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On Wednesday I had a very exciting last day in Ouagadougou riding around with Maria's driver Lassina, eating roasted plantains and walking around markets. We visited the artisan village designed expressly for tourists, where they sold expensive interesting things that did not really remind me of Burkina, after which Lassina observantly noted that perhaps it is not the things one brings back from a journey but the feelings.

I had a small entourage who accompanied me to the airport, including my friend Josione, who drove all the way from Sapone to wave goodbye. Yedi got a nose bleed right before we left, but insisted on coming anyway, getting to accompany me all the way through customs. We made quite a pair; him with blood all over his shirt and tissue in his nostril and me walking bent over at the middle because of some stomach nasties.

The flights home were long, and watching the African landscape slide away under the clouds was sad. It suddenly felt as though I really hadn't been there much time at all. Walking around the domed airport in Paris and then feeling the cool whipping wind of New York on my face brought me a feeling of whirling in which surreal state I've been floating for the past 24 hours. I plan on writing up a trip report and putting together a slide show in the coming week, and though I have a lot of digesting and readjusting to do, I would be happy to share both once I catch my breath.