Pictures from liberia #1

So I figure I should show you guys some of what we see here instead of talking the whole time. For those interested in the city I have a few pics up of the city and then of the church in Caldwell, some of the dedication of the stadium, and then some of this beach place.

A quick bit of Geography
Map of Liberia

and Monrovia below

The Northern part of the city is the downtown/ business district of Monrovia. the road that goes north across the Mesurado River is the bridge to Bushrod Island, which is really part of Monrovia too, but is more like a suburb of it. As you move down the main road that goes East, you enter capital hill, where most government buildings and such structures as the executive mansion (pictured below) are. Past that is the UN building, also pictured and across from that, next to the University of Liberia, is city hall where I work.

Further down the road is Sinkor, the Suburb where Ryan and I are staying.

SOME LANDMARKS

Here is our friendly neighborhood gas station. In the background is the UN head quarters. Sorry for the long distance shot, but they don't appreciate people taking photos up close. The UN are very strict about their no photos policy in Liberia, which is a shame considering they are one of the more fascinating groups in Liberia at the moment, with soldiers hailing from places like Pakistan, Ukraine and the Phillipines. The UN guards at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where the President works are a group of either Indian or Pakistani women, who are clearly from a special group of women security personnel or something. There is clearly a message that they have women protecting the first woman President of Africa, but regardless, these ladies are not to be screwed with. hopefully pictures of them will come, I have some on facebook I think, but will try for more.

Sniper Hill. This already grim looking building, like many other places here, has an extremely haunting story. This building on a hill overlooking the bridge to Bushrod Island was a famous nest for snipers during the war. They would target rebel soldiers and likely civilians trying to cross the bridge. Towards the end of the war there were 3 major offenses by rebel forces coming from the north towards monrovia (called World Wars I, II, and III) this bridge was the main target of forces during those offensives and before when battles were fought inside Monrovia. A lot of lives were taken by people inside the buildings pictured above. No one has renovated them and instead they stand as a constant reminder to people entering Monrovia of the city's terrifying past

The Executive Mansion

This absurdity of a building essentially was meant to honor whatever president what in power at the time and stands out amongst the other structures of monrovia and even would amongst the buildings of any western city. Even there it would stand out as an offensively decadent example of the lack of attention that Liberia's dictators gave their people and instead spent on their own luxury.

CALDWELL PARISH

Ryan and I at the caldwell parish that the fam helped to start, during mass

Odell. This is the lady that runs the childrens program at Caldwell Parish and knows every member of my family. This was my first time meeting her. She is a fantastically friendly and fiercely determined lady.

The rain in Caldwell. This rain drowned out the priests and the readers during half the mass it was incredible.

STADIUM DEDICATION

This is the new stadium that rob build. It is the 3rd largest stadium in Liberia. the day of the dedication was one of the hottest we've had in Liberia so far. Scratch that, easily the hottest. and all the teams from the regional league were standing outside waiting to great the president and then 2 teams played in the first game. I'm sure they were used to it, but I swear I would have collapsed if I had to stand out there for that long, or at least would have needed a new shirt by the time the game started.

Here are "De two white boys" at the party for rob and his stadium

"Doctor" Rob. Getting his degree or something. He was going insane during the ceremony. I've rarely seen someone more triumphant, it was fantastic. All the speakers made even more contributions to the stadium and the league. At one point someone donated tons of balls and equipment and rob just started going insane as the crowd started cheering "Ole ole ole!" It was fantastic to see him so excited about something that was going to make so many people happy.

Anyway, here is rob after getting his tribal robe and degree from the local representative. For a guy that usually dresses himself like guys in GQ this was hysterical to see.

The President was there for the dedication as well. She gave a fantastic speech that was both to the casual and funny. She brought the ceremony much more down to earth than the other speakers did

AAANNNDDD here is King Rob. Triumphant in his seat of honor

THE BEACH

Visit to the beach at some new flashy and really cold resort that I don't plan on returning to, but nevertheless provided us with entertaining images from eastern Europeans playing volleyball to Pakistanis wading in the ocean in capris and t-shirts.

One ryan callahan sizing up the waves and whether he can take them... he decided he couldn't

This was just a really interesting group of people walking down the beach way in the distance from us... I just thought it was a cool shot, and for those who know Tim Brooke, it looked like one of his paintings to me

Best shot of the day. surfers in liberia. bahahahaha

Anyway, this took over a day to upload all these guys so I'll leave it at that. But I already have more to put up and hopefully they'll come soon.

O