Hey Everyone!
I had to make a quick trip to San to buy some gifts for village. I’m getting my host family some fabric (a pretty standard though nice gift given Malian emphasis on clothes) and am hosting a small goodbye party at my homologue's house. We’re having rice and beans and drinking tea on the night of the 27th. My last name is Coulibaly and we’re known as the bean eaters, so it’s only fitting that we have beans during my last few days. I also bought a goat at market…but I felt just awful…It was like sentencing him to death; which I suppose I did.
I’m still very much dreading my last day of goodbyes. The 31st will be one of the hardest days of my life. It’s even more daunting knowing the communication struggles that exist here but I hope to do my best to stay in touch (challenges include, illiteracy, no address, expensive phone credit, etc). I’ve already had a lot of goodbyes from my American friends but those too I still have more to make.
Otherwise, all is well here. I’m very content in my last few days. I’ve been busy farming my peanut field…I’m still incredibly slow, but the village is impressed with my ability so that was at least encouraging. My body disagreed with it though and I’m still sore and the blisters on my hands haven’t turned to callus yet so they just hurt all the time. People do now take my hands and make fun that my white person hands have turned into Malian hands accustomed to a hard life of working in the fields…a vast improvement from the jest that my white person hands are so soft and can’t do Malian work.
I brought my laptop to site this past stint and have been working with Bah’s oldest daughter, Madeline, on typing. Of course the French keyboard is different than the English keyboard but she is at least getting familiar with the general concept. I’m really proud of her. She just passed her exams so she can continue on to 12th grade; no small feat given the fail rate is well over 50%.
The new baby in the family is super cute. He still doesn’t have a name as the waiting period to announce the name isn’t over yet, but I’ve been asked for some ideas so we’ll see if they take any. One of my highlights of the past 2 weeks was when Kardi, who has always been timid and often cried at my approach, finally ran up to greet me in the morning and held my hand as I tried to go about my morning chores…which actually was really annoying after the “cuteness” wore off as it’s really hard to pull water from a well when you have a child clinging to your arm.
I guess I have no more updates to catch you all up on. I’m excited to get back to site and enjoy my last week and half. The prospect of going home is actually upon me now and that too is driving force to keeping my spirits up during the sad goodbyes. I hope all is well back home and I can’t wait to see everyone when I get home in 3 weeks!
Love,
Cait
July 28, 2011
Hey Everyone,
I just biked into San for perhaps the last time ever!!! Hard to believe it but the next and last time I come to San will be on public transport because I’ll have my suitcase and water filter and more luggage that won’t fit on the back of my bike. It was a cool and non windy morning so about as much as I could ask for as far as ideal Mali bike riding weather goes.
It is supposedly rainy season though it’s got off to a very rough start. It should be raining just about every day but it rained twice in the past 3 weeks…my village is nervous to say the least. Last year was a great harvest so to have a drought this year won’t be too detrimental to the village but the danger lies in having another bad harvest next year in which case food becomes scarce and money that is already hard to come by becomes nearly impossible to acquire as food prices soar. I’m hopeful August will bring more rain and ease the palpable tension in Sebanso.
It’s been a nice few weeks at site despite the lack of rain. Bah’s oldest daughter, Madeline and I chat and make sweet potato fries most afternoons to sell and then we get to eat the delicious left over woso (Bambara for sweet potato). I’ve had a good amount of time to read as well and chat with friends who have returned from Bamako for rainy season, but don’t have any work to do in the fields because the lack of rain has made the ground rock hard. When people are in the fields, the kids are left to fend for themselves in village so I’ve spent a good deal of time playing with them as well. They’re always a source of entertainment. There are, however, still a few who cry at the site of me…though I probably propagate that fear when I chase them away from the well when I go to pull water…
I visited my friend, Lindsey at her village and spent the past weekend there. It was really nice to have some girl time as two of my best girlfriends have already COS’d and returned to America. Her younger sister in Iowa had a high school play that we watched on Lyndsey's computer at night and I’m so impressed with the talent of those kids. It was a musical and some of those voices belong on Broadway. It was also startling to see high school students and realize that it’s been 6+ years since I was in their shoes…and I thought I was so grown up then.
I’ll be in San for a few days with perhaps a day trip down to Segou for some more shopping but things are really winding down here and mostly just getting things ready to come home. I’m moving out on August 31st and spending a few days in San before I go to Bamako for my medical exam and Close of Service interviews/last minute paperwork. It’s smooth sailing until then, just enjoying my last few weeks. Hope everyone is well and I miss you all terribly.
Much Love,
Cait
I just biked into San for perhaps the last time ever!!! Hard to believe it but the next and last time I come to San will be on public transport because I’ll have my suitcase and water filter and more luggage that won’t fit on the back of my bike. It was a cool and non windy morning so about as much as I could ask for as far as ideal Mali bike riding weather goes.
It is supposedly rainy season though it’s got off to a very rough start. It should be raining just about every day but it rained twice in the past 3 weeks…my village is nervous to say the least. Last year was a great harvest so to have a drought this year won’t be too detrimental to the village but the danger lies in having another bad harvest next year in which case food becomes scarce and money that is already hard to come by becomes nearly impossible to acquire as food prices soar. I’m hopeful August will bring more rain and ease the palpable tension in Sebanso.
