Random thoughts, insights and happenings from the dental clinic and house #G7, ELWA compound, Monrovia, Liberia

My faithful dog has shown his true colours.  A female dog named Princess from 2 houses over is in heat and suddenly I am no longer the best thing since Kibbles n’ Bits.  He showed up for about a minute today but then HAD to run off again before he even got a chance to eat.  This too shall pass.

We had a lovely birthday party brunch for Rahel Schutte at my house this past Saturday. My stove’s propane tank was empty (yikes) but thanks to the electric frying pan and an electric hotplate we were still able to make crepes and French toast. A lot of fun!

A 10 lb. Bag of potatoes costs $13.00 but, oh, so worth it.

The seas have been very rough with high tides this past week causing a lot of trash to wash up on the beach each day. A young guy named Immanuel Blackie cleans the beach in front of my house every day so my part is cleaner than the rest.  Immanuel kept hanging around my house asking for work and sometimes getting in the way as he tried to help with whatever was happening. I finally told him if he’d keep the beach clean I’d pay him $20.00 a month.  He has taken this job very seriously. 

If you buy eggs in the store here you have to wash them before you can use them.  They still have “organic matter” all over them, straight from the chicken!

I now have security lights outside my house all night long, even when the campus generator is off.  Before, everything was nicely lit up until 12 midnight and then my house was plunged into darkness just like all the other houses on campus.  When would you come out if you were the rogue?  Now two 12v. batteries charge up while the power is on.  My outside lights are wired to this inverter so when the main power source goes of these lights keep shining.  The security guards from the houses around me are most grateful as it makes their job so much easier.  I also sleep better knowing the rogues no longer can hide so easily around my place.

I’m having problems with the air compressor at the clinic.  The air hose from motor to the tank cracked causing the compressor to run continually.  A replacement hose of the same size has not yet been found and our “mickey mouse” fix-up is not too dependable.  Do I look for a new compressor (reasonably easy to find) to the tune of $200-$300 or do I spend my days off stomping all over Monrovia looking for the right hose?  I sure wish I had a competent maintenance person who could do this kind of stuff for me.

For the past 5 weeks I have been struggling with a growing pain in my right foot.  I’m beginning to think I am dealing with a stress fracture.  The past 2 days I have had to be driven to and from the clinic.  Not sure how to deal with it. 

I’ve had problems with mice and cockroaches.  Some sticky, gooey stuff took care of one mouse, who was still “shrieking’ as I threw him/her outside, hopelessly stuck to the cardboard.  There still seems to be one who is too smart to fall for the ‘sticky, gooey’ trick.  My cat is either immune to mice or can’t stand the taste of them, I don’t know.  The cockroaches are another story.  Captain Schutte had given me a real potent gel that worked on the ship. It seemed to have worked.  However, this last Saturday night, as I was washing dishes, a huge roach climbed out from behind the cupboard.  I flicked him off onto the floor and then smashed him with a flip-flop.  No sooner had I swept him up when several more of varying sizes appeared from the same place and then even more.  It was an invasion!  I freaked, smashing them with my bare hands.  It was like a horror movie!  There was no time or space for flip-flops.  When I swept them up the dustpan had over 13 cockroach carcasses in it!  (Maybe they were trying to migrate, to get away from the horrible gel that was decimating their numbers)

Mr. Fuchs, (the fickle dog) has just shown up.  I think a bigger dog has put him in his place and he has come home to lick his wounds, literally.  He was “dog tired” too, falling asleep immediately.  He needed to learn his place, for his own good.

Some things I find myself pondering are serious and need further pondering.  In those I need God’s understanding and enlightenment.  Other things I’ll just have to wait for the answers, as they are not so important, just wandering around in my thoughts.  Two things I question, no three; Why is God still making wisdom teeth, why did He think cockroaches were necessary and…why hyenas?