Fruit, bugs, and thoughts on life...

Robertsport is a bit of a tropical paradise, in all honesty, a town where expatriates and the upper-class of Monrovia can escape for some beach side surfing or quiet get away; and looking out my window or front door it isn’t difficult to see why. The beach coves just in front of Strongheart house, and tall coconut palm trees mark the entry into town. Sure there are parts that are really swampy and somewhat smelly, and electricity exists briefly at night and only by generator – and most places don’t have running water yet.

Today, my greatest discovery was the ‘sour sour’ fruit. I was out on a walk around town where finding the post-office had been my primary purpose, when I saw what looked like a kumquat just before the log bridge. I picked it up and showed it to a passerby, “Morning-O. Excuse me now, but dyou know what dey calla dis fruit?” “Eheh, I’ll callit by the Pelle name, we can callit gbeh. And it’s the season for it now now.” Another conversation revealed that it was called a sour sour in Liberian English (would I call a kumquat sour, I wondered to myself?) “But it can be sweet-o!” the lady said, looking at my face. So I arranged for Edwin to buy me some from a tree inside the bush….

Edwin caught up with me when I was at the creek drawing water (thank God for wheelbarrows!) and handed me a small bag asking for 10 Liberian dollars (like a nickel). Eating one, I realized it was as if a kumquat shape had mixed with a mango fruit, although the pit inside was softer than a mango pit. Cori said it’s called a loquat in the States, who knew?!

My biggest problem so far has been coexistence. I have a next to zero tolerance policy with mosquitoes that I see – especially if they are anywhere near my body. When the ants decided they needed to scour my entire bag for several days because of a pack of gum, I fretted over that. When a large 2 inch cockroach decided to run at me during my bucket bath, I decided it had to die, although I made my house mate kill it after I was fully clothed. Now I know that I also share my bedroom with a large, furry brown spider which is okay because of my preference that mosquitoes die – but when I found one in my suitcase… I shuddered to think of little spider babies being born inside. I do not coexist very well with the insects of the tropics….