Western market

May 29, 2006

I worked the full day despite numerous encounters with my borderline obnoxious yawning during several one-on-meetings. The sites in Grand Gedeh and Sinoe, where I’ll take trips to, are reported to be remote. Both areas are accessible only by a 2 hour UN chopper ride when seats are available for NGO workers. A counterpart of mine only drank water on a recent trip to Grand Gedeh because he couldn’t find anything to eat around the sites.

My trip to the expat market was fascinating. $4 for a 1 lb. bag of rice, $5 for jam, and $6 for the small bottle of Herbal Essence which I didn’t buy since I brought it over. No Costco-sized portions. The aisles were relatively full with goods which further confirms the idea that half the city’s residents wear the light blue UN-flattering gear or are Tonka-d out in a Land Cruiser. A good ¼ of the items I came across from TP to canned hummus to dried fruits were all from Lebanon. “Why can’t they just import all this from Ghana?” a colleague remarked, “It’d be much cheaper.”

It’s 11 p.m. and I’ve finally arrived at an appropriate sleep time. Personally, this is the proudest moment of today.