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!)

West Africa's Largest Postcard Collection Grows!

We moved to a new postcard wall! Our friends and family are so amazing that we are not only be able to decorate a part of our living room but have now moved on to what we’ll call our "solarium" (which is actually more of a sandarium). At least once a day we check them out. It is inspires us to see where you all travel. It cracks us up to see what ludicrous cards you can find. It makes us nostalgic to see where you all live. Most of all, it heartens us to know what amazing support we have.

There were some serious travelers in this batch and some great scenes from all over, on the homefront and beyond.

Our friend Kelly “Big Red” Huster from Jackson, Wyoming, touched on a little of both themes when she crossed the entire country and sent us a postcard from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her first time to Fenway Park was almost as exciting as a mention on our blog!

The Traveling Campbells continue their amazing string of journeys, checking in from sites as far a field as Tucson and Scotland. We are starting to wonder if they are ever at home.


Kelly Jones got all the way to South Africa for some safari stew before being sent back to america. She says that she is home in Colorado now but we are not sure, having no postcard-o-graphic evidence to confirm this fact.

We do know Steve Bory and Natalie Mette-Bory made it safely home to Chesapeake Bay. They also completed a swing through the southwest states, from which our postcard wall should benefit, insh’allah.

The "Ice Queen", Liz Becker, completed a lengthy trek herself. She checked in from Utah and Saugatuck, Michigan and Washington Crossing Historic Park in Pennsylvania on her way to the east coast after her eighteen-day float down the Grand Canyon. She sent us a postcard from the bottom of “the ditch” that was carried out partly by mule, a form of transport normally only occuring on the Malian end of things!

Our friends Nicole and Andrew Wallace sent one from far away but not quite from the road. They have moved to Orleans, France. The majestic chateaux seem a bit more appealing than the mud brick huts they had been accustomed to in Mali.


RPCV Emily Doerr is killing it on the postcard front, having checked in from Seattle and Portland, Oregon and from McMinnville, Tennessee on her way to the nation's capital where she sent a ridiculous card of the first family. We expect the cards to continue coming since, at last check, she didn’t have one of those pesky job things that might inhibit postcard writing.

PCV Therese Pasichnyk sent us one from Cadiz, Spain, where she traveled with her family. They apparently wanted to go as close to Africa as possible without actually stepping foot on the Dark Continent. You can practically see Morocco from there!

Casey and Matt Stratford got all the way to Iceland. This would normally be an impressive postcard except when compared to the other two absurd cards they sent out: Sam and Mark’s wedding and on the Jackson Hole Gondola with Sam and Mark. Awesome!

We even received a card all the way from Malaysia sent by a Choong Chee Yen, who is apparently making postcard wall as well. It is a small world!

Speaking of outlandish postcards, Kevin Coughlan has really hit his stride. He has been specializing in touristy Wyoming kitsch. From the stuffed bears asking that more tourists be sent because the last ones were delicious, to the bizarre owl claiming it misses us, to the legendary fur bearing (due to the extremely cold waters) trout and the elusive Jackalope, he has been nailing it.

Ben Carlisle sent Baroque Obama. Enough said.

Brian Hannon has recently been specializing in eccentric British cards with old ads for Brylcreem and a not so subtle claim from the MG car company that their vehicle will increase your chances with the ladies.

Brian’s friend Denis Moran lives in Santa Barbara and studies Africa as part of his reference publisher gig. Judging from the picture of the area, we suggest he continue working from afar, it is much nicer.

Ex-roomie Jon Scheibel continues his subtle pitch to get us to return to western Wyoming by sending cards from Jackson Hole and Yellowstone National Park.

Laura Cuddie and John Morgan reminded us of the beautiful scenery of the Teton Range. It is fun to show pictures like that to Malians, they are always blown away.

Back on the east coast, Jay and Jenni sent us one of their new hometown Media, Pennsylvania. This was less to show the beauty of their town and more so that Jay could point out his local coffee shop in the photo. The thought of a sandwich where the egg is not deep-fried and that has bacon and cheese on it is too much for us to fathom at this point. The Hannons went international too, kind of. Jay, Jenni and Frank sent one from Quebec City.

The Lavers have moved up to New Hampshire and sent a view of the Mt. Washington Valley. It reminds us of when we were able to see Mt. Washington from the dock at Sam’s family cottage on Lake Winnipesauke, a long time ago in galaxy far, far away where it is safe to touch the water.


Norma Crichton continues her come home to Bangor, Maine campaign with a card of the Thomas Hill Standpipe. Mark could still to this day ride a bike to his childhood home blindfolded from that particular landmark if the need arose.

Tom and Cathy Hannon sent a beautiful view of Scituate harbor in Massachusetts. It makes us want to see the ocean and eat fish from water which can be smelled miles away for its saltiness and not its raw sewage.

