Emotional fears, cont'd (it gets better)

No, really, it does. How straaaaange.

So I called an outing of sorts last night with the usual Uni crew. Simply enough, that included Mac, Rache and Phil. (Okay, let's be honest, Maclola.) The fun bit is that Mac asked to see me before, and LO AND BEHOLD, we actually broke THE WALL OF SILENCE and made up. And he apologized for being a way that he doesn't want to be, even if I actually warned him.

The conversation went this way:

Mac: ... hm. Are you angry at me.

Me: Not angry. Disappointed. And also unsurprised.

Mac: .... unsurprised?

Me: Yup. Told you this would happen.

Mac: Oh, shit, it did, huh? Meeeeeeeeeeeeeh. *sheepish* msorrydoyoustillwantobemyfriend?

And then I talked his big brother Dom I totally do not have a crush on this guy of course not into coming with us, and he did, and it was fun. Even the bit where we walked home from downtown because there were no more busses and it took us an hour. Ah, the joy of having friends who are also your neighbours.

I haven't seen Willy and Jay this weekend, though. But Crichton (not Tom, haha, haven't seen Farscape in so long and why am I making unrelated disgressions) and his family are coming to town next week, so I'll be touring them in Montreal, and going to the Jazz Festival. We're all going to go see Stevie Wonder on the 30th, which will be absolutely awesome. And Phil is coming, which is cool, even if he a) tends to cling andn emo lots, b) needs constant reassuring that everything is okay. And on the 1st we have Mac's birthday, which will be a picnic at the park, again. So yay.

Next weekend, I won't be around because blaaaaaaaaaaah I promised Mum I would be going to the country house to mow the lawn. I hate that darn lawnmower, but it must be done.

And then I have nothing planned that week except work work work and a VERY VERY GOOD FRIEND coming back form a certain workshop thing I hope she enjoys, and training, and also working on the weight loss. And at one point Rache and I are going to go speed dating, because this has to be experienced once based on how ridiculous the concept sounds. And we need to do that quickly, because wtf, she's going to Vancouver for 2 weeks in July and I keep thinking that she's going to be around all summer.

There are a few things I do want to do, like read aSoIaF ASAP (I think I may go do the bookstore today, didn't have time yesterday with my trepidating social life, WTF), icon Tom Cruise in Vanilla Skies, and possibly Charlize Theron in North Country. And write Fic, because clearly I haven't written enough in the past months. Icons of mine can be found at and the fic at , whenever i actually post something. I started to read Sandworms of Dune, but alas it does not excite me as much as it should.

AND THIS WOULD BE A GOOD MOMENT TO MAKE ICON OR FIC REQUESTS, BECAUSE I COULD USE SOME PROMPTING, RIGHT NOW.

So, that's it. Yay. Go me. More emo to come from House of Emo. Or, as Mac put it last night, the Melancholy smile.

Time traveling in Ouaga

Anyway, not that all my life is about food, but it seems that it was because of lot of my memories are linked to restaurants. So I had dinner at l’Eau Vive (Running Water, in French.)

L’Eau Vive is an icon in my child memories. When I was very little in the early 80’s, my parents would take me there, and when the time came for me to go to the loo, I would lift up my skirts, pull down my panties, and thread through the whole restaurant butt-naked. Before you make any lewd comments, readers, keep in mind Baby Beaver was only 2 years old.

When we went back in 1987, we went again, and nothing had changed. One of the key features of the restaurant, aside from the fact that the food is great and the place is conducive to quiet talks and serenity, it that you would get interrupted in the middle of your meal and get invited to join the nun’s community in an Ave Maria.

Because it’s a bit naïve, it’s funny, and touching, and heart-warming. And even more so for me, because 16 years later, the hymns are the same. And so is the place. And so is the menu. Going there is a trip back in time, and I am loving every moment of it.

Enfin, ce n’est pas que tout ma vie tourne autour de la nourriture, mais on dirait que c’est le cas parce que beaucoup de mes souvenirs sont lie a des restaurants. J’ai donc soupe a l’Eau Vive.

