Day Six & Seven: On manque the sleep

 Apologies for the lack of blog yesterday!  Our night didn't go exactly as we had planned and I ran out of time.  Don't worry, we're all still in good health and inching our way along the map. 

Yesterday was supposed to be a "car day."  The distance between points A and B were too long, so two cars were supposed to transport us from Kim Hover's site to our next destination.  The problem was that the driver who wasn't with us had other duties and wasn't able to pick us up until about 4 PM.  We hung out with Kim all day, meeting the chef du village...

...washing and mending clothes, playing games, and--what we do best--eating.  At a local maquee, we found a delicacy on the menu (which included all of 4 things)--sheep testicles.  In the grand spirit of adventure, how could we pass up such an opportunity? Yum! (not really).

When our driver, Nana, arrived, we loaded up, said goodbye to the mayor...

...and headed off.  The roads were TERRIBLE for cars, potholes everywhere, and many of us were carsick.  We dropped new PCV Jenn Cook off at her site (Sara and Kim--both from the newest training group--had taken transport home that morning), and continued on.  Not too far down the road, one of our vehicles started overheating and we had to stop.  Luckily, we're incredibly privileged nisarra/toubabou and have a computer with us.  Under a brilliant sky of stars, with a crowd of Burkinabe women and children watching along, with motos and animales passing not far from our mat, and with our two drivers working under popped hoods, we watched a movie.  It was both absurd and hilarious.

 
 By the time we got the car repaired enough to drive on, got dinner in Mani (we pronounced it "money"), and got to Emma Prasher's site, it was after midnight.  Yet, the tour goes on--we were up and on the road by 6:45 AM this morning.  Here are our stats for the day:

Total distance:  460 km
Today's distance:  71.2 km
Speed:  Really slow
Temperature:  Really hot
Wind: Really strong (for bikers, anyway)
Overall difficulty:  A 7.7 on the sweat index

Emma continued to try out new ways to keep herself out of the sun and look stylish at the same time...

...and we saw some interesting local art...

After a good meal, a dip in a strangely colored, algea-filled pool (we're staying in an auberge tonight! Yay for showers and beds), and finishing up our movie, we're all just about comatose.  Bed time!