I tried unsuccessfully to post this entry yesterday:

Monday we made the trek from Ouagadougou to Obiré. Aside from a few minor delays, the 8-hour trip was uneventful, which is just what we wanted. Stuart knew that part of the route they usually take was in a bad state of disrepair, so decided to take a more circuitous route where the roads would hopefully be better. It paid off, and we made good time on roads that were not too bad, and for some stretches quite good. While we were en route, the Kaan members of the Kaansa language project were busy getting the word out to the rest of the Kaan community about the upcoming workshop. Announcements were made in both Kaansa and French on each of the two radio stations that broadcast in this part of the country. The one in Kaansa was accompanied by specially recorded music, involving a “talking drum” which communicated the message.

During our trip down here, however, I learned something that caught me by surprise. Since I suspected that we might not have access to the internet in Obiré, and since I knew that the only source of electricity here would be solar panels or a generator, I was expecting a pretty rustic experience. I did not expect to be able to show the presentation on my computer screen to everyone there during my time of teaching. Instead, I wondered whether my presentation medium would be a blackboard, a whiteboard, or large pieces of paper? I was therefore extremely surprised to learn that a portable projector would be available for me to use!

Tuesday we made plans for the training phase of the workshop which began today. As we were testing the portable projector with my computer, and I was running through my presentation, I suddenly realized that one part of it was not language-neutral, and needed to be translated from English into French before I used it today. It took me most of the rest of the day to do that, but I certainly am glad that the need had come to my attention prior to the actual presentation!

Internet access here has proven to be quite slow, though new technology has made it several times faster than it had been previously. All that to say that, while I will do my best to update this blog on a regular basis, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to follow through on that intention while I am here.