Asking for a friend

If someone barfs within 1 hour after taking their malaria pill, should they take a second dose? Asking for a friend.

I got cocky because I haven't gotten sick (yet). Before meeting people for breakfast, I downed my medicine - thinking if I was close to eating breakfast, I would be fine. Not so much. I usually take the medicine *after* eating. Which apparently is key. I won't make that mistake again.

We went to a fancy hotel for dinner tonight - an outside patio, overlooking the ocean with amazing food. It was like I traveled to California instead of 10 minutes north of Monrovia's city center. "We" is my boss, who is the managing director of Rising's programs in Liberia; the Rising CEO (based in Sierra Leone); and Rising CFO (based in Ghana). I have to pinch myself that I am in this mix, with access to these leaders, and with an opportunity to help them create things.

This map of Monrovia is great: https://https://www.google.com/maps/place/Monrovia,+Liberia/@6.2952661,-10.8012678,14.08z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0xf09f803d4a9fcc1:0x5b6c4dd7069694af!8m2!3d6.3156068!4d-10.8073698!16zL20vMDFweHF4?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDkyNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
I am staying in the Key Hole area; my office is in Congo Town. Tonight, we had dinner on Mamba Point, north of Capitol Hill (you have to zoom in pretty far for this).

Another struggle today: I don't have a can opener, bottle opener or corkscrew in my apartment. While this has brought my drinking down to zero, it also means I can't break into the cans of beans I bought myself to give me some kind of normal diet at some point. I know there are can openers in Liberia. I just haven't found one yet.

Our driver, Victor, is definitely going to be the person I know best by the time my tour is over. He is wonderful, and I am quickly tuning up my skills on understanding him. He is patiently teaching me the Liberian handshake, which involves a clever snap between the two people that I am able to execute about 1 out of 5 times. A skill I aim to improve.

I had lunch with an office mate, Cece, today. I was eating a recovery meal of applesauce and a banana, though she invited me to dig into the rice, kidney beans and fish she was sharing with another co-worker. It is very typical to have a large dish, and several people stand around it, and eat out of the same dish, each with their own fork.

Cece and I met Monday; she has a big smile, long braids and a 14-year-old son named Mike. She was speaking coloquois with the other woman, and they started laughing that I couldn't follow at all. Then, the taught me a couple things. "Balehgo." They both said this word (or maybe group of words?), but when I tried to imitate them, I couldn't. So I asked how to spell it, and they both started laughing - they both said: we don't really spell coloquois, we just speak it. But then we kind of put letters together to help me out. "Ba" is friend - a warm way of getting someone's attention without calling their name. "Lehgo" is let's go. English lurks in there a bit! I practiced with them so I could say "Balehgo" to Victor at the end of the day. When I did so, everyone laughed, and this will be yet another thing I can improve over time.

Cece told me her story over lunch. She went to the Ivory Coast as a very young child for difficult family reasons. She ran back to Liberia when war broke out in the Ivory Coast. By that time, the war had started in Liberia. She shared alot with me, and it's not my story to share. But I found myself not knowing how to hold my face, what to offer, how to listen. Pangs, lightning flashes, disorientation about the traumas she endured. There, but for the grace of God, go I. Go all of us.

She is beautiful, educated, hard working and a very dedicated mom. Her "man" lives in...Iowa. No lie. He is coming to Liberia in January to pay her dowry, and then they will plan a wedding. Her boss and her boss's wife have kind of taken her under their wing.

I just read this wonderful sentence in The Return by Hisham Matar: "What is extraordinary is that, given everything that has happened, the natural alignment of the heart remains towards the light." Maybe Cece's smile is evidence of that.

Sweet dreams, wonderful family and friends: hug each other and turn your hearts to the light.

xo

PS: If you are wondering about redosing after the barf: yes. The Google was pretty clear on this.