L’Eau Vive est un icône de mes souvenirs d’enfances. Quand j’étais toute petite au début des années 80, mes parents m’y amenaient et quand il était temps pour moi d’aller au petit coin, je soulevais ma robe, baissait ma culotte et traversait le restaurant les fesses a l’air. (Avant de faire le malin, rappelez-vous que j’avais 2 ans!)

Quand on est retourne au Burkina en 1987, on est revenu a l’Eau Vive, et rien n’avait change. Une des caractéristiques du restaurant, en dehors du fait que la bouffe est excellente et que le cadre est agréable et relaxant, est que votre repas est immanquablement interrompu par une invitation à se joindre aux sœurs dans un Ave Maria.

Moi je trouve ca marrant parce que c’est un peu naïf, mais c’est aussi touchant pour la même raison. Et encore plus touchant pour moi parce que 16 ans plus tard, les chansons sont les mêmes. L’endroit aussi. Le menu aussi. Aller a l’Eau Vive, pour moi, c’est un voyage dans le temps. Et j’en adore chaque instant.

The Beaver

My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!
Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !

SM Syndrome

I had lunch over at my friend C’s mum’s house. I realize that I keep on referring to this lovely lady as “C’s Mum” in my head, just like when we used to go to our friend’s house in the teen-age years. I think I am going to call it “Stifler’s mum” syndrome, where one is referred to solely in their capacity as a parent. To cure myself of this SMS, I am going to refer immediately to her as Mrs. O.

Lunch over at Mrs. O’s was wonderful. She is a funny, warm, maternal lady, and her smile reminds me of C’s smile. We had food, wonderful food, more and more until we begged for mercy. It was great !!! We had attieke (cassava couscous) and Alhoko (fried bananas) and fish, and chicken, and beaufitul strawberries. One of the things that makes me laugh is that Beck’s always tells the story of how she hates cooked bananas and how it was a running gag with her siblings on Sunday mornings. Now everytime she sees Alhoko she thinks of it and still won’t eat any. It’s hilarious and it’s great: more for me!!!

J’ai été invitée a manger le repas du midi chez la maman de mon ami C. Je réalise que je ne cesse de penser a elle en tant que « la maman de C », tout comme quand on allait chez nos petits amis après l’école. J’appelle ca le syndrome de « la maman de ». Pour m’en guérir, a compter de maintenant, je l’appellerai Madame O.

Le repas chez Madame O a été merveilleux. Elle drôle, chaleureuse, maternelle, et son sourire me rappelle celui de son fils, une personne que j’aime beaucoup. On a mange, merveilleusement mange, encore et encore jusqu'à demander pitié. C’était formidable!!! Au menu, l’attieke (semoule de manioc), alhoko (plantain frit), poisson et poulet, et des merveilleuses fraises. Une des choses qui me fait rire, c’est ma collègue Beck qui raconte comment dans sa famille les bananes cuites sont impopulaires, que c’est une vieille blague avec ses frères et sœurs. Maintenant, chaque fois qu’elle voit de l’alhoko elle y pense et est incapable d’en manger. C’est mourant et surtout c’est génial pour moi : ca m’en fait plus !!!

The Beaver

My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!
Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !

A heart-felt apology...

2...to all the readers who are awaiting anxiously my feedback about Burkina, and the changes I find as I rediscover Ouagadougou, 16 years later.

I am swamped in work, so it will have to wait for details... but here goes....

My stay here in Ouaga is shortened because I have to head off to Mali. Juliana, FYI I am going to Mopti and since it's not too far from San - I will come for you ! The team includes 5 people - 2 are still too green to work on their own and I had the Lesotho experience, so our boss asked me to go and work alone in Mali for 3 weeks. I'm sad that I don't get to stay longer, but, heh, the job needs to get done.... I'll be back in Ouaga for the last few weeks, at least. And if I finish Mali early, I can come "home" earlier, so that's additionnal incentive...

Ouaga looks fantastic on the outside. When I arrived I could not beleive what I saw. My first thought was "Ma foi ils ont trop arrose - Ouaga a pousse en mon absence!" - the place did grow in the last 16 years ! My friends had prepared me but it was still a schock...

