82. Can you believe it? This is my 82nd post on this blog. I'm amazed that I'm still here and still manage to find something to write about. Admittedly, maybe the Happy Donald Hamburger House is not the most exciting subject, but there has been the occational rocketfire to make up for it.
Today was payday at the paper project. The women are in charge of all the money now, so I was just there pasting together bookmarks and lending psychological support. The cash was handed out as each woman stepped forward. But at the end, the President had one more woman to pay and was 10,000 cfa short. The money had just been counted fifteen minutes before, so the hunt began. We all hunted under the tables and behind the shelves. Finally, each woman came and showed the money she had been given. Amazingly, the mystery was solved. Mariam had gotten 40, 000 istead of 30,000 cfa. Two bills had been tightly stuck together and she hadn't noticed. We're lucky she's so honest!
That taken care of, we all breathed a sigh of relief. It was a very short sigh. Eugenie, the president, couldn't find her money. She rumaged in her purse, then we all started a re-enactment of the search we had just undertaken a few minutes before. We'd been looking for about half an hour when I opened a notebook that had been sitting in front of me. I paged through it and found the money. I handed it over to Eugenie, saying "It wasn't me! I swear!" which the women all thought was very funny.
All the excitement certainly has me thinking that payday is going to have to be a little more organized in the future.

I found this site on pal's blog and I just wasted at least half an hour on stupid (but fun!) quizes. Below, for example, is my true personality revealed. Consider yourselves warned.

Your Geek Profile:

SciFi Geekiness: Highest Academic Geekiness: High Gamer Geekiness: Moderate Movie Geekiness: Moderate Music Geekiness: Moderate Fashion Geekiness: Low Geekiness in Love: None General Geekiness: None Internet Geekiness: None

How Geeky Are You?

Give it a try.

I'll call this entry : "Spoiled Expat Brats in Ouaga". Too bad they're mine. sigh.
We went out to dinner last night. It wasn't as easy as it sounds. The electricity was out in many areas of Ouaga last night. Our first choice restaurant, a crepe place owned by some friends, turned out to be in a dark zone, so we drove on. The girls clamoured for Chinese, but as I know Severin hates it, I suggested we try a new restaurant. I'd noticed a new "American-style" place in the center of town. It was called "Happy Donald Hamburger House. What's not to like? For some reason, though,the twins were not having any of it.
As we drove up, the clamour edged toward riot level. But as the other four people in the family were looking forward to a cheeseburger, and I don't give in to tantrums, we stayed the course.
The tables were all outside and a monster-screen tv was showing a popular soccer match. We ordered. Everyone but the twins. Alexa threatened to throw herself in front of oncoming traffic, so that her death would make me sorry, sorry, sorry that I ever made her come to such a place. I finally threatened them with a week of no Nintendo DS. Mallory glared at me and crossed her arms. "Donald may be happy, but I'm not happy." she grumbled.
Things settled down. The food came after about an hour. Fast food just isn't very speedy around here. But it was actually really very good. The best hamburger I've had in Ouagadougou. Ever. And the twins ate their hotdogs and french fries (crinkle cut!!) with enthusiasm.
Yesterday, you saw that I'm a bad mom. Today, we have evidence that I've got bad kids. I guess it all balances out.

As has been previously documented in this blog. I am a far from an ideal parent. I even edge over towards being frankly bad. Latest example: Valentine’s vaccines aren’t up to date. At our latest doctor visit (just a check-up), the medecin waved the Carnet de Santé at me and said that she should have had a booster over a year ago. Ooops. Big oops, even. In a country where polio is at high risk of reappearing, it’s nothing to get lax about.
So, the great treasure hunt began. Finding vaccines here is no simple matter. The most basic childhood vaccines are often not available for months at a time. The drug companies have a lot to answer for. I hunted all over the city and no DT Coq Polio shot was to be found. I snatched up the last DT Coq (diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough) at a pharmacy in the center of town. But it lacked the polio vaccine.
I took Valentine to the nurse at the health center, so she could have the stuff injected.
The nurse suggested that we track down some oral polio vaccine. We tried at the Burkinabé national health unit downtown where they give yellow fever shots for a dollar. No luck. They said to try the Dispensaire Urbain, one of the national health clinics downtown.
It took a bit of searching, but we eventually found the group of low, crumbling cement buildings. It was very crowded, of course. The government health services aren’t free, but they cost much less than at private clinics. Valentine and I wandered for a while and ended up behind one of the buildings, where a young woman was scrubbing out a huge cooking pot. I guess we looked just as clueless as we felt, as she abandoned her dirty pot for a moment and kindly led us around front to the main door of the pharmacy in a large hallway. There were four other doors, all with long lines of people waiting to consult a nurse or doctor. The pharmacy line was short, but there seemed to be a problem. A slight young woman with long braids was pounding on the door.
“Sylvie!! Sylvie!! I know you’re in there! Open up!”
She pounded some more. Then she opened up her cell phone and had a go at that. No answer. Then she started pounding and shouting again.
Valentine and I watched the show and speculated. Who was Sylvie? Why would she lock herself in the pharmacy? Her pal pounding on the door sounded mad enough to kill her. “I don’t think I’d open the door until that mad girl gave up and left” observed Valentine wisely.
Then, a Person in Authority arrived. You could tell by the markers of power: A hefty physique, a huge pale-colored boubou in stiff, shiny, crackling bazin and plenty of gold jewelry. She sized up the situation and asked “Are you sure she’s in there?”
“Yes” the girl in blue answered ferociously. “She’s turned off her phone and locked the door, but I KNOW she’s in there! And nobody else has a key!” It was 4:30 and the pharmacy had been closed since lunch.
The boss-lady took the young woman outside and they walked across to another building.
I turned to Valentine and said “Enough fun. Time to investigate.” I’d been reading Lord Peter Wimsey stories lately and was feeling inspired. We went outside and turned right. A little farther on was a window, partially open. Using my razor-sharp detecting skills, I figured out that had to be the pharmacy. We strolled over and had a look. We could easily see in.
“Well, unless Sylvie is crouched under the desk in the corner, I’d say she’s not in there”, said Valentine. And she was right. The room was quite bare. Just one desk and some shelves. No rogue pharmacist was barricaded within.
As is too often the case in Burkina, the shelves in the pharmacy were very empty. There were just a few sad, scattered boxes. No sign of a refrigerator for storing vaccines. We turned towards the front gate and started walking to the car.
Life here is many things, but never boring.

