Saturday, May 17, 2008

April 2008

In the month or so that I've neglected my blog, Liberia has been a busy place - full of celebrity visits (Akon and Ban Ki-Moon, George Bush and Jeff Sachs), rice price hikes, jet skiing around Marshall islands, a trip to Robertsport, etc. Below, is a pictorial review of a few highlights/observations from April... here's hoping May is a more consistent, blogging month!

Robertsport - A few from the Clinton Foundation took a day and drove to Robertsport, the seaside city on the Northwestern coast of Liberia.

The road to Robertsport:













The view from atop a hill in Robertsport, next to St Timothy's Hospital:











Gorgeous beaches (though this picture is deceptive - there were a number of parties along the beach):










The telecom concert showdown - Cellcom and rival telecom company, Lonestar, held dueling concerts on the 15th: Lonestar's was a free concert featuring Liberian musicians and preceded by a parade, while Cellcom paid 200,000 USD for international pop star, Akon. Music by senegalese-native, international pop-star plays like a constant soundtrack in Monrovia, so his visit was a much-anticipated event. The Akon concert, held on the 15th at the Samuel K. Doe stadium, was disrupted when the singer called fans onto the field - people tripped over wires and the speakers were blown for the night. But, on whole, the event was entertaining. I didn't bring a camera to SKD, but did catch Akon at the Mamba Point hotel a few hours before show time. Below, are pictures of Akon and his entourage, as well as two of Lonestar's parade preparation at the National AIDS Control Program.

Akon waving to fans at the Mamba Point hotel:










Parade preparations:










Martial Arts on Monrovia's Rooftops - I caught a glimpse of this character working out on a rooftop across from the Ministry of Health and the National Malaria Control Program.










Jet skiing around Marshall -
Our base for the day:










Two Marshall sailors:










One of the boys we paid to watch our stuff as we jet-skied:

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