So you want to take a UN flight…?

We were supposed to leave Monrovia on Tuesday morning on an UN helicopter to head to site, but this being Liberia, I should not have been surprised when that did not happen.  But first, let me tell you the rest of the story…

Sarah (my site-mate) and I, and Gayla, Amy, Sarah G, Katie, Melissa and Elyssa (all six of whom were headed to the southeast) all stayed in Monrovia at the Lutheran Guest House after we swore in on Monday, August 12.  Because we had a free afternoon in Monrovia, we took full advantage of it; by that, I simply mean we got some good food and visited the grocery store.  After stocking up on the essentials at the grocery store (chickpeas, soy sauce, syrup, parmesan cheese, cocoa powder, and wine (of course)), we headed back to the guest house and got ready for dinner.  For dinner, Jason and Vince met us at an awesome Indian restaurant, and we had a great evening of good food and conversation as an entire group. 

Tuesday morning, we got up bright and early and headed to the airport in Monrovia to catch the UN flight to Harper.  After sitting there for three hours, however, we found out that we got bumped from the flight due to excessive cargo on the chopper.  Excessive cargo?  Yeah, the UN bases needed this cargo – potatoes and Coca-Cola to be specific.  Such is life, I suppose.  Plus, we got to spend an additional night in Monrovia!

We headed back to the Peace Corps office until they figured out what would be going on with our flight schedule.  There, we met up with Devin and Rex and Amelia and Kristen (all headed to Lofa county up north) and decided to find lunch since we’d be in Monrovia another day.  We found a place to get burgers and fries, which was a nice change from the rice and chicken we’d been eating so often.  Following lunch, we lounged around Monrovia and just enjoyed each other’s company for the last time before we all left to our different corners of the country. 

The next morning, we packed up once again and headed to the airport in hopes of getting on Wednesday’s flight.  Luckily, we made this flight and were on our way!  We were not on a helicopter this time, though; instead, we were flying in a 30-seat plane run by a Canadian flight team :)  After a stop in Zwedru, we finally landed in Harper where we were greeted by our principal and head custodian.  From Harper, we made the 30 minute drive to Pleebo in a chartered taxi and were taken straight to our house.

Overall, the experience with the UN flight was an interesting one, but one I was grateful to have.  Had we not been able to take a UN flight, we would have been in the car driving out to Maryland County for two days.  Instead, we made it to Maryland County in a comfortable four hours and were able to start integrating into our community quickly.  Next time, I hope I get to take a helicopter though.  That would be fun :) 

The gang from the southeast and the north helping me take out my braids.
...pretty much the best group ever :)