• shade
• cold water
• fans

Did I mention it is hot season?

mango season is almost here.When I was up north the mangoes were lovely and plentiful.  I guess in a few weeks I’ll start finding them here.

Mango trees give the best shade. Sitting under the long plentiful leaves of a mango tree is a favored activity.  The only problem is some trees give too much fruit, and you risk being pelted on the head.

I’m in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ougadougou.  FESPACO, the film festival, was last week.  I spent an entire day in the movie theater and saw 11 films.  OK, 10 of them were short films.  Most were from Africa or North Africa.

A nice short from Burkina Faso treated the subject of respect for elders and the friction between modern (read Occidental or European) and traditional (African) lifestyles.  The actors were there so I went and greeted the woman who played the old grandma in the film but was shy and starstruck, as if she were Brad Pitt.

Another great short was an animated piece called “A giraffe in the rain” and in a few humorous minutes touched on the unfair distribution of resources in the world, immigration, culture shock, and cross cultural friendships, all the while keeping me giggling.

We also saw a feature length film from Senegal.  The director stated beforehand that he was influeced by Hollywood and Bollywood, and I definitely saw that with gunfights and sexy starlets interspersed in an interesting story on the influence on wealth and diamonds in a seaside African village.

Interested in helping some bright motivated kids learn to use computers?  Looking for a chance to contribute to a cause with no overhead - 100% of the contributution stays in the community?  Please see the following links
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=693-332

More Information

http://www.rebeccahunt.com/campinf/en/index.html