African lifestyle

So many things here in Africa are very very different from what we are used to in our home countries - and we want to take you on a little exploring tour to various african lifestyle impressions we saw this last weekend when we had the chance to go to Gbarnga again for the weekend - a town 4 hours drive away from Monrovia (this time in a good car from a friend - thanks Simon for taking us!!!)


Need gas? Well, you buy it in gallons, about 3,60 US Dollar for one gallon Diesel (what would be equivalent to 1 Dollar per liter) or half of that for gas. You fill it into the tank by hand - and the colors vary from red to yellow to brown or even green! This was obviously the red before-christmas edition ... (just kidding)


... the smaller the village or area, the smaller the "gas station"!

Next stop: The "God´s gift BEAUTY SALON"!


To be honest, I didn´t check it out.... smile.

Right next to it: the Photo Studio!

Let´s go shopping now:


Pick the toiletries you want! (And don´t forget to bargain!)

You need a new watch? Or sunglasses? Here you have plenty-plenty to chose from (just don´t expect quality and never ask where it comes from....)


Oh, you are looking for clothes? You are lucky:


They might have something for you... but if you look for a dress room to try it on....forget it!

Sorry to hear that you got a headache! I am sure you didn´t drink enough in this heat. But o.k., you can also go to the "Pharmacy" and look for some pain killers:


Or rather drink lots of water - and maybe buy yourself some fruit:


This boy is WAITING to sell some watermelons to you! Just don´t expect them to be like the ones you know in your country - there are more seeds than you can count!


If you like seeds too much stay faithful to the Africa fruit nr.1 and eat the sweetest bananas you can imagine!

Aaaa-right (hey, your liberian English is really improving!) - you regained enough strength to work small small, right?


Collect the trash on the streets then!
(This was the FIRST picture I saw of someone actually DOING it here in Liberia - is there hope for this country?)

The following picture you see alot though - at every river, lake, or even the dirtiest puddle of water you can imagine:


...washing laundry!


And this is the African dryer - free of charge! (but with free-of-charge-mango-lavae that come with it, entering your skin and make terrible painful wounds! ) You would have to iron EACH item that is dried like this, but that is not really happening....

After all these African impressions we get really hungry - and decide to look for ingredients to make something that reminds us of Germany - Käsespätzle (a south German delicacy) and Marmorkuchen (marble cake):


We found flour and sugar at the market...


...and also onions and eggs.

But no butter in Gbarnga, no milk (only milk powder),no cheese, no fresh vegetables (not the season) for a salad!

Luckily we had brought milk and butter, cheese and other ingredients from Monrovia, so our cravings for some homestyle food were put into action:


The best "Kaesespaetzle" ever!!!!


The dream Spaetzle-team!


And for desert....


A wonderful marble cake! (Marmorkuchen)

Our resumè: When you are far away from home, you realize how much you are "different" - and even though we really enjoy to experience the African lifestyle (with all its pros and cons) it is great to have some moments that feel "like home"!
And to have friends like you that stand behind us! We are glad that we can share all of this a little bit with you!