I said "yes" when I should have said "no", which is how trouble always begins, right?
I normally systematically turn down updates for my anti-virus, browser, etc, because nothing downloads right. Dial-up in Burkina Faso just ain't All That, is what I'm saying. But when the pop-up read" new verion of Internet Explorer", some inner demon prompted me to press "accept". Which resulted in distaster. It blocked my computer so I couldn't get onto the internet! Much weeping, gnashing of teeth, rending of garments and other traditional activities associated with misery ensued. Then I took my laptop to the guys at Liptinfor and confessed my sin. They kept it for four days and I was kind of angry. And when I showed up on Monday, they had unblocked it, but hadn't installed Firefox or a new antivirus. Which made me even more cross. I guess I was in an evil mood as a result of internet-deprivation. And I heartily regretted my snappishness, as the kind-hearted tech quickly installed the two programs, cleared up a few more problems and then refused to take any payment. "It's no big deal" he said. "Enjoy". I tried to press a few bills on him, "to buy a Coke after work", as we say over here. But he refused. A random act of kindness if I ever saw one.

Here's the short version: I"m back.

Valentine FINALLY posted again to her blog. Check it out at www.tyainafrica.blogspot.com

Here’s some good news, for a change : though tensions are still running high in Ouaga, the roads have all been open the last two days and heavily armed soldiers have been less in evidence.
Things are going great at the VAO. The tourists seem to love Papiers stuff and are snapping it up. The project women are working hard to get organized and keep up with the heavy demand.

On the home front: During the hot, humid period of October and November, Mallory got used to the soothing hum of the window air-con in her room at night. When December hit, I wanted to keep it off at night, but she protested so vigorously that I took the path of least resistance, turning it on to “fan”, so she’d have the noise, but not the blasts of cold air. But in this “glacial” month of January, I decided that enough was enough. Electricity here costs the earth and any savings would be much welcomed (Related item: our health insurance premium has just been raised by 27%) So, I told Mal: No more air-con fan. She cried. I held firm. She cried some more. Lots more. JP was all for giving in. He’s such a softy. He cannot bear to see one of his kids in tears. I, on the other hand, have a heart of stone, or at least very sturdy plastic.
I put the girls to bed, Mallory still crying. After about 20 minutes, she quieted down. When I peeked in, there were the twins together in Mallory’s bed. Mallory’s eyes were peacefully closed. Alexa was gently fanning her with a Chinese folding fan, while softly humming, trying to sound as much as possible like and air-con unit. That’s true sisterly love, folks.

All the news, none of it good
First of all, Alizeta’s court case against the people that killed her daughter has been thrown out. (See my post from Sept 12 if you don't already know the story) From what I understand, it is mainly because the family did not have their own autopsy performed immediately. This seems suspicious to me. I figure that the legal authorities have been paid off by the so-called “respectable” people that killed Safie. Thank about it - no Burkinabé family of modest means would think of having an autopsy done, and how would they pay for it, anyway? Certainly, staggering under the shock of Safie’s sudden death , that wasn’t what occurred to her family.
I offered to help look into the case (not like I could do anything, but I felt I had to offer). Alizeta graciously refused, saying that she just needs to let the matter drop, as even if she won, it wouldn’t bring her daughter back to life.

One of the other women I work with, Cecile , had adorable twin girls just seven months ago. She called them Olivia and Olivie. Olivie just died in the hospital yesterday. It happened quite suddenly, so I wasn't able to go. When I presented my condolences, Cecile thanked me. She said that she was grateful for the Paper project that allowed her to earn enough money to take her sick child to the hospital. I was stunned. She told me that it made her feel better that she knew she had done all she could, that she hadn't been forced to sit at home with a dying baby, lacking money to pay for medicines or doctors. It took all I had not to cry. What grace, to absorb that loss and then go on the thank somebody for helping you earn money to pay for the medical care that was ultimately useless. The fact is, the hospitals here are not good and many people die here that would easily be saved in Europe or North America. It’s one of the least bearable things about living here.

