Burkin Fasso

I left for Burkina Faso on the plane at 12 A.M and we arrived around 1 P.M. Looking down and the wet, crowded landscape my first reaction was not of shock at it's battered state, but of excited to go explore it. The currency here is CFA and the exchange means 5,000 CFA = 10$. On Monday i had a free day because it was expected i would crash from jet lag but luckily for me i don't get jet lagged :). I started the day out by going to a guide my mother had hired on her last trip, who graciously led me to La Boulangerie (the bread store) where i bought some croissants and a pain au chocolat (chocolate filled bread. As you can see i'm being incredibly healthy :) ) I don't know if its the fact that they specialize in delicious bread or that the people are super friendly but i adore boulangeries. It's a good thing i had him to guide me because crossing the street can be a little harrowing. Of course there's no official cross walks and there a few stop lights ( which im not sure of their purpose), so your best bet is to look both ways and walk as fast as you can across, whilst avoiding cars and the wildly popular motorcycles that crowd the roads. Next i Decided to travel to Le Grande Marche ( The Market place) to check it out. I thought it woudl be fairly straightforward, and technically it was. The hardest part was crossing the streets. On the way there i met a nice man who had grown up near Nazingue, who helped me get to the market because he waas going there any ways to see his father's stall. He told me he had 17!! siblings back home and that he was an artisan. The market was huge and bustling with activity. Every couple stalls someone would call out Ca va or bonjour and try to get to me to come look at their stall. My friend was very helpful in making sure i didnt got into each of these stalls. Of course i went to check out his father's stall because i felt that i owed him a thanks for escorting me. Thats all i have time for now but i'll continue my story when i return. Thanks for reading -Katie