After a few much needed hours of sleep, we awoke to join the group for breakfast and a "briefing" at 10am. Most had arrived on an 11:30pm flight, dad and I were the last in at 3:30. Typical European-style breakfast -- I had some coffee or tea or something like that (not much of a breakfast eater!). Met some of the others at the various tables set up by the pool. Don't picture a "typical" US hotel with pool -- while the pool/patio area was lovely and the rooms were nice, they also had mosquito nets. And tepid showers without a separate stall. But I digress.....
In any event, we had our 10am briefing where we got introduced to one another (11 people total including 2 leaders). Lots of relatives -- me and dad, mom and daughter, sisters, aunt and nephew. Most from Ohio, also Montana and Arkansas as well as dad and me. We got a "calendar" of where we would be each day and then had some brief history/information. From my journal, I note the following:
Dogon -- an ethnic group ("our" village is a Dogon village). There are about 20 sub-groups within this one, each with subtly different languages and customs.
Toubab -- a white person
fete -- party (French -- I did know this one ahead of time!)
Enjoyed some information on basic health and safety. Need to keep track of ourselves -- don't push too hard, make sure you stay hydrated, keep your hands clean, be careful what you eat, sterilize the water, keep track of your "stuff".
Culturally, we need to be aware of a different concept of time -- be flexible. And we want to keep an environment within the group where it's "safe" to talk to one another without any fear.
Onward to lunch at the Relax (which will feature more prominently at the end of the trip!). Apparently a "major" ex-pat hang-out with familiar food -- crepes, omelets, pizza, etc. Nice cheese omelet for me! Then we headed to the National Museum. There were a couple celebrations going on by the museum -- from what we saw, heard, and can figure out, there was a wedding (woman dressed in white) and a celebration for the 50th anniversary of independence. The museum included artifacts of early tools and ritual idols -- mainly for fertility and good crops, although there were also ones for protecting crops and for brides on their weddings. A long mask headpiece (like we'd see later) represents the 8 original Dogon tribes. We also saw a big exhibit on textiles showing the weaving, cotton processing, mud cloth, indigo, modern dying techniques, and an exhibit of fashions by a Maliian designer.
There are various techniques for dying cloth to create patterns -- tie-dying, stitching the cloth in patterns, and batik are all used.
Catch up the rest of the day later.........there's so much to say!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Miscellaneous thoughts from travel to Mali from my journal
Here are some random thoughts from my journal during our journey to Mali:
1. Lots of borrowed items -- I borrowed a bunch of my mom's clothes, wore one of Tom's fishing shirts (lots of pockets!), borrowed dad's sleeping bag, and used Abby's suitcase.
2. Not only was there no queueing at the Casablanca airport, there is a significant lack of signage. Hard to find anything!
3. My phone worked -- didn't expect it to, but in most of the towns (not the village), it worked so I was able to call and/or send e-mail.
4. Surprise at the transit hotel -- the music system played "Amazing Grace" two times -- first with a jazzy/bluesy vocal arrangement, then later with an instrumental arrangement. Didn't expect to hear that in Morocco!
5. Women pictured in billboard ads are in western dress, although more women are "covered" on the streets.
6. In Casablanca, the biggest homes are often right across from homes without power and laundry lines strewn over the yards -- interesting juxtaposition.....
7. Casablanca has at least KFC, McDonald's AND TGI Friday's if you get a craving.....
8. Quote from my book: "The token didn't go in the first time, and the smack (to the machine) does the trick. Percussive maintenance, the oldest and still most effective way to deal with recalcitrant machinery"
More to come!
1. Lots of borrowed items -- I borrowed a bunch of my mom's clothes, wore one of Tom's fishing shirts (lots of pockets!), borrowed dad's sleeping bag, and used Abby's suitcase.
2. Not only was there no queueing at the Casablanca airport, there is a significant lack of signage. Hard to find anything!
3. My phone worked -- didn't expect it to, but in most of the towns (not the village), it worked so I was able to call and/or send e-mail.
