Yes, things are looking up – we now have a small, but comfortable cinema not far away!

Now, there is already a cinema over the bridge somewhere, but maybe not too ‘ex-pat friendly’! (though, to be honest, I’ve never been in!) So yesterday, I checked out this new place, which is on the upper floor of our newish ‘Kora’ supermarket. The sound and picture were both very good and the seats were padded, ‘flip up’ seats (like in a normal cinema, but not so much padding!) and were tiered slightly. I reckon it seated at least 60 people and was air conditioned. There are 4 showings daily (3 on Sundays) and entry is 1,000 cfa per person (which is about £1 or $2). Not bad, eh? The films are reasonably up-to-date, too! I asked the manager if they would run films in English and he said, yes, if the only people there were anglophones. If not, he would put English subtitles on with French audio.

If you’re a Cotonou person and would like directions, drop me a line!

Other news…

A couple of ethnomusicology visits planned in the coming weeks – both in northern Benin to record/do song-writing workshops. I’ve ‘bought’ a fast tape duplicator on ebay, but am still awaiting my Paypal verification to be able to pay for it! Once it arrives, it will be a huge help.

Google Earth

Have you checked this out yet? Amazing images of the world from above. Here are the co-ordinates of our place:

6 degrees 21’26.70″N and 2 degrees 23′ 26.88″E – [Click here to view – added by Reggie]
So, you see, we’re quite close to 0, 0 degrees (ie where the Greenwich Meridian and the Equator meet). That’s actually in the Ocean, off the coast of Ghana/Gabon. However, a puzzling thing is that my Google Earth says there’s a KFC and a Burger King at that location, which I find hard to believe!!!

If you have Google Earth, you can find where we live from the co-ordinates. If you haven’t, get it – it’s fab!! Failing that, drop me a line and I can e-mail you the image easily!

You’ll notice we’re near the airport and not far from the coast either. The Senior School is the building across the road, diagonally SE from our house. The other school buildings are further up the same road.

Otherwise, school is fine, the kids are all well and so are we. Mads had a chest infection last week, but it much better now, thanks to antibiotics/inhalers etc. As I know you love seeing pictures, here’s one of Mads taking one:

Finally, we’re looking forward to a visit from our friend Clive Rahn this Christmas – hope you’ve got the flight booked mate!

Thanks for your visit,

Bye for now,

Rob, Lois et al