Fresh air

Today we opened a window in our apartment. This might sound crazy, but it’s the first time we’ve done that. It’s usually too hot for fresh air so we put the air conditioning on. We spend all day at the Ministry, in and out of offices or rushing through hallways that are saturated with humid air. I’ve accepted that fact that there will always be a sheen on my face at work. All I want is the cool, clean air of our apartment when I get home. (We also didn’t know the windows in our apartment actually opened – the curtains block the tabs you slide open, if that’s any excuse.)

Opening up the window meant that we could bring a little bit of Liberia inside and somehow ease the divide we feel when we drive into our compound and burst into our apartment every evening. It meant that I heard birds chirping and bugs buzzing and Bill moving around on the chair outside as he napped during his down time. It helped me realize that the work we’re doing is not happening in some sort of bubble, but we are – if only temporarily – a part of this place.

It smells like Liberia inside our apartment and it’s nice.