Guns, Fighting, Killings...Oh MY!

So yesterday was one of the most scariest days of my life. But I'll first start off when the night before. It was a good night out, my roommate just got back in from her week out helping other towns so we were celebrating her return by going to the UN club for some drinks. Next ting I know we are crashing at midnight. I was suppose to go to another town early that morning , but luckily enough I was too tired and lazy to get up and back at 6 to pack and walk the 30 minutes to where my ride was suppose to be. So I cancelled it and slept. (which was probably really good cause the rioting started from the road I would have been taking out) I went back to bed and got up about 8. Amanda and I discussed that I would go to the market that day since I didn't have anything to do. I went to the little stand outside my house to get eggs for my breakfast. Amanda went to the well to get water...we heard things but didn't know what was going on until a UN friend called us and told us not to leave the house. WE didn't really believe him, cause he's Liberian and he thinks everything we do it too dangerous. So Amanda went to the neighbors to investigate. Then we started seeing people run from the market, which is only about a 7 minute walk from our house. We saw one of our Liberian friends and he told us what was going on. Apparently a girl from one of the local ethnic group was chopped up to bits. So the other ethnic group got blamed for it so they went to set their mosque on fire. Then the other group, Muslims, started burning down churches. this morning I've heard it was 3 churches and the Catholic school. I know many more buildings were set a blaze, but don't know which ones. Around 10 o'clock we called Peace Corps and told them what was happening. Around 11 we heard about 10 to 12 rounds of gun fire. It was far from the house to not be too scared at that moment. So when Peace Corps called back we told them we wanted to get out of town. One of my biggest problems I have with Peace Corps is that they really don't care about your safety...they have a budget and want to stick with it. They didn't even want to come and get us, both the safety director and the country director kept trying to get Amanda and I to say that we felt safe. And never at one point did we. We told them to come and get us. That was a little before 12. They said they were going to send up a car. Amanda and I back a bag and left to go to our UN policeman's house for better protection and electricity. He came and gave us his keys since he had a lot of work to do. I felt that Peace Corps didn't care what was happening to us. We had to find our own shelter and thank god for all the friends we made. We get to Pita's, our UN plice friend around 12:20 PC calls around one to tell us if it's safe we we should move to the Swiss compound. The compound was in the opposite direction as the fighting so we left. All the while Peace Corp is telling us that they were coming to get us. Even at one point our country director told Amanda just to curl up to a good book and wait for Peace Corps to come and get us, they were going to do a wait and see approach. That wasn't sitting well with me, guns had fired, house and buildings were burning, people fighting everywhere, ...so that's when I set out the message that everyone should call Peace Corps Washington and tell them to do something about us. Then we started getting calls, our US military friend was trying to arrange a helicopter flight out for us and now PC was saying there were going to be sending a car to get us but it wouldn't be until tomorrow. At around dusk, the Nigerian riot police came to help the situation, their way of helping was to start shooting guns...they were so close to us that we ran for cover. At this point Amanda and I just look at each other from across the way, she took cover in the door frame where I took cover on the opposite side of the house in between two walls, and we both knew we were done. At the time we didn't know they were firing warning shots or that it was the riot police, all we knew is that our time could be up and neither one of us wanted it to happen. Our safety director called just after the shooting to tell us it was just the riot police. Still not comforting. We went to bed exhausted but uneasy. We both woke up in the middle of the night thinking what the hell had we done...And peace corps is completely FUCKED UP!!! then we got a text at 7 in the morning that they are sending a car out.. It will take them about 7 hours to get here.

In town they've set up a refugee camp at the hospital. Last night, most Liberians grabbed the shit that they had and peace the fuck out of town. They were carrying tv's and clothes on their heads. This morning I got a call from one of my students that he was hurrt in the attack. He's one of my better students, comes to my house all the time for extra work. Did his Math homework 2 times to make sure he got it all. He said he was hurt and can't walk at the moment. I know I need to go but don't know if I have the heart to leave my students. Most of them love to learn and are hungry for information. And I just feel horrible that they live in a country were such violence happens on a regular bases. Don't think I can stay here, even though I would love to...I'm pretty sure my family and friends back home would kill me. Too many things to think about...I need a vacation...

Fun Times...

I'm sitting in my own sweat...that's how hot it is. I took a nap today...cause I drank way too much last night and woke up to basically in a small little pond of sweat. And it's only going to get hotter. I once had a friend describe the climate in his home country, Thailand, as that there are three kinds of season there. Hot, really hot and DAMN HOT! Which I feel that's how it is here.

