Koro

 Yesterday Amadou took me to visit the scenic village of Koro. It's about 20 km or so outside of Bobo, so first we took the highway towards Ouaga (I think it's R.1).

 

There were women working in the fields in groups. Amadou said they were cultivating corn.

(Funny to see other culture's gender roles: Men do the tailoring, women work in the fields.)

They we got off the highway onto a gravelly road ... And then off of that onto a normal dirt road.

Then we arrived at the scenic tourist village.

 Then, after walking a little ways up a normal trail, we started to climb.

 

And climb some more. (Note the lady carrying the HUGE metal pot on her head. She was climbing up too.)

I turned around partway through my climb to get a good shot behind me ...

 

Of course not thinking about the fact that there would be ample time for more pictures at the very top. We perched on a giant (think like a shaded Pride Rock) and I snapped a few overlooks that included the village itself.

Then my guide took me through the three parts of the village -- the farmers, who won't be back until after the harvest, the blacksmiths, and the Dioula.

In the first part of the village she showed me the place where important meetings and decisions are held (the thatched room open thing), and told me that women are forbidden to enter it -- so women aren't allowed to make any decisions. Some traditional gender roles are universal, huh?

(Resisted the urge to run underneath to prove a point.)

She talked to me a bit, and asked if I had any kids. I told her I wasn't planning on it anytime soon, and she asked how old I am. She's carrying her baby Houssmane, who is 18 months. She told me she'll be 23 in October. She asked about women who choose not to have kids in Europe, she had said she heard they had to sign a piece of paper or pay a fine or something, but I told her that wasn't true. I explained that women can choose to have as many (or as few) children as they want, and she said you have to have at least one. She kept saying that God would help you find a way through everything. 

But she said that it was good that I was living my life first -- and she said that people here "sont pas civilisés." (are uncivilized). It struck me.

 Houssmane and I became friends (and yes, he's wearing all fleece in 90 degrees). And we stopped to play with another group of three kids who were probably 5 or 6 that we came across (two boys and a girl). This was in the blacksmiths' part of the village -- my guide explained that the men do the metal-working, and the women make pottery.

Then we finished the visit and climbed back down. It was interesting to see so many huge rocks. I need to look up what was going on, geologically speaking, that made for all the huge grey rocks and the bright red-orange soil.

Her comments about childbearing really struck a chord, especially given the political debates in the US. It was beautiful to see the overlooks, but I think talking with her will stick with me forever.