Tuesday, August 28, 2018

First Glimpses of Africa

The journey from Grand Rapids to Monrovia was a long one. Grand Rapids - New York - Brussels - Amsterdam - Freetown - and finally, Monrovia. I read books and binge watched movies on the Europe to Africa section. When I was tired of it all I tuned into the flight status channel. We were almost to the boarder of Spain and Morocco. Africa at last! I watched out the window as we crossed the Alboran Sea.  The terrain change from green to brown as we flew over the Sahara Dessert, then back to the lush green jungles of the coastal countries of West Africa. Finally, I stepped off the plane into pitch darkness. There was a light rain. I was not surprised as we are in the midst of rainy season. The only light coming from the small building of the "airport." I was greeted by a woman holding a sign with my name. She could pretty much pick me out from the 20 people entering Liberia. She hustled me through immigration to the luggage room where my bags were already waiting for me. I was happy they had made the long journey successfully despite rerouting and tight connections.

The drive from the airport into the city takes 1 1/2 hours. It was dark so I couldn't see too much. What I noticed were the street lamps providing the only light. I could see rough cement buildings with tin roofs but they didn't have any light. People congregated in the areas where the street lights shed their beams. Beyond that was pure darkness. Something that stuck out to me were the pool tables under awnings. I didn't expect that, it didn't fit into my picture of Africa.

We pulled up to our apartment and tumbled into bed. The trip was exhausting, I was so glad to be in my new home.