good news & bad for people who love news...
i know it's been over a month. no-i didn't go on my boat trip that i had talked about earlier. in early september there was a temporally coincidental and fatal boating accident on the river niger involving my 4 buddies and training mates. peace corps lost 2 spirits that day, matt and justin. my other two buddies, nate and kevin, survived. they are both in the u.s. recovering. peace corps mali will be overjoyed to welcome nate back in a couple of weeks. we are waiting to hear about kevin's physical therapy… we all miss you kev!
just for justin and matt: you found in each other true friendship here in mali and lived every single day to the fullest. your bright lights will always shine on in our hearts and memories.
in the midst of it all, i had my friend dave come visit mali for 3 weeks. there couldn't have been a more understanding, flexible person to visit, considering the circumstances. he was comic-relief when this soul was very down-trodden. after a few days in bamako, we headed to my village of kangaba for a couple of days. i really needed to see my host-mom, bintu. she was gone when i got the news about matt and justin, and i left for bamako before seeing her. that night, i really needed her to be there, cuz at least she would've held my hand a little bit and would have been the only malian to offer me real, true compassion. thank god linz came up from tegecoro that night, so i wasn’t completely alone, and i was able to get a hug…
see, bintu is a friend of the peace corps. she's been the host-mom to suma and to me. over the course of three plus years, she has met many, many pcv's. so, she didn't take it lightly, the loss of our two friends.
after a few days of recovery in kangaba, dave and i headed out east. ségou, sevaré, mopti, gao, dogon country, and back. overall, we covered about 1400 miles over land. we hiked up the side of the hand of fatima outside of hombori. we heard live music with great company in gao. we hiked up and down the bandiagarra escarpment in dogon country. we hung out with many pcv's along the way. it was two weeks i really needed.
i sent dave on his way back to switzerland wednesday evening. i think he was ready to get back to comfort, to coolness, to indoor plumbing but overall, he thoroughly enjoyed his visit to mali. yay!
then, just a few days ago, was the swearing-in ceremony of the new group of pc trainees. the belushi stage was welcomed to pc/mali in absolute style and crazy fun-ness. we were at the pirate's club in bamako, aaaarrrrrrr, and i am pretty sure that everyone had a complete blast. my abs are still sore from all of the dancing and laughing i did. yay!
now i am back at site. i feel like i have been gone for ages, which i kinda have. but you know when you get back to your spot after a vacation and somehow you feel different. that's kinda how i feel right now. i am happy for my yala-ing with dave, without a doubt, but it's like that line in that flaming lips song on the soft bulletin, '…and suddenly, everything has changed…'
in closing, i think the best thing to have come out of the month of september is the positive demonstration of strength, courage, and understanding of all of my fellow pcv's. i said it once, i will say it for the rest of my days: i have never been surrounded by more beautiful people in my life, real, good, and true. you are all my heroes and i want you to know that forever and forget it never.
peace. chance.
just for justin and matt: you found in each other true friendship here in mali and lived every single day to the fullest. your bright lights will always shine on in our hearts and memories.
in the midst of it all, i had my friend dave come visit mali for 3 weeks. there couldn't have been a more understanding, flexible person to visit, considering the circumstances. he was comic-relief when this soul was very down-trodden. after a few days in bamako, we headed to my village of kangaba for a couple of days. i really needed to see my host-mom, bintu. she was gone when i got the news about matt and justin, and i left for bamako before seeing her. that night, i really needed her to be there, cuz at least she would've held my hand a little bit and would have been the only malian to offer me real, true compassion. thank god linz came up from tegecoro that night, so i wasn’t completely alone, and i was able to get a hug…
see, bintu is a friend of the peace corps. she's been the host-mom to suma and to me. over the course of three plus years, she has met many, many pcv's. so, she didn't take it lightly, the loss of our two friends.
after a few days of recovery in kangaba, dave and i headed out east. ségou, sevaré, mopti, gao, dogon country, and back. overall, we covered about 1400 miles over land. we hiked up the side of the hand of fatima outside of hombori. we heard live music with great company in gao. we hiked up and down the bandiagarra escarpment in dogon country. we hung out with many pcv's along the way. it was two weeks i really needed.
i sent dave on his way back to switzerland wednesday evening. i think he was ready to get back to comfort, to coolness, to indoor plumbing but overall, he thoroughly enjoyed his visit to mali. yay!
then, just a few days ago, was the swearing-in ceremony of the new group of pc trainees. the belushi stage was welcomed to pc/mali in absolute style and crazy fun-ness. we were at the pirate's club in bamako, aaaarrrrrrr, and i am pretty sure that everyone had a complete blast. my abs are still sore from all of the dancing and laughing i did. yay!
now i am back at site. i feel like i have been gone for ages, which i kinda have. but you know when you get back to your spot after a vacation and somehow you feel different. that's kinda how i feel right now. i am happy for my yala-ing with dave, without a doubt, but it's like that line in that flaming lips song on the soft bulletin, '…and suddenly, everything has changed…'
in closing, i think the best thing to have come out of the month of september is the positive demonstration of strength, courage, and understanding of all of my fellow pcv's. i said it once, i will say it for the rest of my days: i have never been surrounded by more beautiful people in my life, real, good, and true. you are all my heroes and i want you to know that forever and forget it never.
peace. chance.
posted by chance @ 12:17 PM
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