Baby Deer and Missing Clothes
January 10, 2006
This morning I went to my favorite restaurant here, the Plaza, with two of the marines. Liberia is getting very busy with people coming in for the inauguration, which is on Monday. Because the Plaza is located across from the UN DDRR building, lots of interesting people kept coming in and out of the restaurant. US Secret Service, Swedish UNMIL troops, etc. One Liberian came in with a baby deer. He walked around the restaurant trying to sell it to people until he was kicked out. As we drove away from the restaurant, I saw an Irish guy carrying the deer, which he had apparently bought. What can you do with a baby deer? Deer meat is popular here, but do people really eat baby deer? (Not to worry, I got a picture of all this. I’ll post it when I get back.)
So while we were eating brunch a Liberian guy came up to our table and introduced himself to the two marines. The Liberian did not even look at me. He didn’t shake my hand or anything. When he left, we laughed about it, but I was furious. He must have heard us talking about him, because he came back a few minutes later and apologized for not introducing himself to me. “I’m sorry I didn’t shake your hand earlier,” he said confidently, “But your friend here didn’t introduce you.” He motioned to the marine sitting next to me. This was a weird incident, but I think it speaks to a couple of trends in Liberia. First, Liberians are very concerned about status. This Liberian guy probably just wanted to be seen shaking hands with marines. The marines said that happens a lot. Also, women have very little public role in Liberia. Sometimes I forget that because I have been hanging out with a lot of ex-pats. But it’s probably true for the Lebanese as well. I haven’t met a single Lebanese woman since I have been here, and this is mostly because Lebanese women tend to stay at home.
When I had finished eating I walked right up to the Lebanese manager of the restaurant and asked if I could interview him later this week. (I’m getting very good at this!)
After brunch I got dropped off at a cell phone company office where I interviewed the Lebanese man who I had met in Tubmanburg. Immediately following that interview, I interviewed another Lebanese who works at a near by supermarket. (So productive! I know!)
I went back to my convent and a little later one of my Lebanese friends picked me up and we went to the Royal Hotel restaurant to use the wireless Internet there. The Royal is, of course, owned by Lebanese. I didn’t see the hotel, but the restaurant was large and very antique-looking. We ordered some moutabal (mmmm) and wrote emails for a while. A little later we met two American women who are in Liberia filming a documentary on the role of women in Liberia’s civil society. I was going to accompany them on their shoot today (Jan. 11), but it was pouring this morning and I didn’t want to have to take a taxi in the rain to meet up with them. We stayed at the Royal for the rest of the night….mingling and meeting interesting people. At one point later at night the generator went off and a table of Swedish UNMIL peacekeepers started singing Jingle Bells. That was a little weird. Later I met another Lebanese guy and interviewed him on the spot. (Three interviews in one day! This is a record.)
And on a completely unrelated note, I am running out of clothes. I didn’t bring that many clothes here to begin with, so I have one of the guys who works at the convent wash my clothes fairly frequently. Every time I get back a load of clean clothes, I am always missing a shirt or pants or something else. My clothes are hung dry outside, and I think some people have just been taking things they like off the clothesline. I haven’t been able to find a place to buy new clothes here. Some shacks in markets sell second-hand clothes donated from the states, but I can’t bring myself to buy them.
This morning I went to my favorite restaurant here, the Plaza, with two of the marines. Liberia is getting very busy with people coming in for the inauguration, which is on Monday. Because the Plaza is located across from the UN DDRR building, lots of interesting people kept coming in and out of the restaurant. US Secret Service, Swedish UNMIL troops, etc. One Liberian came in with a baby deer. He walked around the restaurant trying to sell it to people until he was kicked out. As we drove away from the restaurant, I saw an Irish guy carrying the deer, which he had apparently bought. What can you do with a baby deer? Deer meat is popular here, but do people really eat baby deer? (Not to worry, I got a picture of all this. I’ll post it when I get back.)
So while we were eating brunch a Liberian guy came up to our table and introduced himself to the two marines. The Liberian did not even look at me. He didn’t shake my hand or anything. When he left, we laughed about it, but I was furious. He must have heard us talking about him, because he came back a few minutes later and apologized for not introducing himself to me. “I’m sorry I didn’t shake your hand earlier,” he said confidently, “But your friend here didn’t introduce you.” He motioned to the marine sitting next to me. This was a weird incident, but I think it speaks to a couple of trends in Liberia. First, Liberians are very concerned about status. This Liberian guy probably just wanted to be seen shaking hands with marines. The marines said that happens a lot. Also, women have very little public role in Liberia. Sometimes I forget that because I have been hanging out with a lot of ex-pats. But it’s probably true for the Lebanese as well. I haven’t met a single Lebanese woman since I have been here, and this is mostly because Lebanese women tend to stay at home.
When I had finished eating I walked right up to the Lebanese manager of the restaurant and asked if I could interview him later this week. (I’m getting very good at this!)
After brunch I got dropped off at a cell phone company office where I interviewed the Lebanese man who I had met in Tubmanburg. Immediately following that interview, I interviewed another Lebanese who works at a near by supermarket. (So productive! I know!)
I went back to my convent and a little later one of my Lebanese friends picked me up and we went to the Royal Hotel restaurant to use the wireless Internet there. The Royal is, of course, owned by Lebanese. I didn’t see the hotel, but the restaurant was large and very antique-looking. We ordered some moutabal (mmmm) and wrote emails for a while. A little later we met two American women who are in Liberia filming a documentary on the role of women in Liberia’s civil society. I was going to accompany them on their shoot today (Jan. 11), but it was pouring this morning and I didn’t want to have to take a taxi in the rain to meet up with them. We stayed at the Royal for the rest of the night….mingling and meeting interesting people. At one point later at night the generator went off and a table of Swedish UNMIL peacekeepers started singing Jingle Bells. That was a little weird. Later I met another Lebanese guy and interviewed him on the spot. (Three interviews in one day! This is a record.)
And on a completely unrelated note, I am running out of clothes. I didn’t bring that many clothes here to begin with, so I have one of the guys who works at the convent wash my clothes fairly frequently. Every time I get back a load of clean clothes, I am always missing a shirt or pants or something else. My clothes are hung dry outside, and I think some people have just been taking things they like off the clothesline. I haven’t been able to find a place to buy new clothes here. Some shacks in markets sell second-hand clothes donated from the states, but I can’t bring myself to buy them.
posted by Shelby at 10:37 AM
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