Sunday May 10

     After breakfast, Dewalt picked us up and brought us to the President's house; she had driven to the Farm yesterday, and we were invited to come there for lunch today. Joining us was Adamah's relative from Zambia, Caroline, who works for the World Bank. The skies were overcast, but it didn't rain on the 1 1/2 hour drive up there, and in fact the sun came out and stayed out. The Farm is land that was owned by her parents; she has built a nice home there, and is an active farmer. In addition to growing small quantities of vegetables, she has planted palm trees for palm oil as well as other crops. It is a lovely, quiet rural setting and it was immediately clear why she likes to go there to get some peace and quiet when she can. We sat on the veranda and chatted some more about the Ebola experience while enjoying fresh coconuts, some fresh corn delivered by a neighbor, and relaxing. After a while, we had a bountiful lunch indoors.
     After lunch we walked down and sat by the river which flows through the property. I think we were supposed to have her "Happy Mothers Day" cake down there, but everyone was full from lunch. Around 4 pm we left to drive back to Monrovia where we stopped in to see Adamah's brother Charles at his usual Sunday afternoon get-together. After a while Santiago and I pleaded exhaustion so Dewalt brought us back to the apartment; we will have an early night in preparation for a big day at JFK tomorrow.
      It was quite fun, and indeed a privilege to visit The Farm today. As Santiago pointed out, it is the Liberian equivalent of Camp David. Madame President is on the job 24/7; while it is obviously relaxing and restoring for her to be able to get away to The Farm, she is never off the job. While we were relaxing on the veranda before lunch, she took several phone calls, and while we were sitting by the river one of her Cabinet Ministers came by to report on a conference she had just attended.