4. Surprise at the transit hotel -- the music system played "Amazing Grace" two times -- first with a jazzy/bluesy vocal arrangement, then later with an instrumental arrangement. Didn't expect to hear that in Morocco!
5. Women pictured in billboard ads are in western dress, although more women are "covered" on the streets.
6. In Casablanca, the biggest homes are often right across from homes without power and laundry lines strewn over the yards -- interesting juxtaposition.....
7. Casablanca has at least KFC, McDonald's AND TGI Friday's if you get a craving.....
8. Quote from my book: "The token didn't go in the first time, and the smack (to the machine) does the trick. Percussive maintenance, the oldest and still most effective way to deal with recalcitrant machinery"
More to come!
How to Travel to Mali
Mali is by no means a tourist country. Bamako, the capital, has a small airport where only 9 flights come and go each day (9 come in, 9 go out). There is also a small airport in Mopti, which I understand also has limited flights. From the US, there are basically two options for the most "direct" means to travel to Bamako -- on Air France through Paris or on Royal Air Maroc through Casablanca. Dad and I took the Casablanca option.
Our travel day started with a 7am taxi drive to the airport. Jet Blue took us to New York -- not a horrible experience, but it is a long flight. Our flight to Casablanca left New York on time at 7pm, landing in Casablanca EARLY in the morning. The flight was rather empty and we were in the front of the plane, so it wasn't so bad. The Casablanca airport experience is interesting. There is no such thing as a queue. Every person for himself. No lines, no waiting, push, shove, make your way to the front. We had a dickens of a time finding out how to make the arrangements to go to the transit hotel (with a 14 hour layover we were entitled to a room at the hotel, lunch and dinner). Finally made it there, then stood outside waiting for the shuttle to the airport. By then I'd figured out the pushing maneuver well enough to get dad and I seats on the van. I think there were 25 people smooshed into the vehicle. Got to the hotel and the mad rush for check-in. Each person had to fill out forms, including the number stamped on your entry visa. For me, with my relatively new passport, this was easy -- the only stamp there. Dad, on the other hand, had a bit more of a challenge. We FINALLY found his stamp and made it to our room. Double bed -- hadn't slept with my dad in one bed since I was about Maggie's age! Didn't stop much and we both slept about 3 good hours. Up for lunch, then we took a taxi tour of Casablanca. There's a HUGE mosque there that dad and uncle Bill had visited last year. They'd also visited the souk (market). I was happy with the taxi tour, not yet having my travelling legs. At one point we did get out on the beach -- it really reminded me of Scheveningen in Holland -- restaurants and attractions set up right on the sand, so people could enjoy a meal/drink and the kids were entertained. Small world!
After dinner we headed back to the airport for our flight to Bamako (scheduled to leave at 11pm). Security was interesting -- didn't have to take off our shoes, but they did look into our bags. The plane to Bamako was PACKED. And the people (almost all male) not only took up lots of space but they also were LOUD, talking the entire 4 hour flight. Yikes! I'm thankful for the ear plugs and face mask in my carry-on! Got to Bamako, got through passport control (actually experienced lines this time), got our luggage and headed out. We were met by one of the gals and the driver, made it to the hotel and collapsed.
WHEW!!!!!! Thankful for no delays on the way there and a ready bed upon arrival after being greeted by a smiling face.........
