Friday evening one of my house-mates had a number of her Mali colleagues over for ice-cream and a video. It was a "bring your own toppings" affair but, since we over-calculated, there was ice-cream to spare. Unfortunately the film, Evenings, with its all-star cast including Vanessa Redgrave, Meryl Streep, and Glenn Close, froze about 2/3 of the way through so we never did get to find out how it ended...
When the Internet connection went down on Saturday evening, however, and stayed unavailable the remainder of the weekend, it called for desperate measures. I had already finished reading Around Africa on my Bicycle by Riaan Manser, the exploits of a young South African man who decided to ride by bicycle around the perimeter of the dark continent and lived to tell the tale. It had been recommended to me, naturally, by a South African.
 |
| Ice cream and toppings |
When the Internet connection went down on Saturday evening, however, and stayed unavailable the remainder of the weekend, it called for desperate measures. I had already finished reading Around Africa on my Bicycle by Riaan Manser, the exploits of a young South African man who decided to ride by bicycle around the perimeter of the dark continent and lived to tell the tale. It had been recommended to me, naturally, by a South African.
 |
| Parking for bicycles and motorbikes |
I continued, then, with Looking for Transwonderland : Travels in Nigeria by Noo Saro-Wiwa, a woman of Nigerian heritage that reluctantly returns to her homeland to re-discover her roots. This one is quite insightful and was recommended by a former MCPL librarian on Facebook. It both reads well and is hysterically funny at times. Both titles I had downloaded as e-books and brought with me on my Kindle.
But desperate, I was, so I even read a dusty jacketless ex-libris church library book I found lying around the place where I am staying called Idelette, by an unknown author to me, Edna Gerstner. This turned out to be a fictionalized work on the reading level of a Harlequin romance, about the marriage of Jean Calvin and his wife. Yes, that is the Jean Calvin, of the 16th century Reformation fame.
There is also a small "library" of donated books in what we call the "yellow kitchen", so I am not completely without reading matter. From time to time there are Christian groups, the Peace Corps, visiting medical teams, etc., that lodge here at the SIL center, for brief periods of time, and their discarded books have found a home in this communal kitchen, along with new readers.
There is also a small "library" of donated books in what we call the "yellow kitchen", so I am not completely without reading matter. From time to time there are Christian groups, the Peace Corps, visiting medical teams, etc., that lodge here at the SIL center, for brief periods of time, and their discarded books have found a home in this communal kitchen, along with new readers.
 | |||||
| Gecko on the wall of the library--there are at least 4 in there, but, thankfully, none in my bedroom! |
And today the Internet is intermittent (down) again. I understand, however, that this week there is a Pan-African Filmfest (FESPACO 2013) in 2 of the downtown theaters, and the French Cultural Center. Apparently it has been going on for two days now and is Africa's largest film festival, now in its 23rd year! Staff have even been granted the afternoons off so they can attend – I told you nothing gets done around here – so I need to find someone with both the interest in attending, and a car. . . !!
 |
| Scene from the film Tsofa (Congo, Brazzaville) |
People come from all over Africa and beyond for FESPACO, including lots of journalists, so maybe that helps explain why your internet is even worse than usual. In all fairness, people do work from 6 or 7 until 2 (usually, anyway) before they get the afternoon off. Hope you manage to see at least one of the films on offer - enjoy!!
ReplyDelete