Happy, Happy Hippo

If I had a kid, I’d decorate its room with this cheerful hippo motif. (Click the photo to see it larger.) For the time being, I don’t really need a quilt from Centre Artisanal de Musaga, but I want one. They hand paint and stamp fabrics with Burundian motifs and other African designs. They sew quilts, garments, and handbags. They sell lengths of painted fabrics. If they don’t have exactly what you want in stock, they’ll make it for you, from custom-painting the fabric to sewing the item. They are, essentially, awesome. If you like that sort of thing. I’m thinking of commissioning some fabric for curtains in my office. That way I can feed the fabric-shopping beast without adding to my overflowing stash at home while supporting and advertising a local business.

Yay for Yulia!

My love of politics, satire, and fashion comes together in the awesome Princess Sparkle Pony blog. I've been reading for a couple years now. I've followed the rise and fall of the glamour girls of international politics Condoleeza Rice and Ursula Plassnik.

When I recently saw Ukranian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on TV during the Ukraine-Russia gas thing, I wondered if she was going to become the next Pony All-Star. And yes she is! I know I shouldn't be watching gas crises just for the hairdos, but the fashion certainly helps. I'm learning so much about international affairs by starting with the fashion and picking up on the politics as I go along.

"Help me Obi Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."

Full House

It's been fun playing host to our cyclists. We've offered up the best accomodations they've had so far and they don't seem in a huge hurry to get back on the road (except that they're a tad behind schedule, but isn't everyone in Africa?). Beds. Peanut butter. A washing machine that's not only free, but our housekeeper will do the laundry too. All this could be yours, too, if you visited us in Buj.

I was mistaken in my previous post when I said two of them were school teachers. Their organization works with schools, but the folks on the road are not professional teachers. The organization puts education grad students in the inner-city Chicago classrooms to help teach the students and the teachers how to use the computer and internet resources with the information the bikers send back through their website. It's a training program for the students, the teachers, and the student teachers. Everyone learns something! The more I learn about the program, the cooler it sounds.

However, I'm tired from all the socializing. Whenever new people are in town, everyone pounces and you have endless drinks and dinners. I've skipped working out two days in a row and I really have to get back on my feet. Nothing fancy for me tonight. I asked our cook to make pesto and I really hope he does. I just want pasta and water and a quiet movie at home so I can get up and run tomorrow morning.

Reach the World -- Bike Africa

Something to break up the monotony this week -- we have houseguests! Mike and I are hosting two of the four cyclists from the Reach the World Bike Africa program as they pass through Bujumbura. Two of the cyclists are elementary school teachers in Chicago and they're sending reports back their classes as they bike from Cape Town, South Africa, to Cairo, Egypt. Due to an accident in Tanzania, they're taking a slight detour through Burundi and Rwanda. (All the riders are fine, but one of the bikes was run over by a truck.) Luckily there's a bike workshop at our house and Mike was able to get the bike moving again.

You can check out their website (geared for elementary-aged children) here: http://www.reachtheworld.org/journey/bikeafrica

Please share it with the kids you know! As word spreads, many classrooms across the U.S. are checking in on the cyclists.

vegetable ivory and biodiesel

A few days ago I went to a shop that sells jewelry made from vegetable ivory beads. I’d never heard of vegetable ivory until my mom sent me an article about button identification and preservation a few weeks ago. Vegetable ivory is the way to go, if you want all the fun of real ivory without harming elephants.

Here in Burundi, vegetable ivory comes from the nut or seed of a locally found palm tree. I got to see the whole production process, from sawing open the nut, to dying with curry powder or other plant-based dyes, to polishing and carving, and finally stringing the beads into beautiful necklaces. The retail shop is on a compound where all the work takes place, too.

At the compound, folks are also experimenting with oil from jatropha plants. Its seeds have a high yield of highly usable oil. It can be adapted for diesel engines, lamp fuel, cooking oil, and even made into soap and candles

As an added bonus, the compound also has some fearsome guard geese, stupid turkeys, a friendly monkey, huge toads, and an owl that was sleeping. I love how everyone’s yard here is basically a petting zoo. (Clicking on the photo will take you to flickr, where there are more photos of the beads and the animals.)

Spoonflower.com

My dream of Grendel-printed fabric may come true soon! All I need is some computer elves to help make my photos the correct dpi.

Spoonflower.com

Junior Nature Scout

As a kid watching nature programs on tv, it never occurred to me that some day I’d see all those animals outside of a zoo. This is a blue-headed agama lizard. (Click the photo to go to the full-size on flickr.) I’m not sure if I’ve seen two different ones on our wall, or the same one who changed colors. The agama in the second sighting was brighter and had more of a turquoise head. They have brilliant coloring, ranging from light blue to bright purple. There’s also a red-headed variety, but I haven’t seen one here; they’re common to East Africa but I don’t know if they are found specifically in Burundi.

Other lizards I’ve seen here include the geckos and skinks that are found all over the place, inside and out. We saw a number of overweight geckos that we eventually deduced to actually be pregnant, due to the recent population explosion of teeny, tiny geckos.

I saw what I think is a monitor lizard one day on the lake shore. It definitely was not a small crocodile, and monitor lizard is the only creature I can think of that’s appropriate.

I saw a chameleon on our garden wall one afternoon. I happened to look up while it was moving. By the time I grabbed the binoculars it had changed color to match the stone and the shadows, but I could make out its curled tail and large face. It was so cool! (I also saw a smushed chameleon on the side of the road the other day. That was sad, but still a little cool to be able to see the body close-up.)