Mali continued

Wednesday morning was kind of a wild goose chase because we wanted to look into some other lodging that was less expensive. We found a hostel run by a convent, which was a couple of dollars cheaper and very nice, but we decided it would be awkward to leave our little apartment, and it was likely that my host mother would hurt me if we didn’t stay there. Just kidding, kind of… That afternoon we visited the Bamako museum where a very tall women, with curlers in her hair and eyebrows drawn on her face with makeup that started out normal and then nearly stretched to her ears, showed us around. The museum itself wasn’t much of anything, but it was fairly entertaining to see her grabbing the exhibits, such as a traditional booboo, and then telling us to feel the fabric. Plus, I got a special bonus experience out of the museum visit; I locked myself in the bathroom. To clarify, there was no door handle from the inside of the stall, and I had to call Carlie to come let me out; hence, it wasn’t totally my fault.

I almost forgot, the best part of the museum, the garden out front featuring decorative statues that were a little past there prime. I got a nice picture of a mermaid with half a head of hair, but I had to be sneaky because a sign said you had to pay 50 cents for a photo. The rest of the evening we wandered around the fabric market and informed several vendors that we were Senegalese, not French or American; I bet we fooled them. If I remember correctly, that night was New Years Eve, and we celebrated in style by going to bed early and listening to fireworks going off in the city. All in all, it was kind of a lame way to celebrate, but due to some poor choices we made involving tap water and drinking it, Maria and I weren’t in the best condition to party it up. Thursday was our token tubab day, mainly because we were in need of some a little rest, and the entire city of Bamako shut down for the holiday. Consequently, we trekked over to a French hotel and enjoyed a day at the pool. Since we were at a French hotel, we tried out some French cuisine, which turned out to be a little gross because I unknowingly ordered buckwheat crepe. To give you a sense of the flavor of this crepe, imagine a soggy sponge that has been sitting dirty water for a week; it was tasty.

Friday Carlie and I visited the national museum of Mali. Honestly, this museum was one of the coolest parts of our trip, but I feel kind of sad saying that because it is extremely out of place in the fourth poorest country in the world. The museum was recently renovated, and featured some really interesting exhibits on fabrics in Mali and African artwork. Plus, we had free admission to the outdoor prehistoric museum, which featured caves with dioramas that I elected not to view after a flock(?) of bats came shooting out of the ceiling. That afternoon, we went on a hunt for a flight home and a small shop that featured some pretty cool crafty things. After visiting a travel agency, it seemed like we would be busing back home again (which I was really hoping not to do) because the price to fly to Dakar any day before Wednesday was $500.00, ouch! To try and cope with the thought of 50 more hours on the bus, we ate dinner at a restaurant/bar that was said to bring in an interesting crowd including Peace Corps volunteers and South African gold miners. I’m not sure about the gold miners, but there were definitely more Americans than Africans in the restaurant, not including us, and I decided to order something crazy and went with lasagna. I know that you all don’t really care, but I’ll share anyways, the lasagna was pretty good, but I think they forgot to add the tomato sauce.

Saturday we decided to check into the airline prices one more time, and found out they dropped about $300.00; hence, I returned from Mali Sunday evening by plane. After purchasing our tickets, we spent the rest of the day trying to find some shops our guidebook suggested, and after a wild goose chase in a $5.00 taxi (that’s expensive here…) we found what we were looking for, and it was closed! Sunday was another adventurous day because we decided to explore Mali’s “mountainous” terrain because it is so different from the incredible flatness of Senegal. To get to the top of a rather large hill overlooking Bamako, we took a taxi resembling the sept place I take between Dakar and Saint-Louis, but in this taxi we fit 9 people instead of 7! On the way up a man from Morocco explained to me that the drivers of said taxis have to be skilled because the cars have no brakes, haha. The rest of the day we milled around some markets, and then headed off to the airport.

We arrived at the airport about two hours before our flight was supposed to leave, and the airport officials told us we couldn’t enter the airport yet and to go sit next to our “papa” who was the other white person in the vicinity. Eventually, after some interesting sights, including several people bribing airport officials for various problems like not have the correct documentation, we boarded the flight. I hate to say it, but the flight was incredibly enjoyable! We were served dinner and had strange in-flight entertainment of a video of people pulling pranks on New Yorkers. That night we crashed at the apartment that some other Americans had rented, and the next morning we headed back to Saint-Louis. All in all, I think Maria’s comment, “It’s been real Mali, a little too real,” was completely legitimate, but it was definitely a great trip.

It’s been a while since my last post, and I can’t truthfully say I’ve been busy, but I’ve been finding a few more ways to keep myself occupied. Classes have finally started, and I’m only slightly worried about how I will pass my final exams in less than a month. Although, I’ve heard a few rumors that they will extend the semester because of all of the strikes. I’m planning on taking economic geography (with an oral final exam, uh oh), socio-anthropology of the economy (I’m confused too), and French on top of Wolof and my research. Speaking of research, the professors from Madison in charge of our program came to visit. Their visit was really nice because they had advice to give us on all kinds of levels, and they took out to dinner… I’ve decided to write my research paper on Protestant Christians in Senegal, and I’ll be starting with the church I’ve been attending here in Saint-Louis and working my way outward. I’m pretty excited about the project because I just get to basically sit and talk with people about their lives. It’s so much better than reading a bunch of musty books and trying to come to some conclusion about them like I’ve done in Madison.

Besides classes and meeting with professors, I’ve been trying to make a few friends on campus. I went to a dance last Friday, which is always interesting because it’s fashionable to arrive after 1 am and stay until breakfast. I made it until 4, I guess I’m a slacker. Additionally, last Sunday I attended the Catholic mass for students on campus and their new student integration ceremony. In general, the mass and ceremony themselves were not very interesting because the church was too small for everyone to fit inside so I couldn’t see or hear what was going on. But, my roommate, who I’ve title head of the Catholic party planning committee, gave me some food, and I got to talk to my other roommate Khady for like 3 hours. I really enjoyed that, and I thought it was interesting just because she is Muslim and still wanted to come to the integration.

Well, that’s a fairly long update on what’s been happening here in Senegal. Hope all is well back home, shout out to the nouveau President!