some pictures from my mom's trip in feb 07
(both from my village)




using the method that most women use to transport things here, this woman is probably carrying food or milk, maybe selling it




near the primary school in the village, this is a typical water pump scene. women and girls are responsible for going to local water sources and bringing back the family's daily water supply. (p.s., i have a really awesome Burkinabe skirt and top outfit made out of the same yellow butterfly fabric that the man on the bike is sporting. yeah for tailors!)

also, at the beginning of last month, i got to enjoy the West African film festival that comes to Ouagadougou every two years, Fespaco. Some of the movies were great. Others were not too bad. Watching English movies like Blood Diamond and The Last King of Scotland in French dubbing absolutely sucks and only affirms my deep and long-standing disgust for dubbed films. As usual, I wasn't too thrilled by the shorts that I saw.

My top two favorites were:
"Death of Two Sons": The Story of Amadou Diallo and Jesse Thyne Brown
this story was amazing - by far my favorite, especially since it hits home on two levels for me: NYC and Peace Corps. eerily coincidental - you would almost believe it was fiction, if you weren't already familiar with the Amadou Diallo story.
(an added bonus for me was that I could understand some of the Fulfulde that the Guinean characters spoke because their Fulfulde is related to our Burkinabe Fulfulde, but really, that's so irrelevant...)

500 Years Later

i genuinely wish that more people could see these two movies. Both presented the truth about painful histories through beautifully crafted story-telling, without forcing one opinion or point of view, while remaining truthful to the people whose stories were being told.
see these movies even if you don't know or care what they are about.



what's up?
temp: 115 F, burning hot winds and dust
currently reading: A Continent for the Taking
just finished reading: The Tipping Point
current favorite song: Share My World (Rhianna)
last thing i ate: mango!
last thing i bought: water, which comes in bags here - 10 cents
recent butterfly: went to a wedding with my closest Burkinabe friend in the Southern part of the country and had a ball!
recent onion: seeing the southern part of the country made me so sad to live in the desolate Sahel :( life could be so different, even in the same country!
fave destressing activity: listening to music! (thank you, Jakhi, for the CDs!)
unattainable craving: eyebrow threading would be lovely - though i'm doing a good job of maintaining
next lesson: patience and patience and still working on giving myself a break
next goal: doing some health work, focused on malaria, before the rainy season hits; getting my girls club started and preparing for summer school
looking forward to: get-togethers that are coming up for the volunteers who are about to finish their service and for the rest of us who just need a break
updated: apr 10 07