(click on pic for full set)

On Saturday I rented a taxi and tried to locate the places I used to know. I went to the Centre Culturel Francais where I had played the piano on stage (still occupied by the Fespaco til the next day), had coffee at La Bonbonniere with the Burkinabe Lebanese lady used to teach French at ISO and had me in her class in 8th grade.... I tried to locate the house in Koulouba but of course Koulouba is no more - and I tried to locate the house in Gounghin but ended up driving past Pissy (I swear, I couldn't find the turn!!!) Now that we are going to the office I know where my turn is so I'll have to go back there.

I also went to the Silmande where I used to hang out by the pool - it was also an excuse to drive across town and take stock of the changes. I had some long conversations with the locals, they all tell me the same thing, that the spending is outrageous and it will soon "peter" (explode). The security guard at the Silmande told me that he regularly sees the ministers' sons spend hundreds of thousands in one night on champain that they dont even drink. The use of HIV/AIDS funds for buildings, Ouaga 2000 itself, are outrageous and worrisome. I would not be surprised if something happened soon, although it seems the military have been paid since last fall and keep quiet now.

I had lunch with an old friend from Pakistan yesterday, it was great to see both of him again, particularly since I hadn't seen him in a year. An old friend of our family whom I had refound in Haiti showed up at the hotel last night and we had a drink together (water, as you can imagine, he is ever the simple one) and some long conversations. We reminisced about friends and family a lot. It was nice.

I am feeling very close to my father and mother these days. Many staff at the office are shaking my hand and telling me "you are So&So's daughter, how great it is to meet you." Secretaries remember the blond kid who came to work with her mum. One of the senior managers actually knew my Dad - he used to be with an other NGO before.

Other friends and colleagues of my parents have yet to make contact, so it's only a beginning.

It's a strange feeling, both heartwarming and exhilarating. The new girl said it looks like I have a household name here in Burkina. I'll admit it feels a bit that way, and I am realizing how loved my parents were and what impact they had here. It gives me pride to be their daughter.

The Beaver


Thanks to Ammo in DC, to Garris in Providence and to Baudouine in the UK for posting on my guestmap ! Baudouine, I'm really sorry, that's all that came out from the fashion show.... I was having camera problems that night....

My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!
Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !

In order to be Indiana Beaver Jones, walking in sewage barefeet is part of the deal

Upcoming posts:
- visiting Mother Theresa's home
- the super-power of complaining
- Gandhi's Ashram - the pearl of Ahmedabad

One of the things I haven't done enough of since I've been in India, is blog about touristic or cultural highlights. Since I am travelling here for business - there is nothing surprising there. Nonetheless, I should treat my readers with these experiences, so I am starting with a flashback to Kolkata where I managed to do just a little bit of tourism.

I went to visit the Kalighat Temple in KOL just shy of two weeks ago now, with my friend and collegue P. and his lovely family. I didn't take my camera on tour with me since it is forbidden to photograph inside the temple - and I really had no clue what to expect in terms of herd phenomenoms.

Kalighat is one of the aspect of the goddess Kali (as in Kalimaa - Indiana Jones: Temple of doom.)
But stereotypes aside - it was much less scary then you might expect - and I did not have eyeball soup! It was quite an adventure though !

Kali (Sanskrit: Kālī, Devanāgari: काली) (Pronounced /kɑːliː/) is a goddess with a long and complex history in Hinduism. Although sometimes presented as dark and violent, her earliest incarnation as a figure of annihilation still has some influence, while more complex Tantric beliefs sometimes extend her role so far as to be the Ultimate Reality (Brahman) and Source of Being. Finally, the comparatively recent devotional movement largely conceives of Kali as a straightforwardly benevolent mother-goddess. (For more on Kali do visit Wikipedia's Article on on the matter.)

Anyway, I borrowed some pics to give you guys an idea.

It started with meeting up with my friends to go to the temple. We met with the priest somewhere off the temple, purchased the offerings (flower necklaces to be undone and thrown at the idol) and left our shoe to the shoe-minders.

