The Blooh Pooh

This is the most satisfied looking Winnie the Pooh I have ever seen.

A new feature.

I have decided to start posting the correspondence of myself and my colleagues with Liberians. Sometimes they can be pretty enjoyable. I will be editing them slightly to take out names to save people embarrassment. Enjoy this first email.

making friend

hi ------,
i would like to take this time to appreciate you for haven't allowering me to
have asset to your email address.
i want to take this time to formally introduced my self.i'm --- ------ -------
jr.i'm a liberian currently residing in liberia.i was born on april 18
1983 unto
the union of mr and mrs --------.i school at cuttington university and is a
junior student.i'm studying economics with destinction in accounting.mid 2009
some where around august, my aunt did a failing in for three person through
guinea to go to the states.i was in ccnakry for a year plus and due to the
uncertainty in guinea at the time i managed to return home november of this
year.i'm strongly anticipating going back to school by next semester.i
wont mine
if you would like to have me as a friend.i pray and hope that in
subsequent time
we get to know each other better.i'm mailing you from a commercial cafe and
because of this i dont have much time contiune writing.please let me
get a reply
from you doing your leisure time.


thanks
it's ---

Cultural Presentation 2010

Art

Today I uncovered some delightful Liberian murals. The first one is amazing. The realism that the artist achieved is uncanny.

You can barely see it but 50 Cent is on the door and is waist deep in water. Odd.

This is supposedly the "Face of Africa" It doesn't look this angry, really.

A moment.

This vid is from 2007. I found it the other day.

A moment from Cassavanova on Vimeo.

The Teddy Bear

In Liberia, any stuffed animal is called a teddy bear. While we would give these to children to play with, the average Liberian seems to think they make great decorations for their house. My fiancee and I both agreed that having stuffed animals around the house does not count as decorating, and that we were not going to employ them in our interior design scheme. Needless to say, I was surprised when, the first day she moved into our house, she immediately hung some kind of animal on our living room wall. I walked through the door and saw it hanging there.
"Baby, I thought we weren't going to decorate with teddy bears."
"Well, we don't have any decoration for the wall."
"Right, but we agreed that they are not decorations."
"Well, you haven't bought anything, so I had to put it up."
I think we have a different definition of what "had to put it up" means. I believe she had a choice whether or not to put it on the wall.

Now there are picture frames and a large plastic Jesus scotch taped on the wall, and yet the teddy bear remains. It is a reminder of how I have failed her by not immediately decorating the entire house. I think I am going to hide it and see if she notices. Look for the update soon.

The Wedding Organizer

As a white man planning a wedding in Liberia, I am getting the inside track on what elements are absolutely necessary for two people to be united in holy matrimony. A few weeks ago my fiancee and I had one of our first meetings with our wedding organizer.
Every wedding needs an organizer to do things like book the reception hall, find a caterer, and get decorations. The purpose of the organizer is to take stress away from the couple so that they can enjoy their big day. (Imagine J-Lo--only without the headset or clipboard or organizational skills or chance that the groom is going to fall for her after she rides a horse.) So what do they get in return for all of this hard work? The glory of having their name printed in the program as Chief Organizer. For the average Liberian, there is nothing more exhilarating than having your name printed in a bulletin. This seems to be the pinnacle of achievement. Maybe I am just too humble, but if I had helped with someone's wedding, a simple "thank you" would probably do it.
So that brings us to our organizer, one of my fiancee's aunts. She seems like a nice enough lady, but I am already getting the feeling that she is lacking in some organizational areas. I have already had to take over the booking of the reception because she took too long. I also booked the church, got the photographer, and I am importing the disposable dishes we need for the reception. I can only imagine what is next. I am seriously considering putting my name in as Co-Chief Organizer of my own wedding.