Leslie arrived last night.  Donkoui, Sukie and I waited at the airport.  Finally the new terminal seems to be complete… five years? more?  it is pretty nice, except they didn’t have the air conditioning on, so cooler to stand outside than inside.  I love how them seem to have bought some second-hand chairs from some old airport or train station.  I mean: I would love it if it were actually a sign of frugality, and they had a transparency-promoting sign that said “These chairs were purchased second-hand so we could save money; in our opinion they are just as good as new chairs except a little faded.”  Instead, probably everyone assumes that the used chairs means some procurement officer stashed some kickback. 

After unpacking and “feeling” the heat, we went to sleep late.  So we didn’t get up until mid-morning, and had a slow morning.  Then we went to American Rec Center for lunch.  Guess what?  Same waiter.  You could see him looking at me…. “I know I’ve had a fight with this guy at some point in the last ten years… but when and why.”  Guess what? We ordered, and food arrived more than an hour later.  And Leslie’s burrito arrived even later.  Same bad service as ever.  But deliciously air conditioned. 

Then we drove over to ISO, and had a nice swim in the pool.  I had always wanted to play in the regular Sunday ultimate frisbee game, and fortunately Peter van Dingennen was there, so I had an in.  It was a lot of fun, but my legs will feel it tomorrow.  Also playing was a guy I had played tennis with back in 2007, so we agreed to play Monday.  Nice to have a friendly game.  He beat me then.  Probably beat me now too.  Competitive? Me? Naaah.

We rushed home at 6pm to meet Alain and Amelie, and the girls Elsa and Grace.  Sukie showed the girls how to play frisbee, and we chatted, and had a nice visit.  A quick dinner of leftovers, and now get to read for awhile.

So ends a day off in Ouagadougou.  This week, work all week, writing revisions for my Gender and Development book, a book on rural libraries, and history of public libraries in the U.S.  And continuing preparing my research project.

How hot is it in Ouaga? Leslie brought a chocolate bar with her. We shared a little piece each. I set mine down on the kitchen counter while I washed the dishes.  Thirty minutes later I remembered… it was melted.