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?

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!