Independence
Some hilarity has been going on in the comments section – I love it. They call it e-beef these days and I think some is building up between Emil and Alex. Makes me miss home. I’m getting ready for it.
Raining heavily today. All day actually. The sky gets greyer than usual and just blends into the Atlantic and smatters so loudly on our building roof that you have to strain your voice to get heard. The streets empty out and people huddle under UNDP-tarpaulins or corrugated metal roofs. Enormous puddles form in the always recurring potholes in the street. Cars slow down - partly to avoid crashing down into the huge ravines but also to obey the silent rule to not splash anyone.
Tomorrow is Independence Day and you are expected to be on the providing end of a time-honored to dole out cash to those requesting it. “Twenty-sixth is on you,” the security guards yell, and stretch out their hands (only they pronounce it ‘tenny-siss’ -- took me a while to figure out that one). I now apparently “owe” something “small-small” to the two security guards at my house, the security guards here at work, our drivers, and a couple of random people I greet every morning on my walk to work. I actually find it more funny than annoying because they’ve all asked for it with a big smile on their face. Ivana, my colleague, got an SMS from some guy she met once for 2 minutes, cordially informing her: “Dear Madam, I would be very happy to receive a gift from you. As it is our independence day in a few days I will be particularly happy to receive a gift.” What the hell do you say?
There will be no work on Wednesday and I’ll probably wander around a bit to check out the festivities. They will sort of culminate in the lighting of streetlights in the city for the first time since 1999. This is all part of the President’s 150-day plan of delivering visible progress to the citizens. 3% of the city is getting electricity, others are getting running water. There has been road construction going on literally 24/7 in the past week as well, to patch up the biggest holes in the road. While partly cosmetic I have to say that this is a laudable effort. As always here, however, the effort is not without is fair share of weirdness. No one bats an eyelash, for example, over the fact that the wooden poles for the streetlights have been imported from Ghana. Seems like a slightly odd decision given that Liberia has enormous natural resources.
Speaking of wood. A friend here, Rich, bought an impeccably carved 9 mm wooden pistol from a young wood carver on the street. It’s a really strange piece of art with some added flairs such as an ornamented trigger. I find it difficult to find truly original art here in the city (lots of it is imported) but this was a piece that really made me turn my head. I was bummed out I didn’t buy it before him until I pictured the enormous headache of getting a life-size, handgun-heavy and authentically shaped wooden pistol through Monrovia and Accra’s airports.
That’s all I have for now – sorry, I know you all expected more. You want to be entertained, you want to laugh, cry, long… Next time my dears. I must sleep. Feast your eyes on this sexy pic while you wait, of me for once.
Me and my boss-lady, Alex. It's very warm here at night = my forehead becomes shiny.
Raining heavily today. All day actually. The sky gets greyer than usual and just blends into the Atlantic and smatters so loudly on our building roof that you have to strain your voice to get heard. The streets empty out and people huddle under UNDP-tarpaulins or corrugated metal roofs. Enormous puddles form in the always recurring potholes in the street. Cars slow down - partly to avoid crashing down into the huge ravines but also to obey the silent rule to not splash anyone.
Tomorrow is Independence Day and you are expected to be on the providing end of a time-honored to dole out cash to those requesting it. “Twenty-sixth is on you,” the security guards yell, and stretch out their hands (only they pronounce it ‘tenny-siss’ -- took me a while to figure out that one). I now apparently “owe” something “small-small” to the two security guards at my house, the security guards here at work, our drivers, and a couple of random people I greet every morning on my walk to work. I actually find it more funny than annoying because they’ve all asked for it with a big smile on their face. Ivana, my colleague, got an SMS from some guy she met once for 2 minutes, cordially informing her: “Dear Madam, I would be very happy to receive a gift from you. As it is our independence day in a few days I will be particularly happy to receive a gift.” What the hell do you say?
There will be no work on Wednesday and I’ll probably wander around a bit to check out the festivities. They will sort of culminate in the lighting of streetlights in the city for the first time since 1999. This is all part of the President’s 150-day plan of delivering visible progress to the citizens. 3% of the city is getting electricity, others are getting running water. There has been road construction going on literally 24/7 in the past week as well, to patch up the biggest holes in the road. While partly cosmetic I have to say that this is a laudable effort. As always here, however, the effort is not without is fair share of weirdness. No one bats an eyelash, for example, over the fact that the wooden poles for the streetlights have been imported from Ghana. Seems like a slightly odd decision given that Liberia has enormous natural resources.
Speaking of wood. A friend here, Rich, bought an impeccably carved 9 mm wooden pistol from a young wood carver on the street. It’s a really strange piece of art with some added flairs such as an ornamented trigger. I find it difficult to find truly original art here in the city (lots of it is imported) but this was a piece that really made me turn my head. I was bummed out I didn’t buy it before him until I pictured the enormous headache of getting a life-size, handgun-heavy and authentically shaped wooden pistol through Monrovia and Accra’s airports.
That’s all I have for now – sorry, I know you all expected more. You want to be entertained, you want to laugh, cry, long… Next time my dears. I must sleep. Feast your eyes on this sexy pic while you wait, of me for once.
Me and my boss-lady, Alex. It's very warm here at night = my forehead becomes shiny.
posted by M-A-R-C-U-S | 1:46 PM
1 Comments:
What kind of fine malted beverage are you drinking? Do people drink local Liberian beer mostly or are there fermented juice/grain based drinks too?
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