Pictures From the Car Window

I didn't feel safe to be snapping away with my camera on the streets of Liberia, but I did what I could to capture my surroundings from the safety of the car as we were whizzing along! So forgive the wipers and mirrors, bug splatters, and sometimes tinted windows... ;0) Here are some of the pics I got:

One of the things that struck me right away was the contrast of lush tropical canopies, with utter desolation lying underneath. Liberia is rich in natural resources, and I'm hopeful that it can be restored to the vacation destination it once was. One thing we heard much about was the interest in exporting pineapples. We had the pleasure of having some with pretty much every lunch and dinner at the Guest House, and it is AMAZING. Even sweeter than fresh pineapple in Hawaii!

The beauty of the vegetation is untouched in certain areas along the road between Monrovia and the airport, which is about an hour's drive.

Another thing that struck me right away was the apparent lack of order and regulation. Notice the car on the left, going the wrong way in the wrong lane. This is the norm in Liberia. Drivers use their horns, rather than their signals, to indicate where they're going. It's a rarity to even see a dividing line like this, and when there is one, it serves little purpose. And there is a wild intermingling of people with the traffic! I think I held my breath more than I realized as we bumped along in the car; I very much feared that we would hit someone. I have to say again here that I certainly do NOT consider myself any sort of expert after my brief visit. I could definitely be off base on some things; these are just my observations and conclusions.

The roads were also full of a lot of random things, like these barrels that were apparently marking a construction site. I have no idea what the tepee-shaped structures farther down the road were.

Yet another thing that struck me was the sheer number of people out and about. From what I gathered, a combination of highly social culture, street vendoring, and unemployment explains the number of people in the streets. In America, it seems like we all retreat inside our homes as much as possible, so the volume of people that were constantly around was a bit of a shock to my system. (Imagine yourself at IKEA on a Saturday, and you'll get the idea.)

These are some outdoor food markets near the one Lynda, the Guest House Hostess, bought the pineapples we ate.

There's no real large-scale system up and running for dealing with waste. Trash cans are virtually non-existent. Garbage is mostly just tossed wherever one happens to be standing.

This picture is a bit dark, but if you look closely, you'll notice that it's all children. Child-rearing is very different in Liberia than it is here. As it was explained to me, it is more of a community effort, as opposed to being individual family-centered as it is in the U.S.

This is a termite hill!

Schools are privately run, and school children wear uniforms, like those you can see here. It sounds like most of them go for a few hours of instruction, and then work independently in notepads or workbooks off school premises for the remainder of the day, while another group of kids come into the building for instruction. Many of the children attending school are only able to do so through sponsorship, and giving a child an opportunity to attend school is a motivating factor in some Birth Parents' decision to relinquish their child to an orphanage.

Women really do carry all kinds of things on their heads. It's amazing! The Guest House Staff made me try carrying a basket on my head one afternoon, and we all had a good laugh at my lame attempt, let me tell you!