My good friend, Meg Petock's top ten list from this past weekend...

Monday, October 15, 2007
top ten things I never thought I'd experience in this lifetime that I experienced this weekend on my trip to Nimba Mountain

10. I never thought I'd ride in a van with no AC and 18 people, that would comfortably hold six Americans, for almost eight hours straight, after working night shift.

9. Watching a Brazilian biomedical technician carry the equivalent of a yard sale (including a guitar and four filled plastic shopping bags) up Liberia's tallest mountain (which is quite ardours climbing at times)

8. Thinking, "Well, if the lighting strikes my friends on the Mountain, at 2 AM, I suppose the UN helicopter might reach them (maybe)."

7. Crossing the border of a country that is not in North America without a passport, only a friendly Liberian border patrol man.

6. Being the centrepiece of a hand woven Liberian bag advertisement.

5. Going through at least thirty UN check points in less than 72 hours.

4. Riding through Africa in a small van with greater half of my body protruding out the window, while videotaping and/or taking photos of the experience.

3. Coming to a place in my life where I only brought UNMIL t-shirts on my vacation.

2. I never thought turning around could be such a beautiful experience.

1. I never thought I would sit in the back of a Liberian taxi at night singing a Kenny Rogers song with a retired eye surgeon, a Canadian plumber, a computer guy, and a fellow PICU nurse (aka "team turn around")