Random Thoughts Before Embarking

We leave tomorrow night for our home leave, and my wife and I are pretty jazzed. Mali has been a great place to be these past three months but we're both looking forward to time in Europe and the US. We've both been online shopping up a storm, purchasing things we need (and want) so they'll be waiting for us when we arrive back home in just over a week.

What follows are the thoughts and experiences I've had over the past two-ish weeks:

• Last Friday was my last meeting with the students from the YES program. I was working intensively with a few kids who needed help with their English and we focused on lots of reading and listening exercises. It was cool to get to know them a little more personally over the past few weeks. It's possible that I'll see all of the students in the airport since they're flying out to the US on the same day that I return from home leave.
  


• I've begun experimenting with making my own pad thai. There's lots of Asian food to be found in the grocery stores here - key ingredients such as fish sauce, rice noodles, and tamarind aren't too tough to locate. I bought a cheap wok for around $10 from the Chinese supermarket located downtown. The first batch of pad thai I made almost killed my wife and I. We both lapsed into sodium-overdose comas about twenty minutes after we ate and I drank enough water to drown a fish once I woke up. The next batch was better, but I still have a ways to go before I'll go around telling people that I can whip up a mean pad thai.
  


• In other food-related news, a Vietnamese sandwich stand has opened up not too far from our house. For 500cfa (about $1), I can get a pretty tasty sandwich. It's made on French bread and has a little ground beef, a few cold cuts, some lettuce, tomato, and onion, and it's seasoned with ketchup, soy sauce, hot sauce, and a few other ingredients that I can't readily identify. For a buck, it's pretty filling and I have it at least once a week for lunch.
  


• On Saturday my wife and I went on a canoe trip down the Niger River with a few friends. It was nice to get out of the city and the heat wasn't too oppressive. One stretch of the river has some rapids which were fun to navigate our way through. Lots of locals said hi and waved as we passed by. Man, most everyone we meet in Mali is super nice. It's great.
  


• The dry season is winding down here - it seems like it rains at least every other day and the dirt roads are getting pretty rough. Hopefully by the time we get back from our home leave, we'll have missed out on the humidity of the dry-season-to-rainy-season transition.

Counting down the days

Things have been pretty slow for me the past few weeks in Bamako. I don't have much in the way of exciting news to report - sorry. I'm still trying to find full-time work out here. I was hoping to find work at the US Embassy but they're in a time of transition this summer. From what I understand, US foreign service workers change their posts every two to three years and the way the schedules have worked out here, there's a turnover of 70% of the embassy employees. They're all leaving for new posts soon or have already left. That means that lots of programs are finishing up and no new ones are starting. Most departing employees I talk to say that there will be positions opening up in the next few months once the new staff arrives and settles in. If nothing comes through at the embassy, I'm also looking seriously into working remotely doing contract tech writing, web design, instructional design, etc. The web connection here has been solid and the speeds are good enough that I would feel comfortable working with customers on some projects.

In the meantime, I've been spending some time working with a group of Youth Exchange and Study (YES) students. The YES program is run by the US State Department and offers students from significantly Muslim countries such as Mali the chance to study in America for a year. Almost every Saturday for the past few months, I'll talk with the 15 or so students who have been chosen for the program about life in America and what they can expect when they arrive in the US in August.

It's been pretty cool. All of the students will be in the US for their junior year of high school and they're all bright kids. Their English is excellent, to the point where I'd never guess that some of them weren't native speakers. So far we've talked about food and restaurants, sports, life in high school, American cities, as well as going off on countless tangents. There isn't a set curriculum that I'm teaching from - I'm more providing them with the opportunity to ask questions about America and get used to listening to an American speak in English for a few hours at a time.

This Saturday I'm going to talk with them about music in America and what happens when kids "go out" with their friends on the weekend. Starting next week, I'll meet with the students three times a week and in addition to covering the nuances of American culture, I'll go over basic American history and government. There was a good documentary out last year called "American Teen" that was shot in Warsaw, Indiana. I'd like to show them parts of that so they can get one (very Midwestern) perspective on what high school in America is like.

