any given saturday

You’ll find the girls (Nelly & Antoinette) up around 7 cleaning the house and me up and by 8:30 to drink hot tea and eat bread with them. Soon we’ll be discussing when the water-boy will show up and what things they should buy at the market to make a soup for the day. After this and that I’ll walk the 15 minutes up to the Junction to meet James and head to a noon meeting. We’ll decide to walk and the sun will be surprisingly hot so that by the time we get there (20 minutes later) I’ll be covered in road dust and have sweated through most parts of my shirt. Outside the gate of the home for our meeting I’ll be swarmed with six or more local boys, all shaking my hand and then just staring with small grins, while James phones the man and learns that although we are outside his home for the meeting that he scheduled with us at this time, he has gone to town unannounced. We’ll wander back to the main road and head for the Junction, me joking that at least we didn’t pay to ride a cab there! Along the way I’ll be delighted to see grapefruits for sale along the road, 4 for 25 Liberty Dollars. At less than 50 cents US for the bunch I’ll ecstatically put them in my bag.

After enjoying the soup of the day and taking a wee nap to refresh, the girls and their friend Lucia who’s hanging out for the day, will announce they’re going to the Old Road and that I should come. Quick outfit change later, my original outfit still sweaty, we’re out the door. A cab ride to the Old Road, wandering down through the shops and stands, the girls greeting friends they pass, a visit to Antoinette’s home and then we’re heading to the beach – me with once again sweat-soaked clothes. We’ll meander along the beach for a bit, argue with some boys trying to charge us to walk down the rest of it, and then head back for the main road. While walking we’ll try and try to catch a cab but all are six-full as they pass. There’ll be encouragement that I should get the cab because maybe they’ll stop for me and after a few minutes I will have flagged us a ride – although not a cab! This is Liberia, so to me a pick-up truck passing with no riders in the truck-bed looks like a viable alternative to walking the miles we are from home. After agreeing on a price with the driver and with his 2 friends shifted to the truck-bed, Nelly and I take the cab with Antoinette and Lucia in the back. The idea will spread impressively and as we stop and slow in traffic a couple other random riders will hop in the back, and then pay appropriately as they’re arriving at their destination. When nearing the Junction traffic will back-up and faster than we can realize it, our driver will barge into a wedding convoy of decorated cars. We’ll honk and wave a bit but mostly just laugh in semi-embarrassment as our beat-up pick-up makes its way obnoxiously through the intersection. Then we’ll be out, walking the rest of the way home to eat leftover soup.

With no rest for the weary, we’ll soon head back to the road to buy a gallon of gasoline for the guzzling-generator and a pack of mineral water for my rehydration needs. With the departure of Matthew from the compound, we’ll wait around in the dark until we can find the Poppy to start our generator. After over a month since my last hair cut I’ll be eager to plug in my clippers, but as I do there will be a small but mighty flash of light from inside the device. Soon I’ll be laughing out loud at the realization that my clippers have expired and my hair will be left to its own devices. After boiling the kettle, Nelly, Antoinette and I will retire to the porch to take in the slight breeze while sipping hot tea before cutting off the power and settling into sleep.