Customs

I might be, hands down, the worst Liberian anywhere. "Flummoxed" is my default setting when interacting with people.

This, for example, plays out 2-5 times a day:

{I walk towards a person. Person scowls.}
Me: Hello!
{Person stops scowling}
Person: Hello.
Me: How are you doing?
Person: Thank you.
{I leave abruptly}
                                               
Occasionally the person will reply "Thank God!" which is slightly less confusing but still puts an end to the conversation as far as I'm concerned.
                                                   
                                           * * *

The roads here are flanked with people throwing up gang signs at packed yellow cars. Eventually, I realized they were all just hailing cabs.

Now I've hailed about eleven hundred cabs in my day and it's always the same. But in Monrovia, your signal tells the driver what neighborhood you're going to (which is genius given there are inevitably already four sticky strangers in the car).

Exhibit A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FljFbRQJrfg

Please pray I never have to do this. You know I'll end up in a rice field in Mali.