Bored with the Internet?

For the past few days, I’ve been in Bamako on “medical hold” – the doctors think that a bug crawled inside of my eye and bit me, causing an infection of both my eye and my eyelid. There were days when it looked like my eye was exploding with puss, and there were other days when I could barely open my eye because of all of the swelling and built up pressure inside. However, because I have been on two basic pain killers, an anti-inflammatory steroid, an eye drop antibiotic, and an oral antibiotic, my eye is finally better and I will be able to go back to my village tomorrow. And, even though I have been enjoying amenities such as fried chicken, quesadillas, coffee, milkshakes, soft serve, and air conditioning… I am really looking forward to going back to my village.

Before coming to Bamako for medical reasons, I was in Sikasso for my in-service language training. When I was there, I also had access to these same amenities, but I was significantly less overwhelmed – I feel comfortable walking around Sikasso, people know my name there, and it is a much smaller city than Bamako. Here in Bamako, I can only walk a small distance before I get completely lost and begin sweating uncontrollably. Bamako is so big that you have to take taxis everywhere, and everything is so expensive that you can easily spend 10,000 CFA in a single day. So, I am excited to go back to my village where everyone knows my name, where the kids chant my name as I walk down the street, and where people give me free food because they are happy that I am there. Tomorrow will be a great day!

Public transportation is always an interesting situation, and it is like nothing you have ever experienced in the US. This is how my bus ride into Bamako went, and keep in mind that I made this journey while barely being able to open my swollen, oozing eye. I hope that my ride back goes a little more smoothly…

1. Arrive at bus station and order ticket. (This is the bus that sometimes has “air conditioning,” AKA, air blowing on you, and very comfortable, non-crowded seats).
2. Wait for the bus driver to call your name, get on bus, and find empty seat.
3. Greet the people around you so that they know you are able to speak Bambara and are not a French person.
4. Realize that this is going to be a completely full bus ride, so you slide over and allow a Malian man wearing cologne to sit next to you.
5. Laugh when the bus does not have air conditioning, but be thankful that you sat near a functioning window.
6. Stop approximately two to three times per hour to allow the Malians to leave the bus and buy the exact same products (water, Coca-Cola, bananas, meat sandwiches) at every stop.
7. Become annoyed at all of the stops along the way.
8. Try to nap because there is nothing else to do.
9. Realize that you cannot nap because the driver beeps his loud horn every time he sees a person, animal, bike, moto, or donkey cart on the road to let them all know that a large bus is approaching… because, apparently, they can’t see or hear a Coach sized bus coming from a distance.
10. Stop on the side of the road for over an hour (in addition to all of the other stops per hour) because someone’s computer is missing from the luggage compartment.
11. Be glad that you kept your luggage in the seat with you and not in the compartment.
12. Finally leave and continue to Bamako.
13. Continue stopping multiple times per hour.
14. Politely refuse a “non-alcoholic dark Malt beverage” from the Malian man sitting next to you because he feels badly about your leaky eye.
15. Accept blessings from said Malian every few minutes because your eye looks like it might explode.
16. Stop again because the bus driver hears a tire pop.
17. False alarm – someone else's tire popped, so continue on to Bamako.
18. Finally arrive in Bamako, seven hours later, when it should have taken only five.
19. Laugh. You are in Mali.

I am hoping that my bus ride goes smoothly tomorrow morning, but really, you never know. At least I’m able to go back to my village and my eye is all set! And, now I have a great story (or two… or three) to tell people about my adventures in Mali. As always, thanks for reading!