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March 08, 2009

This and that

Sorry I haven't blogged for a long time. We've been on the road for almost a month - Horse Festival in Barani followed by a missionary conference in Bobo Dioulasso.

Today is March 8 and it's a really interesting day for at least three reasons:

Firstly, it is Jour des Femmes (Women's Day) here in Burkina Faso. This is celebrated all over the country in many and various ways – women's football matches and suchlike. The oft-repeated line is that men do all the cooking on this day, but I have yet to find a home in Burkina where this actually happens.

Secondly, Le Clezio is in town. He's the French writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature last year. He's speaking in Ouaga on Tuesday night, but we're travelling that day so not sure whether we'll be able to attend. Kind of inspiring just knowing he's here, though.

Thirdly, today is the start of Read an E-book Week. You can't write without first being an avid reader, and you can't be an avid reader without access to books, and this has been my single greatest problem since setting out on my writing journey. Amazon does deliver to Burkina Faso but it takes a long time and shipping fees are exorbitant. So getting a Sony Reader has been a great help to me. I would recommend it to any traveller or ex-pat who enjoys reading and finds it hard to get hold of books.

Posted by sahelsteve at March 8, 2009 06:48 PM