I picked up the phone early this morning to call a friend on the north side of Zogona, to ask if they had electricity or not. I figured that would be a good indicator of whether or not we'd keep ours in the afternoon. The line was dead. I shouted across the garden wall and asked our neighbor if his phone was working. No phone for them either.
I thought that maybe the protests had begun and the lines had been cut as a result. Luckily, I have a cell phone and was able to call around to other friends. I found out that 1. Everyone seemed to have electrical current 2. the city was quite calm and 3. the phones were out all over the Zogona/Zone du Bois area for some unknown reason.

So far, so good. The phone came back on at about 2pm. It's now 3pm and the power is still on! I've been out driving around a bit and everything seems very calm, at least on the east side of town. The University is quiet, as is the area near the French Embassy.

It looks like International Women's Day is going to be celebrated with the scheduled bike race and NOT by another wave of protests and violence, which is good!

But I certainly support the release of Thibault Nana who has been accused of "sedition" by the Burkinabé government. I hope he doesn't end up like Moussa Kaka, in jail for months with no end in sight.