Incommunicado

So, why have we not been heard from lately? A combination of reasons (excuses really), but the one we will offer (because it comes with a ridiculous story) is that our computer was destroyed.


Get this: while Sam rode back from her workplace in Bamako one day she was struck at high speed by a motorcyclist. She was thrown from her bike a remarkably long distance. So far, in fact, one marvels at the fact that she was not seriously injured. How? One reason was Sam’s apparent bike surfing capabilities. Not unlike the wake surfing she did in Sierra Leone, she rode atop the skidding bike as long as possible until, like a wave, it all crashed down around her. She was thrown from the bike, skidding and rolling the rest of the way to a stop. She was shaken, with a tasty bit of road rash on her left arm and right palm. Miraculously, she received only bruises on her legs, no cuts (or even any rips to her pants)! Truly amazing for those who are familiar with Malian cloth (which is not exactly Carhart-type stuff or even cheesecloth-type stuff, for that matter). Another reason was that a goodly part of the collision was absorbed by our computer in the side-mounted saddlebag. There are certainly other reasons that she was not hurt badly that only Allah knows (we will certainly give him all due credit for the magic pants). She is unlikely to thank Him for the discomfort of having road debris cleaned out of her skin (which she did not appreciate) but in a place of such dubious sanitation that it has rarely been more necessary to thoroughly clean a wound (which she did appreciate).

Sam is now completely healed and even has a new bike to replace her broken one (courtesy of Kelly Jones leaving hers behind and is herself healed, great to hear!) which is why this incident is safe to report, as parents will always worry no matter the age their child.

The computer has been replaced, so our list of excuses dwindles...

2010

All this time we enjoyed joking about E.T.ing (early terminating of our service) on New Year’s Day 2010. That way we could say that we were in Peace Corps for 2008, 2009 and 2010. While it was sound reasoning, we had not anticipated that we would be too tired from celebrating to go through with it, nor did we think that at the end of the year we might want to stay. Much to our surprise, we actually have got some stuff to get done in the coming year. So, we will stay as volunteers a while longer yet.

So what happened during the last year? Let’s review a couple of the highlights of 2009:
-We lived in West Africa for the first (and likely last) complete year.
-We visited with rebels in Cote d’Ivoire.
-We consumed a lifetime worth of peanuts.
-We saw elephants, albino crocodiles, hippos, monkeys, baboons, and more in the wild.
-We fled from one escaped giant monitor lizard at the Dakar zoo.
-We hiked in the famous Dogon country.
-We moved from the desert to the big city.
-We compiled the biggest postcard wall in West Africa (and still growing!).
-We actually worked a little.
-We (Sam) were struck by motorcycles.
-We (Mark) witnessed African championship soccer games.
-We became an aunt and uncle for a fourth time.
-We said goodbye to old friends.
-We welcomed new friends.
-We really started to like Mali.

Tons of other great stuff (they added a huge mound of severed donkey heads to the lion exhibit at the Bamako zoo!) and not so great stuff (watched Thierry Henry dribble a soccer ball like it was a basketball, damn his heart) occurred during the course of this past year but we won’t bore you with every detail. Let us just say that it was a hell of a year, filled with trials and tribulations, of course, but also more rewarding moments than we deserve. They always seem to turn out that way.

The Holidays

The New Year is upon us and it could not have arrived in a more different setting. Last year we spent New Year’s Eve in our mud house on the edge of the Sahara. This year we spent New Year’s Eve on the rooftop of a Bamako mansion sipping champagne and watching fireworks. Last year, New Year’s Day was a normal village day. This year it was going on a hash run (see link) followed by a double helping of the cheesy lasagna and an ice cold beer. While both of these days were great in their own ways, I think we agree that this year was better. Not because of the goings on, although they were delightfully distracting, but because they occurred a full year closer to seeing our family and friends again.

Christmas was great too. We spent Christmas Eve at our friend Bethanne’s house across town. See had a tree and lights and cookies baking. It really made us long for home. Fortunately, she had plenty of beer too, so we were distracted.

Christmas morning was spent with fellow PCVs Ryan and Ester, who came over to enjoy a fabulous breakfast that Sam cooked. She had specially set aside some of the eggs with vegetables for Ryan, as he is a vegetarian. She then threw in some bacon (a Christmas miracle!) for the rest of us. Ryan looked a bit sad and that she could put some in his too. Sam and I were confused until Ester cleared things up with a friendly, “He’s a poser.”

We had the most elaborate Christmas dinner either of us have been a part of for a long, long time at our friends Jim and Melissa’s house. The intentionally ambiguous “Festive attire” request on the invitation was designed to see what people would come up with and we nailed it (or at least we felt we did and that is all that matters) by commissioning matching Christmas clothes made out of commemorative baby Jesus material we got over at the cathedral. There was turkey and lamb and more wine than you could shake your Fula shepard’s stick at! It was a marathon of merry-making.

We were too poor to give each other gifts so we decided to give each other haircuts instead. We were too lazy to actually perform the task. Maybe we’ll save that gift for Valentine’s Day! Fortunately we had lots of gifts to open from our families. They have been taking care of us unconditionally from afar. We have talked for months about the need for a doormat, so we pulled a west African move and just waited and waited and finally some toubabs sent us one for free. That move really does work! Thanks uncle Tommy and aunt Kathy (he fancies himself quite clever sending us a Boston College doormat to wipe our feet on, little does he know we have a Boston University toilet seat!)