So far so good

The County Meet is a sports tournament for teams from Liberia's 15 counties. After a dramatic extra-innings finish in the kickball final (yes I said kickball), the 1500-meter runners took the track. In the women's race, only one runner bothered to train. On her last lap, the stadium announcer got excited. "And it looks like we may have an overtake coming up...Let's see...Oh! Yes! The lead runner has overtaken the last place runner! She has now run one lap more than her slowest competitor." Ouch. So much for encouraging words and a sympathy clap for the slow kid.

Outside the stadium, I found my African twin.

Millions of bats hang from two dead cotton trees right outside our office windows, in town for the dry season. A couple times a day they all fly around, covering downtown Monrovia in a batty blanket. We once drove past a woman toting a huge tub of somethings on her head, and we're pretty sure it was full to the brim with dead bats that will end up in someone's soup. But it also could have been monkey, which is rather prevalent as well. Sometimes the meat in Liberian dishes is vaguely called "spare ribs." I once inquired about the animal of origin, and a lady said "Hmm...I think horse. Or camel."

There's a law concerning walls in Monrovia: If you build it, they will urinate. And so you must paint a warning against potential perpetrators. This one, near my house, is particularly clever. But is dog urine really any more desirable than human urine? Just curious.

Obamania in Liberia 01.20.2009

"Huh?" Moments:
- A taxi bumper proclaims "I'm not easy, but we can discuss it."
- A high schooler in our workshop presented his fake radio broadcast to the group and concluded by saying "So far so good."