In the back of my mind, though, my wife and I are thinking about our upcoming home leave. We've finalized our travel schedule and will be spending a week in Munich, a night in Paris, and then heading back home for several weeks. There's shopping lists to put together, doctor and dentist appointments to be made, and dining options to be considered. Will I go to White Castle just once, or multiple times? Will Buona beef taste even better than I remembered it? Will my body go into shock from ingesting so much trashy food? In a little over four weeks, I'll find out.

Mail call

Not much in the way of big news to report these days. The highlight of the past week was that we have successfully received a package through the mail here in Bamako. My family sent us a small flat-rate box that arrived here after being in transit for about two weeks. It included such necessities as an oven thermometer, Ziploc bags, cleaner for my electric razor, and some packages of Kraft macaroni and cheese sauce. Exciting stuff, I know. If anyone would like our mailing address here, send me an email (charliemooreiv AT gmail.com) and I'll pass it along. After not being able to get any packages while we were in Kinshasa, this is pretty exciting for us.

It's hard to believe that we'll be going on vacation in just over a month. We're spending a week in Europe before we go home, and are strongly leaning towards spending several days in Munich. Anyone have recommendations of places to visit in or around Munich? After our time in Europe, we'll be in the states for a few weeks.

Finally, in lieu of taking a million pictures of our house we shot a few quickie videos instead and put them up on YouTube. Send me an email and I can pass along the link if you'd like to see them.

A trip to the suburbs

Last Sunday, my wife and I made the hour-long drive out of town to her manager's village outside Bamako. There was a memorial service that day for his aunt which was being held in his village and he graciously invited us to attend. In Muslim countries, there's a tradition where forty days after someone is buried there's a sacrifice and prayer, and then everyone stays to eat the sacrifice. In this case, there were two cows and some goats which were sacrificed, which was kind of a big deal. My wife said that in two years in a village in Senegal, she never saw anything more than a goat being sacrificed for this kind of thing.


We got on the road early Sunday morning before it started to get too hot and made it to the village without incident. The roads here in Mali have been fantastic, by the way - so much better than what we saw in Kinshasa. We averaged around 60 mph most of the way. I don't think I was ever able to go that fast in DRC thanks to all the potholes and traffic snarls.


Once arriving at the village, we were welcomed warmly by my wife's manager and his extended family. His father had four wives, and this service was for one of his wives, though the deceased was not the birth mother of my wife's manager. More like a stepmother, I guess, though he referred to her as his aunt. I hope that all makes sense. The mood was far from somber. It felt more like an Irish wake, though without all the booze (these people are Muslim, after all). There were groups of people sitting everywhere, and I can't count how many hands I shook and greetings I exchanged with them. Everyone was incredibly kind and welcoming, and I didn't feel out of place or like an outsider at all.


We spent most of the day sitting around in the shade. The primary focus of our energy was moving our chairs from shady spot to shady spot as the sun made its way across the sky. While the men sat and talked, the children looked after each other and played, and the women prepared the food which was rice and meat from the animals killed earlier that day. People were also eating rice and beans, and there was lots of strong tea being served througout the day. I was up late the night before and must have had five cups of tea. Despite the heat, my wife and I both had a great time. The food and the company were both top-notch, and it was refreshing to get out of the city and be a part of what most of the country of Mali is really like.


We had to be careful when we took out our camera because all the kids would come running over and want to have their picture taken. This never got old to them. We did get a few shots of the rest of the goings-on that day.


Here's some of the women cutting up onions for the meal...




and cooking up giant pots of rice...





and here's some of the meat, cooking in a pot (note the spare parts at the top of the picture).





Most people sat under a large tarp that offered protection from the sun...





while a few fortunate souls were able to cool off in a bucket.





We took a short walk around the village where I helped a girl pull water from the well...





and showed off my rippling muscles.





And finally, here's a shot of my wife with her many adoring fans.

Furnishing

I think we're just about done getting the things we need for the house. We still need some curtains, but I bought a rolling computer chair while walking around downtown this morning, and on Sunday we picked up a living room set. We opted to buy it from a roadside stand rather than a regular furniture store. These are all over Bamako - someone sets up a little stand on the side of the road and starts building and selling furniture.

