oh hey

Evidently I no longer blog. There are a few reasons: I went home for a month over Christmas, I lost my digital camera charger and got a manual film camera over vacation (thus no pictures to post), and I've been generally pretty boring lately. Teaching, coming to Ouaga, teaching some more... not too much to write about. ALTHOUGH, there was one incredible thing I went to a couple of weeks ago: the Dedougou mask festival. It takes place every two years and is almost definitely the coolest thing I've seen in Burkina.

This is me, standing in front of a bush taxi being loaded with masks. And by mask, I mean full-body costume made of crazy materials and inhabited by a spirit. Sweet, right?


Again, I've been using film (not very successfully thus far - operator error, with tragic consequences) so I have no pictures of my own to share, but you should absolutely look at my friend's pictures. Seriously. Coolest experience ever; amazing pictures.
http://sworthy10.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/mask-festival-festima-2012/

In other news, I've started teaching english classes at my school. Our english teacher is moving to another school for the rest of the year, so my principal asked me if I could add ten hours a week. It's pretty fun so far, but completely different from math and requiring all new classroom management strategies. We'll see how having 20 hours of teaching a week goes, especially during hot season.


Lastly, some of my friends have been linking to this article. It's a pretty good overview of all the chaos that happened last spring and the current situation in Burkina, if you're interested.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/95060/Analysis-Burkina-Faso-s-uneasy-peace