Our travel day started with a 7am taxi drive to the airport. Jet Blue took us to New York -- not a horrible experience, but it is a long flight. Our flight to Casablanca left New York on time at 7pm, landing in Casablanca EARLY in the morning. The flight was rather empty and we were in the front of the plane, so it wasn't so bad. The Casablanca airport experience is interesting. There is no such thing as a queue. Every person for himself. No lines, no waiting, push, shove, make your way to the front. We had a dickens of a time finding out how to make the arrangements to go to the transit hotel (with a 14 hour layover we were entitled to a room at the hotel, lunch and dinner). Finally made it there, then stood outside waiting for the shuttle to the airport. By then I'd figured out the pushing maneuver well enough to get dad and I seats on the van. I think there were 25 people smooshed into the vehicle. Got to the hotel and the mad rush for check-in. Each person had to fill out forms, including the number stamped on your entry visa. For me, with my relatively new passport, this was easy -- the only stamp there. Dad, on the other hand, had a bit more of a challenge. We FINALLY found his stamp and made it to our room. Double bed -- hadn't slept with my dad in one bed since I was about Maggie's age! Didn't stop much and we both slept about 3 good hours. Up for lunch, then we took a taxi tour of Casablanca. There's a HUGE mosque there that dad and uncle Bill had visited last year. They'd also visited the souk (market). I was happy with the taxi tour, not yet having my travelling legs. At one point we did get out on the beach -- it really reminded me of Scheveningen in Holland -- restaurants and attractions set up right on the sand, so people could enjoy a meal/drink and the kids were entertained. Small world!
After dinner we headed back to the airport for our flight to Bamako (scheduled to leave at 11pm). Security was interesting -- didn't have to take off our shoes, but they did look into our bags. The plane to Bamako was PACKED. And the people (almost all male) not only took up lots of space but they also were LOUD, talking the entire 4 hour flight. Yikes! I'm thankful for the ear plugs and face mask in my carry-on! Got to Bamako, got through passport control (actually experienced lines this time), got our luggage and headed out. We were met by one of the gals and the driver, made it to the hotel and collapsed.
WHEW!!!!!! Thankful for no delays on the way there and a ready bed upon arrival after being greeted by a smiling face.........
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
geography lesson
I've spent the past 2+ weeks in Africa, touring and living in a village for 5 days where our group helped the villagers plant 273 fruit trees and build a 6-foot rock wall roughly 38 yards by 65 yards. This was done in the country of Mali, a land-locked nation in west Africa. Not Bali, Malti, Malawi, or Maui but MALI. It is a former French colony that was granted autonomy in 1960 (we were there to see some of the 50th anniversary celebrations). It is one of the poorest nations in the world, in terms of GNP. Few natural resources, although there is some gold-mining. The government holds democratic elections and is one of the more stable ones in Africa. The capital is Bamako, in the southern part of the country. One interesting fact is that the city of Timbuktu not only exists, but is in Mali.
The cities are typical of any large 3rd world cities, but the smaller towns and villages are filled with kind, generous souls who are amazing. I joined my dad on this trip -- he'd gone with the same group last year. That, too, was extremely special. Not too many adult children travel with a parent, no?
I'll be slowly but surely putting out my impressions on the trip, but thought I'd start with this one, so at least ya'll know where I was! Have a great day!
The cities are typical of any large 3rd world cities, but the smaller towns and villages are filled with kind, generous souls who are amazing. I joined my dad on this trip -- he'd gone with the same group last year. That, too, was extremely special. Not too many adult children travel with a parent, no?
I'll be slowly but surely putting out my impressions on the trip, but thought I'd start with this one, so at least ya'll know where I was! Have a great day!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
wanna rent a 12 year old?????
I really love my daughter and remember my own attitude at 12, but come on! Yikes. AND I even "gave up" my one day of sleeping in to take her for high school placement testing -- any thanks???? Of course not. Sigh.
In other news, this week passed by QUICKLY. Back to school, back to activities, celebrating Abby's birthday early (my baby turns 10 Monday!). Back to school was relatively non-eventful, aside from the fact that it's COLD here (when it goes below freezing here it's COLD -- this week we've dipped below 20). Homework hasn't heated up too much for Maggie (yet), but I'm sure that will change. We also managed to run a few errands, including the purchase of yet another pair of pointe shoes.
As for me, no bruising from the Hepatitis shot this time around. Nice to get back to Bible Study on Wednesday, nice to get back to yoga yesterday.