All is not so calm in Ouaga. It seems that the Burkinabé soldiers are still very, very unhappy campers. As I picked up the kids at noon from school, the center of town was a maze. Many of the main streets were blocked off by armed soldiers. Tensions are running high again, it seems. They have left off demanding revenge for their slain comrades. They’ve moved on to internal conflict: the problem now seems to center on the discontent of the lowest-ranked soldiers. The officers live in luxurious villas (often two or three!) while the common soldiers are barely paid. In fact, their families have to come fetch a rice allotment at the camp every day, as the soldiers are not paid enough to buy basic foods. So, I’d say they have a legit gripe or two. Let’s just hope they don’t get out the machine guns and rocket launchers again.
JP just drove back downtown to go to work. He promised to keep an eye out and buy a copy of “l’Evenement”, which comes out on Wednesdays. Maybe I can get some more news. The US Embassy hasn’t sent out a warning yet, but as we all know, that doesn’t mean much. They don’t warn you until the bullets start flying. Or, conversely, they panic people for nothing. On the day of Hussein’s execution, they sent out a warning. I guess they don’t live in the same Burkina as the rest of us. In my Burkina, there is no anti-American Muslim sentiment. At all. It’s just a non-event. The Burkinabé are completely live and let live. Animist, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or all of them at once, it’s not a biggie. The risk of being a target of Crazed Muslim hatred here is about as great as that of seing Blaise Compaoré in the local karaoké bar singing "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", wearing only a red satin g-string. Which brings us to:

The final bad news. The guest of honor slated to appear at FESPACO 2007 was James Brown. He's not going to make it, is what I've gathered off CNN. And now who is Blaise going to find at the last minute to replace the Godfather of Soul? FESPACO begins Feb 24!! Send me your suggestions! Maybe we can help out, here!

We ended up having dinner with our friends who just got back from Timbuktu. They said it was a long, beautiful drive and had the pictures to prove it. They reported the town itself to be underwhelming. Small and filthy pretty much summed it up, though there is an interesting document restoration project going on at the Library there. The highlight of the trip was a camel trek north of Timbuktu ending in a camp-out in a very huge, posh tent. Their worst moment came as they left the town of Dori in northern Burkina and tried to drive down to Niamey, Niger. What was marked as a road on their map turned out to be a faint dirt track. They got rather lost and stops at the few, scattered villages were useless. No one in these places spoke any French. They spent about three hours driving in circles until random chance put them on the right track. As the track got closer to the Niger border, it was even paved. Sort of. G. took a photo of the road at the Burkina/ Niger divide. The Burkina pavement is grey, potholed and chewed away at the edges as if by giant guinea pigs. The Niger side, in stark contrast, is wide and pristine, even boasting bright white paint markings. Niger is actualy poorer than Burkina. Burkina is fourth from last, while Niger this year was number 177 out of 177. I guess that means they get more outside aid when it comes to infrastructure, because it sure LOOKS richer than Burkina.

There’s a special promotion going on at the veterinary clinic near our home. (Yes, there are lots of vets here. So many people keep livestock at home that it’s a good business) A banner three feet high reads: “Protect your family: Vaccinate your dog – cat – monkey”. You just don’t see signs like that back in Nebraska or in the Haute Savoie.

Also seen on the Boulevard Charles de G.: A little wooden stand painted bright blue. It looks just like the typical place where people grill and sell beef kebabs. But this one is even more specialized. The sign on it is a list about four feet high. It reads: “Beef tongue, stomach, intestines, kidneys, testicles”. oh. yum. And get this: the first four delicacies are written in black paint, but “testicles” is in white, to sort of highlight it. Like it’s a special treat, or something.

The new ad campaign for the national lottery (LONAB) is on the streets now. The slogan is: “Another Life is Possible”. Implying that your life sucks so bad that if you win the lottery, you had just better ditch the whole thing and start over. Whatever. It’s not like you can win enough to start over as Donald Trump. Or even Donald’s housekeeper. Over the holiday season, the big LONAB campaign bragged that there was “10 Millions à Gagner!”. Well, 10 million here is about 20, 000 US dollars. And that wasn’t even a Grand Prize for one person- it was the TOTAL to be shared out in smaller prizes. Even in Burkina you can’t buy a WHOLE new life with a fraction of 20, 000 bucks. You could somewhat improve the one you have, but heck - you wouldn’t even be able to afford to buy a car. Nobody’s going to be climbing into the lap of luxury with a boost from the LONAB, even with a winning ticket

JP should be back from the bush today. He’s been out near Boromo doing fieldwork. We’re having quiche and tomato soup for lunch in his honor. (When he’s working out there, he lives on spaghetti and rice.) For dessert we’ll have a “Galette des Rois”. It’s Epiphany today (celebrating the visit of the Three Wise Men). In France, you mark the event with a special cake that is typically made with almond paste filling. Hidden in the filling is a small ceramic token- often in the shape of a king, or some other figure from the Nativity. You divide up the cake so it is shared between everyone present. Then you eat, cautiously. Don’t want to break a tooth. The person that finds the fêve in their portion is the “king” and gets to wear a gilt paper crown. There is usually a second crown so that the sovereign can choose a consort. It’s very politically charged, as you can imagine. You have to keep an eye on things so the kids don’t come to blows over who gets picked. Sad, how religion can lead to violence.

Some pals of ours just got back last night from a big trip to Niger and Mali. They were even up at Timbuktu. If they have any good stories to tell, I’ll faithfully report them here tomorrow. .

