It's about 7:45 PM here in Guiba, and we're getting ready to bed down for the night. A little on the early side, you say? Well, we're freshly showered, our tummies our full of delicious benga (bean dish with an oil and onion sauce), and we've just biked nearly 85 kilometers. Also, we'll be on the road tomorrow by 5:30!
Last night we all gathered in Po for a kick-off celebration, organized by PCV Neal Lepsetz. We had a dance/drum troupe, speeches by prominent community members and PC bureau staff (CD Shannon Meehan, the mayor, etc.), sodas, and--as almost always happens when PCV's and Burkinabe get together--dancing.
This morning, we all assembled on the road leading from Po to Ouagadougou and the Haute Commisariate, standing as if she had a starting pistol, signaled our departure. I'm pretty sure most Burkinabe think we're actually racing; they're probably a tad confused when they see our leisurely pace. We started out our tour with 9 volunteers: Marita Whalen, Julie Lishansky, Neal Lepsetz, Kirsten Krudwig, Rob Hartwig, Josh Gwinn, Rachel Whetstone, Jon Bressler, and Emma Prasher.
We biked in near-perfect conditions today. The weather was cool and breezy with overcast skies; the road was paved (and paved well!) for most of the way; and our bikes were in fine order. We biked a total of 83.7 kilometers, with a top speed of 45 kph (that was all Rob and Josh) and an average speed of 20 kph. We also made fantastic time--4 hours and 9 minutes was all it took.
Tomorrow we'll be biking about 90 kilometers, and it will probably be a much harder day. The road is not paved, and it has been raining recently. Should be a muddy time!
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