Back from my week bopping around Mali.  I went to Djenne, a town on the Niger that had a lot of great things…the above-pictured mud mosque, lots of crafts, an allegedly impressive market that I missed…but the most amazing part of the city for me was the bathroom where I made my first number two in a squatting toilet.  I know!  Please send all congratulatory e-cards to JulieKraut (at) gmail.com.  And if some of you are wondering how this could be possible with that month I spent in China, the trip to Thailand, those four times I went to Brooklyn and a full five weeks into my stay here, well, I’ll just say this, never let anyone tell you that IBS doesn’t have its perks.