A Picture is Worth 1000 Words

If that's true, this post will equal about 21,000. =)
I finally found the time and motivation to upload my pictures from the trip in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Côte d'Ivoire!

First, pictures from Ouagadougou:
Remember this entry about women balancing tons of things on their heads? Well, these children seem to be training to be able to do that in adulthood! Amazing!
Seriously, look at that woman with the eggs! I seriously think my neck would break if I even tried. I guess Malian women are made of sterner stuff than I am.
Beautiful Burkinabé pictures:
It would be like heaven if it weren't for the poverty...
Pottery!
Oh, and there were lizards EVERYWHERE:
I mean, everywhere... in the bathrooms, outside, inside, on top of your bed, under your bed....

Pictures from Ghana:
The lovely Ghanaians we hitchhiked with!
Village kids playing football (a.k.a. soccer)
Our outside campground
Traumatizing moments...
Seriously, I thought my heart wouldn't start beating again.
Oh look! An alligator! Alligators are MUCH cuter than bugs. I'd rather be stuck in a room with an alligator than in a room with either of the two bugs above!
La Basilique Notre-Dame de la Paix de Yamoussoukro
Contrary to popular belief, the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Holy See (Vatican City) is not the biggest cathedral in the world. In reality, it's the one in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire that's the largest cathedral in the world!
But it's quite obviously modeled off the one in the Vatican...

Is that another gator?
Yes, yes it is.
I wonder if they're hunting for gators or fishing =)
A lovely view...
I also added a few pictures from Bamako to Picasa. You can check that out here.

As for work and volunteering... it's all good. Nothing too out of the ordinary or special has happened. If something comes up, I will be sure to let you guys know. Sending love from Africa, des bises!

Today's Random Quiz:

You Are the Sense of Sound

You love to talk, but you also love to listen. You are simply a natural conversationalist. You can have a deep conversation that lasts for hours and come out of it feeling energized. You have a good ear for foreign languages and accents of all sorts. You can imitate people quite well. You also are a huge lover of music. You probably love music more than most people you know.

Which of the Five Senses Are You?

Technological Fiasco

So, this is my first "official" entry at this new address (Cathy in some mysterious way, managed to transfer the older entries that I posted from Africa to the old blog, to this blog... at least most of it). What happened? Well, Cathy and I decided to start a new blog together titled "Are YOU Circumcised???" (if you're interested, I need to invite you first ;) ) after having a rather (very) interesting conversation... about circumcision and the like. Unfortunately, Cathy doesn't have a Google account, so I just gave her my password to my Google account so she could start the blog off for us. Unfortunately, having misspelled "circumcised," she decided to delete that blog and start over... except she deleted the wrong blog!!! I'm a little sad that my old blog, http://travelaficionado.blogspot.com is now deleted. Cathy's been trying to get it recovered by posting on some Google forum, but so far, nothing. Cathy, I love you still and I'm not mad at all!!! I'm just a tiny bit sad that all those entries are gone =( but it's ok. Who cares about some stupid blog anyway, right? If it does get recovered, that would be AMAZING so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!!

Cathy now has her own google account, so I guess we'll stick to our accounts from now on =P ANYWAY, that's what happened and that's why I'm posting this entry at this new address. We managed to salvage 19 blog entries =) My favorite number! Ah well, the only point of having a blog was to keep everyone updated so it doesn't matter what the address is =) So voilà ! Bienvenue à mon nouveau blog ! It's titled "Aventure en Afrique" (Adventure in Africa), which is appropriate! I love you all and sorry for causing any confusion! Hugs and kisses from Africa!

Today's Random Quiz:

What Your Cupcake Says About You

At parties, you stand out from the crowd. You're a fairly unusual person, and you can't hide it. You hardly have any restraint. You only hold yourself back when absolutely necessary. The most important thing in your life is fun. You are laid back, flexible, and easy to get along with. To know you is to care for you.

The Cupcake Test

Quelle Surprise !

My first surprise was... I wasn't hallucinating or going crazy because of sleep deprivation! The man sleeping in my bed really was Paul from the UK!!! I actually fell asleep on the couch after posting my last entry. I'm only human after all. According to my roommates, I was out cold... like a rock. They tried waking me up but apparently all in vain. When I finally woke up, it was already well into the afternoon in Bamako, almost time for dinner. I saw someone sitting on the couch across from the one I'd fallen asleep in, reading a book... one of my books I'd brought to Mali to donate to the university here in Bamako! Realizing I'd woken up, the reader put down the book and said, "It's about time you woke up! Getting to talk to you or see you seems to be as difficult as meeting Queen Elizabeth!" I froze the moment he opened his mouth and spoke in that very familiar voice. It was that Paul, my Paul.

