Ouagadougou!

I think that this is the craziest thing that I have ever done. I came to Burkina Faso with Pete. Neither of us knew anything about this country, how to get there, or even how to communicate with the people. We did know that this is a peaceful country and (I do feel very safe here now). My Ghanian visa expired because I left Ghana and now I have to get a new one. Luckily, it will be ready tomorrow and we will leave on a bus for Accra on Friday. I was pretty worried last night about how we were going to get around, but after waundering around today I know that we are going to be just fine. The people are so happy here and so kind. When it comes to buying things they will rip you off (like anywhere) but when we ask for directions they take us to the place and make sure we are taken care of and never expect a tip. We communicate through pointing or with the people that speak some English. It is definitely an adventure and I think that I should learn French this year.
Getting here was an adventure in itself. We went to the town of Hamile which is on the border. It is not the usual place to cross the border so I think that people were pretty shocked to see white people. Everyone from the village came out and welcomed us. They also were so hospitable and took us to the only guest house in town (a dark building by the bus station) Pete got bed bugs from the mattress but I fared alright. From the bus we met a man named Sabu who was also crossing the border. He was a bearded man that looks like Bob Marely but without the marijuana. He buys shirts in Burkina and sells them in Ghana. He waited for us outside of our guesthouse until we woke up to help us across. When we crossed, we tried to find out if I could bribe the guards to get back across with my visa (unfortunately they are honest) and we took the risk to cross the border and to deal with the problem here. We unfortunately missed the direct bus to ouagadougou and had to go in a van that made stops along the way. A man that we met from Hamile was on the bus (his name is Abass Rapid). He is a mechanic in ougo and he was coming here. We paid this bus to take us to Pa and switch buses to get to ouagadougou. On the way, we stopped about 15 times and it started to rain. Our bags were on the top and we were worried about wearing wet clothes the next couple of days. We also got a flat tire about 5 km before Pa and the jack broke so we (all 26 of us) just rode on the flat till the bus station. Pa was definelty a sight to see besides Ougadougou the rest of the country is very poor and it definitely has a different feel than Ghana. I actually felt that I was living in a national geographic (mud houses with straw roofs and walls inclosing the area, topless women, naked children, brama bulls, donkeys, the works!) When we got to Pa they tried to get us to pay more (in French and the indigenous language.) Luckily Abass was there and told them that we weren't going to pay anymore money. (which is a good thing because I think we had only $5 in Burkina cifa between the both of us although we had a couple of hundred in US that would be as good as toilet paper in the villages here) We finally reached the bank here in Burkina got some money. Because Pete is done with his journey after this (and the bed bugs weren't very fun) he has offered to pay for a good hotel for the time here and I chip in $10 a night. Abass, even though he hadn't seen his family in two weeks, got in a taxi and went with us to find a hotel, bank, etc. Finally an hour later he went home. Tired from the 10 hour journey that we had. I have to admit that I had a freak out moment on the bus thinking "what the heck have I got myself into!" but now I am very happy that I am here (because I know that there is a way back and a way to survive here.) All I can say is that I love Africans. They are the most giving people. On our way people gave us parts of their baguettes and sweet bread even though we were Americans and obviously rich enough to buy things for ourselves. They have offered their homes to us as strangers. They sacrifice time to make sure we are alright and take time to take us places. Africa is awesome! I really hope to come back here some day and hopefully have some french under my belt before.
Now lets get down to business. When Paul comes please have him bring some underwear for me! I don't think that my clothes are worth saving and they are stained with dirt. I love you guys and appreciate your emails
Scott
By the way, we just met a little boy with leprosy. I don't think that he knows it. He held Petes hand as I was talking to the guy we met off the street who took us to find the internet (which was a 15 minute walk). It is sad and you can only hope that he can get the cheap but couple month long treatment necessary. Humanity and reality of Africa