Greetings from Sunny Liberia!

I was going to send an e-mail to the family, but I realized that certain family members (mom) don't check their e-mail too often! I've got several more hours before I have to be at the airport, so now seems like a good time to write a little update. We've had a good week in Liberia, but everyone on our trip is ready to get to Dakar. Compared to Liberia, it will be paradise. I need to savour that thought tonight, because I don't think I will ever again fly into an African country and think, "Thank God...civilization!" Everything this week has had the caveat "...for Liberia". Example: Our hotel is nice, for Liberia. The restaurant was great, for Liberia. This road has few potholes, for Liberia.

I'll write more later, but I will just say that Monrovia makes Khartoum look really nice. It actually makes Juba look pretty nice. The definition for "hellhole" in the dictionary says "see Monrovia". Actually, it says "a place totally lacking in comfort, cleanliness, order, etc." That's Monrovia in a nutshell! Even still, I've had a pretty good time, for Liberia. I learned the Liberian handshake; it's a normal handshake, but you snap fingers at the end. It looks cooler than it sounds. :) People I met with were pleased that I shook hands the Liberian way!

I'm eager to see if all my luggage arrives intact in Dakar. One guy on our team lost his luggage on the way in (unlike the rest of us, his flight into Monrovia connected through Ghana). His luggage missed the plane in Accra and arrived 3 days after he did (on the next flight). It was largely empty. They took all his shirts, slacks, and shoes! He's been wearing t-shirts and flip flops a lot. His suitcase had a lock on it, but they just pried open the zipper in the middle. Our luggage, passports, and tickets were already taken to the airport by our expediter, so it's out of my hands now! In addition to my locks, I also wrapped strapping tape around my bags in a couple places. We'll see what kind of deterrent that is!