Long, long trip. Monrovia, Dakar, Brussels, 5.5 hour layover, New York, Boston.

On various legs of this trip I sat next to a Liberian government minister, an American pastor who adopted a Liberian church and will be bringing Liberians over to the US to intern at a company he works at, a woman who taught third grade for 33 years, and a 7 year old Liberian boy.

I sat next to the Liberian boy for the 7 hour trip from Brussels to New York. There were good quotes. My favorite came as we were approaching JFK: “It loo’ li’ Watahside!!” he said, referring to a market area by the water in Monrovia.

Since being home, I have taken my first hot shower in about 7 months. And I am in fast Internet heaven.

An interesting article on Liberia’s media landscape, by Russell Southwood.
(Scroll down to “Top Story.”)

“There is much to learn from the pirated market and the DVD distributor that can actually deliver low-price content into these channels stands every chance of creating something approaching a mass market.”

Firestone denies polluting a river near the Harbel Plantation.

“Residents near the plantation, 50km south-east of the capital, say they can no longer use the Farmington River because of waste dumped by Firestone.”