On Tubman Boulevard, Congo Town, Independence Day 2006. 
A welcome notice on a new light pole near the YWCA, Congo Town, Monrovia. Liberia has not had public lighting for 16 years!
Ataye Shops are a fairly new phenomenon here in Liberia. "Ataye" is a strong tea served in tiny glasses. The fun is in the mixing of it. The server puts the already brewed tea in a small plastic cup, puts in some sugar, and, instead of stirring, he pours the tea from the plastic cup into the glass and vice versa several times (in a very long stream) to mix it.
About an hour's drive from Harper City, Maryland County, along a dusty road winding through lush green landscapes that make one dream of building a sprawling vacation home far from the madding crowd, there is a large town called Whole Graway. (And yes, there is a smaller town nearby called Half Graway!) Whole Graway (pronounced erroneously by most people as "Ho Gravy") is the heart of the Nyemoweh Chiefdom. Situated right near the palm-lined beach, the houses are large mud structures, usually square or rectangular, with thatched roofs. The round structures with cone-shaped roofs are the kithcens -- often shared by more than one family. There are around a hundred houses in the town, but because it is the middle of the day, it is peaceful and quiet. Most of the adults have gone to the farms, leaving behind the elderly, the very young, and the goats who run ahead of our vehicle to warn everyone that strangers have come to visit.
Lonestar Cell was launched in Pleebo and Harper Cities the day I arrived in Maryland County. What a relief! From Foya City in Lofa, to Harper City in Maryland – Lonestar Cell has the widest coverage, the clearest connection, and the best customer service...by far!
Once upon a time, Liberia was divided into 13 Counties. River Gee and Gbarpolu Counties were created in recent years, bringing the number of counties to 15. There are two rivers running through River Gee County: River Gee, and River Gbeh. River Gbeh is the most powerful, with waves flowing fast and crashing noisily against the rocks. Makes one wonder why the county was named River Gee instead.
I ordered my waterproof hiking boots online, and when they arrived I thought I had overdone it. Even though I had heard stories of the Rainy Season upcountry roads (some with stretches so bad they have names), the boots looked and felt too serious for little old Liberia. Boy, was I wrong! I’m using them for the first time on a trip to River Gee County in the less-traveled southeastern region of the country. 
Even though it didn’t rain much during the days leading up to our journey, what did come from the sky was enough to turn the infamous parts of the unpaved “highway” into bowls of mud soup and traps of sticky red clay. When we aren’t stuck in one for hours struggling to get ourselves out, we’re stuck waiting for hours for other unfortunate souls to get out first. While we wait I love plodding around in the mud with confidence (and an air of experience in rough terrain). It’s also satisfying to know that if we have to hike several miles to the nearest village my boots will be adequately challenged.
Almost three hours out of Monrovia, on the highway to Gbarnga, there is a little town with an infamous river running through it. One part of the river is used for bathing and washing clothes, and another part is full of giant catfish that have lived there unmolested since the olden days. They come to the surface in a wild thrashing frenzy if you throw pieces of bread in the water. During the civil war, I am told, when there was no food and people were so hungry that they ate rats, lizards, and even other human beings, no one even considered catching the fish of Gbaota. 
The Town Chief warned that my taking photographs of them would prove useless. “Plenty people try to take their picture,” he said, “but the pictures never come out.” With that in mind, I had an eerie feeling all the way back to Monrovia. Would my digital photos disappear? Paranoid, I kept checking on them. Would we be able to see the fish in the photos? Would my photo of the three young Gbaota girls download as two old women with missing teeth and one with long flat breasts? Would the fish gods of Gbaota let me tell their story?? 
Towo Finda makes fishing nets with rope made from fibers found in leaves from the palm tree. You fold a long thin leaf in half, and, from the crease, peel away to expose the fine green fibers. The fibers are then twisted together into a thin rope and laid out to dry. 
Edwin Kpongo and his friends earn a living making bricks out of mud. Each man on the team makes 200 blocks per day, and gets paid $200 Liberian Dollars for his labor. The blocks take up to 15 days to get dry. During construction they are put together with cement, and then plastered. With the plaster and a roof for protection, mud houses last for many years.
The Foya Market is situated in the middle of the town right along the dusty Kolahun Road, a.k.a. "Foya Broad Street."
I returned from Lofa County to a house with kids' handprints everywhere and the news that Mr. Marshall, our beloved painter, died while I was away. 
I loved and respected Mr. Marshall not just as a painter, but as a friend. I liked listening to his stories about painting the Executive Mansion and Tupee Taylor’s house, and I enjoyed watching him interact with my two little boys. 
We miss him dearly, but perhaps the Gates of Heaven needed a new coat of paint and Mr. Marshall, at 70, needed a rest. I, for now, will live with my walls the way they are because I cannot imagine having someone else paint them for me.