It’s been a nice few weeks at site despite the lack of rain. Bah’s oldest daughter, Madeline and I chat and make sweet potato fries most afternoons to sell and then we get to eat the delicious left over woso (Bambara for sweet potato). I’ve had a good amount of time to read as well and chat with friends who have returned from Bamako for rainy season, but don’t have any work to do in the fields because the lack of rain has made the ground rock hard. When people are in the fields, the kids are left to fend for themselves in village so I’ve spent a good deal of time playing with them as well. They’re always a source of entertainment. There are, however, still a few who cry at the site of me…though I probably propagate that fear when I chase them away from the well when I go to pull water…
I visited my friend, Lindsey at her village and spent the past weekend there. It was really nice to have some girl time as two of my best girlfriends have already COS’d and returned to America. Her younger sister in Iowa had a high school play that we watched on Lyndsey's computer at night and I’m so impressed with the talent of those kids. It was a musical and some of those voices belong on Broadway. It was also startling to see high school students and realize that it’s been 6+ years since I was in their shoes…and I thought I was so grown up then.
I’ll be in San for a few days with perhaps a day trip down to Segou for some more shopping but things are really winding down here and mostly just getting things ready to come home. I’m moving out on August 31st and spending a few days in San before I go to Bamako for my medical exam and Close of Service interviews/last minute paperwork. It’s smooth sailing until then, just enjoying my last few weeks. Hope everyone is well and I miss you all terribly.
Much Love,
Cait
July 10, 2011
Hey Everyone,
It hasn’t been long since my last update, but I expect to be at site for a few weeks before I get back to internet. This will be my last long stint at site with a trip out in early-mid August and then moving out at the end of August. Today marks my two year anniversary in country and my third July away from home…
Today is also a big day as my first niece turns 1 and I found out that baby Z, due in November, will be a boy and whose birth I’ll be home for!
I just returned from a trip, perhaps my last, from visiting up north. I left last Sunday with my friend Lindsey whose sisters were in town visiting from home. She rented a car to take us up and very appropriately, we broke down just an hour outside of Bandiagara. We made it though and in relatively good time despite the hiccup. There was a small party for the fourth with some quality pool time at one of the nicer hotels but sad to say no fireworks. The weather was nice however. Rainy season is just getting underway at my site, and Bandiagara is about 2-3 weeks behind so the weather was cooler without the rain.
I got some shopping done in Bandiagara, but towards the end of the week, I wanted to visit Mopti, the regional capital which I’ve never been to before despite all my time in the region. Justin and I took an early car out and got to Mopti before it got too hot and spent the day shopping, hanging out at the pool and enjoying the AC at a local hotel. I’ve been trying to get the last of my souvenirs and gift shopping done this month and succeeded with the majority of it. We went to walk by the huge mud mosque in Mopti and stumbled across a very new museum of the mud buildings in Mali. I’ve now been to the two mud mosques I am allowed to visit as the others reside in the north of the country, Timbuktu and Gao, where it has been deemed unsafe to travel. Thus Djene and Mopti will have to suffice. The mosque in Djene is the only one recorded as a World Heritage Site, but the Mopti mosque was still quite impressive.
Mopti is located as the meeting point of the two major rivers in Mali, the Bani and Niger, thus a major fishing town. This is also a large port in accessing the salt mines in Timbuktu and Gao so everywhere we looked there were enormous mounds of salt. It was a cool market but a little overwhelming being treated as a tourist. We would be hassled until we started speaking Bambara or Donoso (Justin’s language) then prices were dropped nearly in half of what they were originally asking and even lower once we bargained. I felt a little vindicated being able to chat with the locals and being treated more fairly, but it was annoying none the less. We ended a wonderful day at a delicious restaurant overlooking the river…a river whose bank was several feet deep in trash, but we live in Mali and were just delighted to see water.
Not too much else to report on my end. I’m looking forward to a few weeks at site. Much of my days will be spent in the fields though I suspect my lack of farming skills will serve only for entertainment then I’ll be sent to rest under the trees. It’s probably for the best; I’m really slow and can’t plant a straight row of millet to save my life. Already the ground is greener and things are sprouting and I’m pretty excited that I’ll be leaving Mali at its prettiest time of year. 9 months a year it’s brown and barren but for a few blessed weeks it’s green and alive and beautiful.
Hope all is well back home and looking forward to being there in eight short weeks.
Love,
Cait
It hasn’t been long since my last update, but I expect to be at site for a few weeks before I get back to internet. This will be my last long stint at site with a trip out in early-mid August and then moving out at the end of August. Today marks my two year anniversary in country and my third July away from home…
Today is also a big day as my first niece turns 1 and I found out that baby Z, due in November, will be a boy and whose birth I’ll be home for!
I just returned from a trip, perhaps my last, from visiting up north. I left last Sunday with my friend Lindsey whose sisters were in town visiting from home. She rented a car to take us up and very appropriately, we broke down just an hour outside of Bandiagara. We made it though and in relatively good time despite the hiccup. There was a small party for the fourth with some quality pool time at one of the nicer hotels but sad to say no fireworks. The weather was nice however. Rainy season is just getting underway at my site, and Bandiagara is about 2-3 weeks behind so the weather was cooler without the rain.