His travel story to Bamako was pretty intense and interesting as well! So I'll recount his story here (in a shorter summary). He'd gotten to Bamako around the same time in the early morning as I had and found a hotel to stay at on the 14th, when I was NOT in Mali but rather in Burkina Faso on my way to Ghana. He'd wanted to surprise me so he hadn't told me he was really coming. He had, however, asked me for an address in hopes of sending me a package or letter of some sort. The following day, on the 15th, he'd found my apartment, but instead of me he found my roommates! One of my roommates is British as well and apparently they sort of "instantly bonded," you know, being fellow countrymen and all. I understand, when I met Americans in the countries here in West Africa, I sort of "instantly bonded" with them, too. So anyway, Charles invited Paul... ok, there are 2 Pauls in this apartment right now... so let's call the British Paul, Paul B and the Canadian Paul, my coworker, Paul C. So, Charles invited Paul B to stay with them (more specifically, in my room since it was empty) and they told him that I was not in Mali at the moment and they had no idea when I was coming back. But they told him probably within a week or two. So Paul B hung out in Bamako for with my roommates and even met our Finnish, Norwegian, and German neighbors. I'm sure they partied pretty well because when I got back, it seemed like they'd known each other for years, not just 1.5 weeks. Luckily, Paul B speaks French fluently... unluckily, he had major problems understanding the Malian French accent and had severe communication problems while going about the city and trying to be a tourist.

So yes, he did surprise me. I'm still sort of in shock because I thought he was only joking or saying it in passing when he said that he was going to visit me in Mali at the end of October or the beginning of November. Unfortunately, he only got a visa for 1 month (since he's going to be with his family back in the UK for Christmas) and so, he has only 2.5 weeks left here in Africa since his flight leaves again on December 14th. I guess I should call him my boyfriend now. I've been hesitant to call him that but apparently, when he met Charles and my other roommates, he presented himself as my boyfriend... so I guess it's official. Actually feel guilty and sorry for my boyfriend (soooo weird saying this... I haven't had one in such a long time that the word is strange to say). He flew all the way from London but he won't even get to spend that much time with me at all. I'm volunteering 20 hours a week and working 40 hours a week. That makes 60 hours of time I'll be spending away from the apartment. To further the problem, Paul B can't even come to work with me... oh well. I did advise him to visit some neighboring cities or villages while I was at work, so maybe he'll find a way to entertain himself. He also sleeps at least 8 hours a night and he did the math... with me working 60 hours a week and him sleeping 8 hours a night, the actual time we'll "spend together" will be 52 hours a week or 7 hours a day. Honestly, I think that's quite a lot but Paul B doesn't agree. Oh well... maybe he can sleep while I'm work! That should work.

That was the first big surprise. The second surprised was presented to me when I logged onto my Blogger account and saw that my old blog (travelaficionado.blogspot.com) was nowhere to be found! Instead, there was the new blog that one of my best friends, Cathy and I, had decided to start. I then checked my e-mail to see that Cathy wrote a very panicked-sounding e-mail about how she'd accidentally deleted my blog while using my account. I do admit that I'm a little sad that my blog of 11+months is gone but there are many more important things in life =) What's done is done. Otherwise, I'm happy to be back in Bamako. I have to go to work again (it's Monday, after all) and Paul's sleeping and I woke up involuntarily at 6a.m. so I decided to type/post this entry when the shock of my blog having disappeared happened. Oh well, so this is the new address!

Today's Random Quiz:

You Are 60% British

Congrats, mate. You're are probably British. (If not, definitely Australian. Or Kiwi. Or Canadian.) You enjoy most aspects of mainstream British culture, without being stereotypical about it. You also have a typical British temperament. You wouldn't dream of being impolite.

How British Are You?

Yamoussoukro, Kumasi...and I Spent a Night in an African Jail

I should start out with apologizing to everyone that worried about me. I'm sorry!
I'm afraid to begin this entry.
How can I possibly summarize what happened these past couple weeks in words???
How can I possibly summarize it a blog entry???
Despite this daunting task, I will try.
I was in Ouagadougou until the 14th.

Oh, right the border-crossing! Man, that in itself was a first - bribing border guards. The PR rep is actually a New Zealand aborigine (which is pretty cool, I think) and we were traveling with a Malian translator who spoke a few African languages dialects as well as French. They'd already had visas but I had to get it at the border, which entailed some minor problems. I love crossing borders but I hate the actual processes involved. I swear, I get freaking picked on by border guards... in any country, whether it's in Austria or Ireland, Mali or Burkina Faso! But, I guess they expected to be bribed as soon as I handed them my passport. They looked at it and knowingly said, "Ah, Américaine." Still, they weren't going to let me off easy. I had to hand them all of my documents, including my visa and permission to work in Mali and proof of my yellow fever vaccination, some other vaccination documents, visa application and fee (in addition to the bribe-money) then they took at least an hour or two "processing" everything.

Meanwhile, I had to wait in a small empty room that had no windows and no air conditioning. It was 97F (36C) outside and the room was like an oven. This was cruel and unusual punishment! While I baked in the oven with no water or fan, I had a lovely off-white, uneven wall to stare at for nearly 2 hours. After I'd sat in a dingy little room for what seemed like eternity (I had no idea what the time was since there was no clock in the room), someone finally came in to give me my passport and visa. Before handing me my passport, they asked some standard and substandard questions to verify what my adviser and Malian translator had said. Finally, I was escorted out and we made it across the border.

