Af-riikka

There is one thing which I have found painstakingly noticeable in different fields in Africa: in politics, in the toilet, on the dancefloor or in daily human contacts. People are not ashamed of almost anything. This is something especially peculiar for an average Finn, who is basically afraid to do anything out of norms, feeling ashamed most of the time. ("Mitähän minustakin ajatellaan?") I still feel somewhat uncomfortable when people stare at me, while dancing in public, for example - and after all this time here, I still don't feel the sudden urge to jump on the stage and perform a solo dance while a group is playing on the background. Here people tend to do that without any difficulties at all. It is not considered odd to be dancing alone in a discotheque, neither. If you have the need to dance, just go ahead! When it comes to toilet behaviour, that is not a taboo neither. You can do it pretty much anywhere and anytime you want. Most do it by the road, in Grand-Popo v...

On the beach of Grand-Popo in December, a big Mami Wata celebration: people throwing themselves into the sea etc. A girl selling bonbons in the front. Me in my funeral costume in Dangbo, near Porto Novo. Getting water for a shower in Baguida, near Lomé at Alfa Kaza's place. Flickr refused to work, but this is at least something...I also added a couple of photos in the previous posts. And a post "African Beauty", which was a draft, so it's lower down there now, don't miss it :)

I have now spent a bit more than one week in Burkina Faso, former Upper Volta. It is supposed to be one of the poorest countries in the world, but strangely enough, at least in the cities, the poverty is visible mostly in the multitude of beggars. Especially little boys flock the streets with their little buckets - this is something I haven't seen in the southern neighboring countries, where beggars were usually old, sick or handicapped people. Otherwise life in Burkina seems good for those who have money (as almost everywhere in the world..!). There are basically no power cuts, whereas in Benin, Togo and Ghana they were more or less daily entertainment. Neither is there a shortage of running water so far, although the country is very dry, with almost no water resources. So those who can afford electricity and water are doing relatively well here. Food is cheap, but petrol is expensive. Which might explain the scarceness of vehicles on the roads, mostly donkeys and bicycles fill th...

Somehow listening to CMX on a train trip from Ouagadougou (the capital of Burkina) to Bobo-Dioulasso (the second city in Burkina) inspires me to write about Africa. To make huge generalizations, too - so consider yourself to be warned! However, my observations are based mostly on Benin & Togo, a bit less on Burkina. I can't deny it: people are extraordinarily beautiful, especially children. I might just do Madonna/Angelina Jolie one day..! Growing up children also seems a lot less complicated here: until a certain age you carry them on your back, then just let then loose. However, teaching good manners and obedience is of uttermost importance: something that most European (or at least Finnish) kids have never even heard of...and although at first sight one might think that children are somehow neglected, that is not the case. Newborn babies are being taken care of according to strict customs: how to wash them, how to give them "natural protection" (someone might call ...

This blog entry will be very fragmented, because I am writing it in a hurry. Just some thoughts. I forgot two very important small things I will miss from Benin: Mo & Mo, meaning Moka (the best sugary drink ever), and motos - the faster you can go, the better! I suppose I have to take some driving lessons in Finland, so that next time I can rent or buy one of my own here - not that I'd like to drive a motorcycle in Cotonou, though. Too chaotic. So I left Grand-Popo last week, definitively. It feels bizarre. While looking for the main road of GP for the last time, I thought: this is my home. Now I'm homeless again! I feel also a bit lost in Burkina Faso: suddenly I'm not a yovo anymore, but a nassara, and water in plastig bags, usually known as "pure water" (pronounced pjooh-wata) in the southern countries is called Bara Jii here . There are a lot of whites around, many going towards or coming from Mali. I'm heading to the more touristy countries now, an...