Flag Day befell us this year by appearing on Wednesday. We decided to spend the public holiday with a game of Settlers of Catan. Despite loving the game, we have not been able to play the game for a long time. Recently, we trained our newest friends in the game and, had a round of the game at Lila Brown.
Our social circle in Liberia is always changing. Half of our friends have belonged to the do-gooder industry of UN agencies, USAID private contractors, and NGOs. Their contracts are short term and as such, we are always saying hello and goodbye to people.
Today, I invited a friend who I first befriended through a UNDP colleague back in 2006-2007, who is married to a Liberian fellow who she met during the same time. I saw her last again in 2010 when she had come back for a short stint. My friend is from the US and visiting from across the pond. Now, I am seeing her again after so many years, with her kids in Monrovia. Kavita had the chance to play with her kids and, it was great.
One minute you're having girls nights at friends' houses in Sinkor and, the next minute your kids are playing with friends' kids in the same city.
Lila Brown's new space in Sinkor is really lovely: it's entirely wooden with a luscious garden and a greenhouse. Today was a rainy day and, the flowers and fruit were moist with dew and rain drops.
Before starting the game, we wandered in the garden, admiring a fruit growing on vines. We couldn't guess what it it was. Haresh guessed avocado. The owner Tarek told us it was passion fruit!
The children enjoyed running around after the little kittens while we made cities, fought off barbarian ships, and traded precious minerals.
The game was exciting and, our latest adversaries are pretty good. Neither Haresh nor I won the game. We teach it so well that our own students beat us.
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| The victor is declared. Victory is conceded. Defeat is accepted. Tomorrow is another day. |
