My Surroundings

January 30th - 3 weeks into the adventure and I am pretty settled in. I even found a fish market that sells frozen fish so not infested with flies and a market that sells good refrigerated meat at very reasonable prices. What is really expensive here is packaged chicken and canned goods. Another really expensive thing here are bed sheets - ridiculously expensive 1 flat sheet and 2 pillow cases cost me 15,000F CFA or close to $40 - I know what I want for Christmas.

Last night we went out for supper and a movie - the pizza was actually good but I regret it today - so much cheese and so very hot make for water retention and my hands are really swollen. The movie was a haitien produced movie and really far from Hollywood or any facsimile - difficult to describe in a blog but it was actually pretty funny even though the subject matter was serious as the title is "Est-ce que le Président a le SIDA?" and yes he did have AIDS - but the script and the acting were rather funny - think of how awkward a high school production can be and then you will have a fair understanding of what I mean- but then again you do what you can with the means you have. When I see an African movie I will tell you all about it.

Today a rather quiet day of reading, a little visit to the local market for fresh produce, an afternoon walk shaking hands of children intrigued by the nassara - some browsing on the internet to better understand the challenges of sustainable development.

I share here some pictures of my neighbourhood (I am the blue entrance that is fenced in) and of the local market. I include a picture of the Mosque which is less than 100 yards away and if you increase the size of the picture you will notice it has loud speakers so it can wake us all up at 4h30.

 I am so excited I get to cook myself a nice steak with fresh carrots and potatoes with a nice glass of wine.

Hope everybody is having a great winter because today's temperature was 90F.

January 26th

To my faithful followers please take notice that I have posted 3 blogs today now that I am back online but the dates are a little mess up chronologically - sorry about the confusion but if you want to follow by date read Jan 22nd blog first then Jan 24th and this one last that way it may make more sense (or not).

Not too much happened today - very short visit with my new employer and I start next Monday (office hours are from 7h30 to 3h30 pm) - early start but my new alarm clock gets me up at 4h30 am (the early prayers at the Mosque).

Went to get some prepaid units for electricity since I am just about out but now not sure how I put them in ??? That took about 1 hour since the line ups are enormous and people pay 2000F CFA at a time ($5). Then went to the telephone company to get an internet connection which again took forever as every step is either with a different person or even is a different building - and nothing is simple so there are a lot of steps. The technology is also old and inefficient.

Thought I would share with you a few pictures from Ouagadougou