Offerings are refered to in Hindi as Prasad:
Prasāda (Sanskrit: प्रसाद), prasād/prashad (Hindi) or prasādam (Tamil) Prasadam (Telugu) is both a mental condition of generosity, as well as a material substance that is first offered to a deity (in Hinduism) and then consumed (Hinduism and Sikhism). Hindus believe that the prasad has the deity's blessing residing within it. In contemporary Hindu religious practice in India, the desire to get prasada and have darshan (cross referenced) are the two major motivations of pilgrimage and temple visits. (see the Full Wikipedia article)

In this case, the Prasad consisted of necklaces of flowers, and a banana-leaf cone containing 2 cookies, an hibiscus flower (symbol of the goddess) and popped rice.

We then walked about 10 minutes to barefeet to the temple.

As you can see, the streets of Kolkata are sparkling clean, and it's completely logical to remove one's shoes 15 minutes before entering the holy place, so that one can enter the temple with scarily dirty (and itchy) feet. But anyway, in India, do as the Indians do. I am not complaining.

We finally made it to the temple where just getting in was an ordeal. There were people, people and more people. I remember wondering where all the people were in Kolkata. Now I know. They are all at the Kalighat temple !!!

Once we'd pushed and shoved for a good 10 minutes (include 3 minutes of balancing the slippery floors and the flithy feet with unknown substances sticking under the toes), we made it inside and boy - was it a site. Scores and score of people there (like I said - it felt like the whole city was there) trying frantically to present their offering to the goddess.

The two things I saw that somewhat participated in the cultural schock (aside from the smell, the filthy feet and the massive amount of people there) was all the pushing and shoving. I even saw a guy threaten to pummel his friend with a coconut (presumably Prasad) and a woman nearly got her saree unrolled as she was exiting the temple!!! (Yes, a saree can be "unrolled" - for more details, click here.)

The priest starte the Puja (see below) with pressing his right thumb to our foreheads and annointing us with a red mixture. He then proceeded to some chanting which we were to repeat. Of course, being completely ignorant, I did my very best to repeat what was said. He concluded by putting his hands on our heads in a sign of blessing.

Pūjā (Devanagari: पूजा) (alternative transliteration Pooja, Sanskrit: reverence or worship) is a religious ritual that Hindus perform on a variety of occasions to pray or show respect to God (or gods). Puja consists of meditation (dhyana), austerity (tapa), chanting (mantra), scripture reading (svadhyaya), offering food (thaal) and prostrations (panchanga or ashtanga pranama, dandavat). The individual also applies a tilaka mark on the forehead with sandalwood paste, and then a vermillion (kumkum) dot (chandlo) in its centre. This signifies submission to the Almighty and also His Omnipresence. Puja is usually concluded with aarti to the Lord. (See the Full Wikipedia Article)

It was then time to push forward towards the idol to present the Prasad (specifically, the flowers) to her. I said present, but it was more like throwing flowers at a statue then anything else.

Now, I am betting that you wonder what the statue looked like. I was expecting something like this (based both on the Indiana Jones movie and the Wikipedia article) :

Instead - I saw this (more like - caught a glimpse of it):

Picture borrowed from Kalighat Kali Temple

India, I tell you, never ceased to surprise me !

The Beaver

My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!
Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !

Invited to a wedding next week !!!

Dear Colleagues, Friends, team members,

Here is a time for some good news and some celebrations. I am getting married on 22^nd of February, 07.

I cordially invite you and your family to come and grace the occasion.

Venue is in Ahmedabad.

Wedding time 1 pm - Lunch 1 pm onwards

You are not just invited but most expected at the function. Looking forward to see you all.

I CAN'T WAIT !

The Beaver

My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!
Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !

Safe in sound in Gujarat

I am now in Gujarat, 2 KM away from Gandhi's ashram, where I hope to lay my hands in hommage to the man who shaped India.

Hopefully I can update some more soon. In the meantime, I am celebrating the return of....
*DROM ROLL*

Hortense la chouette !

La cachottiere est revenue il y a deja un mois ! *pant* *puff* Now I have to rush and read up since she has been back since the beginning of the year !!!

If you read french, do pay a visit. Her blog is a pleasure for the mind, the heart, and everything inbetween!

