Sunday, March 27, 2016

Bamako "Firsts"

Arriving at post just two nights before a long weekend begins is just plain good strategy. Having gotten this good advice in time to plan, I managed to arrive one evening, go to work to start "checking in" and getting myself set up at the embassy, and then have a four-day weekend. Yahoo!

Three days into that long weekend, I'm just about over jet lag, although my stomach started fussing a bit today. My desire to eat is finally on schedule and my sleep is mostly pretty good (particularly now that a neighbor gave me some cheap-y black-out curtains to tide me over until Amazon delivers better ones).

Rather than a blow-by-blow of each day's activities, I thought I'd describe a few of my Bamako Firsts:

- First surprise in Mali: my alarm is what woke me my first morning, but as my eyes fluttered open and shut, I was surprised to hear lots of birds chirping away. I didn't see any birdlife until taking a walk around the embassy grounds later that day: tall white birds dotted the grass, and I have since heard that other beautiful types can be seen around the embassy regularly. There is no reason this should have surprised me, but I did not, somehow, picture Mali as a bird place. Au contraire!

- First daytime drive: seeing the Niger River while going over it is both impressive and not. It seems to change color depending on time of day, from slate gray to an almost fake-looking aquamarine tone. The parades of "motos" (motorbikes) that zip and cut and trail along is not quite Hanoi-level, but at peak morning/evening times, it comes close. I've yet to see entire families on a bike, but it is interesting seeing people in all types of wear, at all ages, riding or driving the motos. The colorful splashes of some men and women's local-wear is fun to see. Also, Bamako is far greener than I expected, with rainy season still to come.

- First Bambara lessons: this is the more widely spoken local language, though most people seem to speak French too (at least, among those I've met so far). Certainly at the embassy and at restaurants Westerners frequent, French is the common tongue. However, the embassy driver who took me from the airport to my apartment the first night told me that learning Bambara is the number one way to start learning about Mali and Malians. To that end, I practice with every guard I meet. At the moment, my vocabulary consists solely of "Good morning (In-nee so-go-ma)," "Good afternoon (in-nee kleh)", and "Good evening (in-nee soo)." I can also respond to these (n-say for women), though I'm not sure what that means.

- First grocery shopping trip: I went to Shop Rite, which has another name but is called this by everyone. It was impressive! Fairly Western style, with lots of Kirkland brand stuff presumably from Costco. Mostly Westerners but a few Malians were shopping there during my trip. The prices seemed comparable to the U.S. on many things (pistachios being completely outrageous, for example), and cheap for others. There's also a fresh fruit and vegetable stand just across the street from it, where I got two mangoes (delicious and not yet in full season!), three onions and an avocado for the equivalent of $3. Eggs are not refrigerated and the fresh fish section was "impressively without flies" according to someone shopping with me. I will not go hungry here.

- First lizard: While waiting in a car at a gas station, I saw something slither across the asphalt about thirty feet away. It was large enough to be seen, with a long and sinuous body and tail. I've heard about these lizards, which are found frequently in embassy housing (but not, so far, in the apartments).



Friday, March 25, 2016

En Route to Bamako

It's happened, at last: I've started my first overseas assignment with the Foreign Service! Hooray!

It was a somewhat tense beginning, as I heard about an attack in Mali while at the airport in DC. Then I arrived in Paris to hear about the Belgium attacks. I can't deny that nerves were kicking in.


However, I spent a nice twenty-four hour layover in Paris, checking in to a boutique hotel down by the Louvre gardens. Jet lag kicked my butt, so I didn't explore as much as expected, but it was lots of fun anyway. Cheese, sorbet, Notre Dame, good food, and French: what could be bad?!





For example, my one full dinner, at Ardoise. I staggered out of that restaurant!

Appetizer was a crab broth soup with homemade ravioli. 

Dinner was a beef roast with pureed potatoes.

Dessert was a roasted chestnut souffle. 




The morning of my flight to Bamako, I went cheese shopping. I found a shop within walking distance of my hotel and arrived before it opened. The wait was worthwhile, however, since my Bamako apartment kitchen is now well-stocked with French cheeses, a chorizo sausage, and a duck sausage (because, why not?!).






Ah, Paris!


Saturday, March 19, 2016

Tick, Tock

The days and hours and minutes are counting down until I arrive in Mali. The last week has been fantastic and stressful and nerve-wracking and exciting. Plus about ten other emotions. I can't imagine how people do this completely by themselves. My parents have been with me since last weekend and are such an incredible support network. It's amazing how lucky I am to have them! From helping solve minor freak-outs (where are my passports?!) to giving moral support during a very stressful pack out of my household goods, from coming with me to bid farewell to mentors and friends to finishing up last-minute chores... they're here for me.

We talk about the mundane, we sing, we cook, we squabble. Life is good. It will be heart-wrenching to leave them at the airport and fly away, even though it's the beginning of a new chapter that we're all excited about.

Mom, dad - thanks for all you have done and are doing. You're incredibly special people.

--Z

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Whirlwind

Just a brief note to say that last week, everything did an about-face, and I'm now counting down the days to when I leave for Mali! My to-do list gets a few things crossed off every day, but somehow never gets shorter as more items get added. It's lots of fun, but also a real whirlwind: exciting, overwhelming, thought-provoking, sad, anxiety-producing, and yes, kind of awesome!

More soon, but I felt an update was in order!

--Z