Here's one selling wicker furniture...

And another with tables and wardrobes...

Most of the furniture that these places sell isn't anything that stunning, but we did our best to find something that was reasonably comfortable and not covered in animal-print upholstery. We settled on a four-piece black pleather set (two chairs, a loveseat, and a couch) for the princely sum of 230,000 CFA (about $475). The salesman encouraged us to go for the white pleather over the black, noting that the white would match the beautiful white of our own skin (his words). A good point, but we ended up going with black since the white would have lent our living room a Miami Vice sort of look. The price even included delivery, which was the most exciting part of the transaction.

As you might suspect, a low-fi roadside operation such as this didn't have their own fancy delivery truck. Instead, all four pieces were piled on top of a beat-up taxi that resembled a 1988 Ford Escort. All four pieces of the furniture set were roped into place, and we guided the driver and the furniture salesmen to our house which was about a mile and a half away.

Here they are, posing in front of our house. The salesman is on the left, and the taxi driver is on the right. The taxi driver was a pretty tall dude.

And here they are again, posing again from a different angle...

The furniture isn't too bad - I've already logged a couple naps on the couch. If we get two years out of it, I'll be happy.

No luck in finding any furniture at the embassy garage sale a few weeks back, although we had some major scores such as an ironing board, a few sets of bedsheets, a toaster, and a brand new pair of Levi's 501 jeans in 31/32, which is a size I can never find in America, let alone at a garage sale in Africa. That toaster was key - there are no toasters to be found around Bamako. Don't people want toast with their eggs in the morning? Or a tuna salad sandwich on toast?

Once we get some curtains up in the next week or so, we'll have pictures of the house.

All about malaria

If you'll allow me to take a public-service-announcement turn with this blog entry, I thought I'd talk a little about malaria since tomorrow is World Malaria day. Malaria is a huge concern in Africa and it's not something that just affects tribespeople in the middle of the jungle. Off the top of my head, I can think of six people I knew in Kinshasa who have had malaria (three of whom came down with it during the eight months we were there). Even here in Bamako, where I've only met a handful of people, someone I know came down with it a few weeks ago.

Bear in mind that the people I know who are getting it are not taking anti-malarial medication for whatever reason. I guess the one saving grace is that people here are on the lookout for it, so it's not dismissed as the flu. Doctors here know how to treat it since they see it so often.

Yes, mom, I sleep under a mosquito net every night and take my malaria medicine regularly.

This article is copied from http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/22/atoz.malaria/

LONDON, England -- Malaria is one of the world's worst health problems and one of its biggest killers, with half a billion people affected every year, according to the Roll Back Malaria partnership.

Around half a billion people are infected with malaria every year. Ninety percent of those cases are in Africa.

Saturday marks World Malaria Day, when the world commemorates global efforts to eradicate the disease.

Below CNN's Vital Signs has produced a complete A - Z guide to how malaria spreads, the symptoms to look out for and how to protect yourself.



A is for Anti-malarial drugs

The history of anti-malarial medicine has been marked by a constant struggle between evolving drug-resistant parasites and the search for new drugs. Currently, anti-malaria experts are focusing on therapies that combine several drugs for better effects.


B is for Blood stream

Once a mosquito has bitten and the malaria parasites reach the liver, the parasites divide and create thousands of mature parasites. These are released into the blood and infect red blood cells. At that point, typical malaria symptoms such as fever and anemia develop.


C is for Chloroquine

Until recently, Chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, was the first option for many people because of its relatively low price and effectiveness. However, resistance to Chloroquine in many parts of the world has rendered the drug ineffective.


D is for Diagnosis

After noting your symptoms and travel history, your doctor will likely obtain a sample of your blood for observation. Two blood samples, taken at six- and 12-hour intervals, can usually confirm the presence of the malaria parasite and its type. It is possible to be infected by more than one parasite at the same time.


E is for Epidemic

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), large and devastating epidemics can occur when the mosquito-borne parasite is introduced into areas where people have had little prior contact with the infecting parasite. These epidemics can be triggered by wet weather conditions and further aggravated by floods or mass population movements driven by conflict.


