Famous because I'm white

Today I had a 10am appointment to have my photo taken. One of our daily drivers (i.e. he is not on a long term contract), Basil, has a daughter who saw me one day when she was passing the office. She can only be about 4-5 years old (I must ask her age) and she asked him when he got home from work if she could have her photo taken with me; I am white, that is exciting! So early this week we made plans for him to come meet me at my house, 10 am on Saturday morning to take pictures of us together.

On Wednesday we also made plans for the same driver, Basil, to take me and a colleague to see the masked dancers on Sunday afternoon, as he is from the area. Needless to say I am very excited about this, I have already bought six masks in the Ivory Coast, I like dancing, and I like doing the things the Lonely Planet guidebook tells me to do, even more so if real live Ivorians are going too, much better than just a bunch of white tourists in an air-conditioned vehicle.

When Basil approached my desk yesterday and said “I will see you at 10 tomorrow morning” I was confused, “…but I thought we were going on Sunday” I said “we will have to check with Aline if it is ok for us to change the day” … “oh, but my daughter especially got her hair put into plaits today for tomorrow” he replies. Then I remember. How cruel and selfish I am, I totally forgot his little girl wants a photo with me.

Ange appeared in a gold satin dress, hair newly braided, with gold little bands holding the braids in place; very cute. Whilst we were waiting for the camera man I got Ange some biscuits, they were each the size of her hand, or so it seemed, but she managed to get about 5 of them down her in 10 minutes. Her face was covered in crumbs, all the hard work to make her look so beautiful and I had made her dirty! The camera man Basil had organised did not turn up so I used my camera, with my arm extended to press the shutter button. We wiped away the biscuit crumbs, positioned ourselves under the hibiscus tree and took some pictures. “Faut rire” (you have to laugh) Basil kept telling his little girl, she didn’t understand when I was asking her to smile.

Some photos are blurry, some are good, but in all the pictures, I am squinting in the sun with my sensitive blue eyes and my very very very white skin. I look like a ghost, no matter what shutter speed I chose I could not balance out the contrast between black and white. Apparently they are all going up on the wall of Basil's home, no matter what I think!

When Basil and Ange were on their way home my guard starts chatting to me (he had also benefited from the biscuits and was giving me – bad – photography advice throughout the process – so I suspect it was a fun morning for him too) and he says “I have a daughter too”…I know what’s coming next... 8:30 am appointment Sunday morning for a photo shoot! I don’t know why I made it 8:30, I was thinking the light would be better – but I need my sleep! I should have been more selfish. Oh well!