It has been almost six months since my last post. Internet in Burundi ended up being extremely slow and unreliable, which made it impossible for me to continue blogging while teaching at the same time.

I came back form Burundi at the end of May and started working for Radio-Canada the following day. Until two weeks ago, I worked as a radio reporter-editor and videojournalist for CBC/Radio-Canda’s French Services in Sudbury, Ontario.

I am now back in Ottawa and seeking a new job. I am in the process of revamping my website and hope to keep updating this blog frequently.

Stay tuned!

P.S. I will keep posting in a bilingual fashion. Donc chers lecteurs francophones, n’ayez crainte, certains articles seront disponibles dans la langue de Molière.

The Mutanga-Nord campus of l'Université Lumière de Bujumbura, Burundi, rests on the hillside of the city.

Today, René accompanied me to the Mutanga-Nord campus of l’Université Lumière de Bujumbura, where I will work in the coming weeks.

More to come about our visit soon. For now, I leave you with this nice photo.

The Centre Communautaire Guest House, in Bujumbura, Burundi, is managed by an Anglican community. It will be my home away from home for at least a few days.

BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI – After 15 minutes waiting inside the terminal of Bujumbura International Airport, I started wondering if René forgot to pick me up.

Before I left Belgium, he asked for a picture of myself, saying it would help him find me.

But René was nowhere to be seen and the only thing I knew about him was that he would be carrying a sign with my name.

As I started wondering what I should do next, a tall young man finally approached me.

“Sébastien, Bienvenue au Burundi,” he said, adding that he was waiting outside the terminal and had to negotiate his way in with security.

René is the nephew of Athanase, a Burundian-French media consultant who’s also a friend of professor Allan Thompson, the coordinator of the Centre for Media and Transitional Societies. Since Athanase is not in Bujumbura yet, René and his friend Didier Yves were in charge of greeting me at the airport.

As I explained in my last post, I will spend the next five weeks in Burundi, teaching video editing at l’Université Lumière de Bujumbura. I am the first Carleton University intern sent here for this new project.

I was scheduled to arrive in Bujumbura last week, but missed my connection flight in Brussels. Clara, a friend of mine, is currently working there and I had planned to spend Tuesday in Belgium to visit her.

Unfortunately, because of train delays Wednesday morning, I showed up at the airport late and was unable to board the plane.

Since Brussels Airlines ensures the Brussels-Bujumbura connection only twice a week, I had to wait a few extra days for yesterday’s flight.

Thankfully, Clara offered to host me for my stay in Brussels and I got to do some unplanned sightseeing.

(I will post some photos of my week in Brussels in the coming days.)

On the way to my guest house, René, Yves and I stopped at Face@Face, an Internet cafe and currency exchange office downtown Bujumbura. My wallet quickly became heavier, as the teller changed the two crisp US$100 bills I gave him for 248,000 Burundian francs.

We then dropped my bags at the Centre Communautaire Guest House, a motel-style facility managed by an Anglican congregation, and went out for food.

After that, I was down for a good sleep.

* * *

Today, René and Yves brought me to Lake Tanganyika, a short drive away. With its 673 kilometers of length, Tanganyika is one of the world’s largest fresh water lakes.

Here are some photos of our day:

This morning, Didier Yves (left) and René took me to 673 km-long Lake Tanganyika, a short car ride from the guest house. Bujumbura sits on the shore of Tanganyika - the second largest fresh water lake in the world according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Tanganyika).

René (right) and I have been communicating by email for about a month now. It was great to finally meet each other.

Landscape view of Bujumbura and Lake Tanganyika.

After the lake, we went for a typical Burundian lunch (or déjeuner as we say here). Beef, beans, fries, rice, tomato sauce and local vegetables.

My room at the Centre Communautaire Guest House.

I am about to board a plane for Bujumbura, Burundi, where I will spend the next six weeks.

There, I will be teaching video production at l’Université Lumière de Bujumbura with Carleton University’s Centre for Media and Transitional Societies.

While I was asked to teach this course based on my technical skills, I still have a lot to learn in journalism. It will therefore be a wonderful opportunity to share by experience with other young journalists and learn a lot from them in return.

Allan Thompson, a professor of mine and the director of the CMTS, hopes to expand the work he started in Rwanda five years ago with the Rwanda Initiative to other African countries, thus my trip to Burundi.

Some colleagues of mine are currently working for local media outlets in Rwanda, including fellow master of journalism student Carolyn Thompson. I hope to visit them very soon.

It’s been months since I last blogged. The school year has been very busy for me and I plan to revamp this website completely in the coming weeks.

Stay tuned for my dispatches form Burundi!