What would you choose: pig foot or chicken foot?

I chose pig. My work colleagues are finding it very entertaining to keep introducing me to African food. And Cece, my sister-aunt, takes the lead, making sure I am around the table, spoon in my hand, while we all dig into the large, plastic bowl with rice and whatever dish they have decided on for the day. Today, it was poombah or poolah or some kind of something that I really have no idea what. But in it were pig feet and chicken feet. She asked which I wanted. I chose pig. They were happy about that because they prefer chicken. Today, there were 5 of us around the bowl, and a couple others wandered in for a couple bites. I have to say, this communal and casual eating thing is kind of awesome. Just like dress, there don't seem to be rules that can be broken. You can wander in, wander out, grab a spoon, dig in.

It's very possible I am wrong about this and/or just not yet seeing or knowing the rules to break. How does the food get paid for? I'm not sure yet.

I climbed out of koko last week, and took myself for a nice dinner at the Ocean Drive Beach Club on Friday. I can walk to Ocean Drive, and it's a place where you pay $10 to enter, then they apply the $10 to your food+drink bill. That's pretty common here. It was a beautiful evening; I was sitting on a huge deck, looking at the ocean. Lights strung across the deck came on when the sun set. Some people were playing in the water, and I saw one tall young man walking down the beach. He stopped about every 50 yards and broke into this Michael Jackson-like dance groove. A little moonwalk, a little wave. Then, he started walking again. Entertaining himself? Practicing? Delighting in being on the beach on a clear night? Maybe he was just nuts, but I found myself wanting to have the audacity to break into dance moves whenever I wanted to.

I hired a motorbike to take me home, and I have to say that riding on the back of a motorbike is pretty fun. Gonna pick my days and my roads somewhat carefully, but my motorbike days are not over yet.

I spent Saturday and Sunday at the Libassa EcoLodge (www.libassa.com). Wow - gorgeous and utterly relaxing. I sat on a deck overlooking the ocean for most of Saturday. The food was great, my little room completely cute and comfortable. Being at the tail end of the rainy season and not fully into the dry season, there were only a few other people there, so it was quiet. Kind of heavenly. (Not cheap; this overnight with food and lodging ran me $200, not including getting there and back. This "dual" economy is mind-blowing.)

The EcoLodge people have two other lodges in Liberia, and I'll try to get to both of them. One is also on the coast; the other is in the region of Nimba, west of here and where Nimba National Forest is. It's a 6 hour drive from Monrovia.

A great discovery about Libera: they love popcorn! Popcorn is sold on the street everywhere, and I befriended a lady who lives 2 blocks from the office who has a popcorn machine set up in front of her house. She makes popcorn snack bags every day. This is my kind of place. A popcorn bag on the street is on the "Liberian" side of the economy (vs. the ex-pat/NGO side): it usually costs about 20 cents (50 Liberian dollars), and comes complete with a spoon. I didn't know about eating popcorn with a spoon, but now I do.

I have landed on one fruit and vegetable stand near my house that I visit almost daily; I get a couple bananas, garlic cloves, ginger, cucumbers (lots of cucumbers here!). One day she had two avocados, so I bought those. This almost-daily interaction is nice, and it relaxes me to go to the same woman. We greet, we smile; she fills my little plastic bag, and then I will see her the next day. Because I'm me, I bring an old plastic bag for her to fill, and she chuckles at me, just like many of you do.

Last night, I made my magic red lentil soup, with garlic, onions and carrots I bought from her stand. I brought a large pot of it to work. After many days of these people feeding me, I wanted to feed them. They liked it, and we had another circle around the table, bantering and eating. What a gift to be wrapped into this group.

Hugs and love to you all; thank you for kind words about this blog - I love the challenge of trying to capture it. As Ross Gay says about how his "delight meter" gets better when he asks himself to notice delights, I hope that my empathy and curiosity meters are rising to this task.

xo

PS - Because everyone should have the magic red lentil soup: 1 onion, 2-3 carrots. Dice them and saute in 2T of olive oil in a big soup pot. After about 5 min, add 2-3T of cumin, 1t-ish of tumeric, and a couple cloves of garlic. Maybe a couple shakes of cayenne pepper if you like that. Cook until spices are fragrant; 30-45 seconds. Add 4 C broth of your choice; 1 C red lentils (rinsed); 1 can diced tomatoes w/ juice; 1 can of garbonzo beans, drained. Voila. You can stir in bunches of kale or spinach at the end if you want; throw in rice or quinoa. If you are my Auntie Caitlin, you'll stir in a dollop or two of peanut butter.