Work in Ouagadougou wasn't too different from my work in Bamako. I basically did what I was told, which was mainly paperwork. I had major insomnia for some reason, maybe it's the heat. I did find hard liquor (vodka, actually) and I finally slept after nearly 3 days without sleep. I'm afraid I might become alcohol-dependent in order to sleep! Oh no! Seriously though, I was fine after I finally got a chance to sleep. Contrary to Pavol's warnings (I love you Pavol, but you worry too much =)) Burkina Faso really isn't that dangerous. At least, from personal experience. It's really safe (maybe there's a little more petty crime in Ouagadougou than in Bamako) and the people were incredibly friendly, just like in Mali! Of course, sometimes the friendliness went overboard when a handful of men proposed marriage, which wasn't too different from Mali either. I really don't know how serious these marriage proposals are. I do admit it's flattering but very annoying. After Ouagadougou, the PR rep said we'd be going to Kumasi, Ghana!

So, the three of us drove past the border of Burkina Faso and Ghana. Getting into Ghana was easier for some reason. The official language in Ghana is also English =) Maybe that had something to do with it, who knows? Border crossing wasn't a problem. Problems came soon thereafter. After a gas refill in Tamale, which is also where we met our Ghanaian translator making our group into 4 people, our car broke down about halfway to Kumasi! We were stuck in the middle of Ghana! My PR rep and the translators decided to push the car off the side of the road in attempts to repair it. But with what? I thought it would be better to hitchhike to a nearby town or city where we could get mechanical assistance or tools or anything really. Besides, I was starving at this point since we really were stuck in the middle of nowhere. Instead of standing with the broken car, I ventured off to the road and waited with my trusty thumb. Hitchhiking worked!!! A truck passing by stopped for me as I stuck out my arm and thumb as I saw them approach. I briefly explained our situation and the Ghanaians were more than happy to help out! Malians, Burkinabé, and Ghanaians are some of the nicest people I've ever met in my entire life! I asked them to wait just one second and I ran over to where the broken car, the Ghanaian translator, and my two coworkers were standing and told them I'd hailed down a driving car.

They were not happy... in fact, they were even a little hesitant. I didn't really understand why there were so paranoid but I did hear the Ghanaian guide saying to the PR rep, "Your secretary is a little crazy, yes?" And as if to prove his 'innocence' the PR rep quickly replied, "She's not my secretary. She's only an intern and I'm not her supervisor." Ah yes, I felt very loved... because I could hear them! Jeez, talk about indiscreet. Eventually, they agreed to at least check out the truck I'd stopped. Luckily, they seemed to agree with me in that they seemed to be genuinely nice, helpful people! We hitchhiked on the back of the truck with the Ghanaians to a small town where we got some food, rest, and some mechanical advice. They drove us back to our broken down car and we got it started. It was already too late to make it to Kumasi that day so we decided to crash near the town for the night.

Unfortunately, this night/morning was the most traumatic night of my life. We had to sleep outside!!! The only thing protecting me from the monstrous bugs of the night was a thin mosquito net. It took a LONG time for me to fall asleep as all the sounds of the night (bug-sounds... gross!!!) kept me awake for hours. I eventually did fall asleep. When I woke up, I was even more traumatized. The first thing I saw when I woke up was the underside of a ginormous spider (literally, it was about the size of my head with its legs spread out like that) rested right above my head on the mosquito net. I was so scared, I couldn't even scream. My breath was nowhere to be found and even my heart seemed to have stopped beating. As soon as the spider moved, though, the wind came back into my lungs and I screamed... loud enough to wake the 3 other travel companions. None of them understood my fear, which they deemed abnormal. They'd jumped awake because they thought I was getting stabbed or something only to find it was "just a bug." It wasn't just a bug!!! It was a freaking monster!!! As if that wasn't traumatic enough, after our Ghanaian friend got rid of the spider, I noticed a millipede right next to me. A MILLIPEDE!!! EEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!! It was the most disgusting creature I'd ever laid my eyes upon, ever. So yes, that was gross. It was the most traumatic moment of my life, to date.

After sleeping outside and not having taken a shower for about 2 days, I felt absolutely grotesque. I usually take 2 showers a day... and to not have showered in 2 days, it was pretty disgusting and it was so hot, I was sweaty and sticky and ugh. We finally arrived to our hotel in Kumasi later that day (after thanking our roadside rescuers in the town, of course). After a few days in Kumasi, we were to leave for Côte d'Ivoire on the 18th. Before we left, however, the PR rep actually sat me down and had a rather serious discussion with me concerning what I was to do, or rather, not to do in Côte d'Ivoire. I was not to hitchhike. I was not to be alone at any time. I was to make sure I carried no valuables with me and only copies of passports in case I was robbed. He also briefed me on the current situation in Côte d'Ivoire. I knew about the civil war there and I knew it wasn't the most politically stable country to go to, but the way the PR rep portrayed it, it seemed much more serious.

Foreigners were usually not welcome and were prime targets of crime. There had even been problems between Mali and Côte d'Ivoire previously regarding human trafficking (in which young boys were trafficked from Mali to Côte d'Ivoire as workers - or rather, labor slaves on cocoa plantations). Human trafficking was apparently still a problem in Côte d'Ivoire. I don't think I'd be a useful cocoa plantation worker, but whatever. Basically, I was allowed to do nothing on my own in the country. Crossing the border into Côte d'Ivoire was significantly more sensitive than crossing into Burkina Faso or Ghana. the border guards were seriously hesitant to stamp my passport. I can understand. The look they gave me and the tone they used when they asked questions gave it away. They were essentially thinking, "What the fuck are you doing here? Don't you know our country is still technically in a civil war? Why the hell would you want to come here? Such crazy Americans". They did stamp my passport though and getting in took less time than in Burkina or Ghana, actually. We got to Yamoussoukro, the official capital of Côte d'Ivoire.

