Call me Al

Last night C and I went to our very first Broadway show together, Aladdin.  Broadway musicals may be my favorite part of the city, but not for C.  I think he really appreciated the 3rd row center seats though.  It was a huge song and dance show and everything you really want in a musical.  There was even tap dancing, which I love love love.  The costumes were fun.  The Genie was a huge hit and even takes a moment to sing some non Aladdin Disney Classics.  Clifton Davis, the reverend on the old Saturday night sitcom "Amen," played the sultan so I even recognized someone.  Lion King is still my favorite of the Disney musicals, but Aladdin was definitely a huge hit with me.   Hopefully we will win the lottery for Book of Mormon one day soon.

Liberia: Day 2-3

Our second day in Liberia we woke up to a white wedding on a beach.  Unlike my white wedding, all the attendees actually wore white.   They played a bunch of American music like Cyndi Lauper, Luther Vandross, and Shania Twain.  The bride even walked into my wedding song, "Bless the Broken Road."

From there my dad picked us up in his taxi and took us to church where we sat in plastic chairs, did a lot of singing, and tried to understand the sermon. Liberians speak English but they had as hard a time understanding our accents as we did theirs.

the church

children's story at church

For the rest of the day we enjoyed the beach and our all you can eat weekend.

rockin Lilly in Liberia

 

virgin pina colada and strawberry daiquiri - classic

C's lobster dinner on our second night.  Served with fries and delicious vegetable fried rice.

The next morning I went to the gym and then got into their pool.  It had been beckoning me all weekend and absolutely did not disappoint.  I haven't been able to just walk right down into a pool without getting adjusted to the temperature in decades.  This water was so warm. I had so much fun and I really didn't want to leave.

My favorite part of Kendeja

Finally our resort stay was finished.  We drove through Monrovia and down into Caldwell where my Dad lives.  I was shocked to say the least.  My dad lives in an apartment surrounded by rundown shanties. There is no running water and he only has running water at night.  But that's a story for another day . . . 

Liberia: Day 1

Last year, four days before C proposed, my 68 year old father decided to move to the second poorest country in the world.  Now he is on the board of a Christian college there and helps with their nursing program.  He doesn't live there like a rich American.  He lives among the shanties with no running water and only a few hours of electricity at night.  When C called to ask for my hand in marriage, he promised my dad that we would come visit him in Liberia.  Well we went and it was one of the most unique experiences of my life.  My sister did a much better job of taking pictures so I will mostly share hers.  

The airport gave me a really inaccurate picture of Liberians.  The baggage claim area was a disaster where people just through bags around and one woman scraped up my leg trying to get her enormous piece of luggage off the carousel.  Fortunately, we made it out, found my dad and walked down a dirt road to my dad's taxi.  We planned to spend the first two nights at a "resort" called RLJ Kendaja.  I would give it 3.5 stars although I am sure they would consider it 5.  I am so thankful we eased in to our "vacation" there because I was certainly unprepared for what would come later.  The people who worked there were very nice overall as were most of the people we met for the rest of our trip.  We got there just in time for an all inclusive weekend with excellent food.

the drinks

Hummus

Curried chickpeas and vegetables

my sister's dessert

the room

Birthday Celebration 3: Lafayette

Three sweet friends from my NYU days treated R and I to an awesome joint birthday dinner at this newish French restaurant in our old hood. My pasta was delicious and this flaming cake was an awesome surprise. I'm posting this from Liberia. I've barely done any wedding posts yet and now I have so much to say about this trip.