Hello, Yamoussoukro!!

We've arrived safely to Yamoussoukro and we LOVE it here already! We traveled on a coach bus, by ourselves for our first public transportation! Pastor Djedje and Parfait got us all set, buying tickets, getting us bread and water for the trip, putting our luggage away, and getting us insurance for the bags, just in case! The trip was uneventful and took a little under four hours. We stopped a few times so the food vendors could come up to the windows if people needed a snack. There was also a short "bathroom" break when about twenty men and the driver got off the bus and went to the bathroom facing the field, not minding the coach bus and highway behind them! It was not an equal opportunity.

Pastor Prowell, the District Superintendent for the Central Distric of Cote d'Ivoire, picked us up at the bus station and took us to our hotel. The Catholic guest house we were supposed to stay in wasn't available, so we have two of the three rooms at this small hotel. Sarah and I estimate our room is about 9' x 9', including the bathroom! Really, the bed takes up most of the room! In the bathroom, the toilet is about a foot away from the showerhead, with no separation of a curtain or tub, just a drain in the corner. We haven't really figured out how to shower without soaking the entire bathroom yet! We went to Pastor Prowell's home and met Pastor Gomez, the pastor of the Nazarene church here. We had rice and fish around 5, talked for a bit, then walked back to the hotel to clean up. Around 8, we walked back to the pastor's house for dinner! This time they cooked American food for us :) We had french fries, fried chicken, deviled eggs, and bread!

On each of our walks around the city here, we marveled at how different Yamoussoukro is from Abidjan! The people here describe the city as one big village, and that's really how it feels. The roads are large and we can walk six across without any worry of traffic. Actually, a car only goes by every minute or two, not like the traffic in Abidjan with taxis honking at us every 20 seconds and people trying to sell things to us. It is very spacious, very quiet, and feels like the country. We love seeing the green landscape and smelling the fresh air! It is really wonderful.

Today was scheduled for a day of rest, but thankfully the Sellers picked us up this morning so we weren't in our tiny rooms for the day. Their son Leigh and his friend Joe are here on holiday from the high school they board at in Senegal. Today we saw what I think is the most incredible man-made structure I've seen in my entire life - the Catholic Basilica of Yamoussoukro. Mr. Sellers dropped the six of us off and we got a tour from a man who knew English. (The guys are bilingual, so that helps, too!) The basilica is the tallest cathedral in the entire world! Our guide told us that crews worked day and night for three years to create it, a 40 story building could fit inside the cathedral, and the entire sides are made of stained glass with Biblical pictures. Words cannot explain the majesty of the building! Please Google pictures and see for yourself!

After our outing, Mr. Sellers drove us around showing the area, then we came to their beautiful home for lunch! They have a very large porch with flower bushes and ivy growing up the sides. They have lawn furniture and a huge table where we ate. Their yard is full of flowers and shrubs, and again, it's so quiet and relaxing here! We are all extremely grateful for their hospitality and for helping us get used to the area. In fact, I'm using Leigh's computer to post this right now! Tomorrow we're heading into a village to pray and hand out tracs, so pray for opportunities there!