I got some shopping done in Bandiagara, but towards the end of the week, I wanted to visit Mopti, the regional capital which I’ve never been to before despite all my time in the region. Justin and I took an early car out and got to Mopti before it got too hot and spent the day shopping, hanging out at the pool and enjoying the AC at a local hotel. I’ve been trying to get the last of my souvenirs and gift shopping done this month and succeeded with the majority of it. We went to walk by the huge mud mosque in Mopti and stumbled across a very new museum of the mud buildings in Mali. I’ve now been to the two mud mosques I am allowed to visit as the others reside in the north of the country, Timbuktu and Gao, where it has been deemed unsafe to travel. Thus Djene and Mopti will have to suffice. The mosque in Djene is the only one recorded as a World Heritage Site, but the Mopti mosque was still quite impressive.
Mopti is located as the meeting point of the two major rivers in Mali, the Bani and Niger, thus a major fishing town. This is also a large port in accessing the salt mines in Timbuktu and Gao so everywhere we looked there were enormous mounds of salt. It was a cool market but a little overwhelming being treated as a tourist. We would be hassled until we started speaking Bambara or Donoso (Justin’s language) then prices were dropped nearly in half of what they were originally asking and even lower once we bargained. I felt a little vindicated being able to chat with the locals and being treated more fairly, but it was annoying none the less. We ended a wonderful day at a delicious restaurant overlooking the river…a river whose bank was several feet deep in trash, but we live in Mali and were just delighted to see water.
Not too much else to report on my end. I’m looking forward to a few weeks at site. Much of my days will be spent in the fields though I suspect my lack of farming skills will serve only for entertainment then I’ll be sent to rest under the trees. It’s probably for the best; I’m really slow and can’t plant a straight row of millet to save my life. Already the ground is greener and things are sprouting and I’m pretty excited that I’ll be leaving Mali at its prettiest time of year. 9 months a year it’s brown and barren but for a few blessed weeks it’s green and alive and beautiful.
Hope all is well back home and looking forward to being there in eight short weeks.
Love,
Cait
July 2, 2011
Hey everyone,
It’s official that my Close of Service (COS) date is set for September 9, 2011. I don’t have my flight information yet, but it’s very likely that I’ll be home a few days after that date. I can’t believe that the time is already here to start planning my life back home, but with less than two months left at Sebanso, I have to start mentally and emotionally preparing myself.
The COS conference was brief, but fun to see everyone again…well, what’s left of us anyways. Of the original 66 starting in Philadelphia we ended with 36 at the conference. The days consisted of lots of logistics and paperwork, but also resume building and interviewing tips as well as some networking opportunities with Returned volunteers (RPCV’s) stateside. And perhaps more importantly, the conference was held in a AC hotel and Peace Corps paid for our rooms for 4 nights and all our meals…I didn’t each rice or millet once that whole week!!
Next week is not only Independence Day in the States but also marks my 2 year anniversary in Peace Corps. I left home early on July 7, 2009 and arrived in Mali on July 10, 2009. This July 10th, will be extra special as it marks an anniversary for me, but also my first niece’s first birthday. Time can be ruthless sometimes in how quickly is slips by, so I’m trying to make an extra effort to take in as much as I can each day.
I was only at site for a week before coming into San on my way up to Bandiagara for the 4th of July. One of my girlfriends in San is taking her sisters, visiting from the States, up north to go on a Dogon hike. Dogon country is beautiful year round, but especially in rainy season when there is actually some green instead of the desert and rocks. I feel lucky to have seen that part of the country as often as I have, it’s one of the biggest tourist destinations in Mali and I have friends who speak the local dialects so it makes the whole experience more enjoyable.
It never fails during rainy season that when I want to leave to bike into San, the night before downpours. With rainy season just starting the rain is completely unpredictable but I can pretty much guarantee that if I want to bike, it will rain…I can single handedly end droughts facing my community. That said, this morning I was delayed in leaving then battled a VERY muddy 6 kilometers to get to the road. Men farming in their fields literally stopped their cows plowing to watch me struggle…I never cease to be a source of entertainment for Malians.
I’m looking forward to my last few weeks at site and feel good about the amount of time I have left to say all my goodbyes and have some closure. I know it will pass quickly but I’m looking forward to the next stage of my life back home and that too is making the transition more bearable. The goodbyes will be painful, but I think that just means I developed some amazing relationships and it should hurt to close that part of my life. Fortunately, I get to put off the inevitable for a few more weeks.
Hope everyone has a fabulous Independence Day and I wish a very Happy Birthday to Allison (and a Happy Anniversary to Molly and Chad!)
Love,
Cait
It’s official that my Close of Service (COS) date is set for September 9, 2011. I don’t have my flight information yet, but it’s very likely that I’ll be home a few days after that date. I can’t believe that the time is already here to start planning my life back home, but with less than two months left at Sebanso, I have to start mentally and emotionally preparing myself.
The COS conference was brief, but fun to see everyone again…well, what’s left of us anyways. Of the original 66 starting in Philadelphia we ended with 36 at the conference. The days consisted of lots of logistics and paperwork, but also resume building and interviewing tips as well as some networking opportunities with Returned volunteers (RPCV’s) stateside. And perhaps more importantly, the conference was held in a AC hotel and Peace Corps paid for our rooms for 4 nights and all our meals…I didn’t each rice or millet once that whole week!!
