Day 2

Salut! (Or as we say, Hi! in English)

Day number two.

We woke up to a beautiful sunrise and went down to our hotel's pool for our first African breakfast. As we sat pool side eating our chocolate bread and sipping or orange lemon juice, we started our day joyfully chatting about the day's itinerary.

After breakfast, we drove around Ouagadougou a bit and witnessed the city first hand. From street vendors, to flea markets Africa is full of life and very different from the small town we've traveled from.   Today we had the opportunity to meet a friend of Hassimi's, Awa. She happens to also be the artist who allowed us to sell her c.d. to fundraise money to ship the ambulance. She, along with everyone we've met so far, is very nice and welcoming.

We made our way to an art market today that was truly amazing. We witnessed first hand the beauty and skill it takes to create things like drums, scarves, sculptures, and jewelry. It is easy to go to the store and buy a scarf, but not very often do you think of the person who thread the cotton together to create that scarf for you. The time and dedication that these artist put into their work is incredible. We had the opportunity to play a traditional Africa drum today, and as we were playing we watched the men carve the wood base, stretch the cow hid, and tie the strings together to create a drum. Africa takes craftsmanship to a new level, and all of us were in absolute awe as we watched each piece of art come together.

After the art market, it started to rain. The sewer system in Burkina Faso isn't quite as functional as in the US, so we watched as vendors scurried to pack up their items before the rain swept it away. Being that the ground is clay and not dirt, the rain soon become a river flooding the streets. Not one local flinched for a second, but us travelers couldn't even imagine how they function everyday in the rainy season (May-September) with flash floods. They even laughed watching us take pictures of what was happening.

Through the rain we made our way to a restaurant for lunch. The waitress came up to us and explained that they didn't have menus but we could order rice, chicken, fish, or french fries. We ordered the chicken. After waiting what seemed a long time, as asked the waitress where our food was and she explained that they ran out of chicken so someone had to go buy chicken for them to cook. That action to me, was very impressive. I would never imagine someone buying a chicken for the sake of keeping a customer. Although we ended up waiting for about two hours, the thought of helping a local business keep its doors open kept us all patient.

Later tonight we went to a local music restaurant a block from our hotel. The musicians had to cancel their show because of the ran, but as soon as we walked in they stood up and welcomed us with open-hearts. They immediately started playing traditional African music for us and it wasn't long until we were all up and dancing to the beat.

We have only been here for two days, but Africa already has all of us wanting to see and learn more. Tomorrow is another adventure and we can't wait to share our experiences with you all!

Thank you for reading and caring!

Burkina Faso Travelers