I love all these city-names here in West Africa!!! Ouagadougou, Yamoussoukro... why can't we have such fun names in the states? Poland has some awesomely unpronounceable cities like Świętochłowice, Szczebrzeszyn, Bydgoszcz. What do we have? Sacramento, Tallahassee, and Philadelphia? Ok, I admit we do have cities like Chickasawhatchee but somehow it's not as fun to say. Anyway, I digress. After a few days in Yamoussoukro, we were going to head back to Mali. Unfortunately, this was probably the worst travel experience to date. It was worse than getting deported, worse than having my passport stolen in Moscow, worse than sleeping at a train station in March in Firenze... I had to spend a night in an African prison in Northern Côte d'Ivoire! And the worse part, I didn't even do anything worthy of getting arrested!!! I didn't break any laws as far as I knew! This story is rather complicated and long but I'll try to keep it short and summarize as efficiently as possible.

The PR rep wanted to get back to Bamako by Saturday. Bad idea. I personally didn't see the point in hurrying. Plus, I'd barely gotten any sleep the night before and waking up at 5a.m. to drive back to Mali was NOT something I wanted to do. It was an especially bad idea since traveling past sundown in Côte d'Ivoire, especially in Northern Côte d'Ivoire, is apparently one of the worst things you can possibly do. It was the PR rep who told me that! Thus, he was well aware of what he was getting himself into. Not to mention, me AND the Malian translator! There are lots of crimes and armed robberies involving cars. Cars on the road after sundown are prime targets. They usually have guns or they "accidentally" crash into your car and when you get out, they either attack you or just take your car with all your belongings. Not fun. It's especially dangerous in Northern Côte d'Ivoire because that's where many "rebel groups" are and those rebels are the ones who usually commit crime. Not to mention, the country is technically still in a civil war, with the Northern and Southern parts of the country still being run separately. They're hoping to hold elections and they have an agreement to reunite the country - that's why there are so many UN Peacekeeping forces in the country now, so that the two presidents will follow through with their peace agreements, hold elections, and to keep rebel forces down. In any case, we were all getting rather nervous as we approached the Malian border but also the sun was sinking lower and lower on the horizon. Unfortunately, the sun eventually set and darkness was spreading like wildfire. We continued on, though. It was even more unsafe to stop than it was to continue driving. Not wanting to get lost, the car's headlights were still kept on. After a couple hours, we estimated that we were only some 50-odd kilometers from the border! Almost home safe! In safe, peaceful Mali...

Unfortunately for us, it didn't seem to end so nicely. We saw car lights approaching behind us and some shouts to stop as well as a few gunshots in the air. I think that's when we made our mistake. The PR rep panicked, thinking they were rebels. The Malian translator was also kind of freaking out saying we could make it to and across the border before they caught up with us. That's when he slammed his foot on the accelerator and it ended up being some kind of surreal high speed chase past sundown in West Africa. I wasn't scared at this point. I was just kind shocked at everything that was going on to feel anything. I think I just sat calmly, waiting for events to unfold. The Malian translator would later ask me how I could be so expressionlessly calm. It's just the way I react to situations like that... I don't know, I rarely ever panick. Even if I do panick, it's always silently on the inside where no one can see. Weird, aren't I? I'm getting sidetracked again. The car behind us wasn't alone. There were actually 2 cars behind us and they were catching up really fast. In the end they caught up. As soon as they'd caught up, the PR rep had probably realized there was no way we were getting back to Mali that night... or possibly ever. He stopped the car.

As soon as he'd slowed down and stopped the car, the Ivoirians told us to get out of the car. We cooperated, hoping, if they indeed they were rebel forces, cooperation would help us in convincing them to let us go across the border to Mali after they took all our belongings. I was really confused. They didn't really look like a rebel group to me. They seemed rather organized with official-looking uniforms... but then again, maybe that's what rebel groups looked like. How was I to know? I'd never even met anyone from a street gang, let alone a rebel group in West Africa. Seriously though, this scramble was the most bizarre and dream-like sequence of events ever. They were all yelling, there was so much noise and yet, it sounded all so distant. Everything seemed muffled to my ears because my mind seemed to be dozing off thanks to sleep deprivation and the sheer intensity of the situation. I realized, they were separating the three of us. Now that they had our rented car, there were 3 vehicles: the Malian translator was "escorted" into one of their vehicles, the PR rep was "escorted" by a couple of the Ivoirians in our rented car, and I was "escorted" into the other Ivoirian car. I put "escorted" in quotations because actually, it was just pushing and shoving... but it sounds nicer to say "escorted" =) It was a relatively short drive. I was sitting in the back of the car confused with an armed Ivoirian next to me and the driver, who also had a gun. There was no way I was going to attempt jumping out. So I just sat rather calmly. When we stopped, I realized that the other two cars were also there. We were all at the same location... it was weird. I wondered what was going to happen.

