Okay, the
holidays have come and gone and it was WONDERFUL! After 25 years, I finally visited the place
of my origin, Liberia. I stayed for two
weeks in Caldwell, a suburb of Monrovia, with my uncle. It was nostalgic to see where I spent the
first 3 years of my life, visiting Cooper’s Clinic (where I was born, now it’s
a seven day adventist hospital), Issac A
David School in Paynesville (where I went to school for a brief period), the houses where my mother grew up in and
many, many more. I met family members
and friends whom I heard so much about.
They were continuously reciting stories of my childhood to me. I was a bit astonished at how well they
remembered me and at the same time a bit skeptical about some of the stories I
heard. I wasn’t THAT troublesome, I’m sure.
So, I
already said it’s been 25 years since I last been to Liberia. So, I sort of felt like a tourist. And what do you do as a tourist, you go
sightseeing. I saw the Executive Mansion
(where the president worked), the Judicial building, the University of
Liberia. We drove to Kakata where I got
to finally taste Palm wine. People told
me to let it sit for a while next time so it taste sour/stronger. Prochaine frois. I can’t wait to try cane juice next. Anyway, I also went to Robertsport to this
restaurant on the beach and drank Savannah Dry and had some young boy ripe me
off for a coconut. I drove through the
Firestone Plantation (and by “I”, I mean my uncle’s driver). I can’t tell you how good it felt to not have
to argue prices with taxis like I do in Togo.
Anyway, to get back on topic, the Firestone Plantation is HUGE. It’s like its own little world over
there. They have their own schools,
hospital, grocery stores and so on.
Since this
post is like two months late, my memory is a bit foggy. But I will say this, when people ask me the
difference between Togo and Liberia, there’s not much in terms of
infrastructure. Unfortunately, both
countries lack what most of us take for granted: clean water, electricity, good
roads, waste management and so forth.
However, Liberia is a country determined to get back on its feet. And I admire the fact that people aren’t
necessarily waiting for handouts but are being proactive in bettering their
country. I was impressed by the amount
of Liberian owned businesses as well as how many Liberian Americans that are
coming back home. I mean, I felt proud
to be born in Liberia. It was
awesome.
So this
trip has made me want to alter my future plans.
Initially, I wanted to move back to Liberia when I retired..so a good
37/38 years from now. Now, I’m thinking
a lot sooner…like maybe 5 years or less.
I have no idea how this is going to work or what the hell I’m going to
do career wise. But I’m determined to
figure this out. Anyway, I need to focus
on the now. I still have much work to do
in Togo but that’s another post.
Yeah I know
this is several months late but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year J
xoxo
