8 March part II

It is usual for husbands to buy their wives the 8th March pagnes, so when Lon came home with 3 pagnes for me (6 yards / 6 metres) it was evident what we needed to do.  Habibou got 2 of them, and I have one in my fabric stash, use as yet unknown....

And the winner is…

Dhaka! This blog will be brought to you from Bangladesh after the summer break.

Not totally unexpected, and yet we’re not actually doing the happy dance, as we don’t underestimate how tough it will be living there. In a city which has about the same population as Holland, or Burkina for that matter. IN THE CITY!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaka


It’s positive in the sense that Lon will continue to be a Senior Development Finance Officer (or however his title best is translated), as the position suits him.

I’m also hoping for an internet connection with speeds measured in MB or even GB rather than our current 128kb on a good day!

So, Kampala, Parimaribo, Budapest and The Hague will have to do without us for the time being

March winds

March is here with temperatures in the 40s again, and a lot of "harmattan" days where there is a lot of very fine dust in the air - often this means that the sun doesn't make it through, and in theory its a bit cooler than normal - this morning at 9 oclock the guard still had his jacket on as it was only 32 - brrrr! Respiratory problems are common now, and the air is punctuated with gentle "cough cough" wherever you go.

while browsing online I found the work of this incredible photographer here in Burkina - he has captured people and situations very honestly 
http://www.davidpacephotography.com

musee national

We've passed the national museum a few times, and even wanted to go in once, but it always seemed so empty, desolate and closed - but we heard that there was a new exhibition and decided to try again

Education about malaria

 

the exhibits are bright, colourful and interactive

 

some powerful images taken in the 30s

we enjoyed our visit a great deal more than we anticipated - its an odd setup, 4 buildings which are quite a distance apart holding different parts of the exhibition, on a typical Ouaga day, it would be hellish crossing the unshaded areas between the buildings, but we went on a Harmattan day, no sunshine visible, and a fresh 27degrees, so it was fine, if dusty.

International Women's Day Celebration

We went to the Rec Center on Thursday to enjoy the celebrations of International Womens' Day.

This years design of cloth was clearly visible

bags

ladies in their new outfits

This lady is from Cameroon - she is wearing the Cameroon 2012 cloth

 One of the entertainments was a troop of dancing masks - l'ensemble artistique Dodo Wend Panga - they were fantastic, energetic and engaging.

 

Grade 0 - or epic trimmer fail

Today is International Womens' day, and as such is a day off here in Burkina where it is celebrated in some style (interesting article from last year here) before we went out, we agreed that it was time for Lons hair to get trimmed.  I do this usually, after some pretty disastrous, expensive and occasionally hysterical haircuts Lon had in Rwanda.

So, I checked that the setting was on 9 and set off mowing.  I had however forgotten to check if the attachment guard thingy  was attached.  It wasn't... there are no words to describe the feeling that you have just shorn your husbands head.....and of course it's the right side at the front, two strokes that I did, which is pretty impossible to hide...I couldn't come up with a solution which didn't look like a monks tonsure.

So now Lon has a grade 3 all over

I'm hoping that by Monday he won't look quite so GI-Joe like.

Lon has been exceptionally good about it. I would have been screaming in a heap on the floor.

He will of course being wearing his hat for the foreseeable future.
And I will be making him a crumble as penance.