They forbade us from conversing with one another and led us to separate rooms. It was a dingy little room. Rather stuffy and there was an unpleasant smell from the entire building itself. In the room, they asked for my passport. After having my passport stolen once before, I hide it very well in hidden compartments of a backpack. I told them it was in my luggage and if they still had it, I could give it to them afterwards. I didn't have anything on me right then and there. This answer seemed less than satisfactory. They asked me what I was doing in Côte d'Ivoire, where I was from, etc. After asking some other questions, they led me... to a cell!!! I WAS BEING PUT IN A JAIL CELL!!! This was the worst feeling ever. What the hell did I do??? As they were locking me up, I was practically begging them to tell me why they were putting me there. If they really wanted my passport, I would just look through my bag to find it and give it to them. It didn't work. I was in jail. The stench was worse inside the cell. Like someone had urinated and/or defecated and/or vomited on the floors and no one had ever cleaned it in years. The heat may have had something to do with intensifying the smell further. I hoped that if I were going to be there for a while, that it would get colder really fast so that the heat wouldn't magnify the disgusting scents. I didn't want to sit anywhere. I didn't want to stand in the corner either. It was creepy! I've never been in a jail cell before. I've never even received a ticket from a police officer before and now I was in jail. It was like a nightmare I refused to believe I was actually in. I stood in the center of the tiny cell grabbing the bars of the cell. It really was like being inside a movie I did NOT want to be in. It was hours before anything else happened. I realized I was spending the night there.

After what seemed like forever, which was actually just 5 or 6 hours, I saw the PR rep and the Malian translator walking in! The first thing they said, was "You're bleeding!" Then I realized, I was bleeding for the first time in.. who knows how long. There was a huge gash on my leg and it wasn't just a tiny scratch. It was gushing blood and it had dripped down to my feet where some of it had crusted dry... ok, sorry for the disgusting visual but yeah, I was shocked to discover it myself. Then they told me that there was some intense confusion and they really weren't a rebel group but Ivoirian police and border control officers! Since we tried running away from them, obviously, that raised suspicions and problems. That's why they were interrogated but after they'd procured the documents, after their stories matched and checked out, they were let go from the interrogation room. Apparently, I was still in jail because I wasn't able to procure the documents. I told them I just needed to get my bag and that's where all the documents were but they wouldn't even listen to me. No one takes me seriously! I mean, I understand I'm not usually a serious person but when I need to be, I am!!! Afterward, we realized what happened. The person who interrogated me decided to go home and call it a night. WHAT THE HELL! That's why they weren't able to clear my story and I was still in a jail cell. They then called him up, checked the stories, allowed me OUT of the cell, finally (!) and let me find my passport along with all my documents. At last, I was allowed to go! Talk about a crazy night!

Free from jail, they checked our passports and visa stamps one more time and let us leave. We left and drove to the Ivoirian/Malian border. We were stopped by customs/border control once again and after some more interrogation (but this time, I didn't have to be put in a jail cell!) they let us back into Mali. Home at last! Breathing a sigh of relief, I was so glad to be back in Mali. The PR rep actually apologized for having rushed and having us all get detained... it wasn't all his fault but we accepted his apology anyway =D. The Malian translator was dropped off first at the village he lived in. Then it was me... I'm back in Mali on Sunday morning.

As soon as I got home, I went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. I probably smelled like the stinky jail cell! AND my leg was still covered in dry blood. Seriously, how I got this injury, I still have no idea. I guess it happened sometime in between getting out and in of cars and being put in jail. Somewhere in between there. I didn't even feel any pain so it's ok, right? Getting out of the shower, I went to my room and found a man sleeping in my bed!!! I grabbed some clothes and decided to dress in the bathroom. As I left, though, I did a double take since he looked incredibly familiar... for a split second I thought it was Paul. I know too many "Paul"s, seriously. The Canadian Paul, "Pavol" ;) This person, however, looked like Paul, my British semi-boyfriend, Paul (our relationship was never officially... declared =) so to speak). Then I thought, "Nah... no way... I'm probably hallucinating again because I haven't had a good night's sleep in 3 days." After dressing in the bathroom, I realized I hadn't talked to my mom in over 2 weeks nor to anyone else other than my two travel partners for that matter. So I sent out a couple quick e-mails and now, I'm typing up this entry! What an intense two weeks!!! Oh, and the spider + millipede were still scarier than being in jail! I'll post pictures later to show you why.

Today's Random Quiz:

You Are 75% Hyper

You have an energy unlike any other. You're full of pep. People wonder how you are able to get so much done. You love to keep busy. It's likely that you're very physically active as well. You have a lot of physical endurance. You are also quite outgoing. You're quick to start up a conversation and make friends. You have the drive, confidence, and motivation to take you far in life. While you may tire some people out, someone else is always looking to feed off your energy.

How Hyper Are You?

Ouagadougou - Try to Say that 3 Times Really Fast!

