Well here's a post-script to my post about the student doing research on Bible translation in the Sénoufo languages. The following day I tracked down the names of the Baptist missionaries who had begun the original translation of the Bible into Cebaara Sénoufo, and gave them to the student along with two really helpful obituaries that I found. I used Google Translate to translate them for him into French and printed them out, giving him links to the original English versions. He was ecstatic. It turns out that the two of them were inducted by the Ivorian government into their highest organization of honor for service to the country as Officiers d’Ordre Nationale.
Clément and Mme. M. in the SIL Library in Abidjan
Just before leaving, the computer person here at SIL-Abidjan, Julie Diby-Achi, installed the new HP library printer. It is a sturdy, heavy-duty bw/color laser printer which they apparently use in a number of Internet cafés in Abidjan. We gave it a test run and I printed out one of the articles I had saved to the library desktop for this very purpose. I am going to have Clément copy some articles and add them to our vertical file collection of documents on Ivorian languages.
I left the books intended for Simon Nacoulma with Clément as Simon, and more often his wife, visits the Côte d'Ivoire from time to time. It will lessen my suitcase weight since Mme. M came by with goodies [two bottles of peanuts both salty and sugary, and a rather large sack of fried banana chips] for me to take along on my trip. Africans tend to travel heavy and push the allowed weight allowance to its limits... Yes, it was fortunate that I had left those books behind! I only had one medium-sized suitcase, and I wanted to make sure my computer bag fit inside it after I disembarked in Paris. The space occupied by the books was now replaced by glass bottles peanuts and a large bag of banana chips... I would take out my raincoat upon arrival and my computer bag would just fit in its place... [I try to travel relatively light and as compactly as possible since I frequently take public transportation.]
My flight back to France from Abidjan was direct, but on the nightly red-eye. I went early to the airport for fear of a traffic-jam at rush hour on the way, which there was, but nothing unusual. I checked out my habitual haunts at the airport: the duty-free shop, one "African goods" shop, my favorite one Terre d'Ivoire [a shop featuring crafts from local artists] and the restaurant/snack bar. I bought a can of bissap juice, a local drink which I had missed this time while I was in Abidjan. It is made from type of hibiscus flower, is dark burgundy or beet-red in color, and tastes a bit like concentrated cranberry juice. It can be quite refreshing, and I usually prefer it over the ginger drink which can have quite a bite.
I then stopped by the Terre d'Ivoire, admired some of their wares, and bought a little fabric zippered bag. I hadn't shopped at all during my time in the Côte d'Ivoire, and these little bags are always handy for sorting things when traveling. The wax-print fabric was a little atypical, and the lovely blue color caught my eye. This little arts and crafts store doesn't have a website, but does have a page on Facebook [click for the link] which features some of their crafts. So have a look if you want to see some of the nicer crafts from this country.
The flight itself was uneventful, and I had my choice of "chicken or pasta" [the regular Air France dinner selections for those in economy class these days]. The "chicken" turned out to be African-style chicken and sauce served with rice and, alloco [Côte d'lvoire-style plantain bananas fried in peanut oil], the "pasta" European-style. By this time I had about had my fill of chicken and various sauces and alloco, so I actually wished, for a change, that I had ordered the pasta! Fortunately the hearty red wine I ordered with it actually turned out to be the right choice.
I am now in France, where the morning's 46 degree F weather was an immediate shock to my system. I had worn the same clothes when I left the country the last day of March and it seemed warmer then... The one advantage of arriving at CDG airport at 5:30 am, though. is that you sail right through border control in less than 5 minutes... I sailed through, pickup up my suitcase, put my raincoat on over my thin sweater, and braced myself for the cold...
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