Some more pictures

Hi, everyone. While I await an okay of the four posts I've sent to Boston, I thought I'd just put up some more non-work-related, non-approval-requiring pictures.

Yesterday I took a little bike ride. You may have been wondering what the "Port" in "Port Loko" refers to, and here it is. We are definitely not on the sea, but apparently you can go by boat down this river all the way to Freetown. It was lovely to discover this, as, in fact, from what I can see, this is really the heart of the town. The scene by the river, with people bathing, washing clothes, tending boats, was "timeless" and peaceful and very pretty.

Just above the river, though, was this active covered market, as well as by far the largest and most prosperous-looking buildings I've seen in town. (Most of the buildings on our route to the ETU are one-story stuccoed concrete, with porches and corrugated metal roofs.)

There's also this mosque, which adheres to the plan that seems to be traditional around here - four minarets with layer-cake balconies, one at each corner. When I went by on the way to the river, the gate was open and someone was inside (this still seems to me (?) to be uncommon; public gatherings have been discouraged for a long time in the name of public health, and my sense is that this means that public buildings are much less used). I wanted to go in and look around, but on my way back up the gate was closed.

I also noticed this large church in town - Sierra Leone is majority Muslim, though there is a large Christian population, too. I had thought this area was more strongly Muslim, but maybe not. Gate closed, no one around, here, too.

Back in what had seemed, before I saw the port, to be the center of town, here is a building that always catches my eye. It is one of the only two-story buildings in town, and looks, clearly, like it must have been "important" at some time. I like it's faded grandeur, wondering what it looked like and what went on there in its heyday. Now it has the insignia of the APC (All People's Congress), one of the two main political parties, painted on it. This party is traditionally strongest in the north, where we are; it also has the distinction of having taken power peacefully from the SLPP (the other main party) after the 2007 elections. Everyone thinks of this as an extremely hopeful sign, after the long civil war.

Finally, another shot of the camp in the morning. Morning and evening are so nice here - actually comfortable, after the truly fierce heat of the day. Driving back from an evening shift (ends at midnight), I love the cool, heavy summer air, the few people you see still out, slowly doing one thing or another. Reminds me of driving back at night after a show one summer in Maine....

More to come as soon as it is approved.