The Beaver

My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!
Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !

Introspective Post and Season's wishes

It’s a Tuesday afternoon, and I am not working. I just made eggs and toast for myself, jazz is playing in the kitchen, and the sun room where I am sitting is filled with the Toronto grey skies. It’s the first time I have in about a month to really sit down and reflect. It’s a scary thing. Last time it happened, I wrote a post called Cul-de-sac – and it was so very depressing and somewhat tragic.

This time – I am at peace. So much has happened between Cul de Sac and now. Last time I took the time to write an introspective post, I was in Haiti, sequestered, lonely, bored and depressed. This time, I am in Toronto, in one of my homes away from home, Pgwrox’s lovely townhouse where I have now been enough times to know my way around and feel at home. I am rested, sated, and somewhat content.

Christmas is coming round and I feel no fear, for the first time in a long time. Dad won’t be there, of course. CQFD will not be there either. My mum, PG and I will be celebrating the family thing together, as the tightly knit family that we are, despite distances.

My mum and I will be the 2 widows that we are, her in her own right, me…. in my own way. Last year, at this time, we were decorating the Christmas tree, CQFD and I, at his parents’ house. I was at peace, happy, in love. I felt like it was a day of days. I felt like that moment was immortal.

But all moments are immortal. And so while my 4 years with CQFD are suspended in time, so are my memories of my Yankee lover immortal, his warmth, and how I felt happy and at home in his arms, though I may never see him again.

And so timeless are the memories of my friend Naya, grilling red peppers while chatting with her sister at the other end of the world, and so are those of the Peacekeepers of Haiti, whom I may never see again but carry forever in my heart.

The Belgian crew in Bujumbura and the Philippinos in Aceh, and of course the orphans in Sierra Leone, the staff in Liberia and CMR & Princess, whom I met in Pakistan, now scattered in Zambia and Australia, my family in France and Canada, all of you will stay in my heart for ever.

All of my fellow officers are immortal. They are all unique and special and beautiful in their own way. And I love them all, in a way that is unique to them. I will miss them during this month of rest, and I will miss some of them more until I work with them again, sometimes 6 or 7 months from now.

This year has been a busy and eventful year. I have been ill. I have had my heart broken. I have also learned much and grown in wisdom and confidence through it all. Friends have died, and babies were conceived. Love was lost and friendships were found, built and nourished. Decisions were made, lessons were learned and through it all, the wheel of life kept turning, inexorably and timelessly.





So on the eve of Christmas 2006, may your time with your loved ones be rich, filled with love and may it remain suspended in time, shimmering and bright for you to remember, should hardship befall you. We are all immortal, timeless, evanescent. And all of you readers, may you find in this holiday season the power to love, forgive and to remember.

The Beaver

Belated post about my time in Baltimore

While I was in Baltimore, I enjoyed the illusion of actually having a normal North American Life.

I was blessed with a pleasant, well located apartment which I shared with Naya, my colleague and friend. The place was clean and well equipped as we had all the appliances in the apartment and many nearby amenities.

Every morning, we walked to work where we were supplied with breakfast, training, lunch and more training.

The training consisted of a deeper introduction to US federal regulations on awards, collaborative agreements and how they impact the management of an NGO’s projects, and what, as a compliance officer, I should be looking for.

The exercise proved to be both interesting and challenging. Interesting because this allowed me to meet a lot of people and to really further my understanding of the universe of American development organizations. It was also proving rather stimulating since it was a study of law, an exercise I had not conducted since I became a licensed attorney in may 2005.

On the other hand, I realized that my ability to listen to a speaker for 8 hrs a day every day did get hampered over the years. It's obviously not something I am used to doing anymore, and so I found myself often getting distracted or otherwise sleeping with my eyes open while in class.

Nevertheless, my life was not getting any boring. I spent a weekend in Washington DC with my good friend 007 whom I had not seen since March 2005, when she left Senegal for her assignment in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

I arrived in

DC’s Union station

on the Saturday Morning. My Lady 007 was there, and she was as lively and green-eyed as she was when she left for the DRC. We walked together in DC and I must admit, I fell under the charm of the Capital.


