I’m 
... on Part of getting to know a new place is seeing lots of things that don’t make a lot of sense. A brief selection of things I don’t get, in no particular order:
- In a vacant lot, a boy, probably about ten years old, sat authoritatively on a the wall that ran the length of one side of the compound. In front of him were about five rows of younger boys, sitting cross legged, attentive, watching and listening to this other boy only slightly older than them.
- When you get a beer here, they put a napkin, or if a napkin is not available then a tissue, on top of the cap. It’s opened in front of you, with the napkin on the cap. So far, it just seems like this results is soggy tissue all over the neck of the beer bottle. It seems that people use this soggy tissue to wipe off the top of the newly opened bottle, but I am not convinced of the effectiveness of any part of this method in making your drink less likely to contain things it shouldn’t.
- The supermarket here has more American products than I could imagine in Africa. For example, Oreo Cookies, Crystal Light, Smuckers Jam, etc. All the preservatives and processed food I never wanted!
Esquire of the mountain says:
I can only venture a guess on number 1;
the child soldier phenomenon…the boy on the wall was perhaps a superior officer during the war and the rest were listening to him…
[Reply]
— January 18, 2009 @ 9:57 am
Scarlett Lion says:
@Esquire – I assume that they’re replicating some sort of dynamic like that since they would have all been five years old or less at the end of the war in 2003. But, I don’t know why they were sitting in that place on that day, and since I’m new to Monrovia, I’m hesitant to jump to conclusions since I don’t know how to read people or signs yet.
[Reply]
— January 18, 2009 @ 3:58 pm
The 27th Comrade says:
Liberia’s flag is the American one, sans some stars. (Single state, you see.) Hence the food, I guess. I’m thinking the cravings are genetic, and many Liberians are Americans … ;o)
[Reply]
— January 18, 2009 @ 4:25 pm
Scarlett Lion says:
@27 – There’s this great line the Stephen Ellis book “Mask of Anarchy” about how Liberia is so aware of America and America is so not aware of Liberia. The relationship between the two countries is something I’ll definitely be exploring while I’m here. I knew that it would be, but I guess I was just surprised to see quite so much Americana at the super market.
That, and a lot of the Liberians we’ve met are already calling David “brother” since it’s a common name here, we’re American, and David is very friendly
.
[Reply]
— January 18, 2009 @ 4:45 pm
geotraveler says:
Just found your blog! and I’m enthralled. Will be following your journey.
As for this first bullet, definitely food for thought!
[Reply]
— January 18, 2009 @ 10:31 pm
Aaron Leaf says:
re the beer: does it have something to do with reassuring the customer against black magic and poisoning? I know many in many countries the waiter will not open a drink away from the table for this reason. Maybe this is just taking it one step further?
[Reply]
— January 26, 2009 @ 8:48 am
Scarlett Lion says:
@Aaron – best theory yet…
[Reply]
— January 26, 2009 @ 3:39 pm
Jillian says:
re beer: i’ve seen this in other places too. sometimes the beer bottles get dirty in shipping, and while the very top of the lid where the cap is closed should be clean, the area surrounding the cap can still be dirty (where your lips generally go!) this means that you need to either pour it in a glass, or wipe it off- assuming a beer soaked tissue will clean off germs!
[Reply]
— January 27, 2009 @ 6:22 pm
Scarlett Lion | Ready, Set, New Year. says:
[...] January of 2009, I had just arrived in Monrovia and I wrote about three things I didn’t understand. Here’s one of them: In a vacant lot, a boy, probably about ten years old, sat [...]
— January 5, 2010 @ 8:41 pm