And we did have a nice celebration for Abby last night. Unlike a lot of people, the actual "day" of the birthday/anniversary/holiday isn't particularly important if you recognize it somewhere around the time. Since Tom left for Holland today, we celebrated last night. Made a brownie "cake" with chocolate frosting, and she opened her presents (well, one wasn't wrapped, one was in the shipping box, and the other was wrapped!). Thrilled with a new game for the Wii Tom got this week, enjoying (right now!) the iPod, and moved into the new purse. Not a "lot" of gifts, but no complaints! Mom is going to take her and Maggie b-day shopping on MLK day while she's here as well.
Speaking of the Wii -- I'm OK at bowling but seem to suck at table tennis (haven't tried anything else.....). Wii Fit is on order, we'll see how that one stacks up with my non-coordinated body! It is fun, of course!
Today Maggie had her placement testing. Dropped her off at 8 and picked her up at 11:30. She said the tests were "medium" on the difficulty scale. Some were easy, some were more difficult. No surprises there. She has her interview Tuesday. Public school was so much easier!
Abby's getting a new violin teacher -- her teacher has over an hour commute each week and wants to cut back her hours. The new teacher is apparently another young lady. Unfortunately, I won't be with Abby when she meets here, but mom will be.
As for me, I continue to get ready for my trip. Passport has been returned with visa attached, only a couple more purchases necessary, and various maps and agendas prepared for mom.......
Have a great week!
In other news, this week passed by QUICKLY. Back to school, back to activities, celebrating Abby's birthday early (my baby turns 10 Monday!). Back to school was relatively non-eventful, aside from the fact that it's COLD here (when it goes below freezing here it's COLD -- this week we've dipped below 20). Homework hasn't heated up too much for Maggie (yet), but I'm sure that will change. We also managed to run a few errands, including the purchase of yet another pair of pointe shoes.
As for me, no bruising from the Hepatitis shot this time around. Nice to get back to Bible Study on Wednesday, nice to get back to yoga yesterday.
And we did have a nice celebration for Abby last night. Unlike a lot of people, the actual "day" of the birthday/anniversary/holiday isn't particularly important if you recognize it somewhere around the time. Since Tom left for Holland today, we celebrated last night. Made a brownie "cake" with chocolate frosting, and she opened her presents (well, one wasn't wrapped, one was in the shipping box, and the other was wrapped!). Thrilled with a new game for the Wii Tom got this week, enjoying (right now!) the iPod, and moved into the new purse. Not a "lot" of gifts, but no complaints! Mom is going to take her and Maggie b-day shopping on MLK day while she's here as well.
Speaking of the Wii -- I'm OK at bowling but seem to suck at table tennis (haven't tried anything else.....). Wii Fit is on order, we'll see how that one stacks up with my non-coordinated body! It is fun, of course!
Today Maggie had her placement testing. Dropped her off at 8 and picked her up at 11:30. She said the tests were "medium" on the difficulty scale. Some were easy, some were more difficult. No surprises there. She has her interview Tuesday. Public school was so much easier!
Abby's getting a new violin teacher -- her teacher has over an hour commute each week and wants to cut back her hours. The new teacher is apparently another young lady. Unfortunately, I won't be with Abby when she meets here, but mom will be.
As for me, I continue to get ready for my trip. Passport has been returned with visa attached, only a couple more purchases necessary, and various maps and agendas prepared for mom.......
Have a great week!
Monday, January 4, 2010
help!
brought cat home today from kenneling. cat won't leave my lap. at least she doesn't try to type on my keyboard. and she didn't want any of my lunch (lentil-broccoli thingy). guess she missed me!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Happiest of New Years!
Home again! We had a GREAT trip (BUSY!), but it was certainly nice to be home again yesterday. Quite thankful that despite the airplane incident Christmas, we encountered no problems with airport security and our flight left on time, arrived a couple minutes early, AND the luggage came out quickly. Can't get much better than that! The only thing I noticed was that TSA were looking MUCH more carefully at the x-rays of anything carried onto the plane, and the had people take off all sweaters, as well as coats.