Next week is not only Independence Day in the States but also marks my 2 year anniversary in Peace Corps. I left home early on July 7, 2009 and arrived in Mali on July 10, 2009. This July 10th, will be extra special as it marks an anniversary for me, but also my first niece’s first birthday. Time can be ruthless sometimes in how quickly is slips by, so I’m trying to make an extra effort to take in as much as I can each day.
I was only at site for a week before coming into San on my way up to Bandiagara for the 4th of July. One of my girlfriends in San is taking her sisters, visiting from the States, up north to go on a Dogon hike. Dogon country is beautiful year round, but especially in rainy season when there is actually some green instead of the desert and rocks. I feel lucky to have seen that part of the country as often as I have, it’s one of the biggest tourist destinations in Mali and I have friends who speak the local dialects so it makes the whole experience more enjoyable.
It never fails during rainy season that when I want to leave to bike into San, the night before downpours. With rainy season just starting the rain is completely unpredictable but I can pretty much guarantee that if I want to bike, it will rain…I can single handedly end droughts facing my community. That said, this morning I was delayed in leaving then battled a VERY muddy 6 kilometers to get to the road. Men farming in their fields literally stopped their cows plowing to watch me struggle…I never cease to be a source of entertainment for Malians.
I’m looking forward to my last few weeks at site and feel good about the amount of time I have left to say all my goodbyes and have some closure. I know it will pass quickly but I’m looking forward to the next stage of my life back home and that too is making the transition more bearable. The goodbyes will be painful, but I think that just means I developed some amazing relationships and it should hurt to close that part of my life. Fortunately, I get to put off the inevitable for a few more weeks.
Hope everyone has a fabulous Independence Day and I wish a very Happy Birthday to Allison (and a Happy Anniversary to Molly and Chad!)
Love,
Cait
June 16, 2011
Hey everyone,
The past two weeks have been peaceful and a nice break from the fast pace of the past several months. Upon arriving home, I went with my host mom to a women’s meeting where a local relay (men and women who work at the local hospital and travel to villages giving trainings and vaccinations) led a training on Family Planning. This is a huge issue in most African villages in that there is no birth spacing and little concern of those consequences. The general rule is that you have another child when the youngest can kick a soccer ball but it’s not followed all that well. Adults generally receive the meats and proteins while kids live on cereals such as rice, millet and corn and when children aren’t properly spaced, the already high malnutrition rate is put in a precariously dangerous level.
The students in the 9th grade took their exams this past week. It’s a huge test permitting those who pass to continue on in their education and if they fail, comes the end of the line in the school system. My host sister took her exams and I’m hopeful she did well, but the failing rate in bruce villages is astronomically high, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the results coming out next month.
An entertaining anecdote of my last few weeks came about when I was playing Frisbee with some kids. I should preface this story in saying that they’ve never played with a Frisbee before, and they were awful. Seriously, at the end of the day, we only had one completed pass. In order to even reach this level of skill, the Frisbee flew into half the houses in the village and landed on top of a hangar. I was playing with 2 boys and 2 girls and as soon as they saw the Frisbee land on the hangar, they split. The boys immediately started trying, unsuccessfully, to climb the tree posts supporting the hangar while the girls studied the situation and found a long stick that they used to knock the Frisbee off. They were playing with it for several minutes before the boys even realized what had happened.
Rainy season apparently decided to start last night, which made my bike ride into San this morning less than pleasant. But the cool temperature has been a pleasant reprieve and worth the muddy miserable bike ride.
Not too much else to report. Today is a fishing festival in San that I came in for. There is a sacred tree and a magic well that San is notorious for and the festival incorporates them too. I’m headed down to Bamako next week for my STAGE’s Close of Service conference. We get pick our dates to return home and start a tremendous amount of paperwork needed to leave the country in good standing. Additionally we will attend sessions on resume building, interviewing, and transitioning back to our American lives. I’m excited to see some friends I haven’t seen in over a year and really excited to stay in a hotel, with AC and good food! On the sad note, my two best girlfriends both left Mali on June 10 and I’m so sad that they won’t be at the conference to celebrate with me.
I hope all is well back home. I heard it’s a hot summer in KY and I’m truly sympathetic and am not sad that I’ll be returning home in the fall, it’s my favorite season. Wishing you all well,
Love,
Cait
The past two weeks have been peaceful and a nice break from the fast pace of the past several months. Upon arriving home, I went with my host mom to a women’s meeting where a local relay (men and women who work at the local hospital and travel to villages giving trainings and vaccinations) led a training on Family Planning. This is a huge issue in most African villages in that there is no birth spacing and little concern of those consequences. The general rule is that you have another child when the youngest can kick a soccer ball but it’s not followed all that well. Adults generally receive the meats and proteins while kids live on cereals such as rice, millet and corn and when children aren’t properly spaced, the already high malnutrition rate is put in a precariously dangerous level.
The students in the 9th grade took their exams this past week. It’s a huge test permitting those who pass to continue on in their education and if they fail, comes the end of the line in the school system. My host sister took her exams and I’m hopeful she did well, but the failing rate in bruce villages is astronomically high, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the results coming out next month.
