The Boo tracker

Sometimes Mali just kicks your butt. I was feeling so upbeat last time I wrote. Somewhere between an 11-hour bus ride from Bamako to Kayes, and a 9-hour trip to Dialafara I was beat. Thats nine hours for 100 miles! Do the math on that, it’s not pretty.

The day I got back we had a meeting to discuss how to run the new library. Surprise, surprise the mayor and co. want in. Wherever there’s money involved they want in. They spouted about how they were so pro-development and wanted to be involved. I’m calling bullshit on that one. My homologue and the mayor’s right hand man, N’Dao, nearly got into a fight and had to be separated. It was not a pretty scene. N’Dao is the type of man who has no actual position, but somehow has a ridiculous amount of power. For some reason, everyone in town is afraid of him, and he dips his hands in every association that exists. So, at least my homologue stood up to him, though I wish he had kept his cool. I thought I was standing up to N’Dao until someone informed me that he is in fact illiterate and does not speak any French. Somehow, we managed to put teachers and students in charge of the library, but the head librarian position is still empty and my guess is that the mayor has someone in mind for that spot. We’ll see what happens there. All of the teachers showed up to the meetings, and it’s nice to know that all these people are willing to stand up to these corrupt politicians.

So, it was not a great welcome back to site. Somehow 10 days felt like a longer time than 6 weeks. Part of that is obviously that the end destination after 10 days is so amazing. But, this is not the first time I have felt like this. Sometimes, if I’m only going to be back at site for a short time I tend to just count down days. On the other hand, if I’m back for over a month, I know I have to settle into it a little better. If I try to do a countdown for 6 weeks, I’m going to be miserable. So, for whatever reason, 10 days seemed like 10 years.

Still, at times it felt nice to be back, and see my kids and people in my village. A lot of people told me they thought I had lost weight. I don’t have a scale so I don’t really even know, but I tend to joke with them. I tell them it’s because I don’t have a wife. It is incredible the number of people who cannot believe I am not married yet. People in village try and give me a wife. They tell me I need to find someone soon. Usually I tell them that I’m still young. That I still have time. It’s not uncommon for Americans to get married well into their thirties. One woman then asked how old I was. I asked her how old she thought I was. She said 38! That’s what happens when you don’t shave for a while. Here, if you can grow facial hair, you must be old.

Then, when everyone you play soccer with tells you that you look exactly like Gattuso, a dirty Italian soccer player, you really know it’s time to shave.

One thing I did enjoy this time at site was the weather. It’s cold season here. During the day, it’s still around 105. At night though, it’s down right frigid. Lows dip down into the mid-60s. Malians think it’s freezing and all catch colds. They wear gloves, hats, ski masks, and huge ski jackets. They make fires every night to keep warm. Last year I was making fun of all of this. This year, I was cold. I put on my nike hoodie, and went to sit close to the fire. All of the teachers I sit with thought this was hilarious. Yeah I’m going to do great flying into JFK in the middle of December.

When I went to pack for my trip home, I realized I had pretty much nothing in the least bit useful for this trip. I have t-shirts. Useless. Shorts. Not so helpful. Short sleeve shirts. No good. So, my suitcases is mostly books I’m bringing home. I do have a couple pairs of pants that might help. Luckilly I’m going home first so I’ll grab a bunch of warm clothes.

And now introducing the Bobby Boo tracker. It is no small feat getting from A to B. I know my geography buddies will enjoy this.

Step 1 (completed): 100 miles (160 km) from my village of Dialafara to Kayes (my regional capital): 5 1/2 hours

Doesn’t look that far but it is. My closest volunteers are Billy and Katharine in Kenieba.

Step 2: Just completed! Kayes to Dakar on a bus (18 hours for 520 miles), the border took 3 hours to get through, and customs stopped up a ridiculous number of times. The policemen wanted me to pay 30 bucks (for being white) I refused, and everyone on my bus took my side. I made lots of friends. I met a man who lived in Queens, NYC, had worked at a KFC and a Dr. Jay’s. He then asked me if I was a Jewish American. I asked him how he could tell, he said his owners were always Jewish and he can recognize Jews. Weird stuff, and small world.

Next step: Two flights, Dakar to Casablanca and Casablanca to JFK

…and I’m home! I haven’t seen a bed in a couple days and I might sleep through the day. But, man is it nice to be home.