It's been a week since my last update and I'm going to try my best to update at least once a week. A little difficult at the moment though, I must admit. As you may have guessed from the title of this entry, I am currently in Ouagadougou! I'm typing this from the hotel at 6:58a.m. and will be posting this entry as soon as I get internet connection here. Ouagadougou is not in Mali... it's in Burkina Faso!!! So how and why am I in Burkina Faso? Long story short - head of the public relations department was scheduled to go to a couple neighboring countries for administrative business that I'm not really privy to... I'm just an intern so I don't get too many details. BUT, his secretary got sick with typhoid fever over the weekend and he needed someone who could type fast in French and English, and other languages if possible, who could be a quick replacement and who would essentially be the office bitch by doing all the work that no one wants to do. So, that replacement was me since even at work, I basically go or do whatever they tell me to do since my work here isn't permanent and I have no real "specific" duties or projects that I'm concretely bound to. My coworkers have actual permanent or semi-permanent posts, so they have set deadlines to meet or certain projects they need to work on daily while I merely do whatever my program adviser tells me to do. This time, my program adviser just told me to go to Ouagadougou and a couple other cities outside of Mali along with the PR rep. Visas? Oh, no problem! All you have to do is bribe the customs officers at the border and pay the visa fees along with quickly drafted documents at the office procured an hour before I was due to leave! That was pretty crazy though... crossing the border over to Burkina Faso. I'll explain why later but anyway, it worked. So here I am!

Actually, I was secretly elated to get a chance to travel to other countries!!! I mean come on! I still have a good 90-some-odd countries to visit before I die! That's a lot of countries, might as well go to as many as I can while I'm in Africa. So we're scheduled to be in Burkina Faso for a day or two longer, then we're off to Ghana (!!! yay!!!). I wasn't sure if I overhead a conversation between my superiors correctly (I wasn't eavesdropping...they just didn't realize I was there) but I think we may go to Côte d'Ivoire as well! How exciting! If only I could go to Bénin and visit my old Bénoise roommate along the way... that would be awesome. But I realize Porto Novo is quite far and I didn't hear them talking about Bénin so that's just a wish that will go unfulfilled for now. If you haven't noticed yet, I love saying Ouagadougou. It's so freaking fun to say! Try it!!! You might catch on ;)

That was the good news =) Not-so-good news... I'm suffering from insomnia again. I haven't slept for the past 2 days. Ugh. I'm hoping I'll get to sleep tonight. I think the insomnia might only be because I'm in a strange/different environment. I usually sleep well when I travel... I could even sleep in a car in the desert in Mali... Maybe I need to drink some hard alcohol like that time in the desert to sleep. Yeah, I think I'll try that because I really need some sleep. I don't want to risk staying awake for 7 days again! That was not cool and hallucinating wasn't great either. Seriously, I forget who said it but if I hallucinated giant spiders with wings.. I really might commit suicide because giant spiders that fly is probably the scariest thought... ever. If you haven't noticed yet (those who know me really well will probably have already caught on by now) I'm kind of pumped with caffeine and sleep deprivation combined! My writing style tends to fluctuate a little based on how many hours I sleep and how many cups of coffee I drink. Since I have a full day ahead of me, I drank a couple cups of coffee this morning. Ah yes, coffee... I would probably die without it. well, it's almost time for me to see if the PR rep is awake. He was saying something about transcribing a lecture or something or other yesterday. Meanwhile, I wonder where I can buy some hard liquor... whiskey, vodka, rum, whatever... I have to sleep tonight... I don't want to be awake for more than 3 days in a row. Love you guys, and really, try saying Ouagadougou 3 times really fast! It'll make you laugh, or at least smile... unless you don't have a sense of humor then...fie! Fie on you!

Today's Random Quiz:

Your Inner Child Is Surprised

\\You see many things through the eyes of a child. Meaning, you're rarely cynical or jaded. You cherish all of the details in life. Easily fascinated, you enjoy experiencing new things.

How Is Your Inner Child?

Yes We Can!

So the results are in. Perhaps not all, but enough to know the victor. Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States of America! I just pulled an all-nighter following the elections but it was worth it in the end. It made me smile, cry, laugh... all at the same time. This also means I'll save a few hundred (perhaps even thousands) of dollars for visa extensions, rent, and flight changes and just go home on my originally scheduled flight. In response to Cathy's comment - if I do get the semi-permanent position with the UNDP, actually they might not station me in Mali. I might be stationed elsewhere. Still, I need to go back home first before they assign my "official" post =) So I'll be going home for at least a couple months either way - at least long enough to celebrate New Year with you!!! ;)

I was following the election online and I was amazed how easily Obama won, compared to the 2004 elections,it's almost a landslide, though the margin between the popular votes isn't as great.
There may still be hope for my home country yet! It's good to see that a majority of the people were smart enough not to elect another couple of idiots into office and that they were even able to put a sensitive issue like "race" aside. In a country where the Civil Rights Movement took place less than 50 years ago, it's amazing to see them elect a "Black" presidential candidate. It's kind of funny how people make things more... dramatic by saying he's a black president when in fact, he's only half black (his mother was a white American from Kansas, his father an African from Kenya). It's just in our American culture to identify people of mixed races with the minority race parent. Obama is the classic example, though he's half white and half black, they say he's "black." I'd be identified as "Asian" and hm... actually, my siblings could pass as "white". You never know what you're going to get when you blend people from very different backgrounds!