An entertaining anecdote of my last few weeks came about when I was playing Frisbee with some kids. I should preface this story in saying that they’ve never played with a Frisbee before, and they were awful. Seriously, at the end of the day, we only had one completed pass. In order to even reach this level of skill, the Frisbee flew into half the houses in the village and landed on top of a hangar. I was playing with 2 boys and 2 girls and as soon as they saw the Frisbee land on the hangar, they split. The boys immediately started trying, unsuccessfully, to climb the tree posts supporting the hangar while the girls studied the situation and found a long stick that they used to knock the Frisbee off. They were playing with it for several minutes before the boys even realized what had happened.
Rainy season apparently decided to start last night, which made my bike ride into San this morning less than pleasant. But the cool temperature has been a pleasant reprieve and worth the muddy miserable bike ride.
Not too much else to report. Today is a fishing festival in San that I came in for. There is a sacred tree and a magic well that San is notorious for and the festival incorporates them too. I’m headed down to Bamako next week for my STAGE’s Close of Service conference. We get pick our dates to return home and start a tremendous amount of paperwork needed to leave the country in good standing. Additionally we will attend sessions on resume building, interviewing, and transitioning back to our American lives. I’m excited to see some friends I haven’t seen in over a year and really excited to stay in a hotel, with AC and good food! On the sad note, my two best girlfriends both left Mali on June 10 and I’m so sad that they won’t be at the conference to celebrate with me.
I hope all is well back home. I heard it’s a hot summer in KY and I’m truly sympathetic and am not sad that I’ll be returning home in the fall, it’s my favorite season. Wishing you all well,
Love,
Cait
Ghana
Hey everyone,
I’ve made it safely home from Ghana about midnight last night after leaving at noon on Friday from Accra. Needless to say getting home was an adventure. Nothing unexpected when dealing with West African public transport…not a pleasant experience but one hell of a story.
I guess I should begin at the very beginning of our West African road trip. I left from San and met Justin taking the night bus to Bamako on the night of 11th. I got on the bus around midnight and made great time…until we broke down about 3 hours outside of Bamako. After repeated failed attempts to revive the bus, a rescue bus was finally sent down and we made it to Bamako just before lunch. It was a busy day running errands and buying our tickets to Accra for Saturday morning but all went smoothly and come 7am we were at the bus station anxious to get the trip under way. I won’t bore you with the details of most of the trip because it was pretty standard- hot, sweaty, frequent stops, long border crossings, etc- but things did get interesting when the bus stopped just outside the capital of Burkina Faso and we had to camp on the side of the road for the night to sleep. The trip progressed without too much trouble and it was fascinating to see the distinct difference crossing into Ghana. What was once mud huts with thatched roofs was suddenly cement huts with tin roofs. The hours passed and just outside Accra, we stopped indefinitely. Roadblock. A jack-knifed semi was stuck in an open sewer and it was clear that we wouldn’t be making it to Accra that night. We decided to hail a cab to go the rest of the way, it was a pricy trip but we were exhausted and wanted a bed and shower desperately.
That first day, the four of us, Rose, Dan, Justin and I, simply wandered around Accra and tried to take it all in. So developed… They have legitimately good street food so we had lunch, then found a smoothie place!!! It was truly delicious. We passed a real gas station that had a store and snacks in it, and grocery stores and a mall and the list goes on and on. We picked up Rose’s brother the next day then headed out to the beach. We found the bus station and climbing onto our bus, we entered paradise. It was air conditioned with huge spacious seats…real first class treatment. It was the best four hour trip of my life and was so sad to see it end.
Almost exclusively we just arrived at a destination and hoped to find a place to stay and it worked out with reliable ease. The Hide Out was our first destination and we ended up staying there for several days. It was right on the beach and quite difficult to get too thus not busy with tourists and peaceful. We basically just say by the beach, ate really well, and slept, and read, for a few days. We stayed in the dorm room and it was incredibly cheap so we could splurge a little on food. We walked along the beach and visited the neighboring fishing villages. We watched the casting of the nets and bringing them in which was incredibly difficult and labor intensive work. One day we hiked to the nearest beach town and enjoyed the most beautiful view when we reached the top of the hill. The sun was setting over the village and the huge waves crashed against the rock.
We decided to take a trip to town known for its live music and drumming, but as our luck would have it, there was no drumming to be had once we’d made the trip. Apparently there was a month long cultural ban on the drumming at the risk of having your soul stolen and attracting the evil spirits with the music so needless to say, we were forced to find our own source of entertainment and thus more beach time was enjoyed.
Cape Coast was our next stop and it was far and away my favorite part of the trip. The day we got there was early afternoon and after checking into the hotel we went to the castle and learned about the slave trade off the Ghanaian Coast. The castle we went too in particular was built in 1665 by the British and the largest on the “Gold Coast” as it was called. The tour we went on led us through the dungeons where the slaves were held before being shipped out. It is impossible to explain the feeling of those dungeons, to know how many thousands of people died there…you could almost feel the walls watching you and knowing all they’ve seen. Many of the cells were pitch black and with an average holding time of 3 months, thus understandable why so many slaves were blind when they were finally loaded onto the boats. Nearly 200 men per cell with nowhere for the feces, urine, vomit, dead bodies to go…I can’t imagine the horrors. The women’s dungeons were similar in most all aspects except they had a viewing room where specific women were selected and raped then returned. If a woman became pregnant she was hidden away until the baby was born then returned to the dungeons and the baby’s were raised elsewhere due to their European blood. Nearly a third of all prisoners died before they even boarded the ships, aka “floating coffins” and at least that many more once loaded. It was an incredibly moving experience and I will be haunted by the feeling of those dungeons indefinitely.
