Ramadan Begins

On the map above you'll notice there's a small town in the far East of the country called Diffa. Last night somebody in Diffa reported to have caught a glimpse of the crescent of the new moon, meaning the whole country begins to observe the month of Ramadan today, a day earlier than expected this year. The cafeteria here at the research station where I'm based, which is usually pretty lively, was a graveyard today. Just me and a few co-workers from Burkina Faso.

Since I have the map up there already, I'll also point out that I spent all of last week on a trip visiting and interviewing farmers around the towns of Dosso and Gaya. I even took an illegal trip across the border into Benin for an afternoon. The trip went really well and I learned a ton. I'll try and post some photos and more details about the trip sometime soon.