On December 20th, for some reason, Sean Paul (a famous singer for those who need a reference) came to Ouagadougou to put on a concert. His style can be described as a popish reggae. The concert was at the national football stadium “Stade du 4 Août”. This is a very large venue and I expected the place to be packed. Then we got to the concert and remembered that we’re in Burkina and no one has any money. The lowest-priced tickets were 5000 CFA (US$10), a great deal for a Sean Paul concert but still way too expensive for the population here.  One advantage to there being no people was that we could walk right up to the stage.

The concert itself was OK.   There were no warm-up bands.  It was pretty much just the main event. Sean Paul does not speak French, and Burkina Faso does not speak English. This little situation made it quite comical when Sean Paul would yell for the crowd to “put your hands up” and “jump” and asked questions like “do you love Sean Paul?” All questions and commands were promptly responded to with a resounding “quoi?” (What?). Stop talking in English and sing.
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On to brighter subject, like scaring my students to within an inch of their lives. It was not on purpose.  I was checking their listening comprehension and oral skills. So I called each student up and asked them simple questions:  Write your name, name a factor of education, what is a job for a woman, and what do you want to do after school?

My students were so petrified that I could see them visibly shaking while I was asking them questions. They were not even being graded on this exercise.  I think maybe they thought I would yell at them or something for not being perfect.  One girl was so worried she crossed herself when we finished.
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For Christmas I took a trip down to Ghana with some friends.   The difference between Ghana and Burkina Faso, where development is concerned, is staggering.

The stark contrast between the two nations is captured perfectly at the border crossing. There is similar land on either side of the border, similar size villages on either side of the border, and one major difference --- different countries. In the Burkina immigration office there is one officer seated at a desk armed with a pen and a large notebook so he can handwrite all the names and passport numbers of people leaving and entering the country. On the Ghana side (even at 4 in the morning) there are at least six immigration officers with four computers with a passport scanner for processing people entering and leaving Ghana.

Ghana is at least 30 years ahead of Burkina and that could be due to many things, one of the largest factors being access to an ocean. A small bag of water in Burkina cost 50 CFA (roughly US10 cents), and in Ghana a small bag of water cost about US6 cents. Burkina, while one of the poorest nations in the world, is pretty much the most expensive nation in West Africa.