Hello Old Friend

I'm still finding it hard to believe that I am back in Monrovia. It feels a bit like a surreal dream where I have suddenly been transported two and a half years into my past. In fact, I had grown rather used to a comfortable life in Stockholm. After about nine years together, Teresa and I finally got married and for the first time in our lives we both had steady, full-time jobs with relatively decent salaries. We took the traditional Swedish month-long summer holidays, bought new furniture and even got a flatscreen TV. I turned 30. We began to outgrow our flat and talked about buying something bigger.

But somehow this all felt premature. I hope that my primary motivation for working in this 'industry' (and it certianly is an industry down here) is to make the world a slightly better place. However, I would be the first to admit that I did not get into working with development /humanitarian issues for purely altruistic reasons. I want to see parts of the world I would never see as a tourist, experience vastly different cultures and build up an impressive repertoire of after-dinner stories that I can bore friends and family with for decades to come. As such we decided that the time was ripe to shun our comfortable lives, throw caution to the wind and take the plunge into the Deep Unknown.

Well, the Semi-Unknown at least. Monrovia feels a bit like an old friend I've had a love-hate relationship with and I haven't seen for a while:

Monrovia: (in a sarcastic tone) Oh, nice to see you back here after you left us in such a hurry last time....without even saying good-bye properly...

Me: What?! My contract came to an end and my wife-to-be had made it quite clear that I wasn't to be away from home any longer. I'd already lied to her and said I was staying for only 6 months. I'd been away for almost 10! When you're married you'll understand.

Monrovia: Well, it's nice to have you back I guess. What do you think of my new look?

Me: At first glance it looks like things are on the right path. There is definitely a lot more commercial activity on your streets. There are banks everywhere and some of them even have ATMs. The electricity grid has expanded, the roads are much better (at least in town) and there are all kinds of fancy new buildings going up. Sadly most of it seems to be offices and luxury compunds for expats and not a lot of affordable housing for the average Liberian but....

Monrovia: Oh quit your whining you killjoy. Can't you just stay that things are going pretty well and leave it at that? There was a 15 year civil war here for God's sake. Think of all the jobs being created and the tax revenue that will come pouring in once they start drilling for oil and mining the iron ore....not to mention all the gold and diamonds and eco-toruism opportunities...

Me: OK, OK, don't get ahead of yourself. Let's take one step at a time shall we? Don't forget there's a crisis nextdoor in Ivory Coast and we all know that these situations can spillover into the sub-region from past experience. Last count there were already over 120,000 Ivorian refugees that had fled into Liberia and some people are estimating there may be as many as half a million here by June. And it's election year here too, so let's not count our chicken just yet eh?

Monrovia: Good point. But we need to stay optimistic right?

Me: Most definitely...

OK sorry, that was a bit of a surreal exchange. I promise no more imaginary conversations between me and Liberia's capital city in future posts...

I am still officially unemployed but currently finalising negotations with a certain former employer. Watch this space to see what happens. I should know quite soon what I will end up doing. One thing is sure, there is definitely no shortage of work down here at the moment!

The Next Episode

Stardate: 16-03-2011.
Time: 02:00
Mission: Returning to Liberia after being away for just over two years.
Current location: My living room, Hornstull, Stockholm, Sweden.
Reason for writing: Mostly because I can't sleep. (There's no point sleeping now so I may as well "pull an all-nighter")
Packing status: Almost ready. May have oversize baggage issues due to ever-enlarging list of things my wife has asked me to bring down.

I should point out that the reason for the abrupt end to my blog (below) was due to the fact that my contract came to an end and I moved back to Sweden. Most of those who read the blog (all five of you) know me and will know that anyway so writing it may seem a bit pointless. However, I am never one to shy away from attention to detail.

But now it's time to fire up the old blog again. It's time to move on and do something different. It's time for a change of scenery. It's time to go from one extreme to the other. It's time, my friends, for Liberia!

Of all the countries in all the world I never thought I'd end up, Liberia must be pretty high on the list (closely followed by Sweden). Of all the countries in all the world I never thought I'd end up twice, Liberia must be pretty high on the....oh, you get the picture. Life takes you on a mysterious journey sometimes. Sometimes that journey starts at Bromma Airport Stockholm at 6:30am and stops at Brussels and Accra before finally depositing you in the steamy heat of Monrovia.

For those of you I have not been in touch with here's brief summary of what's going on (and more importantly why): My wife Teresa got a job offer from the organisation Landmine Action (also known as Action on Armed Violence). She is starting up a pilot project for them in Liberia and I decided to take my chances and head on down there myself in the hope that my previous contacts and experience may also lead me to a job. Our plan is to be away at least until the end of 2011.

Much more than this I will not say at this time, mainly because I don't have much more to add and am also feeling nauseous after running up and down the stairs and stacking boxes in the loft. It also feels like I haven't slept properly for weeks, maybe even months. And I'm not about to start now.

My taxi will arrive to take me to the airport in just a few hours. I will write more when I arrive.

A