Dimanche à Poto Poto

In the Dioula language spoken in Bobo Dioulasso 'Poto Poto' means puddle, something hard to imagine as we pass the fiercely hot days of the dry season.  Poto Poto is also the name of the cabaret, an open air bar where people drink the millet beer called chapalo where I presently spend my Sundays accompanying Moussa  for his musical residency. 

From early morning to dusk, Moussa plays for a mixed crowd who come to drink a calabash or two of chapalo and exchange greetings and jokes, whilst a parade of itinerant traders of second hand clothes, kola nuts, plastic combs, and hard boiled eggs pass by.  Elegant ladies in tailored African prints sit on wobbly wooden benches alongside sinewy men in bizarrely assembled outfits such as a suit jacket two sizes too big, accessorised  with a pair of ski goggles, a juxtaposition of the second hand clothes known as 'au revoir france' which somehow they carry off with great style.

The new 500CFA note   

When Moussa plays with great virtuosity or plays a piece praising a person, ethnicity or profession present at Poto Poto, a patron may tip Moussa.   Sometimes it's just a few coins but occasionally a patron might dance towards Moussa ostentatiously waving a 1000CFA note before pasting it onto his perspiring forehead.  

However at the beginning of 2013 a new 500CFA note was introduced in Burkina, better for the patron who wants to show off with a tip, but not for the artists!