30 Years With My Bride

So if you didn’t think I was nutty enough, Kathy and I are on very different continents as we celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary today. Who would have thought after meeting kathy a short blonde girl back in middle school 40 years ago, I’d be blogging from Africa to say “Happy Anniversary”?! Thank you for all you’ve done to get me where I am (personally and geographically).

I love you!
philmont_cropped kathy_jon

Yes, that’s me on the left in the 1983 b&w photo taken in New Mexico when I was a Ranger at Philmont Scout Ranch – gotta love the shorts…and she still married me.

Back to Liberia… I had a long day yesterday that started off well. The Foton went in for service so I spent time interviewing nearly 20 families in Deanville about demographics, education, income, health, etc. and photo documenting each household. The families really had fun sharing about themselves and getting their pictures taken. I’ll share some of what I learned later. This blog will be brief so I can get to bed. I’m in the throws of a cold that started yesterday. All the hand sanitizer in the world can’t defend against a cute kid sneezing in your face!

An attempt to make the security bars less prison-like by welding steel rod bent into cross and fish shapes. All the windows have this.

At the end of the day I still hadn’t heard anything about the status of Foton so I headed back to Gbarnga to see what was happening. Apparently they were having difficulty bleeding the brakes which took them until about 7:00pm. When I finally returned to Phebe, I had to move into Guesthouse 11 because they changed the locks and finally had a key for me. Unfortunately with the rain, I had to slog through mud (a few misplaced steps up to my shins) to get my luggage into the truck, drive down the road a bit to #11, then unload just before it started raining again. By the time I had everything inside, muddy clothes and shoes rinsed, and took a shower, it was about 8:15 and I hadn’t eaten dinner yet. I went to the kitchen and tried lighting the propane stove, only to discover the former resident left me with an empty container. Fortunately the power was on and the microwave was

The girl on the right is cooking a pot of boiled cassava for her and her sister to have as a snack.

working so I whipped up something quick to eat.

Today I interviewed a few more families, made lists of supplies, worked with Lavela on a “punch list” of things to finish, and met an electrician that will help hook up some solar powered security lights for us. I left the site early and took a nap at Phebe. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll feel a bit better. I’m meeting with Sumo and Kebbeh tomorrow afternoon to discuss teacher contracts, curriculum, etc.

Good night!