Fun Fun Fun

Blurry eyed and still half in my own little dream world, I arose, went through the motions of getting ready for the day and then headed towards the dining room. Before I knew it, the day was half past and running rapidly towards supper time. on our break between lunch and super, Jessi and I went to Jamaica street. She went to the tailors and bought lots of African food. We bought 3 huge coconuts. They were sold in a wheel barrow and a machete with a square end was used to hack off the skin untill the white meat was revealed. The man then tapped in a circle where the white part was. It made little cracking sounds. And suddenly it was open and filled with what looked like water. Jessi apparently had only gotten it for the meat. It felt ever so exotic drinking out of the coconut. All I needed was a grass skirt. We also got sweet bread and roasted plantains and casava root. We got back to the ship and had a little African feast. I wish I had taken some pictures, so you all could see. They would hand the food to us rapped in old newspapers. I drank the coconut juice but refrained from having any of the slimy looking meat. the bread was delicious and a casava root tasted like baked potatoes. And the plantains were delicious and sweet. It was all very new to me, but I loved it. It is much more like what I imagined the markekt to be like and I can see myself eventually being at home on this street just as Jessi was.
Later I rented some chickflicks from the on-ship library for that night. After rapidly changing back into pants and sneakers for work. I dashed up the steep stairs two at a time and then jumped five feet when John, from the other dining room team jumped out from behind the dining room door. Slightly disgruntled I proceeded to work one of the buffet lines. That's definitely my favorite job. I love greeting people and asking how their day went and sharing my food preferences with them and pointing out which sauces are spicey. We actually have really good food here. Last night it the shrimp cheese sauce with pasta. There was one old man who was not having a good day. "Is there food on the other side? More? Better?" Shrugging it off I wondered to the other side and said hello. "Well, if i don't die in 30 minutes, we'll know this food is safe." I had to laugh. I could just picture that scowling face on some southern porch calling everyone "varmits." But for the most part people are wonderful about it. Someone told me that it was the first time they had been greeted with a smiling face from behind the food line. It totally made my day. As staff I think it's important for us to really focus on the positive responses (although an occasional bad one is considered for the sake of humor.) After everyone had picked the shrimp out of the cheese sauce I began advertising it as the result of overfishing. :) It is so good to see people smile.
In Liberia people think it's rude if yoiu don't say hello to them every time you pass. On the ship though, people understand the cultural differences and tend to lean towards the American social rules. On the street people will say hello, or nod, or raise their eyebrows. Greetings are just a way of life. It's nice to be able to practice my greeting skills in the dining room. Although I'm hoping to vary it up a little bit. I need to get a little more creative. I think I've said, hello, and how are you and how was your day about a thousand times.
Last night was fun. Two girls (Lydia and Jessi) from our dining room team are leaving. Apparently they have a tradition when someone is leaving and it is their last day of work they get splashed with a bucket of water. It was awesome. We were all shrieking and screaming and splashing eachother. It was fun and I got soaked.
I checked with my roomates and invited a few girls over to watch the chick flicks I had borrowed on my laptop. Lydia and I have gotten fairly close. She at first seems very quiet and occasionally melancholy. But when we were both in dishes and dead tired we got really hyper and would start sing random songs using spooons as microphones. We shared favorite movies and books and had gotten sunburnt together on El Wau Beach. I'm gonna miss her allot. She had told me about the chick-flick watching escapades with her grandmother. How they would always watch them over a bowl of chocolates. I went up and bought some at the Star Bucks and we all had chocolate to go with our chick flicks. We watched How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days. It was hilarious, and very cute. What a wonderful, busy, tiring day.