The same goes for Cousin Cindy’s card from Rye harbor, New Hampshire. Also, considering Rhode Island’s diminutive size, the large format postcard she sent from there gave us a chuckle. Mostly, though, it is her postcard of New England fall foliage that looks quite a bit like the farm road near Sam's house that makes us miss home.




Thanks everyone for your reminders of where we’ve been, where we're going and what we should put in our hair.









Kevin Coughlan summed it up nicely:

Posh Corps

Its official, we have transferred from Peace Corps to Posh Corps. Moving to Bamako a few months ago from Yelimané has been less like moving towns and more like changing of planets. While we certainly still have challenges in our daily lives, when compared to village life it feels like we are on vacation.

Get this: there are these switches on the walls of our house that, when toggled, turn on and off lights without any batteries or matches!

There are these metal pipe things which bring water into the building itself. It comes out a shower! Not only that, but there are other pipes which take dirty water away from the toilet in our house. Granted, most wastewater eventually empties untreated into the river not far from here but at least it is not collected in a cesspool outside the concession wall for children to play in (they only have donkey poop to throw at each other, dommage).

We have a bed that is not made of bamboo, a table with chairs and a sofa. We have tiles on our floor instead of concrete and paving stones. We have fans to move the swelteringly hot air around and dry our sweat. We get the BBC on the radio, so we know a little about what happens in the world. We even have (want can only be called) an easy bake oven. Best of all, we have a little refrigerator for cold water!

Work life is different in Bamako. We hesitate to describe it because it still is not that interesting for the American reader. Suffice it to say that it exists, which is a big step up from village. While the village life was relaxing and culturally enriching it could also be torturously slow. We would often reach our limit of reading books and playing with children but the only alternative was often staring off at the horizon for hours on end. In the city the time passes faster, which is good.

We have done so many things in town that we never had the opportunity to do out on the edge of the desert. We’ve swum in pools, we’ve gone to soccer matches in stadiums, we’ve been to concerts performed by famous Malians, we meet friends once a week for drinks, we eat chicken! We are no longer out at the end of a seldom-traveled spoke of a desolate wheel but at the hub of the country, so we see people a lot more. Time goes fast enough that we actually have to manage it!

And time runs short these days. It is hard to believe that we are in single digits for months left in Mali. By way of clarification, Peace Corps is a two year service after swearing-in (front row, with shades). This means that that count only began when training finished, two months after our arrival. Those of you who expected us back in July will be surprised to hear that our technical last day of service is September 11th, 2010. That is not when we arrive home, however, as we will likely travel around for an undetermined time. Not to mention that due to administrative constraints that day could be a month before or a month later, nor is it including any extensions past that or early end dates for which might possibly be applied. Is that clear enough?

So, while we really have no idea when we will be home to the States, you will be happy to know that this place has become an acceptable home in the meantime.

(Its a sweet pad, Avril is always hangin' out at our place...)

Holidays

We recently marked two holidays, Thanksgiving and Tabaski. These are strikingly similar. Although one is religious and one is not, they both are marked by gluttonous consumption of meat. Thanksgiving has its turkeys to commemorate the survival of the Pilgrims thanks to the cooperation of the Native Americans. Tabaski has its rams to commemorate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his only son, Ismail, to prove himself to god. The bottom line is that an animal is killed and folks gorge themselves. These two separate cultural holidays happened to fall two days apart this year, which made for the tastiest week ever.

Since Tabaski was on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and it is the biggest holiday in Mali, the Peace Corps crew who live in Sikasso held their annual feast early, on the preceding Monday. This was perfect for us because it meant we got to go there and pig out on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and maybe a beer or two and still make it back to Bamako to go to the U.S. Ambassador’s residence on Thanksgiving itself for more of the same! This was our Mali version of Thanksgiving with the Hannons and then driving to New Hampshire for Thanksgiving with the Briggs. Score!
Tabaski is celebrated by virtually all Malians and that means that the same move could be pulled for this holiday too. We spent the morning with our family cutting up animals and cooking then we headed to our tutor’s place for a feast with his friends. After that, we came back
home only to eat even more with the family again before they returned to the mosque dressed in their finest. Normally, everyone gets new clothes made for the occasion but since we rarely wear Malian clothes in Bamako our “swear-in” outfits were new to them.

(Sam with our host family in Bamako)

We ended the evening in an untraditional fashion watching a France versus New Zealand rugby at the bar. Heck, we are even culturally exchanging with Kiwis!

Happy Thanksgiving

Just a quick note to let everyone know we are doing well. Another Turkey Day without the family but at least there was turkey this time. We headed over to the U.S. Ambassador's residence for a feast she was throwing for those less fortunate (read: Peace Corps Volunteers). We were treated to turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, veggies and wine and we didn't have to clean one dish. That's the life!

We recognize that the updates have been lacking recently. While this is partly due to a little computer snafu we'll explain later, it is mostly just us being lazy. Too lazy to even make up excuses. We'll get on that.

In the meantime, here is an update on the mummified cat:

It has returned to the earth.