"I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list"

I made it back to Liberia last night. This is my fourth time here. Who would have thought Liberia would become one of my most frequented countries? So far I have encountered two things that tug at my heartstrings and make me feel happy to be back...the accent and the handshake. It's a bit hard to describe the accent...perhaps imagine some Caribbean sounds mixed with dropping a few letters from each word and then add an "o" sound at the end of each sentence. The handshake is a bit easier to describe...you start by grabbing hands, shake like normal and then slide your fingers to the ends of each other’s hands and snap off each other’s fingers. It is totally rockin'. I love it when you can get a really good snapping sound. It makes you feel super cool...unlike the clumsy, awkward, how many kisses am I actually supposed to give, European style cheek smack (no offense to any of you Europeans out there...but really...how many kisses are you supposed to give?)

It feels good to be back in the field after a month off. It’s almost like a break from my break. I feel super lucky to have a job where I can have a month off at a time, but I sure crammed a lot of traveling into that month. I decided, for my own entertainment, to create a map. I shall formally dub this my April of Airplanes. Here’s a rundown of all the places that I spent the night which I had to either fly to or drive at least 1 hour to get to…South Sudan to Reston, VA to Southern Pines, NC to Denver, CO to Buena Vista, CO to Vero Beach, Fl, to Denver, CO to Seattle, WA to Denver, CO to Silverthorne, CO, to Denver, CO to Reston, VA to Monrovia, Liberia. I think the longest day of all was when I woke up in Buena Vista, CO at 8am then drove an hour to Silverthorne, CO for brunch then drove another hour to Denver to pack then flew 4 hours to Orlando then drove 2 hours to Vero Beach, FL. I finally arrived at my destination at 2am.

My April of Airplanes resulted in some amazing times though. I hiked in the mountains, I walked on the beach, I saw Mt. Rainier on a crystal clear day, I visited two beautiful waterfalls, I soaked in some hot springs, I went to an all-American wedding with a groom in full Army uniform, I saw all of my immediate family, I saw many of my best friends, I had two massages, I ran a 5k race, and I saw every movie I wanted to watch including the Hunger Games twice and Zac Effron with his shirt off (yeah, I said it). Most importantly (sorry friends and family) I got to eat Mexican food. I also got to visit and say goodbye to my dying grandma. It was heartbreaking, but I feel thankful that I got to say goodbye.

All in all, it was a month I’ll never forget.

Well, time for me to sign off. I’ll leave you with another one of my favorite travel quotes:

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list” – Susan Sontag