February 2009
40 posts
Just about wrapping up my packing for the week long trip Leila and I are about to take. We’re going to Djenne and then to Dogon Country with a possible stop in Mopti. Here’s an article that my Africa guru Alexis wrote on Dogon Country if you want to take a read. (I kind of know that my mom and dad are the only two people engaged enough with the blog to click through, but guys,...
Today I was writing down a few lines from Eat, Pray, Love that I wanted to remember before giving the book to Leila. (I know this pretty much makes me a caricature of myself. Judge away. I’m fine with it. But seriously, the writing in that book is good, savorable even.) I flipped through my notebook and saw the first journal entry I wrote on this trip. I’ve since switched to...
On Saturday, Lei and I headed to Siby for the day. If you have a free day in Mali, here’s a suggestion, don’t spend it in Siby. It’s a small town about 50 kilometers from Bamako and it’s not listed in my tour book. That should have been my first hint as to the tourism potential of Siby because my book pretty much lists every day excursion possible from Bamako including...
I was taking a stroll down the main road this morning and the driver who normally takes me to my volunteer gig pulled over and asked if I wanted to come on an errand with him. I couldn’t quite understand what the errand was, but thinking “Finally! A chance to break through the tourist barrier and see real Malian life!” I hopped in. Turned out we were going to renew his car...
Today I took a tour of the medical clinic that’s affiliated with the program Leila’s doing here. Sick here has a totally different meaning from back home and I saw some pretty incredible things, including a leprosy ward.
My tour guide for the walk around the clinic was this sassy woman who was really funny and chatty. She kept telling me that Julie was my American name and that I...
Today I started volunteering…I think. To say there were communication issues would be an understatement and I’m not quite sure what I’m supposed to be doing for my volunteer work yet. But, French skills aside, it was a very interesting day. I was taken to a school in the suburbs of Bamako where adults and teens (mostly women, but some men too) were learning to read and write...
