After 3 nights in Ouaga, it was time for our first road trip. We loaded up early Monday morning for the 5-hour drive to Bobo, where the Matheny's are renting a house.
We travelled African-style, with all of our belongings strapped to the top of our car.
There were 10 of us in the car: our 4, the Matheny 5, and Paul, Philip's language tutor. Not 10 minutes into our trip, we were pulled over by the police! I can't tell you how stressful that experience was! We were so thankful to have Paul with us since none of us are fluent in French. It turned that some of the paperwork said only 9 people could ride in our car even though it had 10 seatbelts! Apparently, white people get pulled over a lot in Burkina since we probably have money to pay a bribe. That's what happened here. The police officer asked for a certain amount of money, and Philip offered him less. He took the money, and we were back on the road, praying that was the only time we got stopped!
About halfway into the trip, a tummy ache set in for poor Reef. We stopped once at a gas station, where it took them awhile to even find a toilet, and Troy says it was the worst toilet he's ever seen! The next time we stopped, it was in some bushes on the side of the road.
FINALLY, after 7 hours in the car, we arrived in the city of Bobo. I'd say this road trip might have been my least favorite part of the whole trip. Can you see the mosque in the back of this picture? It has logs sticking out of it; my boys were sure they could climb to the top using those logs.
The Bobo house has bunnies!
Upon arrival at the house, we sat down to a typical Burkina meal of "rice and sauce" that the housekeeper had left for us. While not my favorite meal ever, Sara and I were thankful not to have to cook dinner.
Reef woke the next day feeling much better. The kids set out to explore the gardens and feed the bunnies.
The plan for our only full day in Bobo was to visit the local orphanage. First, we drove to pick up Paul.
The amount of stuff they piled on the buses amazed us!
These guys were playing outside Paul's gate.
This is where this neighborhood goes to get water.
Another bus/bush taxi.
I have tons of pictures from the orphanage, but the director asked us not to put them on the internet. You'll just have to ask to see them in person. The orphanage was tough; the smell was enough to make me run back outside. The toddlers were excited to see us, and then we headed to the baby room. There were 7 or 8 babies on a rug in a room all by themselves. Oh, how I wanted to bring some home with me! Jonas struggled with the smell and too much attention from a toddler almost as big as him, so he headed outside, but Reef loved those babies. He says this was the highlight of the trip for him!
That night we had smoothies for dinner, celebrated the arrival of another care package for the Matheny's, and presented Emily and Titus with letters from the Northside kids.
Then Philip and Troy headed out to have tea with Jack, the night guard. They were gone for a really long time!
They had special tea (in a glass that Jack cleaned with his finger), visited with other guards on the street, and learned that Jack is armed with a slingshot that shoots both rocks and arrows.
Troy thought is was so cool that he bought it from him for Survivor.
After 2 short nights in Bobo, we were on the road again to visit the Richters, the Oak Hills missionaries in Dano. Before leaving town, we visited Paul one more time. These guys were trying to pick mangoes just outside his gate.
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