Monrovia is changing every day. Before I left on my recent get-away, I walked past this amazing building in the center of town. In what was once a large window or entrance of a tall official looking building, dozens and dozens of neckties were on display, for sale, in an interlocking kaleidoscopic pattern of tie-decadence. I didn’t have my camera with me, but thought what a great shot that place would make. The old building not in use, the second hand ties for sale, the vibrant street life in Monrovia’s center. I’d wait for the right passer by in the frame, hoping for an amazing snap.

I went back just the other day. The building was boarded up and under renovation, aluminum siding covering the opening where the ties once were. The ties are still there, on display, but now instead of being part of a decaying urban landscape, they’re hanging on aluminum siding. My visual was gone. I could still take the picture, but the aluminum siding made the ties look more like they were at Target and less like they’re in post-conflict West Africa.

I thought about how before I came to Liberia, I was excited to move to a country people were hopeful about, that was said to be improving quickly. When I thought about how one week a building was in disrepair and the next week it was being repaired, I thought this must be true.

Over too much wine this weekend, a new friend and old Liberia hand commented on change.

Every time he’s come back over the past several years, he said, there are new coats of paint and refurbished buildings. But, not much really changes. People are still traumatized, ex-combatants are not reintegrated, and the average Liberian is not better off than he was last year.

The more some things change, the more other things stay the same.