So this weekend I had a lot of fun with my follow UN/NGO friends here. It was a really great time. Saturday night we just sat on our porch and drank...and boy did we ever...there were 5 of us, but only 4 of us really drinking. We finished a big bottle of Jameson and 10 40s of beer. It was an amazing time. The Fijian had to help the Brit home as he was stumbling to and fro. Man do I love my life.

I'm over a month into being here, about 5 left. I got an email from one of friends from Scotland. She's having a rough time so I think I will make it over there and spend about a month with her before heading home.

Think I'll ended it now before I drip sweat onto my computer...Miss you Stephnie!

Friendly, Just not social...

So I have learned that Liberians are very friendly...just not social. If it wasn't for all the UN friends I have made here I wouldn't have a social life to talk about. I don't know if it is because of the war or what but not a single Liberian has invited me and my roommate over for dinner, or tea or even just for some chatting. They are all nice and helpful on the streets with directions or going to the market but just not sociable. If I have been invited out, it was by a Liberian man with love intentions on his mind.

Thank God for the UN...and all the people they have brought us. It's quite amazing to see how many different kinds of people are here. Tonight, Thai food is on the menu. =) On Thursday we went to the Jordanian barracks for dinner and a celebration. First thing you need to know is that these soldiers never get to leave their barracks, plus there are no females on the barracks, so that night there was just us lonely 6 girls among 150ish men. We watched a film about Jordan, which now I want to visit, ate a traditional meal, with our fingers (rice, nuts and a goat's head) and "danced" the night away. Now when I say dance I really mean us girls got to dance for like minutes before an officer came over and told us that we needed a break. I think they were just trying to prevent anything from happening. These men probably hadn't seen women in like months. Now I can picture what it's like in prison. (Which by the way, they call their barracks worse than Guantanamo Bay. There were several Jordanians who were very attractive...maybe at the next party I will learn some Arabic....

Peace Corps Life really isn't your own. I can't be myself or act like myself. I act a shade different in order for things to work better for me in my community. This means no drunken nights in my town, no random hook-ups. I must act professional all the time, which can be a little stressful. Never to let loose and show your true self. When people ask what my religion is, I tell them that I am Jewish...because if I told them that I didn't believe in god, then no one would really want to work with me. (I really need to freshen up on my Jewish knowledge...man do they ask me a lot of questions about my "faith". But to never get to act like yourself can be tiring...Which is why I don't think I can live here for an entire year, the people aren't sociable, I can't get drunk or do stupid things and I have to lie about my "religion".

Ok...I'm going to be adding some pictures of my house...hope you enjoy!

Feb..Black History Month!

Another week down in Liberia. Had a great week teaching, though I did end up a little discouraged. After giving my classes a test and less than a handful knew it all. It was a little sad. So I changed my questions around, to were they didn't have to infer anything and my last class did a lot better. So I now know that they can't really infer things from the knowledge that they know. So that will be my next step. I think in patterns, it's easy for me to see something and link it to something else. The liberians here can't seem to do that. They can't even read a graph and interpret the information from that graph. I thought it was just common sense, but I guess somewhere along the way I learned how to do that. Maybe I will teach them that...but I don't know, they Geometry is hard enough and next they want me to teach them Trig. Who knows...

This week has been good. Got to hang with a handful of other Peace Corps volunteers, it was nice. Drank a lot, like we do in PC and bullshitted a lot as well. It was nice to have a little taste of home. Tonight I invited the Fijians over for dinner. The one takes real good care of me and my roommate, so we wanted to return the favor. Tomorrow we are having curry, Thanks Fiji!

Since it is the dry season here, the water pumps are starting to run low and the women at the pumps are not happy with these two new arrivals from America. A lot of them bitch to each other about us, but I play the blonde card and just pretend not to notice/understand them. I just smile and say thanks. We only got like 4 little pales of water from the pump. It's difficult when you don't get to go everyday cause you are busy. A lot of times they don't really understand why we can't seem to get enough water or why we only go there every once in awhile. For them, this is there job, for us we really don't have time during the day to get it all done, all the chores that Africans have, we don't have anyone doing them for us. Though after talking things over with the roommate, we are talking about getting a girl to come over and sweep and mop our house for us.

Well I'm off to watch the Super Bowl, got a TV and a place that will hopefully stay up/have enough energy to last for the entire game! Peace