A HUGE thanks to my mom and dad for all they did -- from coming to get us at the airport to taking us shopping to driving us all over to lending us a car to cooking dinners and doing laundry! WOW! Ya'll are GREAT! And another huge THANKS goes to Kris and Jon for having us all over for Christmas and having Tom and I over for New Years. More cooking, hosting, extra laundry, etc. And a final THANKS to my Auntie Ellen and Uncle Jeff for having us all come visit the 30th. TONS of kiddos in the house, a nice lunch, and a chance for me to meet with my cousins' kiddos.
So, what all did we do while we were gone????? We left the 22nd. Arriving in NC my parents picked us up. Tom, my dad, and the luggage headed to their house while the rest of us went shopping (Maggie and Abby had a bit of Christmas money burning a hole in their pockets). Met back up at the house, dinner, and relaxation. The next day my dad and I headed out for my Christmas shopping -- getting various supplies for our trip in 2 weeks to Africa. I never thought I'd be so excited to get a mosquito net for a present! Also the proud owner of my first pair of hiking boots. And dad got to experience the pleasure of shopping for women's pants which, unlike men's, are NOT consistent in sizes......
Christmas Eve we headed down to my sister's house. Had an appetizer dinner spread and got the little kiddos (the under-10 set) to bed. Maggie got to participate in the Santa-distribution for the first time.....Fun for all! We managed to get up at a reasonable hour Christmas day (after 8am) to start with the fun. In our family, Santa wraps the presents and we open them person by person, from youngest to oldest. Takes a while, but what else is planned? Mom always has to wait and wait until the end.....After that we had breakfast (for those who didn't eat all their stocking candy first!) and then opened presents. Maggie and Abby's "big" presents had been opened at home, and Tom's "big" present was our Transiberian experience and mine (for the next couple years!) is my upcoming trip (although Tom did manage to sneak me a special gift -- he's a GREAT guy!). I think the hits of the day were my sleeping pad and Maggie's was the USP expander (who knew she'd get so excited by that one!). Kristin made lasagna for dinner and we headed back to mom's after dinner.
Spent the 26th relaxing (or else I just don't remember what we did!) and then headed to the movies on the 27th. The ladies went to see "It's Complicated" which is hilarious. The men saw "Holmes" which I'm planning to take the girls to next weekend when Tom's gone. All were satisfied. On Monday Abby ended up spending the night at my sister's house and Taylor was up with us. We met at the outlet mall Tuesday and mom took ownership of the girls (to take ALL 4 kids to the Chipmunk movies) while Kris and I enjoyed some outlet shopping (THANKS dad for the bonus cash!). We started slowly, but did manage to have some success. Headed back to the house and went for dinner. Tom left from there to spend the night with Jon and the rest of us (8!) piled into Kris's car to go see the holiday lights at Tanglewood -- magnificent!
The 30th was spent visiting my dad's sister's family in Greensboro. I got to meet 2 of my cousins' kiddos and we enjoyed having lunch with everyone. Not the longest visit, but with that many little kids, all tired fro the holidays and running on adrenaline, we had fun! Back to mom's where Kris soon left to take her kids home. Tom and Jon had spent the day at the firing range and actually had a good time. Not quite my thing, but they had fun!
New Year's Eve saw mom meeting Jon to pick up his kids. Tom and I headed down to their house. Two friends of theirs came over and we headed out for Chinese food. Back to the Root's house for competitive Trivial Pursuit and adult beverage consumption. The men won the first round and we won the second. Somehow I pulled "Orson Scott Card" out of nowhere to get the final answer right! All headed back to mom's on the first for the pork roast, hoppin' john, etc. My cousin Amanda was able to come up as well and stayed through the Rose Bowl (go Bucks!). Nice to get to see her as well.
Headed home yesterday, more laundry, church with Maggie this morning, then taking her to a b-day party. Back to reality tomorrow -- I am NOT ready!
