It's been a slow start to the work in Africa. I arrived Thursday evening, worked all day Friday till 5:00, and now have spent most of the weekend recovering from lost sleep, jet lag, and some malady that was giving me a headache and dizziness. I'm now awake, free of headaches and dizziness, and ready to work on Monday.
We were going to go to Orodara - about 450 kilometers west of Ouagadougou - a three day commitment to travel there, work one day, and travel back. By bus. In 35 degree heat. Starting today.
We decided not to do that, but instead find other ways to address the problem - and I had, by chance, a very helpful conversation over lunch with people who had some other perspectives on the situation - a conversation I would not have had if we'd gone out there, and which resolves the most significant dilemma we were confronted with. So, I'm going to call that the first breakthrough of the trip - a trip that has had the opposite of breakthroughs for some time.
I also bought, finally, soap, shampoo and toothepaste. I'm in the habit of, to avoid overstuffed luggage and/or the 'liquids and gels police' at the airport, to buying my consumable toiletries in-country when I arrive. However, this time, for reasons we'll summarize as 'foggy brain', it took me three days to make the purchase - don't worry - I did shower and brush my teeth - just not with the usual foamy accompaniments. My hair is really suffering the most from this, since it's used to a daily shampoo (which I'm told by an impeccable source, is actually unnecessary).
I know, the blogs aren't terribly interesting yet. It's taking a little while to generate experiences worthy of significant note.
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