Africa-Bamako

we just got back from an AWESOME trip to mali!! we were there for 2 weeks, so i will blog about them, but they're getting broken up into different posts (too much to tell and waaaayyyyy too many pics!).

Friday Dec. 31, 2010: we flew out the day before and arrived in bamako (the capitol of mali) on the 31st. lp and i were so exhausted from the plane and very little sleep, so when tim picked us up we went straight to his house. his housekeeper-yes, i said housekeeper-had made us some delicious food to eat for lunch. the thing i loved the most (and had several other times over the trip) was wajila (sp?). it's this dough that's cooked in oil and then covered with a spicy tomato sauce. simple and i ate it up!! anyway, after we ate, lp and i had to take a nap. we woke up, got ready and headed to tim's friend's house for nye. he was such a nice guy and had a sweet family and we had a great night at his house-and then at the club late night!!!

lp, tim, me

how freakin' cute is this kid? he was so sweet and adorable!

the fam-tim, mada, their son, and cheick

me and some of the ladies (they are clearly way fancier than i am)

after we hung out at their house, we decided to go to the club. it was crazy. lots of dancing and drinks and dancing.

me and lp

cheick and me

lp took this pic. a fight almost happened. i was not happy.

Saturday Jan 1, 2011: we did nothing. watched a movie, drove around, ate pizza, got cash, watched another movie, ate rotisserie chicken, slept

the cops!!

a bus-they stop when they see people on the side of the road, pack as many people in as possible and drive like crazy people.

huh?

lots of trash in mali. people just throw trash on the ground. it's so hard to see and not say anything!!!

the niger

roads

Sunday Jan 2, 2011: on sunday, we woke up early and left to head up to sevare. we would be going to dogon country (more on that later) and it was about 6 hours up to sevare, so we had to leave early. we stopped for lunch on the way:
(mom-it was rice with a fish in a tomato sauce. you will hear this meal alot-it's common and cheap and easy to make, so we ate it a lot)

donkey cart!!!

road to nowhere

we finally got to sevare and got a room at a hotel there. luckily, it had hot water and ac. we had no idea it was the last time for that for a week!!!