Ah, I'm getting side-tracked. Yes, I'm glad Obama won. He has his flaws and I don't agree with all his politics (especially his antagonistic views towards Cuba and Russia... and he approved the FISA, which I'm still pissed off about) but still, I'm glad he won. I guess I'll be going back home at the end of December now. I imagine that my mom is happy too =) She sounded happy when I talked to her a few hours ago. I couldn't believe she was awake at midnight when she usually goes to sleep at 9p.m.!

I even listened to his victory speech... and there was one part of the speech that really reached me.... it was when he said, "And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand." It made me feel at home, though I'm thousands and thousands of miles away in Africa, I felt I was there listening to him in Chicago. I really don't know what to expect from our new president-elect. What I do know is, he sure can give a damn good speech and he's much more articulate than George W. Bush.

Today's Random Quiz:

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 10 out of 10 correct!

Could You Pass the US Citizenship Test?

Election Day in the USA

Pity I can't vote. This is the first presidential election for which I'm finally old enough to vote... but I didn't feel like doing all the complicated paperwork in order to be able to cast my vote as an overseas voter. So, I'm not voting. Besides, "every vote counts" doesn't really apply to me in this case. Why? Overseas votes are counted last... probably after they already know the victor. Thus, unless someone wins by 1 vote, my vote really won't matter. I hope most of you voted for Obama... that is, unless you never want to see me on American soil again! Instead of debating whether or not I'll apply for my visa extention, I decided to stay in Mali a few months longer if McCain/Palin win. Otherwise, I'll just go back home for New Year's at the end of December! Love you all and I hope you voted!

Today's Random Quiz:

You Should Be Allowed to Vote

You got 15/15 questions correct. Generally speaking, you're very well informed. If you vote this election, you'll know exactly who (and what) you'll be voting for. You're likely to have strong opinions, and you have the facts to back them up.

Should You Be Allowed to Vote?

Xeric Weekend

I'm going to try to summarize what happened in the last week as best as I can while trying to keep it succinct... but I can't guarantee all of it will be coherent. I've raised my volunteering hours this week from 5 hours to 10 hours. Next week, I'll go back to 15 hours a week and starting the week of November 17th, I'll raise the bar another 5 hours to 20 hours a week. I know it seems like a lot, but I know I can do it. I'll be working 60 hours a week soon! Woohoo!!! I am a freakin' machine =D

Other than that, this week, I've been doing more field work in villages near Bamako. Since I'm an intern, I've been sent everywhere to act as an assistant, translator, "cultural" adviser... whatever they wanted me to be, I had to be. In a nutshell, I did everything from weighing babies to helping in distribution of medication and vaccinations, from helping improve water irrigation to learning Malian culture and relaying information in an insane mix of French, English, and Bambara... it was a pretty intense week, I'll admit and the weeks are only going to intensify even more, not less. My doctor would be unhappy that I might be risking "overextending" myself so I actually didn't tell him I've been working so much and I was only getting 5 hours of sleep a day. So that was what happened this past week, in summary.

On Thursday it was Mischief Night, but no one at work gave a rat's ass that it was Halloween on Friday, much less know what Mischief Night (the night before Halloween) was. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! I freaking love Christmas and I guess if you count my birthday as a holiday =) I freaking love my birthday, too. Then comes Halloween, so yeah, Halloween is a big deal for me!!! Luckily, my roommates are all anglophones who are familiar with Halloween, especially the Canadian. It was actually quite interesting to see that the childhoods of non-Americans are so deprived!!! I mean, on Mischief Night, I'd go out with the boys (because I was a tomboy as a child I always had a bit of a power struggle with Ty as to who was the leader of our bande de jeunes) to egg and toilet paper houses, throw water balloons perhaps, and just run around on mischief night and sneak back into the house hopefully without waking up my parents. Ah... those were the days... On Halloween, we'd dress up in costumes and go trick-or-treating, which was always a successful endeavor since we'd end up having a mountain of free chocolate and candies that would last us until Christmas if we rationed our treats wisely. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison... yeah, those were the best years for Halloween. I mean, UW-Madison is famous for their Halloween weekends!!! Look up "Halloween" in Wikipedia, you'll see Madison, Wisconsin mentioned in it! We drank, we partied, we walked the streets and some rioted... I even got tear gassed once, though I was an innocent bystander... I hadn't done anything wrong... well, except drink illegally but that's not a good reason to tear-gas me!