The next morning we went a few hours out of town to the Kakun National Park and rainforest. There are only 3 canopy walks in all of Africa with the longest and oldest being in Ghana. There are unique breeds of elephants and antelope and monkeys living in the forest not to mention thousands of insects and reptiles and butterflies. The walk was mildly terrifying, the canopy walks swaying under your feet with nothing but air under your feet but it was unbelievably beautiful.
Our last day in Accra we had to spend our remaining money so we wouldn’t have to lose more money in changing it back to CFA…thus we went to market and went shopping for souvenirs and ate really well. It was a perfect way to end the trip. And then our odyssey home began. There is no direct transport to Bamako like we had to Accra so our first leg of the trip was a cab to the bus station (1) then when we were supposed to leave at 3pm but ended up leaving around 10pm (2). This bus took us to Tamale. We took a gutted out van (3) which broke down just outside our destination so we hailed a cab (4) who took us to another place to pick up another cab (5) which took us to the Ghanaian border. We walked the border crossing and had all our passports stamped. On the Burkina Faso side, we took a cab to the Capital (6), dropped off at the taxi station and took another cab (7) until it broke down and we switched to another cab (8) to take us the rest of the way to the bus station. We had to spend the night at the bus station until morning when we took a bus (9) to a town near the border; a cab (10) transferred us to another bus station on the other side of town where we got on the bus (11) to take us to Mali. I got off the bus in Bla and caught my final bus (12) home to San last night while the other 3 went to Bamako for a meeting they had today. I arrived around midnight and after a LONG shower I set up my tent and slept like the dead. It was a quintessential reminder that I left vacation to come home to reality. None the less, an awesome trip.
I’m back in San now and am saying goodbye to Holly as she COS’s in about 10 days before I head back out to site. The COS (Close of Service) conference begins June 22, so expect another update around then. Until that day comes, hope everyone is doing well and the spring weather is less fierce than it has been.
Much love,
Cait
I’ve made it safely home from Ghana about midnight last night after leaving at noon on Friday from Accra. Needless to say getting home was an adventure. Nothing unexpected when dealing with West African public transport…not a pleasant experience but one hell of a story.
I guess I should begin at the very beginning of our West African road trip. I left from San and met Justin taking the night bus to Bamako on the night of 11th. I got on the bus around midnight and made great time…until we broke down about 3 hours outside of Bamako. After repeated failed attempts to revive the bus, a rescue bus was finally sent down and we made it to Bamako just before lunch. It was a busy day running errands and buying our tickets to Accra for Saturday morning but all went smoothly and come 7am we were at the bus station anxious to get the trip under way. I won’t bore you with the details of most of the trip because it was pretty standard- hot, sweaty, frequent stops, long border crossings, etc- but things did get interesting when the bus stopped just outside the capital of Burkina Faso and we had to camp on the side of the road for the night to sleep. The trip progressed without too much trouble and it was fascinating to see the distinct difference crossing into Ghana. What was once mud huts with thatched roofs was suddenly cement huts with tin roofs. The hours passed and just outside Accra, we stopped indefinitely. Roadblock. A jack-knifed semi was stuck in an open sewer and it was clear that we wouldn’t be making it to Accra that night. We decided to hail a cab to go the rest of the way, it was a pricy trip but we were exhausted and wanted a bed and shower desperately.
That first day, the four of us, Rose, Dan, Justin and I, simply wandered around Accra and tried to take it all in. So developed… They have legitimately good street food so we had lunch, then found a smoothie place!!! It was truly delicious. We passed a real gas station that had a store and snacks in it, and grocery stores and a mall and the list goes on and on. We picked up Rose’s brother the next day then headed out to the beach. We found the bus station and climbing onto our bus, we entered paradise. It was air conditioned with huge spacious seats…real first class treatment. It was the best four hour trip of my life and was so sad to see it end.
Almost exclusively we just arrived at a destination and hoped to find a place to stay and it worked out with reliable ease. The Hide Out was our first destination and we ended up staying there for several days. It was right on the beach and quite difficult to get too thus not busy with tourists and peaceful. We basically just say by the beach, ate really well, and slept, and read, for a few days. We stayed in the dorm room and it was incredibly cheap so we could splurge a little on food. We walked along the beach and visited the neighboring fishing villages. We watched the casting of the nets and bringing them in which was incredibly difficult and labor intensive work. One day we hiked to the nearest beach town and enjoyed the most beautiful view when we reached the top of the hill. The sun was setting over the village and the huge waves crashed against the rock.
We decided to take a trip to town known for its live music and drumming, but as our luck would have it, there was no drumming to be had once we’d made the trip. Apparently there was a month long cultural ban on the drumming at the risk of having your soul stolen and attracting the evil spirits with the music so needless to say, we were forced to find our own source of entertainment and thus more beach time was enjoyed.
