Chris Blattman

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Today we ventured into deepest Gbarpolu to the diamond mining camps where ex-combatants ply their trade, mostly illicitly. This will be the last phone and blog access for a few days.

Somewhat oddly, the little bar/shack where we rented a room last night was showing Blood Diamond on the DVD player.

Meanwhile, we have invented a car travel game called “Sheep or goat?”. Sheep in tropical climes look exactly like goats, in my opinion. My Liberian survey managers find this hilarious and are trying to train my eye.

5 Responses

  1. Sheep tails point down. Goat tails point up. (And Malawian survey managers also find failure to distinguish cause for great amusement. Formerly at my expense.)

  2. After sixteen months I still can’t tell the difference between a goat and a sheep.

    Although I can if I’m eating it.

  3. Friends from the east coast visiting me once developed a similar game, called ‘corn or not corn?’ I think I was more entertained by it than they were.

  4. Illicit diamond mining? You mean the Kimberly Process doesn’t work the way they said it would?!?

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