...What?

Today's topic- the bizarre.

Put on your aluminum foil helmets folks- doesn't hurt to stay protected. Especially when there's clearly alien activity happening in your neighborhood. Or just reaaaally weird religious practices. I... I just can't explain what's going on!

So, around the corner from my house is a crossroads of sorts, formed by two dirt roads. Sometimes I can find the most odd collection of items assembled in the middle of the intersection. For example, today there was a nest-shaped collection of dried parsley surrounded by a shattered pot. The other day, there was a large shell with an egg lying in side of it. Before that there was a ring of chicken feathers on the ground. 10 Mattbucks to whoever can come up with some sort of commonality between the three! And believe me, Mattbucks are in high demand.

Secondly, today I found out that last night, Monday night, the Federal Government declared no school for the rest of the week in order to prepare for the upcoming election day on Sunday. They closed school. For a week. With no notice. For an election which doesn't affect the kids. They can't even vote! I don't understand!!! All that that accomplished is messing with my travel schedule. I was supposed to give my final trimester test today and leave for Ouaga tomorrow, but... I couldn't give the test since no one showed up. This is going to be interesting... The school will administer the test, send the tests on a bus to me in Ouaga for me to grade, then I will calculate the averages for the trimester and send it back. Phew.

Finally, here's a little excerpt that my friend in another town shared with me. It comes from a pamphlet used in schools to teach English through difficult questions and scenarios. This questioned is labeled "Are Men and Women Equal?" What follows is the content of that pamphlet:

-- Equality between men and women is a topical subject. Men claim to be different from women and even more important than women who are always dependant. Women claim to be equal to men because without them, life would not be possible. So it is what we call feminism. That is true because in many African countries, women work.

[MEN AND WOMEN ARE EQUAL]
-Biologically they are the same creatures
-Both are created by God
-Both have the ability to think, to work, and to do anything else
-Women are as educated as men
-They are enrolled in the building of society
[MEN AND WOMEN ARE NOT EQUAL]
-Women give beautiful babies to men and take care of their household
-Men are stroner than women. Men are the image of God but women are created to be a help of men
-Men are more courageous than women
-Naturally, women are very weak than men
-Women speak a lot of and can't keep a secret for a long time.

In conclusion, we can say that the equality between men and women should not be debated, because every women knows that man is head of the family. Woman is consider as second responsible of the family. Instead of talking about the equality between men and women, isn't it good to talk about complementary life? --

This... is crazy... I mean the 2nd and 4th points for the con  argument are basically the same!
No, in all seriousness, woah. I like how the marker of equality is the ability to not tell a secret. So I guess Benedict Arnold was a girl according to whoever wrote this. My friend here says that it was sold to the school by a private businessman and many teachers and students simply bought these before they could read them. However, unfortunately, this does reflect many mindsets here in Burkina Faso (and some mindsets in the US still!) That's why one of the top 5 goals here, the High 5 if you will, is to promote the equality of girls. So desperately needed...

And that concludes are voyage into the bizarre. Tune in next time!

(Note: You'll feel like an idiot if you ever try to translate a rap song into another language. Trust me.)