Elegance, Richness, and Beauty

I am incredibly lucky to have Norbert, and him having a place for me to stay in Ouaga is the least important reason why.
When I first arrived in Africa, I was struck by the poverty and the backwardness. I observed the shantees lining the streets in Conakry, the sewers overflowing with garbage, my host father with two wives in Forecariah, my host mothers preparing dinner over a campfire, and my host siblings cleaning their teeth with sticks. Africa is barbaric, I said to myself; it is primitive and poor and hopeless. My subsequent travels around West Africa did little to dissuade me of this conviction. And even in Burkina, this is the Africa in which many Peace Corps volunteers live and work. They live in a small village. They eat tô with their neighbors. Even in Koupéla, which is a fairly large town with a computer lab in their high school, my neighbors ate tô everyday, and thatched-roof huts were just a stone’s throw away from my concrete cube of a house.
Norbert has shown me an entirely different side of Africa, a side to which Peace Corps volunteers traditionally have very little exposure. Yesterday he presented his design work at a fashion show he engineered in downtown Ouaga. It was remarkable. It was chic. He successfully presented his clothing line and snagged important French clients. All this from someone with very humble beginnings in Abidjan.
-- > A night of fashion and fun in Ouaga.
Norbert has brought me into a world where Africa is elegant. Africa is rich. Africa is beautiful. And there is always hope for the future.
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Oh, by the way, there is peace in Guinea: http://www.voanews.com/policy/editorials/Guineas-Election-An-Example-For-All-111947964.html
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My extended vacation in Ouagadougou is quickly coming to an end, albeit an uncertain one. I leave tomorrow with a bunch of volunteers for the beach in Ghana to celebrate Christmas. But Peace Corps is not administratively allowed to give me any more of my magical "admin leave" days past December 30th. And despite the good news coming out of Guinea, current volunteers there have still not been posted at their proper sites, and the incoming stage that was supposed to come in December/January was cancelled. To top it all off, I have still not been offered a COS (close of service).
What does all this mean? And where will I be come the new year? I have no frickin' idea. But I'll be damned if that's gonna prevent me from enjoying a magical Christmas on the beach. Peace out for now. And a very joyeux noël to all my readers.