Far is near

It’s my fourth day in Mali and up till now there was nothing but pleasure. Granted the start was a bit chaotic but the rest is pure joy. I had one real worry before setting off and it almost came to fruition. The only thing I did not want to miss was my connecting flight from Paris to Bamako. Flying in from Trieste I had hour and 20 minutes to get off the plane switch terminals, go trough customs and checks and board the plane. Well, out of those hour and something I’ve spent 20 minutes just riding the bus from the first plane to the terminal where the race begun. Off to another bus which got me to the right terminal I still had plenty of time on my hands. And when I saw the queue at passport checks I thought nothing could go wrong. Guess again. We were standing still for almost 40 minutes as a testimony to efficiency of border control at the Charles de Gaulle Airport. As if that would not be enough there was a bunch of people cutting the line just because their connecting flight was late. Topping all that was a request that I get all my photo equipment out off the backpack for a close expecting. I guess you can imagine my joy while putting all the lenses and disks and body and… out on the table and seeing it go just like that trough the scanners. What followed was a sprint to the gates and the first familiar face waiting for me. Marianne was there and by force of displacing few people we got to sit together and finally I could start breathing again;) Bamako here we come!

Now are you in for a good storry? Here’s a step-by-step guide how to get sun burnt in no time even if you arrive during the night. First you get Almou waiting for you at the Bamako airport to speed up all the controls. Then you have to eat. Eat well. You’ll need it, after all it is New Years eve. Take some well needed and deserved rest. About 20 minutes no more. Up on the roof. And make sure not to sleep over the fireworks at midnight. Not that you could though, they make sure you can’t. Take a shower, change, put on your best dress and head out to night clubs. Dance all night and do not forget to drink heavily in between. Well by now surely you must be tired. It’s six in the morning so what about a quick snack before hitting the bed? Fast forward 30 minutes and you find yourself on your very own maitresse on the roof under the stars somewhere in Bamako. Now this is the crucial moment – dead tired you absolutely should not be paying attention to the voice saying to go downstairs to a proper bed when the sun raises. But you are still conscious enough to realise you need to take your clothes off or you’ll wake up in a sweat soaked black shirt. The first priers are already finished so you can fall asleep. Next thing you should remember is waking up not knowing your whereabouts but having a slightest idea it might be that sun is burning you so you move. But just enough to be on the edge between the sun and the shade. So you repeat the move sun. And again. And again. Until you are awake and sun burnt on your first morning. Now it wasn’t that hard, was it?

So, besides the back that changed to red life is good. Food is great, they still make a loco and the capitaine is delicious. Still have problems with names. So many familiar faces knowing my name and being so happy to see me again and ma I am left with that strange feeling. I get to remember their faces and for the most part the times we had spent together in previous years but for most there are no names. A big empty hole. It’s bad. Real bad. Not remembering my friends names. But then I do the only thing one could without giving yourself out. You smile and listen real hard and hope somebody will call them by the name. And it does not help much to cross most of them while clubbing either.

Anyhow I am enjoying the slow African pace of life in Sévare after spending a night on the road to here. It’ 30 degrees in the shade so I’m off to a well deserved swim in the pool.