Happy New Year! It was a quiet celebration around here. Lots of people stayed home on the 31st, as the security situation is still not the best. The police are still not back in full force. In fact they are using the Gendarmes to direct traffic in the city.
On January 1st, we did go out in the afternoon, paying a visit to some old friends. M. is a big wheel in the Assemblé Generale (the Burkinabé equivalent of the Senate). His terrace was teeming with various local politicians downing impressive quantities of whiskey and very nice French champagne. Much nicer champagne than WE had at Christmas, I assure you. So, I took advantage and our hostess, D., regaled me with the story of how they experienced the pre-holiday CRS/Army clash. D and a friend had driven toward the center of town to join their husbands at a wine tasting, but then turned back when they saw soldiers “armed to the teeth” stopping cars and harassing drivers. Back at home, she phoned M., who told her to come anyway. “It’s nothing”, he assured her. She set out again and did get stopped this time. When the soldiers inspected her ID papers, I guess they saw she was someone not to mess with, but were not happy about it. They threw her papers at her and told her to move on. As soon as she and her friend reached the meeting place, they all left again for home. They got back with no major problems, but during the night the fighting was close to the home of the French couple. They got a round fired through the wall of their living room.
I found it interesting that M., as someone high-up in government circles, got no info or warning about what was going on. At least the US Embassy eventually got around to issuing a warning to citizens.

What I saw yesterday:
The guardian at the front gate of the ORSTOM (where JP works), wearing a crocheted scarf wrapped around his head like a turban. Multicolored. It looked like a Home Ec project gone very, very bad.
Our guardian, Salfo, bundled up in a long down jacket, with a ski hat pulled down nearly over his eyes.
Our other guardian, old Moussa, wearing something over his hands. “Are those mittens?!” I whispered to JP. No, they were socks. A pair of men's brown dress socks.
Next: A baby bundled onto his mom’s back in a bright red and purple cloth . The child was dressed in a pink winter coverall like I used to put on my kids during the snowy winters in the French Alps.
Everybody here is talking about the freezing weather! Yes, it’s Winter in Ouagadougou. The temperatures are below 90° F every day and plunge down to 60° at night. I guess you become accustomed to heat eventually, but even after seven and a half years here, I don’t find 84° “cold”. I am actually finding it very nice and wish it was like this all year long! I could do without the pervasive dust, though. The skies are a permanent yellow-grey haze. Out of curiosity, I googled to see what the world had to say about Ouaga’s weather. The BBC reports that visibility in Ouaga is “excellent”. I guess it is if you think visibility of about one city block is good.

Valentine has one more week to finish her art project for school: a patchwork quilt in the shape of a country. It’s about halfway done. I don’t know how people that don’t have a sewing machine at home are managing. I guess they have to take it to a tailor and have it sewn. Which sort of detracts from the learning aspect. I can’t imagine they mean for the kids to make them all by hand. That would take so long that they wouldn’t have time to do their other homework. Uh oh. I just overheard Valentine showing her quilt to Severin and his pal Daniel. “Umm….. It’s a chicken?” Danel ventured. It’s supposed to be the United States. I better go see if I can help her to get it looking less animal and more continental..

A Ouaga newpaper called « L’Evenement » just published the list of all the convicts that broke out of prison on December 20. 537 names, along with date of birth and the names of their parents. I guess that’s a good way to help track them down, but it seems kind of hard on the poor parents! Their various crimes are also reported: plenty of robbery, murder and rape, with the occasional woman accused of excision/FGM. L’Evenement is one of the few papers here that is writing about what happened last week. They also have reported that their journalists have been harassed and had their cameras broken by the police when they tried to investigate the damage at the MACO prison and at the CRS camps. One female journalist was beaten. Where’s Reporters Without Borders when you need them?

Why did the army break open the prison that night? I’ve had a few people write and ask. (Hi Lyn and Andy!) Here’s the situation, as far as I understand it: Blaise (the president of Burkina) fears his own military. The only way he will ever leave power is through a coup and the military is the only force with any hope of pulling one off. And Blaise knows just what he’s up against. He came into power in the country’s bloodiest coup ever. And winning hasn’t improved him. Human rights organisations have recorded the highest ever number of political assassinations, hit squads and "disappearances" under his regime; one study puts the number of assassinations at about twenty.
Luckily, amazingly, and wonderfully, the Burkinabé are very mellow people. Even though their government treats them so very badly, they are in no rush for some kind of crazy upheaval. But still, certain military leaders do become popular with their troops and the possibility always raises its head: will this be the man to lead them against Blaise? I met one of the top candidates a couple of years ago. I was at friend’s house (all names changed or omitted, just to be safe) and there was a guy there lounging around eating peanuts. His suit was nice and he had a very small cell phone, but he still had the general air of one of the many slackers and hangers-ons that are always over at M’s place. After we left, JP told me that the fellow was General L. He was hugely popular and rumor said that he could lead a coup against Blaise any time he wished, but the Winyé are” too lazy”. - General L didn’t want the hassle. So they (mostly the Mossi) say. At least he managed to stay out of jail (Some of his supporters were not so lucky, though) Others suspected of being popular, but known to be more ambitious, have been thrown into prison, along with their supporters. It was a group of these accused coup organizers that the soldiers hoped to release from the MACO. They didn’t manage it. A large part of the general population escaped, but not the political detainees.

I don't usually get so polical in my blog. I don't want to get emails from wierdos and writing on politics is the best way to have that happen. There is also the off chance that Blaise has the media monitored here and one day the guys in black Land Cruisers come and take me away for a nice visit with the Presidential Guard. They do have a certain rep for that kind of thing....

