CFAs to Blow and Stories to Tell

My trip to Burkina Faso was, all in all, a success. We left Friday morning at 4 AM. Well, more like 4:30 because one of my housemates and I overslept. Whoops. There were seven of us from NYU (all in the Documenting the African City class) and one of our TAs. We stopped about 20 minutes later to pick up a girl from another program who came along with us. I probably shouldn't go into details about that online, BUT I will say she was so offensive, rude, inconsiderate and full of complaints that neither our TA nor our two bus drivers could tolerate her. Keep that in mind as I continue with the rest of the trip (especially this first day).
Our goal for the day was to drive about 12-14 hours and stop and stay overnight in a town called Bolgatanga. About 8 or 9 hours in I want to say, our tire started overheating. Of course, we were between tropical rain forest and grasslands so our only option at this point was to continue slowly, stopping every 10 minutes to pour water over the wheel and let it cool off. Finally, we made it to a town called Tamale. Of course, once we got here we had to wait for a few more hours but we eventually got to a hotel. From the outside it was huge and luxurious. Unfortunately, it was not so nice or even comfortable on the inside, but it was a place to stay and we all needed some food and sleep.
The opening ceremony started at 1 on Saturday but continued into the night so we assumed we'd see at least some of it, with only about 6 or 7 hours left in our journey. Unfortunately (and this soon became the  epitome of the trip) after getting downstairs for breakfast at 6 AM, we waited, and waited, and waited for several hours until we were finally back on the road. With the exception of she-who-must-not-be-named, everyone was still excited and good spirits.
Once we were driving along the bumpy, unpaved and unmaintained Burkina Faso roads in the dark at 8 PM, we realized we weren't going to make it to the opening ceremony. However, the bus ride became super enjoyable because it'd finally cooled down and the stars clearly outnumbered the seconds we'd been on the bus the past two days. We were lying down in the back of the bus just looking out the window and getting some fresh air. And in that moment, if I hadn't before, I knew all the travel and chaos of the past couple days was going to be worth it. We went to the Fespaco grounds to try to get our passes for the films and got some kebobs and fries while we were there. The food was delicious! It was served with a spicy sauce that's probably the single hottest thing I've ever eaten. So. Good. Although at this point we still thought we were determined to go out that night, after waiting over an hour to settle issues at the hotel before we could check in, we were far too exhausted and went right to bed.

And the trip really begins...
Sunday morning we got up early to go to a panel discussion at a hotel nearby. The hotel was beautiful and among the attendants were professors, producers, writers and directors from around the world (mostly from Africa). There were probably about 40 or 50 people there, including our group. The discussions were incredibly interesting and I learned about film in the hours we spent at the panel (there was another one Monday morning) than I ever would have thought I'd know over the course of my entire life. Although the panels were great, I was itching to explore Burkina and see some films. Sunday night, we went to see a film that was at an outdoor theater and had a quaint bar across the street. It was a great night but the film was unfortunately not in English and had French subtitles. We left early and the language barrier made it difficult to communicate with the cab riders. We didn't negotiate a price before we got in the taxi (you'd think we'd know better after living in Ghana for two months) and when we got to the hotel our taxi driver immediately got caught up in a huge fight with several men standing outside our hotel. We could not understand what was going on and just stood there hesitantly. The next day, we discovered the main person who was fighting with our taxi driver works at our hotel and got our price down to a reasonable value.
Monday after our panels, my friend Sarah and I walked to the Fespaco grounds. Walking around Burkina Faso was really great. The weather was about 15 degrees hotter every day than it is in Accra but it was much less humid. The number of motorcycles on the streets astounded me, especially the number of women riding bikes. One of my favorite images of the weekend was women riding bikes in their traditional, beautiful African dresses and head pieces; apparel typically worn to church and formal events. The conclusion of the weekend was that Burkina-be women are badass.
Ouagadougou (The capital, where the festival was held) is a pretty cool city. Although Burkina Faso is the world's third poorest country (according to BBC news) Ouagadougou felt much more developed and systematic than Accra. I think it appeared that way because not only was the city converted for Fespaco, the streets lined with yellow, green and red flags. But also after hosting the biggest film festival in Africa for 22 years, the capital has probably been designed for tourists, which would explain the numerous large, glamorous hotels and many theaters.
The market scene was similar to that in Accra, with different forms of art, and different patterns of fabric. The food was really different too. There were lots of baguettes (because Burkina's a Francophone country, this wasn't surprising to anyone), kebobs, fries, sandwiches...that's about all we were really exposed to. Getting food at the Fespaco grounds was the easiest. One night, however, Sarah and I were determined to find food on our own and discover a delicious and quaint aspect of Burkina-be culture. By the time we set off on our journey, it was dark and we were slightly hesitant, not wanting to get lost (or worse). We didn't find anything immediately and our plans were looking slightly flawed. Suddenly, we came across red, glowing, cursive letters that spelled out Pizza with an arrow! We followed the arrow down a questionable alley by the side of another building. When we got past the building, it opened to a beautiful courtyard of tables with white tablecloths and roses, sheltered by a diverse and beautiful assortment of green trees with openings just to the starry, African sky. We ordered an absolutely incredible pizza with a thin crust, tasty cheese and perfect vegetables for a remarkably affordable price, everything about that meal was perfect!
While Burkina Faso was great in each and every way, the films I saw were also great, not only to watch but to experience. I'm really not (as most of my friends know) a movie person. I wish I were, but I tend to get sleepy when watching something for too long. Watching so many films, especially complimented with panel discussions, really taught me a lot, not only about the art but also the story telling. We watched one documentary called the Witches of Gambaga (Watch the trailer here) which would make a really great TV documentary. It was really interesting and well done. Although just the one TA came on the trip with us, our other Professor and one of our other TAs were at Fespaco as well. One of our TAs, Yao, watched the film with us and afterwards, when we asked what he thought, he told us he'd done the filming for it! Honestly, it was a really great experience. I had a ton of fun and am really grateful for the opportunity to have gone! And hey, the only visas they'll give American citizens are 5 year visas so maybe I'll find a way back for the next festival in 2013!

Sorry this post took me so long, right when I got back, I got bombarded with midterms (I say this, but the amount of work I get here really doesn't even compare to any amount of work I do in New York). I'll make a very belated post on my home stay weekend and other happenings in Accra before spring break, which I'm equally excited for!

I'm doing another feed in a village this Friday! I'm really excited and I think some more people from NYU will be doing it with me, so it'll be a really great experience.

Lastly, I can't stop listening to this (click here). One of my best friends has the most amazing voice I've ever heard, and you should all listen to her because it'll rock your world, like it rocks mine!