No regrets.

Michele and I have left Africa.

Sometimes knowing when to bow out and say 'I don't think I should be doing this anymore' is the harder decision to make, but sad as our departure was, I believe it was the right decision.

Yesterday afternoon I stepped back onto American soil for the first time in over 10 months. As I emerged from the airport here in my hometown of Fort Walton Beach, I had been either on a plane or lounging in an airport for over 24 hours. It is done and both I and Michele are home again (each with our respective families for the moment - Michele in Georgia and I in Florida).

No regrets. At least no regrets for the things I have done. Mali was an adventure and it was fun. How many Americans will ever get to say that they lived in Africa for a year? Not many. Now that my experience is over, I have to say that each and every moment was worth it. The only aspects that I do regret were a few things I wish I had had time to do: mainly visit the mosque in Djenne (a big deal for an architecture nerd like myself) and travel up to Gao and Timbuktu to see the Sahara.

I'm not 100% sure of what comes next. I'll use this first month back as a transition period to get used to America and try to become healthy again. The margarita I have long been looking forward to will have to wait a bit longer. The medicine I am taking for my exposure to tuberculosis means I am not allowed alcohol for a long time. Maybe several months. Michele and I have to remain on malaria medication since we both might still have some malaria incubating in our systems for another month. And in two weeks we get to start taking the 'kill everything in your system' WMD of medication to wipe out the djiardia and other parasites we picked up while abroad. Oh, and I've still got that case of run-to-the-bathroom-once-an-hour diarhea that popped up on the flight between Paris and Atlanta (10 hours). But hey, no reason to get down about anything! I now live in a house with a toilet rather than the open hole outside that I'm so used to.

So from here on out I'll be posting about all of my best memories of Mali and the goings-on there and every once in a while put up some info about any potential future plans. Here's a fun list of some of my fondest moments:

7 - the number of chickens that I myself have prepared for cooking - slitting throats, plucking feathers, and disemboweling (watch out for those intestine, wow do they stink). I seriously progressed in my ability to prepare the chicken from that first nightmare episode (I let go of the chicken too soon after slitting its throat and it got up and ran around attempting somersaults, apparently not dead like I had thought). Granted, while my ability to put a chicken down peacefully improved greatly, my ability to catch the chicken was still a bit rusty at the end. I guess you could say my average for chasing and catching a chicken was somewhere around 10-15 minutes, sometimes even up to 20 min. And they all usually came to a point where I start to throw rocks and solicite the dog or neighboring 6 year olds for help.

Kidney Stones

I have two kidney stones. I think Allah wants me to go home. What do you think?

On the Eve of the Presidential Elections...

At first I was sad that Michele and I would be spending the weekend of the Malian Presidential elections in Bamako away from our village, but once we got into the capital a few days ago we saw that things would be nice here in the city.

Segou is one of the more prosperous regions in Mali and so is also a stronghold for the current president ATT (Amadou Toumani Toure). So, in our village of Diaramana in the region of Segou, we had seen a single face on all of the political posters - a smiling ATT in a light blue bubu and white hat. We took transport out of our village into the city of San and then the next day hopped on a bus towards Bamako - a trip of a few hundred kilometers - and possibly a thousand posters of ATT. People in our village don't even talk about any other candidates - they all only know of ATT and assume that he will win outright. At least that's what they tell us.

But once we got within 30 minutes of Bamako, the scenery out the bus window changed, not greatly but enough to take notice. The majority of posters still show the smiling visage of ATT, but now there are a significant number of posters showing other candidates, some of whom have followed ATT's lead and go by their initials as well, like IBK and SBM. There are even posters of a woman who is running for president - a big shock in this male dominant society. I never get a chance to watch the news so I can't be too accurate in any political predictions, but if the number of posters are any indication, IBK may be in the lead of the non-ATT crowd.

On our typical walk from the PC Bureau in Niarela to the Relax restaurant on the Koulikoro siraba, we passed a normally open, empty field that was uncharacteristically full of tents, people, large rams, and posters of ATT - it was a political rally of ATT supporters. As we dined on chicken and pizza at the Relax, a barrage of car horns broke the silence. I turned towards the road expecting to see a car accident or a more typical Bamako sight but was surprised to see hundreds of motorcylces honking and cheering with IBK posters hanging from the sides. Democracy is alive and well in the city of Bamako.

