Flip Flops in January

Well I have officially completed week 3 in Liberia! I have not had a melt down yet and I found a clean place where I can get a pedicure so all is good. We spend most of our time at work and then I come home and cook for my 3 husbands but we do get to have some fun. Last Saturday after the morning grocery store trip with Tiffany and Sarah and lunch at the Mamba Point Hotel with the boys which is now our Saturday thing. I really enjoy getting to eat lunch with Dan so it works for me. After lunch Tiffany, Sarah, Elliston, and Cora went to Kendeja which is a resort owned by Bob Johnson who also owns Black Entertainment Television (BET). It was like stepping outside of Liberia and into the U.S.A. It had a great pool and while at the pool you had a lovely view of the ocean. It is like a little piece of Liberian heaven. You can order food and drinks and have them brought to your table which is around the pool and they have lounge chairs also to lay in. After that we had grilled chicken wings at home and Paul had invited some of his workers over to join us. They brought Magic Sing Karaoke which turned out to be SO much fun! All you have to do is plug it in and is has everything you need in the microphone. We sang and had a great time. We also did some Rock Band and were pretty good! On Sunday we had our usual breakfast and are trying to find the perfect sausage seasoning recipe. We tried one but it just wasn't right. We can get ground pork here but have to find the right blend of spices. With our attempt we did have some VERY good homemade biscuits and sausage gravy. Monday started the work week and the beginning of after school activities. I have started teaching a ballroom dancing class to 3rd-9th graders. It is a lot of fun and a little break to have some fun with the kids. On Thursday after school I went with Cora (A girl from Tennessee who teaches Social Studies and is one of my new friends) to get a pedicure and it was wonderful! You can get your toes done with OPI nail polish and order an adult beverage. What a great way to relax after a crazy day at school. That night we went to The Royal Hotel for dinner and had some FABULOUS sushi. Friday was Dan's birthday and I made him a cheesecake. it was pretty good but my pan was so big and I put too much butter in the crust so it was kind of Liberian style because it was a work in progress. We went to eat a Sage which is a great outdoor restaurant and had dinner. I got Dan 2 movies from the little guy in front of the grocery store they are great. You can buy one disc with about 10 to 15 movies on it. I got 2 discs and they had Avitar, Blind Side, The Princess and the Frog, Invictius, Where the Wild Things Are, and Halloween 2. It is a great selection. Tonight we are going to The Garden for Chinese Food which is SO good. I did get him something for tonight which I think he will like, we will have to see. Today we have 2 visitors staying in the compound. They are 2 American teachers who are here doing work at a school. They are teaching here for a year at the Ricks School. One is from Birmingham and the other from Tampa. They have come to stay for the weekend and will join us for dinner. We have spent the day grocery shopping, eating lunch at Mamba Point, and are watching the Proposal. All in all it has been a great week and great day. Tomorrow we are going to Robertsport to the beach and can't wait!

We Made it!

OK, so I know I have not written in a while but I have been pretty busy getting settled and I started my new job, but I will try to update once a week. We arrived on Friday very tired but were glad to see all of our compound mates hanging out and grilling dinner when we arrived. On Saturday Dan and I went to the school and worked on my classroom. Of course I brought cute stuff to decorate and make my room cute and so far it is looking pretty dang cute if I do say so myself. Sunday was spent putting clothes away and relaxing because not only did I have a little jet lag but a sinus infection on top of that so it was nice to just stay around the house. I will say my favorite thing about Sunday is breakfast. Allen, Dan, and Paul cook and it is pretty good for what we find. I did contribute this Sunday by making pigs in a blanket. They were pretty good considering the pigs came out of a can. I just fried them in butter (because butter always makes everything better) and Allen made homemade biscuit dough to wrap around them. We make due with what we have and so far it has been OK but I know we will have some interesting meals :). Monday kicked off my first day at school and I LOVE my kids. They are so great and I really haven't had many behavior problems which by teacher standards is pretty awesome. Every night after work I cook supper for Dan and my 2 other husbands (Allen and Paul) and then we lounge for a little while and go to bed so I don't get much done during the week and most has to be done on Saturday. So today Tiffany and I went to the grocery store and then met the boys for lunch at Mamba Point Hotel which has really really good pizza. I had the Hawaiian which was really good. Sarah, Troy's wife joined us for lunch and we then went to the outdoor market called Waterside Market to get Sarah's presents for tonight's dirty Santa party. I think it is going to be really fun because we have a $10.00 limit and the items HAVE to be purchased here so there is no telling what we will have. I have found a hand made basket and a shelf that hangs on the wall that was hand made out of bamboo. There is no telling what the others will bring but I know a good time will be had by all. I am excited also because one of my new co-workers is coming tonight to join us and it will be fun to include her and get to know her better. I know it is really cold in Alabama and I guess pretty much everywhere in Te U.S. but let me tell you it is HOT here. You sweat a lot and they say I will get use to the heat because it is always hot here but I do have my doubts, I guess we will see. I will give a Tilley update, she is adjusting pretty well and LOVES our driver Jones. He takes here with him when ever he can. Last night when we got into bed we could smell his aftershave on her. I told Dan it smelt like Jones was in bed with us and we both laughed. She is also making friends with the 2 other dogs that Rick and Tiffany have named Milo and Arby. She struts around and even though they are bigger she still bosses them around. Well I better get going and wrap my presents for tonight. Hope all is well with everyone.