I spent Saturday afternoon on the visitor experience deck looking to chat with some Liberians before we leave for the Canary Islands next week. What I experienced was much different than what I expected...or should I say who I expected to see. It's not uncommon to have a small flock of people come aboard who aren't from the country we are visiting, but today was extraordinary. While speaking to some kiddos from Monrovia, a group of infectiously-smiling gentlemen from Pakistan approached me and introduced themselves with a handshake. We chatted for a bit and I learned they were UN reps here in Liberia. Now, I've seen their marked trucks all over the city but never knew from which country they originated. Shortly after we met, I ran into some very nice camera-crazy Chinese people with a friend of mine from Taiwan acting as translator. That is one of the many beauties of living on a ship with 50 different nationalities; we have a Wal-mart-assortment of languages clustered together in one spot! Then some guys from India ventured through the book fair who were dressed in blue camo and I walked over to meet them as well. Also being from the UN, they too were extremely friendly. As were the Nigerian men and the Chinese soldiers who came in surprisingly large groups. Before my time on the visitor deck came to an end, it seemed as if I spotted some people from the States, and after the kind of day I had, it only seemed logical. A man and his wife from Wisconsin, a girl from Montana, and a girl from Iowa! Funny, the thought of taking pictures with them never even hit me. But then again, they weren't wearing bright blue camouflage either.
