Saturday morning Uniterra had arranged a driver for me to take me out sight seeing and shopping in and around Ouagadougou. I appreciated the morning I spent with Issa my driver and thanked him as he dropped me off back at the hotel around noon. I explained to him that I would be fine for the rest of the day and for tomorrow on my own, and I’d appreciate it if he picked me up early enough tomorrow so that he could get back to his home to watch the final match of CAN2013 (Burkina Faso and Nigeria) with his friends. Unfortunately this match was starting right when I was scheduled to be dropped off at the airport. Issa appreciated the gesture and was on his way.
Shortly after lunch my phone rang and it was Felix. Felix is a gentleman I had met in Yako. He lives in Ouagadougou and travels each week out to different regions to perform tax audits. The town of Yako is within his region and he lodges at the SEMUS hostel. While in Yako, we had chatted about the possibility of getting together when I was in Ouagadougou. After a bit of time on the phone (I find it even harder to understand a french conversation on the phone), I understood that Felix was coming to pick me up at the hotel. It turns out I was right; 35 minutes later Felix was out in front of the hotel. We drove out to his home (35 minutes outside Ouagadougou) to meet his family. I thought it was really nice how Felix appeared to be giving me directions to his home, should I ever return on my own…”see the 3rd street from the highway….just past the Alimentation….then just past this wall turn right…then…”. Arriving at Felix’s, I met his wife and 4 children. Sitting down, Mme KABORÉ explained that they had prepared a song for me and I was welcome to record it with my camera. What a neat experience to have 4 children and Mme KABORÉ sing with sincere passion a song of welcome to their home. We proceeded to share lunch together (which was lovely) and to continued discuss the differences between life in Burkina Faso and Canada. At one point, I shared with Felix that, “if I wasn’t looking out the window, I could be convinced that I was in a home in Canada”. Well, if you could only see his face. He looked up at his wife and you could just hear his eyes screaming out to her across the small coffee table “Did you hear that dear…did you hear it…just like Canada”…sincere and utter pride. As we left the KABORÉ home, I was presented with another example of the Burkina Faso culture to share with you. Mme KABORÉ came running out to the side of the car with a bag. In the bag were 2 large bricks of soap (1 for each of my children) and a dress for Bev. Can you imagine. The 3rd poorest country in the world and they are giving me gifts. Funny aside here, with my french being what it is, I understood the dress to be a blanket and I told Felix as we drove away ”I’m not giving this to Bev…I always look to purchase one of these when I travel”. Felix looked at me oddly and said…”non non c’est pour ta femme”. I replied “no way….I’m not giving this up…It’s all mine”. I’m sure he’s still scratching his head over that one.
As we drove home, I noticed that Felix was having a little trouble with the stick and clutch of this little car. At one point, as the car stalled climbing over an oversized speed bump in the road, he shared with me that they had just bought this car in November. He was still learning to drive. I immediately flashed back to the conversation Felix and I had on the phone earlier in the day. I now could recall a slight disappointment when he learned that I had dismissed my Uniterra driver for the day. Again, imagine the sacrifice he has made in inviting me to his home. I can tell you that clear lanes and other handy driving laws and regulations are not as prevalent in Ouagadougou. The huge exhale of relief Felix made as we pulled up to the front of the hotel was well deserved. He looked so relieved to park that car for even just 2 minutes.
As I watched, Felix pull away from the hotel, with 3 of his children in the back seat of his car, I thought how fortunate I was that he had called; that he had followed through with the invitation. When I compare travel experiences like this to visiting monuments, artisan markets and museums, being invited to someone’s home, meeting their family and breaking bread is on an entirely different level. I also reflected on the last time I stood in the lobby of this hotel. I was thinking of the porter, the Toureg artisan, and the Coiffeuse. I appreciated the fact that I had met so many people in Burkina Faso that had no agenda but my comfort and happiness. Always appreciated when you’re on the road.
Note: The preceding blog post was uploaded after I returned home
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