Bobo

I can’t get over how green and leafy Bobo is, and how friendly the folks are at the research center. Bo seems like a really nice guy, with an easy laugh and eager to learn about nutrition and get the study moving forward. We work mostly in French but he knows enough English that I think we understood each other, and when push comes to shove, I can usually say a phrase in English and he’ll get the essence of it. People at the center actually work during the day, the lab benches and equipment are clean and appear to be maintained relatively well (and in use frequently), and the students and supervisory-types seem very engaged in learning and exchanging ideas. I hope I’m not too naïve, but so far, I’m quite impressed.

Katie and I went to lunch with two of the other fellows on the zinc studies and lunch for the 4 of us cost 2000 CFA - $5. Huge bowls of rice arrived on the table for each of us, accompanied by smaller – but still deep – bowls of of sauce arachide (peanut sauce – a combination of peanut butter, tomato sauce, oil, spices, sometimes a bit of salty fish floating in the sauce). I finished half of it and was ready for a nap afterwards; it was so heavy. We went back to the lab and continued working on study plans, making lists of materials to purchase, reviewing our questionnaire forms, talking through job roles for study staff to be hired.

Bobo has shared taxis and the flat rate is 300 CFA. I got into one this morning and said where I wanted to go, then a while later, we pulled over and someone else got in the back seat. I got dropped off first, since we reached my destination first, but I suppose other times it's more like a school bus route. It was kind of fun - the people were nice and it's kind of funny to chat with them. Amazingly enough, people obey stop signs (mostly – I’ve seen a few “California stops”) and traffic lights (they HAVE traffic lights!), and the drivers don’t seem as angry as many do in Dakar.

Some things would make a great photo, but the chances of getting such photos are slim. I walked by a sign today that read, "No urinating allowed here" and beneath the sign were two men doing just that; then saw a man riding a motorbike while carrying a sheep … on the bike with him. I later walked into the lab and saw 4 men chiseling off the door to the radioactive storage room. Apparently since no one could find the key to open the door, so the solution was to replace the door.

There’s an old Land Cruiser that has recently been “rehabilitated” with study funds (with rehabilitated in quotes because it has the tendency to break down frequently) that everyone seems to have a soft spot for. Apparently all Land Cruisers of this model in Burkina Faso are called Norbert Zongo after the former editor of a local newspaper, who was assassinated in such a car after investigating a high-profile murder. As the driver told me, “Norbert Zongo, il n’est pas presse, mais il faut arrive.” He’s not hurried, but he’ll get there eventually.