Wah, Wah, Wah

Q.  What happens when you roast a pig and bake a duck for Thanksgiving?

A.  Salmonella Typhoid
Thankfully, I wasn’t affected, as I mainly focused on the squash pie for dinner.  But others weren’t so lucky and spent the following few days violently ill.  That’s Thanksgiving in Africa for you.
Although eating with 30 Americans was nice, my [...]

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for…..

my unconditionally loving and supportive parents
my ridiculously lovable nieces and nephew
the relationship I have with my sister
my brother’s help and advice
my boyfriend’s love and reliability to be there for me always
the rest of my family including aunts, uncles, in-laws, grandparents, cousins
my amazing friends who are still so close to me no matter [...]

Staying connected in Mali

Just because I live in the desert, does not mean I am “out of the loop.” Au contraire, I’ve managed to send my friends fresh pierogies and kielbasa on their birthdays, delivered a salmon spread breakfast to my boyfriend on our anniversary and and watched every episode of Gossip Girl and ANTM to date.  I [...]

My First MEME

I’m not going to lie.  I am being lazy today.   I should post a fantastic story about Malian culture but I’m tired.  Give me the weekend to rest.  In lieu of something you really want to read, I am going to post my first MEME, which isn’t a real meme, since no one ever tagged [...]

The Untouchables of Mali

It’s no secret that West Africans were taken against their will to work as slaves in the Western world; it was a surprise to me, however, to discover that slavery has deep roots in West Africa amongst a few of its own ethnic groups that has continued disputably, to this day.
The first question on our [...]

The Post I said I wasn’t going to Post

When I first started this blog in preparation of my big move back to Africa, I made a promise to myself and to my readers that I wasn’t going to get all sappy.  I thought I had exhausted my ability to transmit the hardships of life in rural Africa when I blogged about them for [...]

Malian Christmas Trees

People come to Africa for the animals, but boy oh boy, if you come to Mali, your eyes will rather feast in the orchestral femininity of Malian women.  Sparkling like Christmas trees in the stark desolate landscape make them seem all the more mystical, decorated from head to toe in vibrant and bold displays of [...]

The Greatest Job You’ll Ever Hate

The motto of the Peace Corps is The Greatest Job You’ll Ever Love, and as a returned Peace Corps volunteer, I’d say that is dead-on.  I feel the motto can also be applied to my current job, although perhaps calling it The Greatest Job I’ll Ever Hate is a little more accurate.
I’ve just come back [...]

“Lorraine of Arabia”

The color of the turban I chose reflects the naivety I possessed regarding the situation.

When I was first asked to accompany the second team to the North-East desert region of Mali (500 km PAST Timbuktu), I was thrilled.  Sure, I had read about the State department warnings of the region insinuating Al Qaeda activity, and [...]