Hello everyone,
It is far too cold. Culture shock in addition to the frigid temperatures is making a fairly amusing somewhat painful transition back home for a few weeks. It was a bit of sensory overload sitting at the Paris airport waiting to come home. Good Food, electronic everything, so many people, Christmas Decor, intercom systems, Prada (I remind you I live on about $3 a day…on average)…
Did I mention it’s cold? I had a long sleeve t-shirt and one last pair of pants that still has the butt in a semi presentable condition (though wearing very thin) and tennis shoes to greet this winter weather...thank God for winter clothes and parents who remembered to bring them to the airport!
Thanksgiving in San was fantastic and delicious though I’m not too disappointed that it was my last one in Mali. Justin and I left the following day and made it all the way north to Bandiagara where we stayed the night in preparation to go to another SED volunteer’s (Andy) sight on Saturday morning called Djigibombo. Justin and I biked the 25 kilometers uphill to Djigibombo and after some recovery time, went out for an afternoon hike. The real hike was Sunday morning when Andy’s homologue took Justin and I on a 12ish kilometer hike up and down and all around the Dogon cliffs. It was a beautiful day and an absolutely perfect way to celebrate Thanksgiving and my rapidly approaching trip home. Rumor has it, the pygmies of central Africa are descendants from the Telmen people who long ago resided in the cliffs in Dogon country and we investigated the old houses (well, the remains of) of these tiny people during the hike. It was pretty entertaining seeing Justin standing next to one of the houses…he’s a tall guy, but these houses came up just past his hip.
We left Djigibombo early Monday morning and made great time getting home…until I blew my tire… Oh well, we met some nice people at a surrounding village who fixed it up for us and allowed us to continue on our way without too much of a delay. I spent one night in Sevare and then left for San where I did my last minute packing then caught the 5am bus down to Bamako on Wednesday. It’s been a whirlwind ever since Thanksgiving and even before that because my last stint at site was busy as well. I finished up my Christmas shopping in Bamako and had a fairly painless trip home. When my biggest complaint is the cold weather, I think I’m one lucky lady.
I have so much I want and hope to do in Kentucky I don’t anticipate it to be a leisurely Christmas vacation and I’m so excited for it. I only have 3 weeks so I’m going to make the most of it!
Much love,
Cait
