Hotel President Yamoussoukro

Et un pays de plus. Mais j ai une surprise en rentrant en cote d ivoire. Le drapeau que j ai vu flotter a la frontiere n etait pas du tout celui du pays, mais celui de la rebellion. Et la j ai du ceder a un des principes qui m est le plus cher : ne jamais donner d argent. J ai du payer pour rentrer 30 centimes (250 francs CFA), puis pour le tampon d entree (1 euro 20 =1000 francs CFA). J ai tout de meme "embeter" le ...

Previously on The Almost Amazing e-Race: An afternoon in Venice shuffled teams up, with some of the strongest teams ending up at the bottom of the pack. A detour exploring the traditional industries of Venice challenged some teams - Dean & Penne had a breakdown whilst lacemaking, and Boon-Mee discovered a new talent in glass-blowing. Lynda & Chhitij surged ahead when they took the first Fast Forward of the race ...

... 3 days of meetings were very useful in the opinion of all involved, and we all hope it will be possible to hold another similar session next year probably about the same time. The church hall should be completed in Togo by next year so we may hold the seminars in that neighboring country. I said my goodbyes all around, and made sure that everyone had what he needed to get home safely. The 11 men involved expressed their thanks to their ...

... usually the problem. The problem is maintaining it. This is a huge scourge in this part of the world. Very little is maintained: roads, buildings, electronics, air conditioning... So when something breaks, it's just left to get worse and worse. I guess I'm being pessimistic; perhaps they will maintain the air-conditioning, it is very pleasant! I checked in behind a group of Russians diplomatic personnel some of whom were accompanying sealed ...

... there is no breeze! It was just like a Gainesville summer. Oh yeah, and no one wears shorts. I asked someone from the Coke office why don't they - how do you answer a question like that? They are just not popular for some reason. Crazy. I was horrid at golf, though it was fun in a sick sort of way. It's kind of like skiing in that way. There is a lot of expensive equipment, and you are doing something man was seemingly not meant to do - but you are supposed to have so much fun. I think ...

... you about. Here goes: The regional drink by Coca-Cola is Fanta Cocktail d' Fruit which is a carboted fruit drink that has little bits of pulp floating in it. It looks a little strange, but it tastes great! The conversion rate between the local franc (which is a devalued from the French franc) is 520 to $1. When we go out to dinner it's fun to sign the AMEX bill for tens of thousands. :) The traffic at 6pm makes Atlanta rush hour look like a finely oiled machine. They actually have ...

... Abidjan, the flight attendant said "Bonjour" so I said "Bonjour" to be nice and then she started rattling off a bunch of French! I learned then not to use token French to be cute. :) All goes well until I get to the Abidjan airport with Clinton (the other guy from Atlanta on my team). We get in the line to get our passport checked and stamped, when this guys comes up to Clinton and starts talking to him. The guy was apparently saying "c ...