A Weekend in Monrovia

This weekend, we were able to travel to Monrovia and experience an Embassy home stay.  My goodness, I have never been so grateful for the opportunities that come with a small Peace Corps post as I have been this weekend.  Because our country is so small (we only have one project in Liberia – education – and we have 90-100 volunteers in country), we are allowed a few extra “perks,” so to speak.

One of these is the Embassy home stay program.  Embassy employees can sign up to host Peace Corps Volunteers and we as volunteers can sign up for two home stays during our time in country.  This allows us two weekends in Monrovia, staying with an Embassy family and enjoying the luxuries of a city. 

Our family is travelling back to Iowa this month for their son’s high school graduation, so unfortunately we were not able to really form a personal connection.  We were, however, able to enjoy life in a very nice apartment, complete with wi-fi, hot running water, a real stove, and delivery pizza.  This weekend has been a great recharge weekend, and I can’t wait to plan my next visit.  (We were also doubly lucky in that we were able to catch a UN flight from Harper to Monrovia, turning four days of travel into three hours on the plane/chopper.  Thanks, UNMIL!) 

Our main reason for coming to Monrovia this weekend was to attend the Embassy Arts & Crafts Fair, an event they host twice a year (in December and May/June).  There is a Peace Corps Volunteer who started a secondary project, which then turned NGO, called Bosh Bosh and she was selling there.  There were a few things I wanted to purchase from her, and I was also curious to see what other goodies I could find.  I was blown away.  This craft fair was like any other outdoor event I could have attended in the States, and it was a drain on my wallet for sure! :)

Everything I could have wanted I found, including lappa, bags, jewelry, carvings, paintings, clothes, and shoes.  I managed to get some gifts and some goodies for myself, and I’m so excited to bring everything home and show people.  Until then, I will be content with enjoying a few of my buys back in Pleebo and basking in the feeling of rejuvenation that has come from this home stay experience :) 

Sarah and I with Bosh Bosh stars.
These stars are made from recycled materials by the girls and are absolutely beautiful.
60% of the price goes towards a community service project (currently raising funds for trash cans for the health center) and 40% of the price goes back to the NGO.
Check out their website here! :  http://boshbosh.org/