Timbuktu!

Permit be to be shamelessly touristy for just one minute... can you believe I'm emailing you from Timbuktu??? Ok, now that that's out of my system...

I was clearly at a low point in my trip last time I wrote you, and afterwards I talked to Gustavo on the phone and told him how horrible Mali is, and how I was thinking of returning to Ghana, and Spanish is similar enough to French that someone at the hotel understood that and decided to try to "avoid bad publicity for Mali in the US" and took me under his wing, after which my luck here changed dramatically. My new friend, who goes by Omar Sharif, took me around on his pirogue the next day and showed me little tiny Bozo and Peul villages, after which I went with him to a few small villages and made the extremely arduous trek to Timbuktu. Having an African with me means the guides leave me alone, which is a huge relief, and it has been very interesting to see the tiny,non-touristy villages, even though it means I havent seen running water, electricity, or a bed for a week now. First we went to Youvarou, Omar's hometown, which has about 500 inhabitants. I was invited to eat with the men because I'm white, which meant 6 men and me squatting around a bowl of rice and unrecognizable sauce... and you eat it by dipping your hand in, grabbing a handful, and then licking your hand from bottom to top in one big stroke.... mmm, sanitary... the most interesting thing I saw there was an Italian project to build a garden, which had been abandoned the moment the Italians left. Although they only need the equivalent of something like 50 dollars a year to keep it going, no one trusts anyone else enough to put them in charge, so as a result there is no garden, even though the town can afford it and the thing is already built. From there we took a series of pickup trucks, 4x4's, and cargo trucks, surprisingly the most comfortable because we were sitting on huge bags of rice, for the next four days to Timbuktu. The last leg we were in a 4x4 with several live chickens tied to the top, and during the ride two of them fell off, and another car brought them to us, squawking unhappily, when we stopped. It was pretty comical, especially because their owner had been mean to us. On arrival in Timbuktu, we went to the house of a camelier friend of Omar's, and the bathroom had more cockroaches and other large bugs in it than Ive ever seen in one place in all my life. I almost couldnt go in there, since they were all over the walls, floor and ceiling, but I had no choice. Fear Factor doesnt seem so bad after two months in Africa... But Timbuktu is interesting, very hot, but interesting just because of the history and the fact that its Timbuktu.

Omar doesnt speak English, so my French is improving pretty fast(though mostly words like sandstorm, millet, and camelier), and Im learning a few words of Bambara and Peul, even. It's also been very interesting to see Omar's reaction to the racism here, as Africans don't see it until they travel with a white. And though I already went through the stages of rage and acceptance a while ago, I'm having to walk him through them now, too, which is an experience. And I'm sick, which doesn't help. However, Omar has shown me that there is a multitude of nice people here in Mali, you just have to find them. Nonetheless, I wouldnt recommend this trip to most people... it has been an amazing experience, but difficult. Anyway, my hour is up. Till next time...

Kim