Hot season in Douentza

First off, new pictures:

Good times in Mali

After updating my blog on Saturday, I left the Peace Corps bureau to begin my quest Douentza-wards. Seydou came and met me up the road, and we went to inquire after solar panels. We stopped at a boutique that called an electrician over to discuss my plans. I told him about the school, how it was two buildings with six rooms, and I was envisioning putting in lights and fans. The estimates he gave me fit in my budget, with room to buy lights and fans too. I will summarize the information in a subsequent post (I don’t have it right in front of me).

Afterwards, we went to the bus station to figure out when buses were leaving to Douentza. I wanted to take Seydou and Minkailou out for dinner, but it turned out that the bus was supposed to come sometime in the next hour, so I couldn’t. I bought some street meat and sodas, though, that at least Seydou and I could enjoy. Just as I was waiting to get on, Minkailou showed up in a very sharp pin-striped suit. I got on the bus around 6:30, and it felt as if they had actually turned on the AC during the day (though they had shut it off come the evening). Their TV even worked, and they were playing some TV show in Bambara that people on the bus found absolutely hilarious. I, of course, had no idea what was going on.

We pulled into Douentza around 9:45, but the phone network didn’t work at all. Dave had told me to call him, since if he wasn’t at the Tango, he would come pick me up. Although I couldn’t get a hold of him, Oumar had heard I was coming in and was waiting for me as I got off the bus. We went over to the PC house and found Dave, Dan and Phil hanging out there. We stayed there for a while before I got tired and went to bed.

Yesterday was market day. We made another delicious pasta and tomato sauce lunch. Dan left in the afternoon, and Phil took me over to see Ashley’s house. It’s a nice but simple second floor apartment in a traditional Malian house. She was feeling a little under the weather (as have I lately), so she just stayed at home. I did some work in the afternoon, then Phil and I went to the freeway for dinner. Potatoes and beans, delicious and filling.

I got a lot of work done in the morning, first alone organizing some aspects of my next grammar chapter, then with Ramata, who’s on vacation now. At 12:30, I went over to the PC house for lunch. Dave left this morning for his site, but Phil and I shelled some seeds for his tree farm before going to Ashley’s to eat.

I’m just hanging in there, in a contemplative mood, getting lots of work done. It feels good.