New Year, New Adventures, New Friends

We are only 3 days in to the New Year, and already it is off to a great start filled with wonderful and new adventures!  I admit that our New Years Eve was not much - I actually forgot it was a special day for the most part.  Highlights included looking at my phone by sheer luck (I was already in bed) when it read 00:00 (it's in military time) on 01/01/2010.  There was no countdown, but I think I did hear someone ringing the dining hall bell in the distance, and I did have cell-phone confirmation that it was in fact the year 2010, so that has to count for something!

The days in 2010, however, have been a bit more exciting.  We made some new friends last Sunday (friends of a friend of Ann Elizabeth), and they invited us to hang out in Monrovia for a few days.  They are all here working on construction of the new US Embassy in town, and they are all, strangely, from Birmingham (where Ann Elizabeth lives).  We went over to their compound in town on Friday and spent the evening grilling out and watching/attempting to watch some college bowl games on TV. 

Saturday morning we woke up early and headed out to Bong County (in the heart of Liberia) to see a waterfall.  It was a 4 hour drive, about 3 hours of which were on pothole covered paved roads and about 1 hour was on a bumpy dirt road.  It was a long nauseating drive, but seeing more of the country including a beautiful waterfall was well worth it.  The waterfall was beautiful and was surrounded by enormous trees - not quite the size of Redwoods but darn close.  When we arrived there was another group already there, and we all awkwardly stared at each other from afar until we finally started talking... turns out they were mostly Peace Corp volunteers from all around Liberia.  There were about 10 people in their group, and we sat on rocks in the midst of the waterfall, enjoying the sun and good conversation with one another.  They were all in their bathing suits and finally I decided I couldn't resist - did a quick change behind a rock and swam at the base of the waterfall.  It was quite cold, but in the heat of the sun it felt amazing.  We finished the day off with some packed PB&J sandwiches, chips, cookies and brownies.  Then we headed back for Monrovia, a long drive that would have been much worse had it not been for good conversation with new friends.  That evening we just hung out at our friends' compound, ate pizza, watched TV, and continued to talk for hours.

One thing that has amazed me, throughout my time here but especially in the last few days, is how readily and completely people have befriended us and taken us in.  From the moment we arrived at Ricks, the entire community became our surrogate family.  Now these new friends - people we met only a week ago - have been amazingly hospitable and welcoming.  We have spent two nights with them, been fed, been given hot showers and air conditioning and all those little amenities that seem small but also feel like home.  Each person we have met - from strangers at a waterfall to mutual friends to people we meet along the path at Ricks - has been nothing but warm and kind and loving.  I feel as if we live in a place where you never meet a stranger - southern hospitality to the max.  This is something I will miss terribly when we leave. 

So far the new year - both 2010 year and my 25th year - have brought nothing but goodness and fun and adventure.  I am grateful already.