For the first time of my life, I saw

the monolithic Washington Monument

and the imposing Capitol.

I also had the pleasure of having dinner at a sushi restaurant in the very pleasant company of Ammo, a good friend of 007 whom I’d met in Senegal.

I am now back in Canada for 3 weeks and will not see my beloved Naya for 7 months, until our next assigment together. I will miss her dearly as we have been joined at the earplug (sharing the same iPod) for several months now.

The Beaver

My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!
Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !

Back to Beaver Land

I left Baltimore yesterdau (much baking is going on here with my cousin/uncle/father figure - so it's not yesterday - it's yesterdough). I am now in Toronto where I am enjoying some heartwarming family time.

I have SO MANY updates to put up - it's frightening. But I'm not sure I'll have time just now. I'll just tell you that many things happened over the last 3 weeks - and that I have much to say.

Stay posted !

The Beaver

My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !

The Thanks Giving Update

So I went home for thanksgiving. It was great to see Mum again and to spend some quality time with her. We caught up a lot, walked in town for long hours, and eventually (as usual) went shopping.

We also went out to dinner with family friends. And I enjoyed a lot having some quiet time at home, just relaxing, sleeping and enjoying my "alone time".

After I arrived, SmokeyMonkey and Martini picked me up to go out for coffee and to play catch up. Apparently, they had news... and indeed they did: a new baby is to come in the world. I'm very excited about it because I calculated that delivery would happen during my summer vacation. Hopefully for once I will get a chance to congratulate the happy parents in person. (Although it may be a second since Bavaria_Negra may actually give birth on January 1st !)

I also hooked up with QuashQuash to discuss Haiti over a Bre-Lunch (her Breakfast, my Lunch). That was, indeed, an excellent omelette.

One night I got picked up by MartyMart and J-Freak to go and play pool with the boys. NikeNick and Yvanovitch-Mon-Coeur, SmokeyMonkey and Martini were there. Again, it was fantastic to feel the intimacy of friends. I even got big hugs and a back massage. They really made sure I had the chance to remember how fantastic it is to have friends. They also reminded me of how men can be wonderful despite my past disappointments.

There was also a fantastic evening at the Old Dublin with live Irish Music. MartyMart came, with Carlito and Yvanovitch-Mon-Coeur but I also hung out with the OtherBeaver and his beautiful Consort.

Eventually, though, all good things myst come to an end and I left Montreal again,

en Route to Baltimore by way of Toronto.

The flight to Toronto was rather uneventful, but I did almost miss my connection in Toronto as the airport's indication were more than misleading.

I purposely decided nt to talk about my flight from Toronto to Baltimore. That will b for another blog entry. Nevertheless, I made it to Baltimore where Naya, my roommate, greeted me very warmly.

More to come soon, or the stories of Beaver, in the city of Crabs !

The Beaver

Thank you Meg in Australia, for posting on my guestmap. My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !

Speak out !

I uploaded some new beautiful pics of the Carribean Sea - just click on the side bar Flickr badge to see them. There are some fun stories to tell about snorkling and sailing, but for now I want to talk some more about the fight against intolerance and what we can do to help. It's not only about seeing a movie. It's mostly about doing what is right, and building a better place.

This all started with The Laramie Project. I posted some more about it just HERE.

The man who got brutally killed and tortured in Laramie because he was different was Matthew Sheppard. It happens I didn't know him - but that doesn't matter because next time it could be my friend or my relative. It could also be yours. The mobile of his vile murder was HATE. It was in 1998, and it's still happening.

I just checked the state in which I spend the most time (Maryland), and was appalled to find out that there are 7 hate groups in the state, 4 of them being based on Baltimore. To me, that's a major eye-opener.

*Although the Southern Poverty Law Center recognizes that much black racism in America is, at least in part, a response to centuries of white racism, it believes racism must be exposed in all its forms. White groups espousing beliefs similar to Black Separatists would be considered clearly racist. The same criterion should be applied to all groups regardless of their color.

If you want to check out what is going on in your state, click HERE.

