This is going to be updated as I find new math to share. There will be a quiz at the end!
1. Currency (a): $1 US is exchangeable for $73-76 LD depending on how far outside a major city you are. Unless you are exchanging $1 bills, which are only worth $50 LD on a good day. Who knows why? Not me.
2. Currency (b): The cost of some goods is best expressed in terms of other goods in any economy, and Liberia has some highly entertaining equivalent goods. One baby kitten is worth 1 chicken, so of course one healthy puppy is worth 2 chickens.
3. Time: If you said in Liberia that you will do something tomorrow, what you mean is that it will happen some time in the future, almost definitely NOT the next calendar day.
4. Space (a): You would think that the number of seat belts in a vehicle would give some indication of the expected (required?) limit on the number of passengers. And you would be wrong. Liberian taxis (a ramshackle mutt of the species unrecognizable as running automobiles by any true pure-bred taxi, held together with duct tape and prayer, frequently found broken down on the side of the road) hold 6 passengers standard, and can hold up to 8 with some regularity. Two in the front passenger seat and four in the back seat, with an extra passenger sharing the driver's seat if needed and in special cases one riding VIP, in the trunk with the goats/chickens/baggage.
5. Space (b): Most taxis in Liberia are actually motorcycle taxis (super-dangerous, not really allowed for Peace Corps volunteers). And the average capacity of a motorcycle taxi is two adult passengers plus driver. Children and any cargo (buckets, boxes, bales, etc) don't count, of course. And helmets are highly discouraged.
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