Murder, Cars, and Counting Days

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Interesting things have been happening here.

I got a new student a couple weeks back; she showed up for a day (Wednesday) and then skipped out the rest of the week. While she speaks English well, she can’t read or write. Her mom actually suggested that perhaps school wasn’t the right thing right now; maybe she should wait until August to get her started. After about thirty minutes I convinced her that sending her daughter to school would do nothing but good. Now I have an eight year old who can’t read or write; a unique challenge for the end of the year.
The weekend of the nineteenth we had a murder mystery party at our house. Folks came dressed up as a character in the household of Rick Rochester, millionaire. In the end, the maid dies too and I was the one who did it. It was fun; a different way to celebrate my thirty-ninth birthday.

We have also been struggling with our vehicle situation. Our ancient Land Rover has been in the shop since March; parts are nowhere to be found. We have been promised a Volkswagen van by the Operations Manager, but the General Manager wouldn’t come through. He said he needed to consider the situation and then get back to us. Our boss in Bamako told us to lean on him with his support. After some pushing, the van was finally signed over to the school, although we have yet to take delivery. It’s sad to see In Sha Allah go, but having a safer, more reliable vehicle will be great (assuming we ever get it).
This weekend was a three day weekend for us. We had thought about going to Tombouctou (Timbuktu), but changed our minds at the last minute as it would have required canceling school for a day. We then decided to find transport to Kayes. When the bid came in at 100,000 cfa (~$200) per day, we opted out of that plan as well. We were told we would have our new van by yesterday so we figured on going for a drive, but that didn’t pan out either. So Zachary and I went to a birthday party yesterday morning. Then we picked up Carrie and spent the remainder of the blazing hot day in the pool at the club. We played volleyball last night, but three points into the game, I fell and twisted my ankle. I spent the rest of the time nursing a whiskey and waiting for the codeine to kick in (the clinic here gives that stuff away!).

Now I’m awake. The swelling has gone down, but there will be no outdoor adventures today. I guess it’s just as well as it’s 10:00 and the temperature in the shade is 86 F. Not bad until you realize that it doesn’t get really hot till noon. That reminds me of a story: last week I noticed that the tires on Zachary’s bike were low. I got out the pump and put air in both of them. Later that day, the bike was parked in the shade of the porch when the front tire exploded! I mean I know that sort of thing happens when exposed to the sun, but this was the ambient temperature in the shade. That is just too hot.

Anyway, not much else to say really; only 43 days left until we go home. We’ll leave here and fly to Bamako. The next day we’re off to Tombouctou. Returning to Bamako, we’ll spend one last night in the capitol city, then fly off to the beaches of Morocco for a few days before heading home. In sixty-six days we’ll be in Venezuela. Time sure flies when you’re having fun.

MJR