senior management in the ministry of health, presented them with my strategy to build capacity and strengthen the health system, won approval of the Ministry and USAID for my strategy, found livable housing, and interviewed staff to work with me. It was all made possible with love from my partner, encouragement from friends and family, and support from my boss and colleagues. I truly cherish everything that's been given to me.

Health Minister Dr. Walter Gweningale speaking at an event where our project dedicated the newly rebuilt Tubman National Institute of Medical Arts to the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare 

February begins a hectic month of finalizing the tools I am proposing to assess current capacity of the ministry of health, and planning my travel to the "bush" - local slang for rural areas. I am looking to visit Lofa, Nimba, and Bong counties, where most of our work is concentrated. I have to hire three Capacity Building Officers to work under my guidance to build capacity and strengthen county health systems. And I have to submit abstracts for the APHA annual conference - my favorite professional organization. I am excited about February because Michael arrives this month. January has flown by quickly, yet it seems like forever since I left home and my beloved in Chicago. We will be reunited this weekend.

Internet in Liberia is highly unreliable and painfully slow. It is a glorious day when we get dial-up speed. I haven't been able to Skype reliably since I've been here and I have to downsize any pics if I want to email them. I would love to do a video blog, but it seems next to impossible considering the internet bandwidth. I have quickly adjusted to the food, or lack thereof, here. Most food in Liberia has to be imported because there is not much infrastructure to grow anything here, most of it was destroyed during the civil war. Almost all food is expensive, except for fruits and fish that you buy at the local market. There are 4 main super markets in town, all look like a glorified 7-11. Don't expect to find anything more than basics. I was told that I should be happy to have not one but two varieties of pasta at the supermarket. Since most food is imported, it shows in the prices. There are a few decent restaurants in town, most of them run by the Lebanese community, but I am yet to have decent hummus or kefta. I haven't tried all restaurants yet, but I am on a mission to find decent Lebanese food. Like most English speaking African countries, there is a sizable Indian community, although not as big as Kenya or South Africa. There is even a makeshift Sikh Gurudwara in town.

One of my favorite topics to discuss is food. I should weigh 300lbs with my love for food, but that's another topic altogether. Local Liberian food is quite interesting. Rice or fufu form the most essential part of any meal. Fufu feels like a thick ball of dough, made from the root of cassava plant. Fufu is usually served with pepper soup, which is a thin stew of different kinds of meat. Sounds delicious, but it may be shocking to some of us to find four different kinds of meat in one soup. Expect to find a chicken leg, a beef rib, some part of pig with bone and a dense layer of fat, and a fish head... all cooked in a spicy soup. Other traditional dishes I've tried: dry fish and rice (jollof rice served with a whole deep fried snapper), potato greens and rice (once again, multiple meats cooked in a sauce made of "potato" leaves), palaver sauce (different meats cooked in a onion and tomato sauce), and the worst of all torborgee (a stew made with red beans and different meats). Do you all see the theme here? Liberians put any and every meat the can find and cook them in one dish. Liberian food is a vegetarian's nightmare, there is meat (not the good kind) in almost every dish. I have come to like the potato greens when made with chicken or fish. You have to specify about wanting only one kind of meat (I ask for chicken or fish), and you will be ok. Otherwise, expect to eat different parts from different animals and fish. Like most countries in the region, it is difficult getting a decent cocktail. I have come to adapt to that as well. It only makes me appreciate a dirty martini more than ever.

I think this blog entry is getting too long. I have a lot to report and I will post another entry soon. Next time I will not wait a month to post an entry. I have to say I am truly thankful for the love and support from my family, friends, mentors and colleagues. I promise to stay in touch and keep you updated. In the meanwhile, enjoy a picture of my real back yard. It is called Miami Beach... I am not even joking.

Miami Beach - also known as my backyard in Monrovia