Chapter9
Chapter9
Cote D’Ivoire
I returned back to my apartment in NY, 6 months from the last visit. In Japan, I tend to get caught up with various issues, and have no time to write, so I decided to fly to NY to write this essay. But a horrible disaster awaited me.
Have you hear of “bedbugs”? The name reminds you of a cute little animal, but nothing about them is cute. These bedbugs that bombed out after 40 years of silence, terrifying the whole US, allowing no exception, have invaded my flat as well. I had been pretty optimistic at first, but they bit all over me (literally) and soon I was placed in a situation where I had to forget about writing anything in that place, and at the end, I had no choice but move my flat. The apartment wasn’t in any filthy area or anything, there are a lot of different nationalities in the neighborhood, but the environment was good, and I really liked that apartment…but bedbugs, they’re devils that you shouldn’t underestimate! I never had myself bitten by any bedbug in any poor areas or in any hotel in Africa…never thought I’d be bitten by them in NY…poor me.
Now on this chapter of “African Wind,” since the weather’s nice with refreshing winds & sunshine that reminds me of West Africa, I’ll write about one of my favorite African countries, Cote D’Ivoire!! FYI, its capital city of Abidjan is never a safe place to be, and I wasn’t even able to take much photo as I walk around, so please use your imagination, and hope you enjoy the virtual visit to the city.
August 1994. My first visit to West Africa
August 1994. My first visit to West Africa. The landscape of Cote D’Ivoire’s capital, Abidjan, was totally different from that of the countries I had visited such as Ethiopia, Eritrea and Kenya. This place was filled with colors. Women wore colorful, beautiful traditional costumes I’ve seen on TVs. People walked casually carrying loads of stuffs on their heads, it was the typical image I had of Africa. Up until then, none of the African countries I went had such scenery, so I remember my heart bubbling with excitement being able to see a typical African scenery with my own eyes (had been a novice Africa traveler back then as well).
Abidjan consists of numerous small islands connected by bridges. Plateau where various embassies, business head quarters & skyscrapers are, Cocody which is a safe, rich residential area,…and the area we stayed was called Treichville. It’s an area that a lot of local people live, and it’s not very safe compared to other areas of the city. But I wanted to stay there so that I could see the everyday lives of the local people, plus there are lots of cheap but delicious restaurants there. I especially loved Treichville’s marche (market place), with lots of things displayed with no rule. It was extremely sad when I heard that the marche burnt down by fire…they built a new marche, but…there were rumors that it was an arson as well.
I was in Cote D’Ivoire on my birthday of 1995. It was the best birthday I ever had. I rode a night bus for 9 hours, and visited Burkina Faso & Fakaha village nearby the border. It was past 4:30am when I reached Fakaha. When the morning sun started to rise from the east, a huge full moon was about to disappear in the west. A full moon you see in the vast land of Africa is extremely moving, even touching. The moon I saw there was especially huge…A rising sun & disappearing moon. I can’t find the exact words to describe it, but I felt myself really alive, with my feet firm on the ground of the planet Earth in the vast universe. It just got me right there!!
Fakaha was a very lively town with a huge marche. Hotel was pleasant, and food was delicious. It is a famous town for its original textile/clothe that’s very popular in Europe. I went to the area where they make such textiles as well. In a huge plaza-like space, women spun cotton flowers, and men weave the clothes. Then they take the woven clothes and decorate them with simple but beautiful embroideries. The clothes are totally handmade. They normally use these textiles as table clothes, but the hotel I stayed in Fakaha used them as bed sheets which felt sooooo smooth, keeps the heat away, a great textile for sweating hot places. I just fell in love with it, and bought tons of them to bring back home. I’d like to introduce some of those clothes on Rumors website if I get a chance.
But to tell you the truth, I only stopped at Fakaha on my way to my final destination. My final destination was to go to the village that’s famous for Cologo Paintings. Cologo Paintings is another textile that’s used as tapestries that every Africa-lovers would know about, with distinctive paintings on clothes. Lately, works that they paint on machine-woven clothes are going around, but I wanted to see the real, original ones, where such textile was born & created.
Cologo is a real small village with only 30 or so families reside, that suddenly appears in a red-dirt savanna after an hour ride on a hired cab. The view on the way to Cologo is something you could really feel the vast land of Africa. Huge Baobab trees growing here & there, and the cab drives through them. You’ll occasionally witness women walking by in colorful costumes, carrying piles of branches on their heads. African women are really all hard workers. I wonder how many kilos they walk per day…one thing I’m sure is that their body fat rate is “0.”
Cologo village has only a few dirt houses surrounding a plaza like space. The plaza space is where all the Cologo painting works are being done, all day long. It’s not a big space, the hanged clothes on a few poles would fill the place, but the handwritten paintings gradually turn into artworks in that place. The clothes are made of cotton, weaved in a very rough manner, and on them, the painters draw with special paints that they mix the dirt & pigments. And what they draw are extremely interesting. They are mainly animals and people, but the depiction is very universal, or shall I say, lovingly very primitive, something like the ancient wall paintings you see on TVs. The reason why I decide to visit this village is because I heard that if there’s any clothe you liked, you could buy directly from them… It was more than worth taking time to travel a whole day, I mean the clothes I saw there was something totally different from the Cologo Paintings I saw in the markets of Abidjan, the strong lines and the way they use the spaces in their drawings were in no comparison with those sold in Abidjan. If you go to the place of origin, you’ll be able to see the real thing. An extremely happy moment.
…But right after that, I got myself into an extremely restless situation.
I have a chronic asthma. That’s why I always bring bottles of mineral water with me every where I go. There was a time when I had an acute attack of asthma in Ethiopia which is located in 2,400m above sea level, I suffered a lot having no water with me. Some local people brought me a glass of water, but I just couldn’t drink the muddy brown water. I was really grateful to their offering, but…I just couldn’t. Since then, I don’t go out to anywhere without mineral water.
When I went to Cologo, I had a 500ml bottle of water with me. I drank the “invisible water” in indifferent manner. Children who saw me drinking it suddenly crowded around me, wanting tohave that bottle of clear water. …I wasn’t able to do anything. If I give them that bottle, my life might be placed in danger. These children could drink the brown water, but I can’t. …I just had to convince myself like that. Nevertheless, I was seized by a huge guilt. It is true that a bottle of water won’t be enough for all of them, and it’s not that they could drink a clear water after the bottle is empty. But was I supposed to give them the bottle…?
Following my visit, cholera raged in huge area of West Africa. In a bad sanitary environment, it spread amongst the people who drank unclean water, and lots of children who have less physical strength lost their lives.The “clean water” that we drink as a normal thing. The everyday life in the big cities where we tend to misunderstand that clear waters comes out endlessly from the faucets…but it’s nothing normal, nothing common.
I receive a lot of energy, strength, and learn a lot from the people in Africa…yep, the essentials of life, and to live.Well, that’s enough about Cote D’Ivoire for this time, I’ll write about this favorite country of mine again. Hope you look forward to it.Following my visit, Cote D’Ivoire saw a coup d’etat aside from various political issues, and is still under warnings to retreat from the country & prohibit people to travel. I only pray that the peace comes back to the country to keep being my favorite country.
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