Cape Coast was our next stop and it was far and away my favorite part of the trip. The day we got there was early afternoon and after checking into the hotel we went to the castle and learned about the slave trade off the Ghanaian Coast. The castle we went too in particular was built in 1665 by the British and the largest on the “Gold Coast” as it was called. The tour we went on led us through the dungeons where the slaves were held before being shipped out. It is impossible to explain the feeling of those dungeons, to know how many thousands of people died there…you could almost feel the walls watching you and knowing all they’ve seen. Many of the cells were pitch black and with an average holding time of 3 months, thus understandable why so many slaves were blind when they were finally loaded onto the boats. Nearly 200 men per cell with nowhere for the feces, urine, vomit, dead bodies to go…I can’t imagine the horrors. The women’s dungeons were similar in most all aspects except they had a viewing room where specific women were selected and raped then returned. If a woman became pregnant she was hidden away until the baby was born then returned to the dungeons and the baby’s were raised elsewhere due to their European blood. Nearly a third of all prisoners died before they even boarded the ships, aka “floating coffins” and at least that many more once loaded. It was an incredibly moving experience and I will be haunted by the feeling of those dungeons indefinitely.
The next morning we went a few hours out of town to the Kakun National Park and rainforest. There are only 3 canopy walks in all of Africa with the longest and oldest being in Ghana. There are unique breeds of elephants and antelope and monkeys living in the forest not to mention thousands of insects and reptiles and butterflies. The walk was mildly terrifying, the canopy walks swaying under your feet with nothing but air under your feet but it was unbelievably beautiful.
Our last day in Accra we had to spend our remaining money so we wouldn’t have to lose more money in changing it back to CFA…thus we went to market and went shopping for souvenirs and ate really well. It was a perfect way to end the trip. And then our odyssey home began. There is no direct transport to Bamako like we had to Accra so our first leg of the trip was a cab to the bus station (1) then when we were supposed to leave at 3pm but ended up leaving around 10pm (2). This bus took us to Tamale. We took a gutted out van (3) which broke down just outside our destination so we hailed a cab (4) who took us to another place to pick up another cab (5) which took us to the Ghanaian border. We walked the border crossing and had all our passports stamped. On the Burkina Faso side, we took a cab to the Capital (6), dropped off at the taxi station and took another cab (7) until it broke down and we switched to another cab (8) to take us the rest of the way to the bus station. We had to spend the night at the bus station until morning when we took a bus (9) to a town near the border; a cab (10) transferred us to another bus station on the other side of town where we got on the bus (11) to take us to Mali. I got off the bus in Bla and caught my final bus (12) home to San last night while the other 3 went to Bamako for a meeting they had today. I arrived around midnight and after a LONG shower I set up my tent and slept like the dead. It was a quintessential reminder that I left vacation to come home to reality. None the less, an awesome trip.
I’m back in San now and am saying goodbye to Holly as she COS’s in about 10 days before I head back out to site. The COS (Close of Service) conference begins June 22, so expect another update around then. Until that day comes, hope everyone is doing well and the spring weather is less fierce than it has been.
Much love,
Cait
May 10, 2011
Hey Everyone,
It’s been a busy time in site and unfortunately, a sad time. It is a source of much discomfort when children die in my village that there is no service or even a memorial, just a very brief greeting of the family and blessing for a peaceful resting place. After several of these experiences, it certainly hasn’t become any easier. Last week was no different. A little boy was playing with his friends and fell into a well. It was market day thus most of the village was out of town and by the time the kids found someone to help, it was too late. It was a complete accident, but it didn’t make the death of a child any easier. So, immediately upon returning I had to go about the unpleasant task of greeting the family. Then the next day, we had to go to a neighboring village and greet the family mourning another death. This was more of a celebration as the woman, affectionately known as musokoroba , aka, the really old woman, was 101 years old. Living to that age is quite a feat in any country let alone in Mali. I can’t image what she had seen and lived through in a hundred plus years in the African bush. Hundreds of people gathered and celebrated her life and death by dancing and singing, feasting and drinking tea.
Wherever there is death, there is also life, and amidst these times of mourning a good friend had a baby girl. She is the wife of the local veterinarian and this is baby number 7 for her. Bah and I went to their house in a village about 10 kilometers away to spend the afternoon and celebrate the naming of the baby. In Muslim villages babies are born but a few weeks later there is a naming ceremony where the name is announced and a party is held. We had to make a fairly abrupt departure when Bah saw an approaching storm in the distance. The clouds formed almost before our very eyes and despite biking as fast as we could, we were headed straight into the heart of it. Of course rainy season hasn’t yet begun so these storms during hot season aren’t the kind with lightening, thunder, and rain. They consist of extremely powerful winds whipping up rocks and dirt completely inhibiting our visibility, not to mention the level of difficulty in trying to bike head first into the winds. We took solace at someone’s house on the way home and waited out the worst of the storm before venturing out again and arriving home just before dark. I love that we could stop at a random house on the ride home seeking shelter and be welcomed and sheltered.
Waking up last Monday I turned on BBC to hear that Osama Bin Laden had been killed in an American military action. It’s been an interesting few days hearing the developments in the states as well as in my region of Africa. I was in limbo for a few days waiting to hear if my trip to Ghana would be affected due to events surrounding his death, but alas, we are granted safe travels through Burkina Faso to Ghana starting this Saturday! I’m so excited to get this trip underway. Mom even sent goodies for the nearly 40 hour road trip we have ahead of us. I fear it might be too good to be true, but rumor has it the bus we take once in Burkina has air conditioning!!! I’ve grown somewhat accustomed to the misery of public transport (crowded, hot, sweaty, often smelly, broken down, etc) and thus this rumor is just a dream, but oh how sweet it could be if dreams can come true.