I have gay friends and relatives. I have friends from all ethnicities. Because I love them, this concerns me. I have been around the world enough to know that this issue concerns us all. So I took the PLEDGE TO SPEAK OUT, and I encourage you all to take it as well, no matter who you are, where you come from, what your background is. We are all in this together.

I am reproducing it for your information, and thus am reiterating my wow to speak out against intolerance and bias.

I, the Travelling Beaver, will:

• Speak up when I hear or see bigotry;
• Question and identify bias when I see it;
• Be mindful of my own behaviors;
• Promote and appeal to higher principles;
• Set limits on what is said or done around me;
• Seek help and help others to work against bigotry; and
• Remain vigilant and persistent.

Intolerance must be fought, because it affects all of us.

For more information visit Tolerance.Org

If you know of other organizations that partake in such campaigns, let me know and i will also list them here for referrence.

The Beaver

Speak out !

Welcome to Ayiti Cherie

It's a lazy day, it's 30 degrees outside and sunny, some light brazilian samba is playing. I am sitting on a sofa, outside. One of my friends is playing pool with himself, two others are surfing with their laptops. Casanova is playing in the background but nobody really cares.

Today, I woke up late, had room service for breakfast. I will spend the afternoon lazing away before the evening starts. Tonight is jazz night, and I have been asked to sing Hotel California for the hotel guests. I am not on vacation though. This is a well deserved rest from a long week of work.

This week, I spent 2 days out of PAP and I think it has a lot to do with my mood's improvement. I went on a site visit in a place called Deschappelles. (Full photoset can be found here. )This is a partner which I visited before, and truely enjoyed going back there.

The road was, as usual, very folklo. I had a blast taking pictures of the local public transportation and of the guys who get on at mid-flight.

The place is gorgeous. The luscious vegetation is georgeous, the people are more laid back and less agressive then they are in PAP. I was sleeping in a guest house with no running water, but paradoxally, there was a pool in front of the guest house.

When I arrived there a 4PM, I paid a visit to my counterpart, settled down, and had some dinner (local food, of course). At 7PM I went over to Anne's. Anne is a French Canadian teacher who has lived in Haiti for several years. Coincidentally, she knew my father way back when, and is now working for this partner. So we spent 2 evenings in a row having Barbancourt rhum and chatting with our haitian colleagues.

It was great to laugh, and talk about home, and listen to her stories of the field. It was great to feel alive again, to swim in the pool at midnight, to float on my back and gaze at the Haitian night sky, counting the stars and feeling vibrantly alive.

Tomorrow, Naya and I have arranged to go back to the beach. Haiti has some of the most beautiful beaches I've seen.

Too bad the country is a mess... and that it's so unsafe. Last night, two jordanian UN soldiers were killed in an ambush in downtown PAP. The ambush theory is not official yet, but it is a reasonnable one, since the 2 guys were shot right when they got out of their cars.

I'm always sad when violence that I can't understand happens. Deep down, it shatters my faith in man.

P.S. I also uploaded the last pictures I took on my Burundi Field Trip and there are some awesome shots... enjoy !

Full photoset for these last pix of Burundi is here.

The Beaver

My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!
Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !

Africa and Burundi in Pictures

I uploaded some more pictures for you guys. Here are in order....

Some pictures I took on the way back to Bujumbura. Beautiful landscapes of Ethiopia and Uganda from the plane...



Here is the link to the full set of my Flight over Ethiopia and Uganda

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Some pictures I took on the field while working. More specifically, this was a picture taken at a local market while hunting for red beans. I eventually found them but the bag broke at the office. Weeks later, we could still see the trail of red beans from my office to the office of the red bean lover who had requested this purchase !



Follow the link to more pictures from the Field Visits.

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Some pictures that reflect the nighlife in Bujumbura, and the weekends at the beach (by Lake Tanganyika). I really had good times in Bujumbura and already miss the lifestyle. This is a picture of the Havannah, a night club I went to regularly. The sign reads "tenue exigee" which can be liberally translated to: CLOTHES REQUIRED !!!! Other such examples are in this set.


Click to see more Fun moments in Buja

The Beaver

My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!
Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !