Blondes have more fun

I guess we were the only English speakers in the neighborhood, because we were the only ones who couldn't help chuckling when a Burkinabé walked past with the words 'Blondes have more fun', in big lettering on her T-shirt.

That shirt was one garment among the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of Western excess clothes that gets dumped in Africa, and sold at a fraction of their original retail value.

They are known as "dead white-man's clothes", because Burkinabé believe only a dead person would give up such nice garments. It is unfathomable that the clothing wouldn't sell in the West.

One of my adult students once wore a T-shirt covered with the face of Britney Spears, that even a die-hard fan would probably be uncomfortable wearing back home. I asked my student if she knew who Britney Spears was.

"Elle est une actrice?" she asked. (Is she an actress?)

"C'est discutable," I replied. (It's debatable)

There have been some other very amusing sightings. One national was seen in a Pizza Hut uniform, despite the restaurant chain not existing in this country. There have been several sightings of women dressed in full flight attendant gear, complete with pointy hats.

But you must feel for the pastor who got dressed up in his new t-shirt to deliver the sermon. The shirt read, 'Drunk as a skunk'.

Jon