Home Sweet Home

I had my second Christmas this morning. I opened my stocking, and my mom is making fried ham and eggs right now. Then my sisters and I will exchange gifts. I think there are a few gifts under the tree for me, too. :)

I'm glad to be home, but there are things that I miss about Liberia, too.

I miss the warm weather, for one thing. I think it's freezing here, but everyone else thinks the weather is pretty nice.

It's a relief to have running water all day, but I liked that half an hour each day in Monrovia when we would sit out on the balcony and wait for the electricity to come on at 7pm. I don't usually spend time just sitting and reading or playing card games without the TV on or my internet browser open. It was nice to sit and talk and feel the breeze from the ocean, especially after a long day of running errands and visiting orphanages. This is a picture of Leila on one of our evenings on the porch.

I do like having internet access at my fingertips again. We don't have to drive or walk a few blocks to set up our laptops. I was amazed by how much we relied on our trips to the Royal Hotel each day. We did take pictures when we were leaving because the hotel was our safe haven where we had connection to our friends and family from home. I'm glad that we couldn't go on the internet all day long in Liberia though because I would have missed out on many experiences if I was sitting at my computer.

I don't think I'm afraid of using the horn in my car anymore. Our driver (and every other driver in Monrovia) used their car horns more than I'll probably use mine for the rest of my life. When we were driving home from the airport, I kept expecting our driver to use his. Our driver in Monrovia would have used his in the same situation. I also expected the car to swerve around potholes, but there weren't any.

I'll also miss seeing houses with giraffe pattern on them. If you know me, you know I like giraffes. When I was little, I liked them because they started with "G" just like my name. I don't have a picture of one of the houses with the pattern on it, but I have this picture of a wall with a sample of the pattern.I'll put up one video for now. This is a video of the market in Monrovia on December 22, our first full day there. We had to drive through the market to get to the Children's Rescue Mission, and there was so much traffic.

There are other things I miss about Liberia. It was a once in a lifetime experience, and I'm glad I had the opportunity. Maybe one day I'll go back, but for now I'm happy to be home sweet home.

Happy New Year!