A Senator and Museum

Day 11

Greetings from Liberia. I'll start today's post with a picture of the best event of the day. This is Senior Senator Jewel Howard-Taylor receiving her Results and Learning How to Learn books. 

If you've read this blog from the beginning you've gotten to know Jay pretty well. I hope you all get to meet Jay some day. I've already invited him to Florida. He is a special person, a combination of bright, competent, bold, funny, helpful and perserverant. But I urge you, when you have a chance, to learn Jay's FULL story. You can read the story here. It's a long read, but very much worth it. Ths story you'll read frames the insane backstory of this nation's past and present perfectly, from a very personal perspective.

As for the rest of the day, we ended up doing a few errands, stopping here and there. 

This is a bat-filled tree just outside the US Embassy. We had a noon appointment with someone from the embassy, but for unknown reasons, it didn't happen. Tim makes a point to pay a visit to the embassy every time he's here. We felt it odd that the only time we experience a "failed" meeting it involved the US, not Liberia. As for the tree in the photo, all the dark moss-looking things on the branches are giant bats, wing tip to wing tip probably measured about 2 1/2 feet. In the middle of the day they were chirping, screeching, and wiggling about.

Mid-day pit-stop: a non-alcoholic beer mixed with Red Bull Lite. 

We visited the Liberian National Museum. Tribal mask.

Mask used for improving fertility in a man or woman, obviously.

Carving.

The tile on the second floor of the museum had a number of these markings on it. If you stepped on the "FRAGILE" the floor sank a few inches and the boards beneath creaked. It was unsettling, unsafe and imprudent. Africa!

Was the museum air-conditioned? 

The third floor is devoted to modern art that commemorates the ebola crisis in Liberia.

Took a brief stop at a bamboo-walled wood carving art shop. There were a number of sellers selling all sorts of great pieces in beautiful wood. This is a shot of a carver behind the displays. We didn't stay long. As soon as we got out of the car we were surrounded by sellers. All Tim wanted was a small giraffe. The seller wanted $6 US, Jay said it was worth $2. We'll return with a different strategy. 

Not a perfect photo. The boy carrying the roll of corrugated steel was probably nine years old. He was carrying it balanced on his head while walking down the hot, dusty street. Amazing.

Finally, a series of pictures highlighting some of the public service messages on billboards about town.

Until tomorrow...