A good Wednesday just turned into a GREAT Wednesday. Allow me to explain. Right now it is 6:46 pm WAT, 2:46 pm EST. I am in Jay's living room in the middle of downloading and editing pictures, going over notes, and getting started on writing this very blog post. As I was typing, just moments ago, I received a FaceTime call from Lauren and Paul, the Student Council President and Vice-President at Delphi Academy of Florida. They had me gather the entire team, Tim, Jay, LouElla, and myself, and we squeezed our faces into the itty-bitty laptop camera. That's when they told us their most excellent news: Delphi Florida's Student Council was donating $1002 to our project! Hallelujah! Hooray! AWESOME!
Why $1002? When I was here in 2016, on my first Liberian adventure with my son Xane, Delphi Florida's Student Council donated $1001, which was $1.00 more than Delphi LA's Student Council donated. (2018 gauntlet thrown, Delphi LA!)
Here's a screenshot after receiving the great news! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
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| Delphi Florida Student Council ROCKS! |
The day began early. We had a scheduled 7:15 am departure time from the house. From there we'd pick up Tim at the hotel and head into downtown Monrovia, a twelve mile drive. We had an 11:00 am meeting with the President and Vice President of African Methodist Episcopal Univerity. As the astute readers noticed, we planned three hours and forty-five minutes to drive twelve miles. Yes, the traffic is that bad. The drive, as always, was full of surprising sights, sounds, and smells.
I can't do the sounds and smells justice, but here are some of the things I caught on camera.
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Crossing the new bridge
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| Pedestrian. (Most everyone I see here has very good posture. No doubt it is because everyone carries items of all shapes and sizes on their heads.) |
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| Reaffirming that idea is a meme I saw yesterday on Twitter. The caption was "Training to be a lady". Liberia is full of beautiful ladies. |
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Shoe store
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Daily Talk
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Brooms and brushes
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County (states) flags of Liberia
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The sixteen tribal masks of Liberia
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The drive into the city was quicker than we planned. We had time for coffee, tea, and pastries at the Royal Grand Hotel on Tubman Boulevard, one the few premier hotels in the city.
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75% of the team
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Also, 75% of the team
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The meeting at AMEU was a success in every way. We spent a good 90 minutes in a conference room meeting with the university president, vice-president, and one of school's deans. (Jay seems to know everyone in the country. Calvin can get a meeting with anyone in the country. Tim makes friends and allies faster and better than anyone I've ever met.) The dean is Dawn Barnes. She attended the last Applied Scholastics conference. From this meeting, it was agreed AMEU would host another Study Tech delivery team for their upcoming Summer Bridge classes, July 3 - Aug 3; AMEU would send two or three faculty to Applied Scholastics next month to become professionally certified Study Tech supervisors; and we will be doing a presentation to teachers at AMEU this Friday at 11:00.
It should be noted that what LouElla had to say about her experience with Study Technology as a student made a very good impression on the vice-president. Both the VP and president, who couldn't stay for the entire meeting, were moved by the presentation and very happy to be partners.
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| AMEU Vice-President Kei, Tim, Jay, Colin, LouElla, Dawn, Calvin |
The ride back to Jay's house included a stop at the market to stock up on everyone's favorite drink, Royal Club Bitter Lemon! A fridge full of it!
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| A few days' supply |
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| And if you're in the market for Laser Baked Beans, they're on sale |
We made two more stops on the return. One was a visit to the car repair shop where Jay's truck has been forlornly waiting for months and months for a new part from Dubai. Tim gave the truck a touch assist to hasten its healing.
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| Feel my finger |
And we stopped to visit Myia, Jay's daughter, at her mother's house.
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| Myia and Forkpah (Tim's Liberian name) |
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| Father and daughter |
That's a wrap for Wednesday. Another unforgettable day in the West African country of Liberia!
Colin
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