A change of regime/ 政権交代

It's been just a month since I moved to Burkina Faso and I'm now facing the moment of the great change for the country. People of Burkina stood up against to the extension of President Blaise Compaore's 27years rule by gathering and setting the parliament on fire. It ended as President Compaore resigning his position and political power was taken over by the military. 

 ブルキナファソに来て一ヶ月。この国は大きな変革の中にいる。27年大統領で居続けたBlaise Compaore氏が大統領を続けることに反対した民衆は抗議し、デモ隊が形成された。最終的にはCompaore氏が辞任、そして暫定政権は民衆側についた軍に渡った。 

 This whole thing had happened within less than two days and this is what is called "a coup d'état." 

 この一連の出来事は10/30-31の間に起こった。そしてこれが、クーデターと呼ばれるものらしい。 

 Being born and raised in a country which doesn't have a military (for form's sake,) I didn't even have the right understanding of the word " coup d'état." 

少なくとも形式上軍隊を持たない国で生まれ育った私は、クーデターという言葉の正確な意味すらわかっていなかった。 

 Please don't take it wrong. If you only understand Burkina Faso as some country where has recently experienced a coups d'état, you might have wrong images of the country. Burkina Faso is a nice country, people are relatively calm and it usually lacks aggressiveness as a whole. I've heard that even during this big incident, people in the countrysides were peacefully living as usual. 

誤解しないで欲しいのだが、ブルキナファソを「最近クーデターが起きた国」とだけ認識してしまうと、随分と本来の国の印象と変わって来てしまう。この国はゆっくりと穏やかで、普段は激しさからは程遠い。この事件の最中も、田舎は平和で普通に皆暮らして居たとも聞いた。 

 Also, please not to worry. I'm safe. Being told by my organization JICA, I'm staying home safe and watching how it will go as gathering info through internet and discussing with people. I'm doing well. 

そして、私への心配はいらない。私はJICAの指示に従い、家にいて、色んなことが進んで行くのをネットをみながら、人と話しながら、傍観している。私は元気だ。 

About 6 years ago when I moved to NY, it was also right before the change of regime from the former president Bush to the current president Obama. The very first thing I had to learn in the states was its country's political situation, in order to catch up with everyone who lived there. Again, here in Burkina, I'm learning a lot about its politics. 

6年ちょっと前か、ニューヨークに引っ越した時、その時もちょうどブッシュ大統領からオバマ大統領への政権交代の直前だった。アメリカ合衆国で人々と話すために初めに学ばなければならなかったのは、アメリカ合衆国の政治の事だった。こんどはブルキナファソで、この国の政治の事を学んでいる。 

 I was and still am here in Burkina Faso at this important moment. I know it's the moment of change. But I don't know the former Burkina Faso enough to be able to feel the change, and I don't know how to digest the moment. As I would never know how the life in the U.S. was under the presidency of Mr. Bush, if I can continue my life in Burkina, this new Burkina Faso that people are going to create from now on, will be my Burkina, and I certainly would be a part of it. 

ブルキナファソにとっての大きな変革の時に私はここにいた、そして今もいるわけだが、その大きな変化について感想が言えるほど私は元のブルキナファソを知らない。ブッシュ政権下のアメリカ合衆国での生活がどうであったかを私が知ることは一生無いように、これからももし私がブルキナファソでの生活を継続できるのであれば、人々がこれからつくり上げる新しいであろうブルキナファソが私にとってのブルキナファソになりそして私自身も確かにその一部となるのであろう。