I celebrated my 24th birthday in village. It was pretty uneventful seeing as most Malians don’t know their birth dates thus don’t celebrate. My family did make me beans because they know that Americans like to eat well on special occasions and beans are a fancy meal here in Mali. I also went to my market town the day before and bought some little cakes (fried dough) to eat for dessert. I know I’ll never have a birthday like it again so despite the lonely day, it was memorable.
I’ve become more nostalgic of Kentucky since being here and missed the Derby as well as Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event this year. They are two of my favorite things about Kentucky so it’s has been a difficult week to be away from home. Hopefully next year I’ll be in the states so I can attend or at least see them both. So, I’ve missed Rolex, my 24th birthday, the Kentucky Derby, and mother’s day all in this past week. I came into San today to celebrate my birthday with one of my best friends, Holly, and then tomorrow night I’m going to Bamako to meet up with my other best friends, Justin, Rose, and Dan. It’ll be a great way to decompress after a tough week. This trip to Ghana is coming at the perfect time and I’m so looking forward to it.
I hope all is well at home. When I get the chance to write again it will be June, and I’ll be down to three months in country. Where did the time go. Happy Mothers Day. Happy 24th Allyn.
Much love,
Cait
It’s been a busy time in site and unfortunately, a sad time. It is a source of much discomfort when children die in my village that there is no service or even a memorial, just a very brief greeting of the family and blessing for a peaceful resting place. After several of these experiences, it certainly hasn’t become any easier. Last week was no different. A little boy was playing with his friends and fell into a well. It was market day thus most of the village was out of town and by the time the kids found someone to help, it was too late. It was a complete accident, but it didn’t make the death of a child any easier. So, immediately upon returning I had to go about the unpleasant task of greeting the family. Then the next day, we had to go to a neighboring village and greet the family mourning another death. This was more of a celebration as the woman, affectionately known as musokoroba , aka, the really old woman, was 101 years old. Living to that age is quite a feat in any country let alone in Mali. I can’t image what she had seen and lived through in a hundred plus years in the African bush. Hundreds of people gathered and celebrated her life and death by dancing and singing, feasting and drinking tea.
Wherever there is death, there is also life, and amidst these times of mourning a good friend had a baby girl. She is the wife of the local veterinarian and this is baby number 7 for her. Bah and I went to their house in a village about 10 kilometers away to spend the afternoon and celebrate the naming of the baby. In Muslim villages babies are born but a few weeks later there is a naming ceremony where the name is announced and a party is held. We had to make a fairly abrupt departure when Bah saw an approaching storm in the distance. The clouds formed almost before our very eyes and despite biking as fast as we could, we were headed straight into the heart of it. Of course rainy season hasn’t yet begun so these storms during hot season aren’t the kind with lightening, thunder, and rain. They consist of extremely powerful winds whipping up rocks and dirt completely inhibiting our visibility, not to mention the level of difficulty in trying to bike head first into the winds. We took solace at someone’s house on the way home and waited out the worst of the storm before venturing out again and arriving home just before dark. I love that we could stop at a random house on the ride home seeking shelter and be welcomed and sheltered.
Waking up last Monday I turned on BBC to hear that Osama Bin Laden had been killed in an American military action. It’s been an interesting few days hearing the developments in the states as well as in my region of Africa. I was in limbo for a few days waiting to hear if my trip to Ghana would be affected due to events surrounding his death, but alas, we are granted safe travels through Burkina Faso to Ghana starting this Saturday! I’m so excited to get this trip underway. Mom even sent goodies for the nearly 40 hour road trip we have ahead of us. I fear it might be too good to be true, but rumor has it the bus we take once in Burkina has air conditioning!!! I’ve grown somewhat accustomed to the misery of public transport (crowded, hot, sweaty, often smelly, broken down, etc) and thus this rumor is just a dream, but oh how sweet it could be if dreams can come true.
I celebrated my 24th birthday in village. It was pretty uneventful seeing as most Malians don’t know their birth dates thus don’t celebrate. My family did make me beans because they know that Americans like to eat well on special occasions and beans are a fancy meal here in Mali. I also went to my market town the day before and bought some little cakes (fried dough) to eat for dessert. I know I’ll never have a birthday like it again so despite the lonely day, it was memorable.
I’ve become more nostalgic of Kentucky since being here and missed the Derby as well as Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event this year. They are two of my favorite things about Kentucky so it’s has been a difficult week to be away from home. Hopefully next year I’ll be in the states so I can attend or at least see them both. So, I’ve missed Rolex, my 24th birthday, the Kentucky Derby, and mother’s day all in this past week. I came into San today to celebrate my birthday with one of my best friends, Holly, and then tomorrow night I’m going to Bamako to meet up with my other best friends, Justin, Rose, and Dan. It’ll be a great way to decompress after a tough week. This trip to Ghana is coming at the perfect time and I’m so looking forward to it.
I hope all is well at home. When I get the chance to write again it will be June, and I’ll be down to three months in country. Where did the time go. Happy Mothers Day. Happy 24th Allyn.
Much love,
Cait
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