Shopping in Ouaga

What a mix of smells, sounds, and colors! This particular market is huge and covers several blocks with mazes of stalls. We only covered one trail and some off-shoots and were there over an hour. Some shopkeepers were passive, waiting as we looked around, but others were more aggressive and hawked their wares to us. Many let me take their photos and called their friends to come see them on my digital camera, but a few wanted money for the right to take a photo (which I declined). I bought some fabric for a dress (more later), some scarves ($1.50 each!), and Bob found some decent sandals. Raw meat and fish were laid out on tables and they would fan flies off of them periodically. One stall had a big pan of homemade peanut butter sitting open to dip from. Fat pigeons would steal grain from the open bins. There was a large pen with chicken wire which held about 100 live chickens for sale. I don't know if they butchered them or if you took them home to butcher them yourself. Next we went to Marina Market in the downtown marketplace. It is the largest of 4, and had a small selection of European foods -- at a steep price. Heidi wanted some cheddar cheese for our dinner. She paid about $1o.oo/lb. We bought some chips (all they sell is Pringles elsewhere), some real toilet paper, and a few other odds and ends. $35.00! Then we headed down the street to get some fruits and vegetables. Now that was an experience. As soon as we pulled into the parking space, we were invaded by at least a dozen women constantly tapping on the windows and actually throwing food into the truck for us to buy. We'd hand it back and tell them what we wanted, but they would keep trying to get us to buy more. Talk about aggressive!

I had to pick up some medication for my problematic stomach, so we went to an open pharmacy. Only a few are open during lunch time, and they rotate. The pharmacist (a woman!) looked at the laboratory analysis and then "prescribed" medication for the results. I go on Monday to get more comprehensive results and if needed, a doctor will prescribe more. It doesn't seem serious, but I'll know more details on Monday. So far, no parasites! :-)

On the way, we took Xavier, a playmate of Jakob, home. The nanny/housekeeper gave us a tour of the house, and it was palatial compared to the norm. The (American) Mom works for Catholic Relief Fund and they provide the house for them. It has an English garden in back with a waterfall and......grass!!

Later, with fabric in hand, we went to a tailor that Heidi has used before. These little shops are everywhere because the women take such pride in their clothes. You see them riding bicycles, motorbikes, and walking in their gorgeous dresses of vivid colors. Some are very intricate. Even some of the housekeepers dress nicely to go to work and change into cleaning clothes and change back when they leave work. Anyway, the tailor showed me photo albums of his work and I chose a combination of styles to which he added some scallops and borders. These tailors conceive these ideas in their heads and then just start cutting. It's amazing! He sketched the final design to show me, took my measurements, and then the haggling started. I admit, I don't like to haggle, but they make the initial price so outrageous (thankfully, Heidi knows where the cost should land), that you have to get them to come down. That took about 20 minutes! Then we had to negotiate when it should be ready. I'll let you know if it really happens. I can see why the simplest tasks we take for granted in the states would take all day here!!