La grosse claire

I mentioned before that learning each other's names isn't high on Burkinabes' list of priorities. Here are some handy tips for how to refer to people when you don't actually know their name:

1. Refer to them by their title. For example: "le président" refers to the president of the parents' association at the high school; it's "madame la tresorière adjoint" for the assistant treasurer of the parents' association. (Wouldn't simply "Ami" be easier than that?) (that's her name) In many cases, you never refer to these people by their name, just by their title. For example, the school principal. I would never think of addressing him by his actual name.

2. Describe them in relation to a mutual acquaintance. For example: "Larba's second wife," or, "the brother of the deputy mayor," or "the younger brother of the guy who runs the boutique that everyone goes to."

3. When the above two options fail, describe them by their appearance. Like, "The white girl who lives in the neighboring village," or, in the case of some of the big aunties, "la grosse claire" (the fat light-skinned woman).

You'd think that it would be easier after awhile to just learn people's names to avoid having to say "le frère du maire adjoint" every time instead of...well, actually, I don't know what his name is. But wouldn't one word be easier than five? I say that, until I realize how many friends I now have whose names I have no idea of. Anyway, when you think of the number of Salamata Ouédraogos, or the number of Harouna Sawadogos, who live in my village, after awhile the vague descriptions like "the light-skinned girl at the back of the second row in 4eA" are more efficient than the names that could describe at least 10 people within a 5-mile radius.