By the time I got to bed yesterday it was after 5am, the time when I normally get up. I managed to get a couple of hours sleep before Pastor George arrived with my breakfast at around 8.
The place where I am staying is the home of one of the church members. My room is very basic – bare concrete floor, single mattress on the floor (but it’s an innerspring and my back is happy, so that is not a minus.) I purloined a table and chair from one of the other rooms so that I can use the computer, and I have the essential fan, so it’s really all I need. The only real drawback to the room is that it is on the west of the building and in the afternoon becomes a hot box, but putting the curtains down helps a bit. Bathroom (bucket bath) and toilet are shared.
The first order of the day was to find an ATM and take out some money. Praise God, this time we found one that worked first go. Then it was on to the Liberian Embassy to give them my passport so that I could get my visa for Liberia sorted before I fly on Monday. The woman there has had the rest of my paperwork for weeks.
So I handed over my passport. She looked at the info then told us that there is no way I could get a visa before Monday. Apparently tomorrow and Friday are holidays. (The public service here has more holidays than anywhere I have ever encountered.) If I wanted my visa more quickly I would have to pay an extra $100 US for an emergency visa.
I figured it was better to pay the $100 and get the visa than to lose my airfare, so handed over the equivalent amount in the local currency that I had just withdrawn from the bank. She took my passport and paperwork, and the money, and disappeared into an office.
Less than ten minutes later she emerged and handed my a receipt and my passport, complete with the visa.
Excuse me, something that was absolutely impossible is done in less than ten minutes when an extra $100 is thrown into the mix?
So basically I paid $100 plus the original $185 cost for the visa for ten minutes work. I’m obviously in the wrong line of business.
Never mind. At least I am now clear to go to Liberia on Monday, and that is the last of the visas I have to worry about for this trip.
Yesterday afternoon I crashed. I was out like a light when George came with my lunch, and woke up around 3.30. Between exhaustion and a very unsettled tummy, I was almost going to dip out on last night’s meeting, but decided to go ahead.
When I arrived I received the BIGGEST hug from George’s wife and some of the other ladies. There were only half a dozen people there, so I thought it would be good to let them get to know me a bit by sharing my testimony, which was very well received. George urged them to bring more people along tonight, so it will be interesting to see how many turn up.
The church building is only half finished, with walls only part of the way up, but that was a blessing as it allowed the breeze to circulate. This afternoon George is planning to take me around the town a bit before the service so I can get the feel of the place.