F is for Fever

The most common symptom of all types of malarias is high fever, which is why doctors often misdiagnose malaria for flu. The fever is a reaction to toxins in the blood. It is therefore advised to tell your doctor you have been to a malaria affected zone, even if symptoms arise months after the trip.


G is for Genome

In 2002, -- hundred years after it was discovered that mosquitoes transmit the malaria parasite -- the complete genetic codes of both the human malaria parasite and the mosquito that spreads it was cracked. This development brought scientists a step closer to developing drugs and vaccines to fight the disease, Nature magazine reported.


H is for Hotspots

Most cases and deaths are in sub-Saharan Africa, many of them occurring among children. However, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Europe are also affected. In 2006, malaria was present in 109 countries and territories.

I is for Immunity

Travelers from malaria-free regions such as Europe and the United States, with little or no immunity, who go to areas with high disease rates, are particularly vulnerable. It is essential to take precautions by taking anti-malarial drugs prescribed by your doctor.


J is for Julius Wagner-Jauregg

Julius Wagner-Jauregg, a Viennese doctor, was the first to intentionally infect syphilis patients with malaria parasites. By controlling the subsequent malaria-related fever with an anti-malaria drug, the effects of both syphilis and malaria could be minimized. Jauregg received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1927.


K is for Killer

Malaria is a life-threatening disease but it is preventable and curable if the right steps are taken. Education in recognizing the symptoms has reduced the number of cases in some areas by 20 percent. Recognizing the disease in the early stages can stop the disease from becoming a killer.


L is for Laser gun

U.S. scientists say they are developing a laser gun that could kill millions of mosquitoes in minutes. The laser fires at mosquitoes once it detects the audio frequency created by the beating of wings, the lead scientist on the project told CNN. The project is being funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.


M is for Mosquitoes

Malaria is caused by the bite of the female Anopheles mosquitoes. The mosquitoes bite between sunset and sunrise and parasites from the mosquito are then injected into the person's skin and transported to the liver. About 170 species of such parasites exist, but only four cause malaria in humans.


N is for Nets

The distribution of mosquito nets with insecticide is a very effective method of malaria prevention, and it is also one of the most cost-effective methods. These nets can often be obtained for around $3. Earlier this month, actor Ashton Kutcher won a Twitter race against CNN to reach 1 million followers. Kutcher had pledged 10,000 mosquito nets to charity if he beat CNN, and 1,000 if he lost. CNN agreed to do the same.


O is for Obstacles

In many endemic areas, access to health facilities, as well as drug costs, still present major obstacles. Humanitarian agency Medecins Sans Frontieres estimates that the cost of treating a malaria-infected person in an endemic country was between $0.25 and $2.40 per dose in 2002.


P is for Pandemic

For malaria to become a pandemic (plague) in an area, several factors have to be present: high human population density; high mosquito population density; high rates of transmission from humans to mosquitoes and from mosquitoes to humans.


Q is for Quinine

Quinine was the first effective treatment for malaria in the 17th century. Since the 1940's, many other anti-malarial drugs have appeared on the market and have taken precedent over quinine. But quinine is still being used to treat malaria in some cases.


R is for Repellent

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says inspect repellents with DEET (most common active ingredient in strong insecticides) in them should be used on exposed skin and flying-insect spray can be used to kill mosquitoes in the sleeping area. DEET may be toxic, however and should be used with care.


S is for Symptoms

Fever is not the only symptom of malaria. Other symptoms can include shivers, headaches and nausea. Sweating and exhaustion is also common and in some cases, it can affect the brain or kidneys.


T is for Tablets

Malarone is a common anti-malaria drug among many travelers. It is said to have a 97 percent efficacy with relatively few side-effects. It can be given just one day before arrival in a malaria endemic country and only needs to be taken for another week after leaving.


U is for Unborn child

According to the WHO, pregnant women are at high risk of contracting malaria. The illness can result in high rates of miscarriages and cause more than 10 percent of maternal deaths annually. This figure can rise to 50 percent in cases of severe disease.


V is for Vaccine

Despite intensive research, no effective malaria vaccine has been developed to date. But according to a report in April's New Scientist journal, a unique vaccine taken from the saliva of infected mosquitoes has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be tested in people.


