Long awaited delivery

I bring you the pictures of me in action on the construction site. In case anyone forgot that I was the only woman on the construction site, all they had to do was look at my shoes to be reminded that one of these things was not like the others. 

I'll note that my colleague (to the right of me in the picture) did the whole three day tour in full business gear, only making the concession of a short sleeved dress shirt. He also had the patience to explain the names of the many pieces of large equipment to me in French. And also exactly how roads get made. 

This is us standing right next to a portion of road that was in the middle of being paved. You can see the wet tar. Building things! 

I get to go back into the field next week and am pretty jazzed for more photo ops/learning opportunities/photo ops mostly. 

Other things that happened this week: today on my ride home, we had to pull to the side as sirens blared, signaling that the motorcade of the Malian negotiators was headed towards their hotel. Burkina is hosting the discussions between the Malian government and Tuareg rebels in advance of the planned July 28 elections. It's been really fascinating to get a better understanding of the regional politics in West Africa and understand Burkina's role a bit better. BF benefits from being one of the more stable political regimes among some volatile neighbors, but still, no one is happy that there is current unrest in both Mali and Niger. 

And to end on an uplifting note: woo, Friday!