A cliché-filled day in my life ...

I hate clichés. With a passion! But this blog was inspired by them - pictures all taken in a 24 hour period. Many of these photos speak to me about the state the country finds itself in, but I won't mention that too loudly. You can read between the lines ... (Sorry, but the bigger pictures aren't working at the moment. I'll try to work on it when I have time).

My friend Anri's Grade 3 class at Vision Valley School.
"Room for improvement" - double entendre?

Whenever I'm looking for some sanity at school I just go and visit the preschool section -
where they always seem delighted to see me and beg for a tickle or two.

Junior-school ruffians ...

In this case, it's the rice that's always greener on the other side. And yes, it really is that green. But I don't know if I'd like to live in those houses (as romantic as it looks). Can anyone say "rising damp"?

Interestingly enough - I still haven't found an indoor bicycle spares or repair shop in this country ...

Nothing too profound about the flag at the US Embassy, but I see it every day from school or church, brightly flying above our dust-blown community ... and I liked the pic.

The famous "digues". Early in my stint here I, full of adventure and bravado, decided to ride my trusty Yamaha XT350, a.k.a. "the Beast", along one of those. It's still a bit of a blur, but the next thing I knew, a group of locals was helping me and my trusty steed from the rice paddy ... That was that, and I've decided that avoiding policemen (which I do daily as I am temporarily paperless) on the main road is a much safer alternative to dodging digue foot-traffic!

Speaking of which, the traffic seems to be worse than ever - traffic jams every morning, every evening - not to mention undrivable Saturday roads. Someone fetch me another "Fresh" (local beer shandies) please.

The same scene as before, just later in the day, and after a Fresh or two ... Hold on, does that horizon look straight to you?

Need I say more? Every yard with an array of rickety antennas climb higher and higher into the sky, searching for elusive television signals, like scrawny saplings seeking out the sun... 

Where I live - rundown, neglected - a sign of the political times in this weary country.

Fast food; food on the run ... These road-side stalls, filled with flies and exhaust fumes both amaze and nauseate me. Needless to say, I still haven't plucked up the courage to buy from them. I value my health way too much ...

And finally, the famous, Three Horses Beer, the makers of afore-mentioned Fresh. So good that erstwhile tea-totalling missionaries have been known to partake in a bottle or two.