Oh, BTW! To the wierdo that has already written to me: I am a heartless neo-colonialist gawking at the misfortune of others. I just wanted you to know that. Now go away.

Jeez. I hope I don't have to lock down my blog. I have "met" some very cool people that have stumbled fortuitously onto my musings. We shall see.

I finally have my computer back! At least for a few minutes. I'll have to write fast. On the rare occasions that I am at home with a moment to spare for blogging, there always seems to be one of the kids playing Zoo Tycoon, Roller Coaster Tycoon, or another new acquisition. These games are pretty fascinating. I make it a point to check them out, so I know what my kids are doing. ( BTW: did you know that in Zoo Tycoon you can make a Tyranosaur enclosure, then break down the gate and let the dinosaurs lose to eat all the zoo patrons? This works best if you block off all the exits.)

Our Christmas was good. Calm. No guns firing. But I did have to make food for nearly 20 people. Which, incidentally, did make me want to shoot myself at certain points. Luckily, Valentine was a great help and we managed a Christmas feast, American Style, for several of our Burkinabé friends. They weren’t quite sure what to make of the stuffing, but the turkey went down very well, as did the various pies and cakes.

Right now I am working lots for Papiers. The new workshop is nearly built and we’ll be moving soon. I’ve also been preparing samples and a catalogue for a big exposition in Los Angeles! I am really excited that Papiers has been invited. Too bad that we don’t get to go along with our paper samples! But it’s a VAO manager that makes the trip and takes the orders.

Today at Papiers, one of our newest big clients passed by. She’s a French jewlery maker that spends a lot of her time in Africa getting materials. She told me she needed to pick up her latest order a few weeks ahead of schedule (?!!) because she is catching a plane out a month earlier than planned! It seems that she was completely traumatised by the events of last week and doesn’t want to be in Burkina any longer. She was quite shocked at how suddenly life went from normality to terror. “I am an artist. I go by my feelings. And my feelings about all of this are very, very bad. I feel like anything could happen here.” She added that she plans to never return to Burkina. And I thought I was a Drama Queen. Geez.
Her reaction was very, errrr... extreme. Even when the fighting was bad on last Wednesday night, I never thought of calling Air France for reservations. I find that daily life in Burkina has such an ambiance of goodwill and peace that any variation from this can only seem temporary. (Now just watch them stage a bloody coup d’etat and make me eat my words while packing our suitcases.)

My main indulgence these days is to watch a few episodes of "LOST" every night! Yes, a local video club now has the first two seasons for rent! I am enjoying it, despite it’s obvious flaws. It’s amazing how all the crash survivors happen to be exceptionally attractive people between the ages of 20 and 27. They also manage to stay astoundingly well groomed considering that they spend months sleeping outdoors on the beach among the wreckage of a downed jumbo jet. And I can't imagine how they propose to eventually tie the "plot" together.....

Things here are quite calm. As I wrote to a friend earlier today: “you can unbate your breath now”.
Yesterday the curfew went into effect and the city shut down. The first things to close were all the gas stations, so lots of people got stuck without a means of transport. And a taxi ride that normally cost 30 cents cost $1.60, a huge price for the average Burkinabé that lives on a dollar or day.
But the curfew was lifted early this morning and the gas stations reopened. So, I went out on my day’s errands. My first stop was out in the shanty town at the east end of Ouaga. I visited my friend Yvonne there. I mentioned her a bit before in this post. She is a parapelegic widow with three small children. She is a really interesting person and amazingly cheerful in the face of her very difficult life. I stopped by to bring her a few things for Christmas. Last Christmas, all she could give her son as a gift was a bottle of orange soda. Kevin was really happy, as that’s a special treat to him. But when you think about the shower of gifts so many wealthier children get……..Anyway, thanks go out to my father and my pal Barb for their contributions. I was able to give Yvonne some fabric, a few toys for the children, some money and a bag of candy. I also had a sack of rice for them. Seven year old Kevin got the biggest smile on his face. It still amazes me to see a child get so happy about a bag of rice. It brings home so clearly how well they know what it is to be hungry.
In asked Yvonne how things had been in her neighbourhood during the attacks. She said that they hadn’t heard a thing, as they are so far from any police station or public building. But many of the escaped prisoners came to the area, hoping to hide and steal from easy marks. As the homes are just flimsy huts and there are no electric lights, the population is very vulnerable to crime. Yvonne was very worried, as she is alone, can’t walk and has young children. If you are the praying type , please pray for her and especially her younger son (just 1 year old), Jacob, who is ill. If you don’t pray, just send generic positive vibes. Can’t hurt.
Then I went to the VAO to check on things and then on to the Papiers workshop. Business taken care of, I went downtown. I got some food shopping done without the place being evacuated, so that was a nice change of pace!! But the normal food shipments have been delayed, so the shelves were pretty empty and many things are scarce. There's not much in the way of dairy products around, for example. I did manage to get some butter and sour cream, which was quite a coup.
But we still have a problem here in Ouaga. All the police have gone into hiding. I did not see a single cop the whole time I was out. What I did see (and feel, unfortunately) was huge traffic jams. And even worse, there is also that problem of those 600 prisoners lose on the streets. The word is out to be on the alert, as crime is exploding. Many motor bikes have been stolen and houses robbed, as my friend Yvonne mentioned. It hasn't been too bad here in the Zone du Bois, though. I guess it's harder to steal from rich folks that have cement walls, guardians and
electric lights in the street. The criminals prefer to steal the cooking pots and meager pagnes of the poor, as it’s less risky.

Just about an hour ago, I heard a series of loud bangs and ran out of the house with my heart pounding. “They started again??!!” I thought to myself. I listened and the sound repeated. Fireworks. Who on earth wants fireworks now?? I would have thought we were all fed up with explosions by now. I heard enough to last me a lifetime. I guess I have a mini-post traumatic stress thingy. Loud noises make me very jumpy today..... I am NOT looking forward to New Years’ Eve this year, when the Burkinabé love to light firecrackers. Luckily, they are too poor to afford many!

The gunfire died down this morning and after a couple hours of quiet, I went out to have a look. I drove over to the prison to see what the damage was. The main gate was broken, but everything seemed quite calm. I didn't quite dare drive over to the CRS camp. I'm not that imprudent and/or curious.
As everything seemed "business as usual", I decided to go into town and run some errands. I could see that the Bank of Africa was closed. And several other businesses hadn't opened. I continued right over to Marina Market to buy a few groceries. But as I tried to enter, they started evacuating the store. All those shoppers eager to part with their francs cfa had to leave, pronto. The guards doing the directing and prodding told me that things were heating up again near the downtown police station.
I got home and started preparing for Severin’s birthday party. Not the ideal day, admittedly, but the invitations went out a week ago. Unfortunately, the location was specified as the Rec Center and the place has just been closed down until after Christmas. (Last night Severin’s pal Samuel called and asked ” Since there’s a war, is Severin’s birthday cancelled?) No, not cancelled, but the venue changed. I called everyone and told them to come to our house. Only half dared venture out. Then, at 3:30, a curfew was announced. Beginning at 4pm all persons needed to be off the streets until tomorrow morning…..So, I had to call parents to come and get their kids before the curfew trapped them all at our place. It was a sort of abbreviated celebration.
Here’s the latest from the Embassy, from before the curfew:
U.S. Embassy - Ouagadougou
December 21, 2006 - 3pm
Due to the security situation in Ouagadougou, Americans in the city
should continue to remain indoors and avoid all unnecessary travel.
Although some areas of Ouagadougou appear to be calm at the moment,
there is concern that the conflict could flare up again, particularly
after nightfall.
According to reports from private sources and local authorities, the
conflict between the local police and the military has not yet been
resolved. Reports indicate at least four of Ouagadougou's eight police
commissariats were attacked last night and that approximately 600
prisoners were released from a jail in the Zone du Bois area of
Ouagadougou. At the present time, the airport is continuing to operate;
however, we have received reports that some stores and gas stations in
Ouagadougou have closed for the day.
U.S. citizens should carry a copy of the bio-data (picture) page of
their passport with them at all times, as local authorities have
increased identification checks within town. In the past, persons
holding no form of identification have been held in jail overnight.

We are all fine. No more gunfire to report. Those 600 prisoners have a little worried, though. Zone du Bois is OUR neighborhood!

Finally some news about the goings on here. It's not entirely accurate and the English is a little strange...

The intense fighting stopped around 11 pm last night. And it was just then that the US Embassy “sprung into action” somewhat after the fact, ordering me to call my citizens’ list and tell them to “stay indoors”. Gee, thanks for telling us.
There was sporadic gunfire at least until I fell asleep at midnight. Before I went to bed, I checked on our guardians. They were moving their chairs inside the courtyard, in violation of normal guardian procedure. Looked like a good idea to me
This morning at six we awoke to more shooting. After a particularly nasty bout of machine gun fire, JP turned on the radio to RFI to see if the story was in the news yet. There was a story “Calm has returned to Ouagadugou”, it began.
“Wow. Calm is so much noisier than I remember.” I commented to JP.
…..H is on the phone now to Isseuf. Their family is ok. The CRS camp is on fire, though. It seems that all the police stations in Ouaga were attacked last night….

Now I have the explanation for why the fighting seemed so nearby last night. The MACO (the national prison of Burkina) was attacked by military forces and 200 prisoners were freed. The back wall of the MACO is about a five minute walk from our house. No wonder the shots sounded so close.
The military is greatly feared by the president of Burkina, as a military coup is the only way he will ever leave office. Periodically, he shoves a bunch of officers into prison, accusing them of planning to overthrow him. Last night’s attack on the Maco was almost certainly aimed at freeing some of these political prisoners.

The electricity is off. And it seems impossible to get online. The phones are still working, so far.

In the midst of this chaos, I am somewhat busy patting myself on the back. I am in possession of no less than two turkeys (already dead and cleaned) and 30 eggs (The eggs are a big deal - very hard to get here. Weeks go by when you can’t buy any eggs at all!) I also have a good supply of flour, oil, pasta, sugar and other basics. Not to mention all the US cake mixes and frosting sent by my Dad in Nebraska. We WILL have Christmas dinner, even if we can’t leave the house! I just hope the power comes back so I don’t have to cook up both of those turkeys today.

I guess I won’t have to go work at the VAO or the exposition at the hotel
The latter is being held by the Lion’s Club at one of the smart hotels downtown, the Independance. Papiers was selected as a featured artisan and we managed to sell quite a bit over the last two days. But I doubt that “last minute Christmas shopping” counts as “necessary travel” for most people. I expect that shoppers will stay home today.

Our guardian says that there were people running by on our street all night. I guess old Moussa must have got up his courage in the night and peeked over the gate out into the road. . He thinks they were escaped prisoners.

I am going to try again to get online, post this and look for better news sources.

You know those serious blogs? The ones that actually give you useful or interesting information? Well, this is generally not one of them. But today I DO have some breaking news that is nowhere to be seen on the Web yet. There’s crazy stuff going on here and nothing at all about it even on radio news. The schools have all been closed and everyone is waiting to see what is going to happen next. I don’t have lots of info, but here’s the basics: Last night a member of the CRS (the Burkinabe riot police) and a soldier got into an altercation and the “militaire” was killed. The two groups hate each other and this was just the excuse needed for their feud to escalate. This morning, a group of soldiers murdered a police officer in retaliation……No rioting has been reported, but there are big groups of pissed off, armed soldiers and riot police stomping around the middle of town, hating on each other. Sounds like a good place to steer clear of. The French Embassy has warned it’s citizens to keep a low profile (eg. stay home). Strangely enough, no word from the US Embassy. I’m a warden and I am supposed to get notice of this kind of thing so I can contact all the citizens on my list….
I will probably venture out, despite warnings to the contrary. I have Papiers stuff to take care of. If I see anything interesting, I’ll be sure and post again today. If I get hit by a stray bullet, Ill get JP to post for me.
On a happier note, today is Severin’s 11th birthday! His grandparents sent him a Star Wars Lego set that must have cost over $100 and have over four billion pieces. He’ll probably have it assembled in less than an hour.

......Ok, here I am, back again seven hours later. This is really NOT even mildly amusing anymore. AT all.
I couldn't get online to post my blog before, so I headed out downtown. I didn't see anything unusual. I was lucky. Shooting started up again late this afternoon, not far from the US Embassy. They had to evacuate the Rec Center.
Email that I just received from the US Embassy:
The Embassy of the United States of America would like to alert U.S.
citizens in Burkina Faso to avoid downtown Ouagadougou in the vicinity
of the Central Police Station due to an ongoing conflict between the
police and contingents of the armed forces. Although details and the
origin of the conflict are still unclear, gunfire in the vicinity of the
Central Police station was reported around 11 or 11:30 a.m. today,
December 19 2006. The situation is currently under control, but there
could be the potential for more violence.

We just heard three low, loud explosions. Mortar fire. JP called a Burkinabe friend that lives near the riot police headquarters. Isseuf says the police are under attack from military forces concealed in a park across from the camp.
The gun shots are getting louder and closer right now. We are really worried for Isseuf and his wife and kids. They live about 50 meters away from the police camp.

It is REALLY getting bad now. LOTS of machine gun fire. It's pretty near. The CRS camp is less than a mile from our house. I am a tad bit worried for us now.

JP has heard that the President isn't going to step in and stop this. The risk of it turning into a coup d'etat is too great.

There is SO much shooting going on. Unless they are really bad shots, there are going to be a lot of dead and injured.

NOTHING on the local news now. Nothing.

The gunfire is almost constant now.

The kids are pretty calm. Except Mallory is getting a little scared.
JP is trying to explain it all. Who can explain one group of people wanting to kill another group? There's no explanation.

What a Christmas this will be. Peace on Earth?

I think the « worst » is over. Not that I’ve been miserable the last week or so. Far from it. I’ve been very busy, but it’s been fun, in a strange, tiring way. My days since I last blogged have mostly been filled up by work at the VAO. I’ve been working there nearly every day from 8 until 3. Then I rush home to do all the computer stuff for the project: print labels and bills and keep up with the emails. My own computer stuff ( most notably: the writing of blog entries) kind of fell by the wayside. Actually, some people find it’s amazing that I blog at all. When I casually mentioned to friends in the USA that I have a dial-up connection here at home, they found it oddly quaint. “Wow, Beth!” they exclaimed. “We did not know you were Amish, shunning all modern conveniences. Do you card wool in your spare time?”
I admit that it does take about five minutes to open a single web page, but on the upside, it does give me lots of time to read while I wait.

