images of Burkina

This is the first of the photos I wanted to include last time… today is still slow, so I'll insert just the first one.
Driving through Ouagadougou is fascinating because it gives a glimpse of everyday Burkinabé life… from the fancy looking billboards, to the ubiquitos green taxis, bikes and motos, to the water delivery wagons (bottom left hand corner), this photo is a snapshot of a normal streetcorner, like a thousand others. The red dirt is ubiquitous and penetrating.

I got more food & necessities of life today... its such a pain not having transportation here! But I'm slowly collecting the things that I need for life here. Each time I go to town, I return with an armload of stuff. The four of us are the only foreigners in town (besides the Peace Corps volunteers) who don’t have cars or motos. In fact, everyone asks us if we’re with Peace Corps, as they assume that anyone foreigner who gets around on foot / taxi must be with them.

Our "fixer", M. Cobre was meeting with Onatel (the phone company) today to see what needed to be done to "help" our phones get connected - we will give him a little money "for gas for his moto". As an aside, M. Cobre is a fascinating older man maybe in his 60s or thereabouts) - clearly not wealthy but always elegantly dressed, and totally on top of getting things done - he found 2 of our 4 houses for us, and will be working for Leah & Dustin, while his daughter will work for Suzanne. His French is really hard to understand (between the 4 of us, we often only get 2/3 of what he says), and I think he sees us as as a bit helpless. His services have been invaluable.

Anyhow, I'd better get back to work - I have a fair amount to do today for a change! Its good to be busier again, though I also want to make sure I keep some balance. Its harder to keep balance here with not as many distractions, no movies, few friends, rarely go out at night…. that makes it easier, since if to work all the time I don't feel like I’m missing out on things as much.