A walk to the Post Office and back

I have heard that the Post in Liberia is working and, you can send and receive mail. I decided to take Kavita with me on a small trip to check out the Post Office. We didn't take anything to post but just wanted to see how things work and, if indeed you can post mail from Liberia. 

We walked along Randall Street looking for a keke. We stopped at Royal Home which has moved from Benson Street back to Randall Street, although at a different location. Many of the old items were still at the new shop, gathering dust and cracks. We also stopped at DITCO and, visited with Marpu Dhaliwal and her 5 year old daughter. 

We got into a keke but hardly 1 minute later, we were told to get out of it by a policeman. A police van had passed and, immediately one of the uniformed men, got off, and asked us to leave the keke as he was about to arrest him. Kavita and I disembarked and, watched the begging show. The poor driver turned around and, started pleading. Apparently, keke are not allowed on Carey Street? I didn't quite follow. I looked both ways on the street, and looked for keke. I couldn't see any and wondered. I peered into the keke again and, the policeman was pointed to his wristwatch and, said, "Don't waste my time, let's go." Eventually, the keke drove off. I really felt sorry for the guy because he was about to get screwed. 

We soon found another keke. Chatting to him, I understood he was from Sierra Leone and, he said the police were worse in Sierra Leone. We joked around a little until he told me his story: he had a run in with the police after broke a policeman's leg. His parents told him to go to relatives in Liberia and lay low for a couple of months. 

Hardly anyone drives their own keke or taxi and, has to turn in a set amount of money bills every day. So, you can imagine how tough it is! 

He dropped us at the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications on the corner of McDonald and Carey Streets. I took a photo of his keke with the inscription: "Thanks Allah/A Down Fall of a Man Is/Not the End of His Life". 

We entered the Post Office and, the large hall was largely empty. I wanted to see some stamps but the office was closed. It looked like there was some activity and, some post is being received. It will be interesting to try to post a card from here. Kavita and I will come back and, post something and, see if someone gets it. 

After that, we strolled a little down Broad Street. 

Check out my picture of the "African Doctor" medicine/disease chart. 

We found a new café, Siaffa Express, on the corner of Broad and Johnson Streets. It was really nice. The manager came over to talk to me. He knew me from the Master Trading building we used to live in before.  He is from Kerala. He said Siaffa Express is a Liberian-owned business and, just opened a month ago. We had tea and, some snacks. The tea bag tea was very weak and tasteless but the fried wings were good. Haresh also came over to join us and, we walked back.