After meeting my parents, we made plans for them to come back so I could meet my three sisters. I felt excited to meet them but also a little shy because I didn’t know what it was going to be like - just like with my parents. I have an older sister, Regina, who’s thirteen and two younger sisters, Aisha, who’s eight and Bendu, who’s three.
Regina is going into 7th grade and loves playing at the beach. She’s nice, smart and pretty. Aisha isn’t going to school at the moment so she will be applying to be part of Keyara’s Gift to get a scholarship for school. Aisha loves plaiting (braiding) hair and is very funny. Bendu is too young to go to school but she loves to play in the lagoon but is scared of the waves.
When they came a couple days later, I didn’t really know what to say when we were introduced. I didn’t know what to say because I didn’t know what to tell them about myself. It was nice to meet them and although it was awkward at first, we soon were able to talk and get to know each other. It was sort of hard to communicate sometimes because they didn’t always understand what I was saying and I couldn’t always understand them either. They speak “Liberian” English and I speak “American” English so even though it’s almost the same, there are some differences. Most of the differences are in the way we talk and our accents. Luckily, we had all of our parents there to help us talk to each other and help us understand.
We hung out for most of the morning, playing games and looking at old pictures. Then it was time for lunch, which was pumpkin soup. It’s really really good and one of my favorite Liberian dishes. It’s pumpkin which is mashed up and made into a stew with other ingredients, which you put over rice. You can also add chicken which I think makes it taste even better.
After lunch, we decided to go down to the beach because they had never seen the ocean before. We decided to go down to the lagoon where there weren’t any big waves but you could still play in the water. It was so much fun! Regina and I liked to stand on the edge of the sand “cliffs” and go down them into the lagoon. They all really liked the water and wanted to stay longer to play.
Unfortunately they had to leave because it was getting late and they live far away. As they drove off in the Land Rover, I asked my mom, “Will I ever see them again?”
Luckily, I got to see them on the 26th, which is Liberia's Independence Day. I was so excited to hear the news because I had so much fun playing with them at the beach. When they came back, we spent the day at the beach for most of the time because they enjoyed it so much. We had so much fun hanging out again but it was sad to say goodbye. I don’t know when I’ll see them again but I was glad to be able to meet them and get to know them!