Locked Away

Its 10:30 AM and I’m locked in my own home. This morning I got a text message from the US Embassy saying shots had been fired downtown and to not head into the center of town. Thankfully, my home is nowhere near the center but the office of IRD is very close. Mirabelle lives close to the office so she was up all night listening to people yelling and running down the streets. I again didn’t hear anything. This morning everything was okay so she picked me up from my home and we conducted and interview. Her mother and boyfriend make us call them every time we leave some place and then when we arrive, so before we left Mirabelle called her boyfriend who said that last night a military group fired shots and threatened the president. The president has now left Ouagadougou for fear of being killed. He has been in the presidency for almost 25 years, and killed the man before in order to become president himself. Burkina Faso is afraid they are going to follow in Libya’s footsteps. During our interview, which was only one hour, this proceeded to get worse. The boarders of Ouaga have been closed off to stop any other people from travelling to the center and Mirabelle and I were asked to head home. I asked her if I could go home with her, but her home is in a very dangerous location, close to the road and the fighting. So it was safer to bring me to my own home where I have neighbors and Fatou can easily come pick me up. We will be in close contact all day.

Berenice, who is one of the women I work with at IRD came swiftly to pick me up. When I walked outside to get on the bike it was like I was in another city. The streets were not filled with people selling goods, and bustling around, everyone had disappeared. There were only a few people walking the streets. It felt hotter than usual and there was an awkward laugh between the two of us and then we were off, no words between us the whole way. I just looked on the horizon for the mosque next to Fatou’s home. Berenice drove me on roads I don’t think any white person has ever been. She avoided every main road, and took all the back ways, even bicycle paths to avoid been seen by a car. No one was outside their homes at noon. We drove past fields of trash, where normally people would be searching for left over trash, no one. Cafes were empty. After 15 minutes, we see men walking in their white robes; I relax a bit knowing we are close to a mosque. We make it inside and I am finally with other people, and relax a bit. The family is glued to the TV but the stations refuse to acknowledge anything. So we wait. I will be sleeping at fatous tonight. But don’t worry its not so bad; there is air conditioning and a pool here.

I have internet here, so I will be better with contact now.

The embassy is in constant connection with me by my phone.