W is for World Malaria Day

April 25 has become World Malaria Day to provide a global effort to control malaria around the world. The international malaria community only has two years left to meet the 2010 targets of delivering effective protection and treatment to all people at risk of malaria, as called for by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon.


X is for X-ray

X-ray microscopes are used to find the presence of malaria in red blood cells and see how they interact with healthy cells. One of the advantages of this type of microscope is that it produces very-high-resolution images of the cell structure.


Y is for Yellow fever

Yellow fever is another disease transmitted by mosquitoes. Some countries, such as Peru, require a certificate showing yellow-fever vaccination before you can travel there.


Z is for Zanzibar

Zanzibar, part of the African republic of Tanzania, has had relative successes in combating malaria; Africa's biggest killer according to the New Scientist journal. The achievements are due to the widespread use of treated bed nets, along with the switch to new anti-malarial drugs instead of Chloroquine in 2004.

A place to hang my hat

After almost four weeks in Bamako, I'm finally beginning to feel a little more at home here. The people here have been fantastic and I'm getting used to the notion that the power will not go out several times a day, nor does someone expect a bribe from me just because they're sitting in a chair near where I've parked the car.

We moved into our house which is really nice. It's in a newer section of town and the house itself can't be more than ten or fifteen years old. It has two bedrooms, three bathrooms, a living/dining room, and a kitchen. The second level has a nice terrace overlooking the street, and there's even a small guest house attached to the back of the house that has a bedroom and bathroom.

There are tile floors, AC units, and ceiling fans throughout the house. The house is furnished which worked out great for us since we don't really own any furniture and weren't thrilled about the prospect of shopping for it in Bamako. Most of the furniture in the house is really nice with the exception of the couches in the living room. They look nice but have got to be some of the most uncomfortable things I've ever sat on in my life. The back is at a 90-degree angle to the seat so you have to sit perfectly upright, and the seat is very shallow so you can't lay back and relax either. Honestly, when I want to sit down and read I look at those couches and shake my head in disgust and then head to another room in the house.

There are furniture stores to be found in Bamako, but unless you want to spend upwards of $1000 for a couch of dubious craftsmanship, you're better off patronizing one of the many roadside furniture salesmen. There are lots of people making couches, desks, beds, tables, and other assorted furniture right on the side of the road. I wouldn't expect this stuff to last more than a couple years, but to get an entire living room set for a few hundred bucks, why not? My wife and I are debating whether to get some couches and chairs from a roadside shop, or else try our luck at the embassy rummage sale this weekend. If you think some Americans are asking crazy prices for the junk they're selling at garage sales, wait till you shop at an embassy rummage sale. Most merchandise is old, ugly, and you have to compete with various Middle-Eastern businessmen who are prepared to overpay for that pleather ottoman so they can resell it for twice what they paid for it.

Anyway, I got a lead on a good local guy who will be making a desk for me for about $100. In the meantime, I'm using a spare nightstand to perch my laptop on while I type. We bought a new clothes washer, refrigerator, and stove from the local appliance store. Our stove is gas and runs off a propane tank that we keep in the kitchen. We have to light the burners ourselves but I like having a gas stove again. After contending with the sketchy power situation in Kinshasa for eight months, this is a dream. No more burners that barely get past warm, or ovens that scorch the top and bottom of our food while leaving the middle uncooked. And there's the added excitement of using a match to light everything.

We have a guard as well. He's not really needed, but ACME pays for security services so whatever. During the day, our guard is Mamadou. He's a pretty cool guy. He speaks some English and likes to practice with me, and I practice French with him. He's pretty big on making tea and has it several times a day. It's kind of strange to see him sitting in the 100 degree-plus heat, sipping a piping-hot glass of tea, but different strokes for different folks, I guess. At night our guard is a guy named Adama, and he's a soccer player as well. He invited us to one of his games - they charge admission and he plays in the big stadium in town, so I wonder if he's playing for some kind of semi-pro team.

My wife took the camera with her on her trip upcountry this week, so I'll try to get some pictures of our place soon.