Canada, Burkina Faso, Ghana and all the in-betweens

31.10.10

Elections

The countries of West Africa are in the midst of change...
Today Niger will put forth a vote on a constitutional referendum (the goal of this referendum is to bring democracy to the nation) and  Cote D'Ivoire is in the midst of a Presidential Election today. 
Presidential Elections will take place on November 21 in Burkina Faso.

28.10.10

Let me write your headlines...

Talking with M yesterday and remembered... 
During the World Cup everything World Cup was a fascinating topic. I loved it because it was an easy conversation piece with anyone:  How far would Ghana get? How had Drogba played? Did Cameroon have the most skilled african team? 
And then came the news headlines about France: “Une Grande Deception” 
I was terribly confused. Who had lied to who? And why was deception the root of France’s troubles? 
We asked Lazare. He replied that deception was referring to one of the star players. 
“But what did he lie about?” I asked 
“He didn’t lie. He was a ‘deception’.” 
“How was he a deception?” I inquired. It was all just too confusing. Lazare looked at me puzzled. 
“Are you sure you know what deception means?” 
“I know what deception means. Could you explain this whole thing to me?” 
“I don’t think you know what deception means.” 
“I think know what deception means.” I replied confidently. Lazare tried again to explain the headlines to me and I listened. It was no less confusing the second time. 
“Are you sure you know what it means?” He asked, a big smile on his face. 
“Yes. Deception. I know what it means because it’s just like the english word.”
“Explain to me what deception means in English.” He said. And we did. He laughed. It did not mean the same thing at all in French. Then he explained what he’d been trying to tell me all along: the French players had been a disappointment. 

Suddenly days of news headlines made sense. As we explained to Lazare why we’d been understanding the headline of ‘The Great Disapointment’ to be ‘The Great Deception’ we all began to laugh. All in all I was grateful Lazare was willing to put up with my crazy talk. 

13.10.10