There were also extra singing rehearsals in the evenings, not to mention the hoemwork to supervise and the dinner to get on the table.
I did take last Wednesday off from the VAO, though. The French Embassy closed the kids’ school, as it was the anniversary of the murder of Norbert Zongo and they feared demonstrations in the center of town. I remember when we arrived here in 1999, that December 13 was the one year anniversary of the event. It was chaos for weeks here- mobs were burning cars in the streets and public services, like water and electricity were cut off for days at a time. By New Years’ Day I was ready to leave the country, or at least to buy a gas-powered generator. Things calmed down by the summer, but heated up again the following December. The government here has learned to be cautious. Their first line of defence is to start the University holiday before the 13th.- that way the students are dispersed back to their home villages and protests are less likely to start. It seems to have worked, things were very quiet this year- just a few, rather quiet gatherings.
I used my free Wednesday with the kids to make Christmas cookies with them and a few of their friends. We also went to pick up two new family member: baby guinea pigs. Mallory’s is called “Bubbles” and Alexa’s “Patches”, aka “Albert”. They squeak a lot, as guinea pigs are prone to do. Their arrival has brought lots of opportunities for me to gross-out the kids with stories of how I was constantly served those small, noisy creatures as a main course at meals when I worked in Peru years ago. Not that I ate any, mind you.
What else? There was Christmas carolling at the US Ambassador’s residence on Friday night. Later that night, my small (only 8 people!!) choral group gave a small concert for family and friends.
Yesterday, our church held an early “Noël” mass, as so many members travel during the holidays. Then we went out to diner at the Verdoyant with friends.
I am fighting off a dreadful cold since about one week. I think I am loosing, as it is segueing into an uncomfortable cough.
Today, I am NOT working at the VAO!! I got down the box of Christmas dress-up close and the kids and their friends put on a very entertaining re-enactment of the Nativity. My camera conked out at the beginning, so I only have one, not very good, picture that Blogger won't even let me publish. Sorry. At least there was no fight over who got to be Mary, as might happen in other households. Luckily, Mallory always wants to be the animal in any pretend play the kids do. If there’s no animal in the story, they add one for Mallory. (Recently overheard: “And the secret agents have a rabbit, ok Mal? And she has x-ray vision and can bite people!” ) So, Mallory latched right onto the coveted donkey role. She sported unusually small ears. Maybe a result of that genetic engineering that we are always hearing about?
The nativity play went pretty well until Valentine, dressed as a shepherd, ran off with the Christ Child in her arms, yelling “And THEN Baby Jesus was kidnapped by an ambitious, unscrupulous shepherd who wanted to get his hands on the treasure of the Three Kings! Hand over the Myrrh or the baby gets it!!” Screaming bloody murder, the Angel, Joseph, Mary, King and the Donkey chased the Evil Shepherd into my office where I was TRYING to write this. No wonder I never get anything done.
That’s it. I need to go make chocolate mint pinwheel cookies and get ready for another church service this afternoon. We’re going to the Christmas worship being held by several missionary families. The kids aren’t too pleased to go to church again this weekend, but I promised them that the music and snacks will be excellent, so they are going without too much protest.

Severin was on the phone last night when I got home from teaching Catechism. "Can Samuel sleep over tomorrow?" "Yes! Wonderful" I replied with alacrity. This was the fist sign of a school friend since the year began. Severin is somewhat of a loner. Not the gun-in-the-belltower kind (I think!!!!), but more of a reading/contemplating/creating kind of guy. And I think he finds it hard to fit in with other boys at school. And he's certainly influenced by the presence of no less than three sisters....
Samuel, a little French boy, came over yesterday. I stress the "little" - he's Severin's age, but comes up to about mid-bicep on Severin heightwise. They had dinner, worked on their school project and then decided to watch a dvd. "Let's watch "Star Wars!!! Severin put on the disk and asked his guest: "So, which princess do you like better: Padmé or Leia?"
Samuel's face took on the blankest expression I have ever seen on a human face.
"Huh?" (subtext: what the HECK are you talking about?)
"Which princess? Anakin's wife or Luke's sister?"
"Who?" Samuel said coldly. Any colder and he could have given the Titanic a hard knock and drowned Leonardo Dicaprio.
No! I wanted to shout to Severin, Just LET IT GO !
"You know, in the movies." he continued. "I like Padmé"
"Whatever. Are you going to play it, or what?"
Severin gets along much better with his few American friends. They are all missionary kids, very sweet and polite. Even if they might be suprised to be asked which princess they like, they could at least summon a coherent answer.

Seen shopping: A plastic sack full of balloons and party hats. All the writing on it was in Chinese, except for the main label, which read: "Mao's Party Fun Pack". Wow! Nothing says "fun" like the name "Mao"! What a clever marketing strategy. My kids have a Playstation 2 game called "Dance Dance Revolution". Why shouldn't there be Mao Zedong's "Great Proletarian Cultural Cultural Revolution" ? For a Great Leap Forward, just press X and export all your food.

We're selling at the VAO!! December IS magic! The tour buses are coming through daily. Dazed, dusty people stumble out of the big white behemoths, ready for precisely 1.5 hours of "shopping: local crafts". Then, it's back on the bus and on to Niger, or Ghana, or wherever. I do feel sorry for them. The Americans seem to suffer the most from the language barrier. If you don't speak any French, West Africa can be tough, even with a tour guide.

Here, at last, is a pic of the fabled Thanksgiving cake. Valentine's first comment upon seeing it was: "Well, as long as it's not turkey flavored, I'm ok with it."
I haven't been blogging the last few days because I knew that if I sat down to write, I would only rant about my car. This last month it has spent more time at the repair garage than at home. I am now beginning to suspect that is is possessed by demons. When I add oil,which is often, the car just kind of rinses its mouth with it and delicately spits it back out. Huge, expensive pieces of metal in the engine keep breaking off. It's grim. Add to this the fact that I keep getting stranded all over town and have to flag down "green taxis". These are unmetered, barely road-worthy taxis driven by men notorious for gouging tourists. This is a rather fatiguing, as it usually takes a while to make the driver understand that I am not going to pay 10 times the normal fare. It's sometimes hard to keep cool. "I'm not a tourist!" I want to shriek, "Look at me! Am I wearing brand-new safari clothes head to toe? Am I wearing socks with my sandals? A giant sunhat? Shorts? It should be obvious that I'm not going to pay 1500 cfa for a 150 cfa taxi ride!"
On the other hand, things at the VAO are going great. We are set up over there and starting to sell a bit. It's a bit slow, but the other vendors assure me that things pick up in December. That's tomorrow!