Here I am, back in SIL, back in Bamako, back in Mali. Just as everyone trying to comfort me when I was stressing about coming said, it feels so normal. I was sitting next to a man from Cote d’Ivoire on the plane who had been in the States for four years and was going back to Africa (to Mali, though) for the first time. He hadn’t even seen his wife in four years, since she couldn’t get a visa. Compared to that, eight months is nothing.
It was kind of stormy when we got into Bamako, in that “seeing lightning hit the ground a half mile away” sort of way. Made me feel great about walking out onto the tarmac. Apparently, the rainy season is not over yet, at least not in Bamako. The humidity is doing wonders for my hair.
While still standing in line to get my passport checked, I saw the embassy expeditor holding a sign with my name written in big letters on it. Definitely VIP treatment. I was pleased that my new cheap duffel bag came through in one piece, but less pleased that my other suitcase didn’t come through at all. I was generally in a good mood about being met and having one bag, so it surprisingly didn’t stress me out too much. I went with the embassy guy to the baggage service window and he said he’d take care of everything, including picking it up at the airport and getting it to me when it came in. He drove me in the embassy minivan (Chrysler, I might add) to SIL and I was set.
Today is indeed Eid, the feast at the end of the month of Ramadan, so things (like the embassy) are closed. My plan was to meet another Fulbrighter and take the bus up north with him tomorrow morning (provided I get my bag tonight), but the German couple I’m staying with at SIL told me that because of Eid, buses may not be running until Thursday. This is fine for me, but Jeremy, the other Fulbrighter, had said he needed to get to Timbuktu by Friday. I’m not sure he’s heard this bus news yet. So I could be here for a few days, in which case I’ll go to the embassy and do my business there and maybe do some banking stuff, otherwise I’ll just do all of that when I come back to Bamako at the end of the month. I’m lucky in that I have nothing pressing to do except get settled, so I can set my own schedule.
I’m feeling optimistic about being here without Jeff and Abbie. I managed to get my own taxi today by myself to get myself over to the supermarket and back. I’d forgotten how friendly most Malians are, just chatting with some woman who also happened to be in the taxi. Yes, I’m feeling good.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Welcome back
Welcome back to Pangolin Watch! The blog is back up and running, which means that I, too, am back on the road. The month at home went so quickly, simply because it was filled with seeing wonderful people and doing fun things. And now it’s over, and here I am.
The plane left late out of Minneapolis, giving me over an hour to sit in the Minneapolis airport and already feel like I was out of the country, there were so many French people. It’s always funny in those situations, because no one is quite sure what language one should speak in when saying “excuse me” or “is this seat taken?” I just sat there being linguistically ambiguous, without any all-revealing books open, people watching.
I had the good fortune of having a little row of two seats to myself. I still didn’t end up sleeping at all, but I was able to stretch out and read and listen to music. It was a quick flight—7 hours and 25 minutes—considering it was direct MSP – CDG. I feel like that’s often how long it is to fly from the East Coast.
Somehow I always manage to be on the right side of the plane, facing westward on the approach south into Paris. I look out my window and see night, then glance across the aisle and see dawn bursting through. Pretty quickly, our side of the aircraft gets the memo, and the sky lights up. It wasn’t particularly clear flying in, but I could make out a hazy river, probably the Seine, winding below through the mist. As we dropped further there appeared little steeples and pine trees poking through the fog. When the airplane finally plunged into what I assumed to be the clouds, I was surprised (if not alarmed) to find our wheels on the ground.
Visibility was almost none, and I swear we landed 3 miles away from our final gate between all the taxiing and the fairly lengthy bus ride from the tarmac to the gate. But we made it, and here I am, one 2-hour chair nap later. Just another 4 hours to kill with the likes of duty free browsing and solitaire.
Tonight, it’s back to Mali, back to mosquito nets and my old Nokia phone, but back to friends and adventure. Stay tuned—I’d say the best is yet to come.
The plane left late out of Minneapolis, giving me over an hour to sit in the Minneapolis airport and already feel like I was out of the country, there were so many French people. It’s always funny in those situations, because no one is quite sure what language one should speak in when saying “excuse me” or “is this seat taken?” I just sat there being linguistically ambiguous, without any all-revealing books open, people watching.
I had the good fortune of having a little row of two seats to myself. I still didn’t end up sleeping at all, but I was able to stretch out and read and listen to music. It was a quick flight—7 hours and 25 minutes—considering it was direct MSP – CDG. I feel like that’s often how long it is to fly from the East Coast.
Somehow I always manage to be on the right side of the plane, facing westward on the approach south into Paris. I look out my window and see night, then glance across the aisle and see dawn bursting through. Pretty quickly, our side of the aircraft gets the memo, and the sky lights up. It wasn’t particularly clear flying in, but I could make out a hazy river, probably the Seine, winding below through the mist. As we dropped further there appeared little steeples and pine trees poking through the fog. When the airplane finally plunged into what I assumed to be the clouds, I was surprised (if not alarmed) to find our wheels on the ground.
Visibility was almost none, and I swear we landed 3 miles away from our final gate between all the taxiing and the fairly lengthy bus ride from the tarmac to the gate. But we made it, and here I am, one 2-hour chair nap later. Just another 4 hours to kill with the likes of duty free browsing and solitaire.
Tonight, it’s back to Mali, back to mosquito nets and my old Nokia phone, but back to friends and adventure. Stay tuned—I’d say the best is yet to come.
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