The journey around the world (Charlton to Boston, to Montreal, to Brussels, to Ouagadougou, to Abidjan) was long, but fairly uneventful. I think the most exciting part was the jammed baggage elevator in Montreal...
More than 24 hours after leaving Charlton, I made it to Abidjan with all of my bags and most of my wits. Mom and Dad met me at the airport and we took a taxi to the guest house.
Monday we spent running errands. An old ICA friend had sent me a bundle of basketball shorts to deliver to a pastor in Abidjan who works with youth. He gets them away from the drugs and alcohol on the city streets by getting them onto a soccer team. He invited us into his home and we drank coca cola while looking at pictures of the team. Then he mentioned a need for soccer balls, so we found him a few.
For supper, we walked down to Steers. There had been a lot of flooding recently, so the sidewalks were muddy and littered with refuse, with huge segments simply missing here and there. When we got to the restaurant, we discovered the power was out on the whole block. We pulled out our flashlights and headed into the dark grocery store to buy some veggies, then got a couple of fire roasted chickens from a street vendor on the walk back.
On Tuesday, we took the bus up north to Korhogo. We had to get up and out of the guest house early to be sure to find a taxi to get us to the bus station on time. We had front row seats, and the bus was air conditioned - a pleasant change from the old buses with the windows open and chickens running up and down the aisles.
With three stops for bathroom breaks in the tall grasses by the side of the road, we made it to the Dispensaire Baptiste in about seven hours. Then I unpacked before we went for a walk.
Our dinner time excitement that night was the small bat that flew by Dad's head as we were eating our beans and potatoes. Fortunately, Dad was able to catch it quickly and we sent him right back outside.
Wednesday was a relaxing day. I helped Mom sort through some of her papers, and I began making bracelets out of glow-in-the-dark beads to give to the children at the graduation ceremony on Friday.
In the evening, a Pedebe (Programme d'Enseignument Decentralise des Eglises Baptiste Evangelique) class that meets in a local village held their class in our living room. The 20 of us sat in a circle on couches and borrowed chairs and communicated in at least three different languages. They spoke for a bit, them scattered to take a test, then rejoined the circle to sing for a while, before finally presenting Mom and Dad with a thank you/good-bye gift - a beautiful wall hanging of Cote D'Ivoire. Then we had crackers and cookies while Mom and I worked on downloading audio copies of the bible in various languages for the students to use in their own ministries.
Today, I'm going to make a few more bracelets. Then the three of us will hop on the motorcycle (they've assured me we'll fit just fine) and go out to the Bible school. Later this afternoon, we'll hitch a ride with another missionary to an Internet cafe where I'm hoping to be able to upload this, and maybe post a few pictures.
The country is so different than I remember it, and yet so unchanged. It's good to be back.
