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?