Out of Range Again

The good news is we made it back to Mali. The bad news is that it is full on hot season, which means it is uncomfortable in Bamako. As we did last year, we planned to flee the country during a portion of this time. We are still going on our vacation, regardless of having been home recently,since we have been looking forward to it for a year.

We will be gone to Burkina Faso and Ghana for quite some while, during which you will not hear from us much (read: not at all). This radio silence does not necessarily mean we are in trouble, although we will try to get in some situations worth reporting for your reading pleasure. It probably just means that we are either having a great time or not near the internet. Knowing what we know of the rest of west Africa it is likely that both are the case.

Thank you for your mail

The fantastic cards keep pouring in. We had some seriously far-flung ones since last report. We also had quite a few first-timers getting on the wall, always nice. Time is running short, so get yours to us!

The Travelling Cambells continue to lap the planet, checking in twice from Ireland and Scotland. They also made it to Costa Rica, Italy and Denmark. A strange set of cards too, everything from a baby pig’s backside from Finland to a woman in California.










The Schiebels of Littleton, Colorado went all the way down to Patagonia and thought to send us one from there. We thank them and look forward to imposing on their hospitality again sometime soon.

Emily Doerr’s new job (which is not new by this point but we kind of live in a vacuum) sent her to Vegas, baby! What is says on the card stays on the card.

Janice Deering is doing well. She sent us two from the beaches Costa Rica, where she was kicking back. We’ve been meaning to get there for years ourselves, it looks incredible.

“Kevin Coughlan continues his hilarious postage onslaught with depictions of “Kick the Can with Dad,” Information Superhighway” and the “Wyoming Riding Mower.” These ones continue to remind us of how backwards we believed our town to be, until we came to Africa, of course.









Our buddies Zack and Shannon checked in twice from Jackson, Wyoming. We are surprised they are not sending us notes from all over the planet too, per their usual.

Louise Gignoux “decided to finally add to our collection" (others should take note). She was riding her jeep through Moab which she does when not shooshing down slopes in Jackson or summering in France. Easy livin’.

Amir Fouad, of Bridger Gondola fame, sent us one from the Matterhorn. On the back he reminds us to root against Algeria in the World Cup after they ousted his Egyptian squad. Fear not, being in a neighboring country and seeing a bit of their fans recently, this will not be a problem at all (especially as they play the U.S. of A.). At least he still has the US and Switzerland for whom to root, the perks of being a tri-citizen.

Not to be outdone by the Travelling Cambells in the bizarre department, Brother Brian in Scotland sent one with ridiculous public pronouncements by graffiti artists along with a bizarre card depicting a bagpipe playing pig, which is on some building in Edinburgh in lieu of a gargoyle, apparently. The coup de gras, however, was his “Sam and Mark in 40 years” card. Kudos.










Cousin Mikey and Sarah were apparently hanging out with the Kennedys, who have their own postcards. They will have less time for such high-jinx now that they have welcomed James McCarthy to their clan, although they will probably spend the summer on the Cape so maybe we are wrong.

Kallie and Katie Hannon were hanging out with aunt Cindy in New Hampshire but sent a postcard that said “Maine” on it. We think they are trying to start a debate between the couple composed of a New Hampshirite and a Mainer about which is better. This is one of our favorite topics.

Finally, our pals Nic and Jimmi got on the board in a big way. They sent us not one, not two, not three, but eight cards from South Africa. Impressive.

Trip Home

We have returned to Africa after an up and down few weeks in the States. The joy of seeing our families was tempered by the sadness of burying a father. While the graveside ceremony was something Frank would have bore begrudgingly, the Irish wake was an event in which he would have reveled. It seemed the entire town of Belfast, Maine came out to the pub for the memorial and a great time was had by all. While the memorial in Boston was much more subdued, it was no less of an honor to see all our friends come out to support us during difficult times and we thank them all from the bottom of our hearts.

Thanks to some fortuitous volcanic activity, the brothers Hannon were reunited for an extra week, which is the longest time that has happened in years.


There was a new Hannon to meet as well. Her name is Lila and she is wicked cute! There was a rumor that she was really fun to hold and play with but everybody had to be content just hearing the reports since Aunt Sam was a bit of a baby hog!!! We can’t wait to see her again when she will be starting to walk.



We also got to see Barb, who goes by Nana now, and John. We could go for walks in Acadia National Park from their front door, which was great and we will be doing quite a bit of that when we finally return.

We spent some time in Vermont and New Hampshire with Sam’s side of the family, too. The girls are growing like weeds. They are so big we can barely all fit on one couch anymore!

When we arrived in Vermont it was 80 degrees, freezing! It only got colder from then on out (later in the week we saw snow when we headed up to Killington) but the weather held long enough to play a family game of softball, Kids vs. Adults. The kids were named Creamers, but they really got creamed. Who knew old people could still hit, run and catch? It is funny how Mark and Sam are still on the kid’s team.

We saw some other old friends along the way. We look forward to seeing them all again and those that we missed next time around.

So, we are back in Mali for the home stretch. We are actually going on a vacation, which we had planned before all this, to Ghana next week. That will be a good bit of arduous overland travel. It should convince us to go get good jobs somewhere so we will have the money to fly from now on. After that it is our Close of Service (COS) conference and a few weeks to wrap up our work. Then we are finished with Peace Corps and whatever comes next, we shall see…

Sad News

Mark's father, Frank Hannon, passed away on Saint Patrick's Day. He was happy man who enjoyed life fully. He was sixty three years old.

We've returned to the States for the memorial services. While we are terribly saddened by the reason for our return, it is nice to see our families and friends once again. Bringing us home and the family together would please Frank greatly. One last gift.

He will be missed.

Francis Joseph Hannon, 1946-2010