Basically, Halloween was not as fun in Mali as it was in Madison, Wisconsin. Still, my roommates and I decided to go and celebrate Halloween anyway... by going on a roadtrip! Our original goal was to get to Timbuktu... but instead we ended up spending Halloween in the middle of a desert. We'd all chipped in about $100 to rent a car and get a tank full of gas, some more gasoline on reserve in case we couldn't find a gas station (which we expected would happen), a box of bottled water, a crate of beer, a bottle of whiskey, 2 bottles of wine, some food, and hoped that would last us for a while. On Friday, immediately after work, I had to volunteer so my roommates tagged along in the rented car. From the small village near Bamako, we drove out north towards Timbuktu. We didn't really have costumes, but we did have turbans and burkas! Refueling at a gas station in Mopti, we continued on into the night. We probably shouldn't have done this, but we eventually started drinking... while driving. I know, I know... it was a stupid thing to do... and that is what got us lost. We didn't stop driving. We drove into the night and we only stopped once the car broke down. That was Halloween night. We were stranded in the middle of a desert in turbans and burkas with no idea how to get back or where exactly we were and completely drunk. Paul and Charles had gone to Timbuktu before and insisted they knew what they were doing while the only sensible ones were me and Ellen... and we kept telling them to stay on the main road but did they listen, no, of course not. In any case, we didn't fight or anything. We were just too drunk and lost to fight. Fighting was the last thing we would've done. Instead, we decided to sober up before doing anything else. So, we decided to sleep in the car in the middle of the desert. At first we thought of sleeping outside so we had a bonfire going, but with the sand going everywhere, I wasn't a fan of that. Four people sleeping in a car was not comfortable. No one could really lie down. It wasn't the most comfortable night, I'll assure you. Still, I guess we did end up falling asleep, despite being able to hear people breathing heavily and being in such a cramped space. Alcohol helps in such situations and I somehow ended up sleeping in the corner in fetal position. =)

Saturday, we woke up with the sunrise. We had no choice. I mean, the sun was just scorching and incredibly bright that even if your eyes were closed, it felt like its rays were burning through your eyelids. Lucky me, I was the first to wake up and completely sober, ready to find the road again. My roommates, however, were all hungover and less willing to move. The temperature was rising steadily and we realized, we'd come a long ways from Bamako and really weren't sure how to get back. In case we had trouble getting back, we decided to ration our food and water. Our car had broken down, so Charles and Paul, who'd already experienced car breakdowns in deserts before, worked on it for a while. I don't know how much time passed but I felt like the sun was burning through my skull. Eventually, the car started and moved but we were low on gas. We did have the gas on reserve, which was enough to get us back to a major city, probably, but the problem we had was we had no idea which direction we should go.

Thus, we came up with a plan. One person would stay in the car in case someone came along (yeah right) and in case there were armed bandits because we really weren't sure how far north in Mali we were. I'd been told that northern parts of Mali were dangerous for Americans, that there were incidences of armed conflict, robberies at gunpoint, kidnappings, and landmines in Northern Mali... completely different from the peaceful south... and that the Al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) allegedly operates in Northern Mali. I wasn't the only one who knew this. My roommates were also warned by their governments and their jobs that even Timbuktu might be dangerous for Westerners. Of course, Paul and Charles had already visited Timbuktu, but they'd found it completely safe... but even they were hoping we hadn't gone past Timbuktu. North of Timbuktu, there is really nothing to see but the Sahara Desert. No villages, only violence, desert bandits, and who knows what else goes on north of Timbuktu... or so I've heard. That's why we were all silently praying we hadn't gone that far. So, Ellen stayed in the car, the three of us decided to pan out into three directions as far as we could without getting lost. We all had a whistle, a stick and a lighter in case we needed to get back. If the sun was setting and someone hadn't gotten back to the car yet, those people back at the car would send up flares as signals so we could get back. Seriously, I felt like I was in a movie. It was not a wonderful situation, but still, kind of cool!

At the end of the day, it was Charles who found the right way to the road. I on the other hand, saw nothing but desert. But the visibility was great. You could see miles and miles ahead of you. I could probably see Ellen sitting on top of the car from a couple miles away even! Turns out, we hadn't veered very far off the main road. We'd spent a good few hours fixing the car and figuring out our plan and by the time all of us were back in the car and back on the main road, it was already the afternoon. There was no way we'd be able to drive back to Bamako in one day much less go to Timbuktu and then back to Bamako by Monday morning for work. So, we decided to just head back to Bamako... even though we realized we were so close! We'd gone a little too east of Timbuktu... so close but yet so far! We headed back until we were out of gas, then refueled and continued driving. We made it to Bambara-Maoude where we got a full tank of gas. The sun was setting when we were still just short of Sévaré and the car broke down again. We pushed the car off the road where it wouldn't be too noticeable... again, it was like the middle of nowhere but this time, we knew which direction to push the car to get back on the road. We had to spend a second night in the car and this time, not being drunk, it was much harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. Eventually, we managed and woke up with the sunrise.

Sunday morning, after fixing the car again, we made it to Sévaré where we replenished the gas again since we wanted to get back to Bamako that night. From Sévaré to Bamako, a trip that should've taken 5 hours, took 10 hours because the car broke down three times along the way. Eventually, we got back to Bamako, returned the car, and headed home. After a much needed shower and a good meal I'm able to say we made it out of the desert alive! Turns out, we weren't north of Timbuktu, just to the east of it. Why is it so hard to go to Timbuktu? I have to go before I leave Mali... I must.

Today's Random Quiz:

The Road Trip of Your Life

You see life as a journey to be shared with others. Kinship and sharing are very important to you. You live a life of leisure. You take your time in every aspect of life and enjoy it to the fullest. You are all about risk and randomness in your life. You travel off the beaten path... in fact, you're often the one carving the way! You are able to find a fairly healthy balance between work and play. You work when you need to, but you never let yourself burn out. In another life, you could have been a great artist. You trust your creative instincts enough to let them lead you.

The Road Trip Test