Police Encounter #1

December 18th, 2011


I can't even figure out what to say right now, the last 12 hours has been insane! We landed in Monrovia and quickly felt like we were in Africa!


I began ripping off clothes as fast as I could - it is soo hot. Its not often you experience snow and 90degree weather in the same seven hours. We then waited in a long "visitor" line to make our way through customes and into the country. Many people were intreged and asked us why we were there. One lady thought our passports were pink and was completely fascinated (It was just the cover).


When getting to the booth (finally) I handed her my passport, yellow fever card, and customs form.All the things know needed to enter Liberia. Then I heard these scary, stomach turning, body shaking words: "where is your visa?" Someone - tons of people - had forgotten to tell us we needed one. By law this would mean we needed to quickly be deported.


We were then taken into a small office with a military man and a few others and were then questioned up and down. As things were not complicated enough, they took Kelsey and left me... in a empty office - by myself..... there was NOOO way God directed my path to Africa for me to get deported in the first ten minutes... I knew He would provide a way out.


After a while I heard Kelseys voice from a distance and it never sounded so heavenly. They had found Dennis, the director of CRCA and brought him in for questioning. Eventually the deal was made we could each pay $100 and be let through. PRAISE THE LORD!


Exiting the airport was culture shock! Traffic is crazy and there certainly are not rules.There were people walking down the street with baskets on their heads, many very young children wondering by themselves, the houses are little huts with either one light bulb handing or no light at all.There are night clubs everywhere but not how you would picture them


We then went to dinner...and ate Chinese food. Apparently a lot of Chinese people have been migrating to West Africa... go figure! I could go on forever but my body feels like its shutting itself down... I just want to sleep. So I am now in bed under a mosquito net wit a ton of African teenage boys outsite my window... I am gonna try to get some rest.... Is this real life???