Biking Basics

November 29, 2011

So I as currently write this, I’m sitting in the pharmacy, 8pm at night (wow – many nights I’m in bed by this time!), letting my computer to charge while I simultaneously give a mini computer lesson.  Well, to be honest, as I’m obviously typing this right now, clearly, I’m not giving a lesson on technology…I’m in fact waiting for my “student” who just returned from working in his field. And yes, I now know the pharmacy owner’s name – it’s Augustin… and it only took me a couple months to learn that!  Anywho, I’m waiting for Augustin, who happens to be waiting for his marmite (large pot) full of water to heat over the fire so he can wash/bathe with l’eau chaut this evening, because the “cold” has arrived.   Yes, it’s the start of cold season, and I love it.  It’s still above 80 degrees right now, but I’m comfortably wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and though I don’t think it’s nearly as “cold” as the Burkinabe find the low 80’s to be (they wear scarves and sweatshirts), I could probably go for putting a thin jacket or long sleeve shirt on right now and feel relatively comfortable.  Maybe I’d be a little warm, but not too bad. I’d compare the weather right now to being very similar to Minnesota’s fall season.  Mornings and evenings are chilly, though afternoon temps can still be quite warm with the sun (here, “quite warm” means 100+ degrees).  Furthermore, also fall-like, are the leaves and plants, which are changing colors (aka dying) and falling to the ground because there hasn’t been rain in 2 months.   Amusingly, in the mornings around 6-7am, it is truly kinda cold, as in about 70 degrees.  Lately I’ve been wrapping a pagne (thin sheet of fabric, like a blanket) around my shoulders when I crawl out of bed and head to the kitchen to heat water for my breakfast oatmeal and tea or hot chocolate.  The villagers tell me that the cold is beginning, and soon I’ll be wearing sweatshirts all the time like them and sleeping with several thick blankets.  I look forward to it. 

Also, speaking of weather and cooler temperatures, morning and late afternoon bike rides (or walks/runs) have become a new obsession of mine.  It’s SO nice out when the sun is rising or just beginning to set, and usually there’s even a breeze.  (“Breeze” might be a bit of an understatement.  The wind is often insanely strong and sometimes there’s even dust twisters that form and rip across the land). I’ve been doing a good amount of biking lately – today I went to Di (21km away), hung out with my friend Vida, the volunteer there, checked out their marché, and then biked back home.  All in all, about 42km, which is about 25 miles.  I was pretty proud of myself for: first of all, not dying and being totally exhausted either at Vida’s house or when I got back to my village, and second of all, making the one-way trip in just over an hour.  Approximately 20km/hour = awesome, especially considering the fact that it’s not like these are highways or bike paths that I’m riding on….these are gravel roads with bumps and potholes and cowtracks…you gotta have your eyes on the road constantly, or you might run over a thorn and pop a tire, or you could dip down in a magically-appearing 8-inch deep hole/crevice in the ground, causing you to fall off your bike.  Also, the other day, I left my house at 6am and went for a bike ride to Kassoum (about 17km away) and back, all in one shot.  So about 35km altogether, nonstop.  That took me just over 2 hours -- the wind was pretty strong going out, and by the time I was coming back, my legs were getting fatigued -- and so I was back to my village by before 8:15am.  Not a bad way to start the day.  Eventually, I’d like to be able to bike to Tougan, my regional capital and nearest “city” with access to Internet, a post office, the bank, omelet and onion sandwiches (eggs are scarce, if not completely non-existent this time of year in village), canned tuna, cold yogurt, and a hotel decked out with air conditioning and showers in each room.  Tougan is 42km from Lanfiera, which means it’s about an hour by bus (provided the bus doesn’t break down), or – I’m hoping! – just over 2 hours by bike (provided I can maintain my 20km/hour speed and avoid getting a flat tire).  I have several reasons for my crazy goal of being able to bike to Tougan:

1.       Good exercise – gotta burn off all those white empty carbs I eat with my villagers somehow… Also, a white girl biking through African brousse isn’t nearly as “weird” as a white girl running through African brousse.  Why is she running? Is she being chased by a wild animal?  It’s for fun!?!  Who does that?  What a strange thing to do.  …..Although, no matter if I’m walking, running, or biking, I will still look weird to Burkinabe.  What is she wearing?  Capris (not a skirt?!?!), a bright, solid-colored t-shirt, and those things on her feet that aren’t flip-flops…they’re called tennis shoes?  How odd.

2.       Excellent opportunity to check out the terrain and see the sights…which mainly consist of flat red land and odd-shaped bushes…and occasionally a random collection of several mudhuts, a herd of animals, and a bunch of people (i.e. men drinking tea out of tiny glass cups while watching their wives work, naked kids playing with old tires, and semi-naked women doing housework while simultaneously breastfeeding a baby) …this is what is called a village.  Welcome to Africa.

3.       Saves me money.  If I bike to Tougan, I don’t have to pay for the bus ticket.  Okay, okay, so the bus only costs 1.000 CFA (a mille) there and another mille on the way back.  A grand total of 2.000 CFA aka $4.00 American.  Big deal. But hey, 2 mille in my pocket is a nice chunk of change.  I could drink 5 cold bottles of coke, pay a tailor to make me a dress, buy enough fruits and veggies at the marché to last me a week…

4.       A chance to be “alone” and have thinking time, or just zone out to the harmonies coming through my ipod.  Often times in village, it’s really hard to be alone.  There are constantly people who want to greet you…feed you…or just stare at you for hours at a time because you’re so strange (gosh, stop being so weird, you Americans). Also, Burkinabe culture doesn’t really have a sense of solitude like we Americans have.  In general, I think it’s safe to say that we Americans like our alone time.  Sure, we like people, but sometimes, we need to be alone.  And for Peace Corps Volunteers, I think this is especially true.  I mean, after all, if we’re capable of “leaving” our home and families and friends for 2 years, we probably kinda more-so-than-most-people really like our alone time…. Burkinabe don’t understand this.  But a bike ride is a good way to get alone time without looking overly strange and weird like we do when we sit inside the house for an hour reading a book (alone, of course).  What is she doing staring at that collection of papers?  It’s called a book? What’s that? Wait…she’s not studying? She’s reading purely for enjoyment? Who reads?  In fact, who even knows how to read? Everyone I know is illiterate…

5.       The pride and sense of accomplishment that comes with being able to say, “Yeah, that’s right.  I biked 25 miles this morning just to use the Internet, take a real shower, and eat a cold yogurt.  What’d you do?”