Happy New Year to all.......
A HUGE thanks to my mom and dad for all they did -- from coming to get us at the airport to taking us shopping to driving us all over to lending us a car to cooking dinners and doing laundry! WOW! Ya'll are GREAT! And another huge THANKS goes to Kris and Jon for having us all over for Christmas and having Tom and I over for New Years. More cooking, hosting, extra laundry, etc. And a final THANKS to my Auntie Ellen and Uncle Jeff for having us all come visit the 30th. TONS of kiddos in the house, a nice lunch, and a chance for me to meet with my cousins' kiddos.
So, what all did we do while we were gone????? We left the 22nd. Arriving in NC my parents picked us up. Tom, my dad, and the luggage headed to their house while the rest of us went shopping (Maggie and Abby had a bit of Christmas money burning a hole in their pockets). Met back up at the house, dinner, and relaxation. The next day my dad and I headed out for my Christmas shopping -- getting various supplies for our trip in 2 weeks to Africa. I never thought I'd be so excited to get a mosquito net for a present! Also the proud owner of my first pair of hiking boots. And dad got to experience the pleasure of shopping for women's pants which, unlike men's, are NOT consistent in sizes......
Christmas Eve we headed down to my sister's house. Had an appetizer dinner spread and got the little kiddos (the under-10 set) to bed. Maggie got to participate in the Santa-distribution for the first time.....Fun for all! We managed to get up at a reasonable hour Christmas day (after 8am) to start with the fun. In our family, Santa wraps the presents and we open them person by person, from youngest to oldest. Takes a while, but what else is planned? Mom always has to wait and wait until the end.....After that we had breakfast (for those who didn't eat all their stocking candy first!) and then opened presents. Maggie and Abby's "big" presents had been opened at home, and Tom's "big" present was our Transiberian experience and mine (for the next couple years!) is my upcoming trip (although Tom did manage to sneak me a special gift -- he's a GREAT guy!). I think the hits of the day were my sleeping pad and Maggie's was the USP expander (who knew she'd get so excited by that one!). Kristin made lasagna for dinner and we headed back to mom's after dinner.
Spent the 26th relaxing (or else I just don't remember what we did!) and then headed to the movies on the 27th. The ladies went to see "It's Complicated" which is hilarious. The men saw "Holmes" which I'm planning to take the girls to next weekend when Tom's gone. All were satisfied. On Monday Abby ended up spending the night at my sister's house and Taylor was up with us. We met at the outlet mall Tuesday and mom took ownership of the girls (to take ALL 4 kids to the Chipmunk movies) while Kris and I enjoyed some outlet shopping (THANKS dad for the bonus cash!). We started slowly, but did manage to have some success. Headed back to the house and went for dinner. Tom left from there to spend the night with Jon and the rest of us (8!) piled into Kris's car to go see the holiday lights at Tanglewood -- magnificent!
The 30th was spent visiting my dad's sister's family in Greensboro. I got to meet 2 of my cousins' kiddos and we enjoyed having lunch with everyone. Not the longest visit, but with that many little kids, all tired fro the holidays and running on adrenaline, we had fun! Back to mom's where Kris soon left to take her kids home. Tom and Jon had spent the day at the firing range and actually had a good time. Not quite my thing, but they had fun!
New Year's Eve saw mom meeting Jon to pick up his kids. Tom and I headed down to their house. Two friends of theirs came over and we headed out for Chinese food. Back to the Root's house for competitive Trivial Pursuit and adult beverage consumption. The men won the first round and we won the second. Somehow I pulled "Orson Scott Card" out of nowhere to get the final answer right! All headed back to mom's on the first for the pork roast, hoppin' john, etc. My cousin Amanda was able to come up as well and stayed through the Rose Bowl (go Bucks!). Nice to get to see her as well.
Headed home yesterday, more laundry, church with Maggie this morning, then taking her to a b-day party. Back to reality tomorrow -- I am NOT ready!
Happy New Year to all.......
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