A quick guide to Burkinabé life
on Wonderous Wanderland (Burkina Faso), 14/Mar/2011 20:15, 34 days ago
Some peculiarities, tips, things that jump out and which I want to write down before I get too accustomed to notice :-).washing fruit& veg in bleach (!): I couldn't believe it when they first told us and I still can't get my head around it really, but yes, 'eau de javel' it is!!pre-paid electricity: considering I was already a nightmare topping up my mobile phone in Belgium, I am very curious how often I will have a self-created powercut :-).paying someone pushing a handcart to come and collect the garbage. Not sure what they do with it, but I imagine they sell off the bits& pieces which can be recycled (e.g. tin cans etc) and dump/burn the rest...?Plastic tea pots and Xmas wishes all year round: read the great blog reports on these from two 'Bobo-volunteers'. http://myburkinafasoblog.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/everyday-burkinabe-objects-the-ubiquitous-plastic-teapots/ andhttp://krisholliday.blog.com/2011/03/10/christmas/ "ça marche" and "Il n'y a pas de problème": like I noticed during my travels in Asia, the Burkinabé will almost never give you a direct 'yes' or 'no' when you ask them a question. However, they don't seem to find that a problem :-).bissap: nice, refreshing and just....yummy! You should really give it a try! http://www.congocookbook.com/beverages/jus_de_bissap.htmlKisses on the cheek. As it says in my Bradt-travel guide: "Britain has one, France has two, Switzerland has three, and Burkina has four." In Belgium we have one or three, depending on the person and the occasion. Imagine the confusion and 'bumping noses' and 'air-kisses' each time we meet up here with a group of people from different nationalities."Tssssss...." is the generally accepted sound you make to attract someone's attention.TO BE CONTINUED....