Solo in Sikasso

a younger, naiver, Lala

I’m solo in Sikasso. I really had a wonderful vacation; I am still hearing how fat I’ve gotten. I do need to start exercising. On Wednesday, I really was going to run, but then I was having gas problems. I ran out of gas while I was cooking on Monday. So, on Tuesday, I exchanged my empty gas tank with a full one. I took it home and gas was spewing out of the top. So, the next day, I got a new one. I took it home, and that too had a malfunctioning top. I went back again, and told the owner he should pay for my transport. He actually came to my house with the 3rd tank. He discovered that I turned in 2 critical pieces when I exchanged my tank. So, he went back and got the necessary pieces, and I once again, can cook. What does this have to do with running? I’m having toe problems (surprise) and I was going to soak my feet before running because of the pain/infections.
One of Chelsea’s friends spent the night at my house on Wednesday night. She is doing missionary work. It’s so interesting how you can all be living in the same country with COMPLETELY different experiences and different mentalities.
Rob, our ONLY MALE, is leaving this Sunday. We all are very sad about this. Maybe I’ll host a “Sikasso Girls need Lovin’ too” party and invite all of the Mopti boys (or maybe just all males in Mali…) Sigh.
I do have some good news to report. I have my own water counter! One word: ecstatic! My bill went down 93 percent! I am a happy girl! And, there was a meat strike. It was going to be over early September, but for some reason, we again have meat. Life is good in the south!

Farewell Trinh

Love this pict

Trinh and her fam (and yes, thats pc fabric on the kids)
The Belushis (minus jack)

Trinh and Madame
I met the newbies last week. It’s still surreal that a year has gone by, my friends are leaving, and new people are “replacing” them. It’s….refreshing? to know how much I have grown as an individual, just talking to the newbies. I’ve changed so much as an individual. Basically, my perspective of life has changed. I do believe I have changed more this past year than my 4 years of college. Maybe it’s just a different kind of change. Maybe you can’t even compare college and Mali. I don’t know. But, it’s neat reflecting and thinking, I’ve come a long way! Language, emotionally, and just how things that used to be such a BIG DEAL, just aren’t.

Last weekend, Trinh had her farewell party. It was fun. Lots of dancing, laughter, friends. I designated myself as the photographer because I would want someone to do that for me. Even though, I probably won’t have such a big bash next year.

I ended up going to Bamako for rectifying travel arrangements. It was such a huge relief getting everything taken care of.

I didn’t take pictures in Bamako because I would have been crying in most of them. But, it was fun hanging out with Trinh before she left. I sure am going to miss her, but I do thank God that our paths crossed in this craziness called life.

It’s funny how things work out. While I am sad that Trinh left, I did (FINALLY) receive the last 2 books of the Twilight Saga. So, I’ve been pretty busy this week.

Me with my 6.50 cedi bottle of dr.pepper (6.50 usd)

Best DR.PEPPER of MY LIFE

Ghana

me, Becky, and Anna at the border

Ghana was absolutely wonderful. I think we all decided that it wouldn’t have been nearly as impressive if we came from the states, but coming from Mali? Ghana is a little paradise in West Africa.

I unfortunately didn’t do a good job of journaling, so most of this is from memory. I know I will leave out things, so for 2 other points of view, check out Anna’s and Becky’s blog.

I was planning on leaving for Bamako on Sunday (July ?), but I woke up sick. I was the only one who got sick after our Mexican night. It was probably a good thing I didn’t leave on Sunday because I really wasn’t ready. So, I lounged for most of the day and then packed.

On Monday while I was on my way to Bamako, I got a call from Anna saying that they guy canceled our tickets because we didn’t pay 3 days after making our reservations. No one told us that. Sigh. So, over land we went!

We left Monday morning. It was fine, but the lady beside me, I thought, was a bit rude (Comes to find out she’s not Malian). We were rolling along nicely until we hit the Burkina Faso border. There were 3 check points. 1 and 2 were near each other, but the 3^rd was about 30 minutes from the 2^nd. To make a long story short, 2 guys (again, not Malians) put cocaine in milk bags and got caught. So, they put everybody on the bus (including the 2 smugglers) and we went back to check point 2. Apparently, we couldn’t take the bus we were on again, so we had to wait for another bus to pick us up. Sigh. This was at 8 pm, and I was getting really hungry, but so was everybody else. I don’t know what happened to those guys. There was no electricity at the 2^nd check point, so I really don’t know if there was a place to put them in or what.

I don’t know what day it is, but our first actual touristic stop was in Kamasi. Kamasi has this incredible market that even puts Bamako to shame. I had a delicious milkshake. After Kamasi, we went to Axim. That was actually a mistake because we thought The Green Turtle was near Kamasi. We thought wrong. We spent the night in Axim, and then went to The Safari Lodge the next day. SL was extremely nice, but left such a bitter taste. We paid for 2 nights. We weren’t sure how long we were going to stay before moving on. So, the morning of day 2, we decided that we were going to stay for a 3^rd night. We paid in front of the owner. Day 3, we were asked to leave because they gave our room to someone else because we weren’t “patronizing the hotel”. We couldn’t AFFORD the meals there! So, we ate at the GT. At the GT, I got an alcoholic drink, meal, and dessert for LESS THAN the price of one meal at the SL. I was so mad. It would have been one thing if they said that they were already booked, but to take our money? That’s low. And we were quiet, respectful guests. Some people only care about money. (The owner, an American, and I spoke for a good 15 minutes and knew that we are PC volunteers.) So, I recommend

Anna, Becky, me @ the Beach!

The Green Turtle. If you’re in Ghana, go to the Green Turtle. Good food, good people, good price. After getting booted from SL, the staff at GT was very kind and let us camp there.

Does anyone else find this picture funny?

After the GT, we went to Cape Coast. We toured a slave castle. I have become more aware of my sense of smell after living in Mali for a year (even though you aren’t suppose to smell things…sometimes you don’t want to smell people but you can), and I couldn’t stop thinking of the stench the slaves were living in before getting on a boat. 1 room housed 150 people. They used the bathroom there. Lots of people didn’t even make it out of the room alive because of illness.

beach at Cape CoastAt a national park (Anna, Becky, me)

After Cape Coast, we went to Accra (the capital of Ghana). All we did in Accra was eat and shop. I did get a hotdog, Dr. Pepper, and nachos. I paid an absurd amount of money for each of those items, but hey, it’s vacation!

Cheescake for breakfast?! YES PLEASE!

Ghana is 80% Christian, and we all had fun looking at signs. The top two signs were “Except God” and “How Great Thou Art” Store (art supply store).

Oh how I love sour cream!

On the way back to Mali, we spent 2 nights in bus stations. Needless to say, I was delighted to get back home

At the end, all the bus stations ran together....and yes, that would be me asleep in the tent

Even though Ghana was visibly more developed than Mali, we still ran into obstacles. TISA. (This is STILL Africa)