Seasonal blogging from Monrovia

My Dear Readers,

I know some of you may be wondering why you haven’t seen any recent postings from the Accurate Guesser—especially at a time when the entire country, as well as those in the Diaspora— seemed to be embroiled in a heated debate regarding the draft budget.

Well, the reason-- I was packing and getting ready to take up residence in Monrovia. And so, I would like to inform my readers that the author of this blog safely arrived in Monrovia, last week, on June 13, as one of the Fellows selected for the Scott Family Liberia Fellows program.

So, for the next 12 months or so, I will be in Liberia working to help the Liberian government with capacity building. My specific assignment is within the Ministry of Information, where I will be working as an assistant to Minister Laurence K. Bropleh, building the capacity of his local staff and doing all it takes to enhance the capacity and efficiency of his ministry.

However, between the time I left the US, on Tuesday, June 12, and arrived in Liberia, Wednesday, June 13, it appears a lot has happened. For instance, I didn’t know that the Spurs swept the Cavaliers 4 nil until Sunday night. I was told that that final was the least watched in NBA history.

Anyway, who cares for the NBA final in this country that has become a quintessential soccer nation?

Here, in Monrovia, all last week, two things seemed to be on everyone’s mind: The penultimate game in the Spanish football league and Auditor General John Morlu’s assertion that the government of Liberia is three-times more corrupt as the former interim government of Gyude Bryant.

My people, it was not easy here Sunday night! Real Madrid won the Spanish title in a dramatic fashion--what a finale-- and though Lone Star played on Sunday and drew, everyone is still talking about the brass from Jose Antonio Reyes and the header from Diarra in the second-half as Real came from behind to beat Real Marllorca 3-1. And despite the two fine goals from Messi, Barca (pronounced here as Baca as opposed to the BBC version, Basa) surrendered the title, leaving many of its local fans dejected while their Real counterparts were incandescent with ecstasy.

A friend of mine, a football enthusiast and an astute political observer, said something so interesting when I asked of the almost equal proportion of fans supporting the two Spanish giants. He said those who support Barcelona are more likely to support Manchester United and those who support Real Madrid tend to support Chelsea. He’s probably right. I rooted for Barca and I’m Man U fan. Man United, Chelsea and Arsenal are the other European teams with huge fan base here.

The other thing—Morlu’s claim, is as divisive as the fans who support Real Madrid and Barcelona. And when I asked my friend what he made of the claim by Morlu, he said, “Morlu has a lot of good things to say, but his approach is wrong.”

Well, I am getting settled into the political and social culture of the country. Incidentally, it’s one thing to be outside of the country and write, but a whole different ball game when you’re inside. What sometimes makes the headlines outside isn’t what people here are talking about. Our source of news out there-- the Internet-- is limited and very slow here; while on a given Wednesday like this, over ten local dailies flood the offices of Monrovia.

And people here, especially men, like to talk politics and disagree over things such as, who the better player—Ronaldo or Messi? Or which coach has the pedigree to bring up young players— Fergie or Wenger?

If you like politics and don’t care spending your leisure talking about the Red Devils and your dislike of the Blues, you will find as many people who think you suck as those who cheer you. Essentially, you must know what the following terms mean: Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, the Nou Camp, The Reds, then you will “never walk alone” in Monrovia. Sorry, if you don’t know where the phrase “never walk alone” come from. That’s what I’m talking about. “You will never walk alone” is the team song of the Liverpool Football Club, and it became popular here when Liverpool FC beat AC Milan two years ago on penalties after being led 3 nil at the interval in what is arguably the best champions league final ever. Football and politics go together here.

Anyway, the Accurate Guesser will enter what I call “Seasonal Blogging from Monrovia” for the next 12 months. I’m yet to figure out how different it would be, but I imagine the Guesser would assume a more social and cultural bent, but topics could vary depending on what’s making news. The main challenge, I suspect, would be finding the time to blog outside my hectic fellowship schedule. Obviously, the other challenge would be accessing the Internet. There are myriad Internet cafes here in Monrovia, and they charge by the minute, so that can be a bit expensive depending on how long you spend on it. But we will see.

Let's keep in touch!