The Dasovich Invasion

I cannot believe I only have one week left in Mali. It seems so surreal right now. Actually, a lot of things seem surreal. Maria and Patty (#1 and #5 out of the Dasovich daughters) have been here for the past 9 days. We've been having a blast; although Maria got sick on day 3 and we had to completely replan our trip. It all worked out in the end. I got to show them a lot more of Segou than I'd originally planned, which was really fun. Now they have a great idea of what my day-to-day life has been like in my city.

They flew in at 3 am on the 3rd, and we stayed in a really nice hotel (it was the first elevator I've ridden in since leaving America!). We missed the bus the following day, so we stayed an extra day in Bamako, which we filled with eating at nice restaurants and hanging out with the numerous other volunteers who'd come in town to celebrate the Fourth.

On the Fourth of July, we hitched a ride with a Peace Corps SUV that was traveling up country through Segou. In Segou, we immediately went to my office and ate lunch with Mme. Koumare, which was really fun. Mme. Koumare named Maria "Maimouna Samake" (after herself) and Patty "Aoua Samake" (after her mother). She even made a special "tiga dige na" (peanut-butter sauce) that was vegetarian for Maria. Patty and Maria had a blast meeting her and seeing where I worked. And Maria and Patty got to try out eating with their hands.

(lunch time with Mme. Koumare and Keita)

(Me and Mme. Koumare showin' them how it's done!)

That evening we had a small party at my house to celebrate Independence Day. We bbq-ed burgers with Steffen's grill and ate pasta salad. Maria and Patty got to meet basically all my Peace Corps friends. They also got to see some pretty cool large bugs that decided to join the party.

(the unwanted visitor...after Gus had played with it for a few hours)

The next morning, Maria woke up with a fever, so instead of taking the six-hour bus ride to Sevare, we stayed in Segou and relaxed. We actually stayed in Segou for a few more days until she had recovered...but in that time I took them out to meet basically all the people I've been working with. The women at Sininyesigi even gave Patty and Maria indigo-dyed scarves as presents. All the Malians were super happy to meet my "koromussow" (older sisters).

(Korotimi with Maria and Patty and their new scarves)

Our final morning in Segou, we went out for a pirogue boat ride with Karim right at sunrise. It was beautiful.

(Patty and Maria on the pirogue)

We saw tons of cool birds and got to chill out on the Niger for a couple hours.

(my house from the Niger)

After the boat ride, we hopped on a four-hour bus to Bamako, then got transport to Siby (one hour south of Bamako). I think this was unquestionably their most favorite part of the trip.

(the arch near Siby)

(on the hike up the cliff)

We hiked up to the arch, which only took about 1 1/2 hours. Then we explored all over the cliffs, and even hiked up to the top of the arch. We ate lunch up there and goofed around all day.

(a closer view of the arch)

(on top of the arch)

(Patty goofing off in a cave)

It was great to show them a side of Mali away from the main cities -- especially since they missed out on Dogon country. We stayed two nights in Siby, eating not much more than beans, pasta, mangoes and zabans (a Malian fruit...it's pretty sour, like a SweetTart). It was really fun.

(can you spot Patty??)

Today we woke up and left Siby for Bamako. We spent the day wandering around the huge artisan market, buying necklaces and other things. I got to show off my sharp (or not-so-sharp...you'll have to ask Patty and Maria!) barganing skills a lot during the whole trip. It was so great to share everything with them, and I'm sad that they're flying back tonight. But I'll be home (back in Seattle) on the 19th, so I'll soon be following them!