Maison Azaaba Ouagadougou

... As soon as I saw him, I jumped on my seat and asked the driver to pull over for a minute. He did. I just wanted to take a picture with the guy.

Naprisca, predictably, was less than thrilled about my idea. But I would miss this photo opportunity for nothing. I all but dragged Naprisca out and asked her to explain to the guy that he was wearing my country’s football jersey and that I wanted to have a picture with him. She did that. To underpin my request ...

... few minutes and then returned with a bunch of postcards. Evidently, you just had to ask and market economy would perform miracles. I bought a few and so now everyone was happy. Then I started taking some pictures, some of them with the postcard guy and his friends. Some people around started complaining loudly and angrily, even if in all honesty, I wasn’t really aiming at them. I was interested in the street scene in general. But I had purchased postcards and made fast friendship with ...

... for haggling. I wanted to get to the Malian Embassy, right away, and I didn’t care how uncomfortable it would be. The driver must have realised I was serious. So I guess he reasoned that even one thousand CFA francs was better than no francs at all, even if he was in all likelihood convinced that he was justified in asking more. Well, when he said one thousand, I said OK and we started towards the Malian Embassy.

This Kwamé N’Krumah was a guy who wasn’t even ...

... a bit outside the city centre, which meant some twenty minutes or so by motorbike. As little as I’d been able to see so far, streets of Ouagadougou w**e mostly unlit, so neith** she nor h** family felt too comfortable about h** staying outside aft** dark too long. Wheth** that fear was justified or not, I could not be the judge of it. But we both agreed that she shouldn’t stay for too long into the evening lest h** parents get too worried. OK, Burkina Faso may in ...

... realize my low tol**ance for travel and easily developed cranky disposition. I had prepared myself emotionally for a trip to the north alone, and then five minutes aft** Fanta was supposed to get me from the house and drop me off at the bus station, she called and said h** cousin, S**ge, wanted to go aft** all. He had nev** been th**e and decided at the last minute to join. This, obviously, necessitated I change my expectations of the journey and, as usual, I tried to low** them. My mind ...

... and immediately felt awful. Have you ever felt so tired and hungry at the same time that you felt sick after you satisfied both appetites? Actually, I couldn't satisfy my need for sleep. I slept not well at all. September 2, 2009 The first meeting with Mme Sirima and my first day at CBDF! I was so excited, and worried that my excitement would quickly turn into disappointment and frustration and was prepared for this turn of events. To my fortune, however, I was excited the entire day ...

... At around 4, I finally made it (aft** a 7 cedi taxi! Jeeze!) to the St. George's Hotel. The 30 cedis I am paying for this room is an unfortunate rip-off. I don't even have hot wat**! Although th**e is air conditioning, I struggled to see how this room was a double: the bed I have is too small for two people. Th**e are three channels on TV, all British socc**, so I turned that off and thought Alias would be a good way to pas the time. Unfortunately, my DVD is somehow scratched and it no ...

... s by building on a strong and vibrant local industry and has been able to make their countries one of the most profitable film destinations in the world. Khaled Binaisa, who sat on the Africalia Jury, charmed the crowd at the closing c**emony with the youthful, joyful exub**ance he showed when he bounded down the stairs to collect his prize for Sektou (They are Silent) as the Festival’s best short film. He jumped up and down on the stage with an ...

... on granite formations at the village of Laongo. Artists from around the world have been carving there for 20 years. The guide was very passionate about the sculptures and shared the artists’ stories. Ann interpreted for Dave and had no brain left by the end of the afternoon. We were there walking around amongst granite sculptures from noon to about three in the blazing hot sun; trying whenever we could to stand in a bit of shade. Our guide ...

... Arriving there we found out that the music was not going to start until about 8:30; no matter we could have another drink or two. Dave and Ann both decided to have pepper steak and French Fries. This was Dave’s first big meal in a couple of days and he really enjoyed it. Ann seems to be quite the meal for mosquitoes as she is constantly being bothered by them. They do not seem to like Dave though (lucky him). The music was Burkinabe and quite rhythmic. Not having an ...