Mass & a move...

Highlights of my weekend: I moved; I went to Mass (i.e. Catholic Worship).

Moving was a little anti-climactic after worrying over it a couple weeks. The new place is a small apartment in a house within the residential compound of the Baptist Theological Seminary. Not too many Baptists live there, but there is a big group of American student-interns elsewhere in the compound. Several from the Kennedy School of Government and other institutions. I think they're mostly placed in various government ministries, haven't met everyone yet.e c

On Sunday one of the drivers from the office invited me to go to Mass and visit around a nearby market with him. Sunday's not much of a market day, so that part was a little anti-climactic, but Mass was probably well worth seeing once while in Liberia. It was long - lasted over two hours, and involved lots of singing, every step of the way. The homily (sermon) was a forceful but rambling message which dwelt for a while on the permanence of being a priest, emphasized how the miracle of the five loaves and two-fishes fed 5,000 men, but the scriptural language really just means men and doesn't include the women and children who were also fed (thus an even larger number), and touched also on how the communion is actually the physical body and blood, and only true believers should take it, relating the story of a doubting priest who had the bread turn to a chunk of human flesh in his hand at Mass one Sunday. There was some more specific imagery shared, but I'll withhold it here.

Sunday afternoon I took a nice walk on the beach near the Compound. The closest way to get there is to wade a lagoon where a lot of boys were swimming and playing. I took a longer way back on a path winding between a set of small homes. I was dripping wet from my wade in the ocean, and my white, hairy legs drew a lot of unapologetic stares. Worth it, though it must be the warmest ocean water I've ever been in.

Yesterday and today, more days at the office trying to understand the requirements of the Forestry Law passed last year and a dozen other relevant statutes and regulations that will impact the draft law on community forestry rights I'm now working to help draft. It's a big project, due to the Legislature in October. Should keep me more than busy while I'm here.