This whole thing provides a wonderful example of how lucky Michele and I are to be here in Mali. The people of this country are genuinely nice. Democracy isn't at its healthiest here, but it is still doing well. People we have talked with in the streets seem very excited about their chance to vote tomorrow and plan on doing it very early so they can hold parties the rest of the day. The Peace Corps decided to drop our 'Standfast' alert status in favor of normal status because the elections here are predicted to be peaceful and without trouble. That is something you cannot say about neighboring West African countries - Senegal and Burkina Faso PC will be on alert for their elections, Guinea had to be evacuated, Cote D'Ivoire is still in turmoil, Niger has had issues with its most recent elections and there was violence in Nigeria recently because of elections. All in all, Mali definitely seems to have its act together.

ATT is Mali's second president. The 1st stepped down after his 2-terms in office rather than create some laws to keep himself in power like many other African countries have done. ATT has served a 5-year term (presidents are allowed 2 terms in office here) and apparently is so well liked that he stands a very good chance of serving a 2nd.

This whole thing goes beyond Malian politics and into the very heart of the culture. I think I've written of joking cousins here before. Each last name has select other last names that they are allowed to poke fun at, most stemming from a rivalry in another part of Malian history. The Traore clan used to enslave the Diarra clan. Rather than continue age old animosity the way Arabs and Jews do in the Middle East, these two clans poke fun at one another - back and forth banter about who farts more often.

Even different relgions have a way of getting along. I read story after story in Newsweek after how some prominant Muslim or Christian leader is spouting off about how Christianity and Islam are so inherently different that they can never coexist beside one another. Simply put, this is bullshit and Mali is the reason why. In our village of Diaramana, there is a sizeable Christian population living amongst the Muslim population. The majority of the Christians live on the outskirts of town in their own communities, but some do live right in the middle surrounded by Muslim neighbors. There is no animosity between these groups, both spend all their time trying to survive the climate, not each other. The past few times I have gone to the nearby school to pump water for Michele and I, one of the Christian teachers had brought his pigs (1 large sow and 6 piglets) to the pump to roll around in the mud and get something to drink. Muslims do not eat pig because their scripture (as does the Christian Bible) states simply that pigs are dirty and should not be touched or eaten. The teacher told me that no one complains that he brings his 'filthy' pigs over to the pump to stand next to the source of water for a mostly Muslim population. People here have found a way to get along. The rest of the world would do itself good if it were to look to Mali for an example of a healthy culture.

Anyways, the elections are tomorrow, they seem to be a lot more exciting here in the city with its diversity of thought. Can't wait to see what becomes of this whole thing.

For more info check out CNN Africa

The fish bowl effect

When we started back in July of '06, many peace corps administrators would talk about the fish bowl effect and how to cope with it. Well, just to give you some idea of what exactly this is, here is a video of how we are treated everyday. We are but two white people in a village of over 12,000--- so needless to say we are fascinating.

My favorite poem.

I think i have actually posted this on here before, but I feel it is so amazing that it warrants a second go. Everytime I read it, it puts a smile on my face. I hope it does the same for you.

The Orange by Wendy Cope

At lunchtime I bought a huge orange

The size of it made us all laugh.

I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave

They got quarters and I had a half.

And that orange, it made me so happy,

As ordinary things often do

Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park.

This is peace and contentment. It's new.

The rest of the day was quite easy.

I did all the jobs on my list

And enjoyed them and had some time over.

I love you. I'm glad I exist.

Fun with the Military

Neda, the super volunteer and Trinh Tranny.

Me and Tamara...

So the Military decided to throw us a party, and since we dont get to party often we made the most of it.

top pic: Amanda and I singing to each other

next pic: me and my togoma

last but not least: Amanda, Christy, and I...

Photos from the past month...

From the upper deck of the Hotel Iklass in Sikasso-ville, not too far from the Trinh-ster's house. We are going to miss getting to see our Sikasso kaw all the time...



The end of IST (in service training) with a party at the old Bamako Marine Corps house turned bar. The Marines sure do know how to throw a karaoke party - this is us getting down to the Water/Sanitation Sector anthem : 'The Final Countdown' by Europe. Or maybe this is our ovation-worthy rendition of Journey's 'Separate Ways' - either way our fellow corps-ers in the audience loved us.

Michele being Michele... with style

The old Sanankoroba kaw (sans Fadibe because we couldn't find him).

More of Michele being Michele...beautiful.