A Wonderfully Dogon Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you were all safe and healthy and with people you love. I know I was:) Spending Christmas in Dogon country this year was incredible, and it was so nice to see a bunch of my PCV friends. We stayed in the town of Sangha, which is on the top of the cliffs. Thanks to Cristina and Jesse, the two volunteers posted there (jealous!!), housing at the mission, meals, and tours were all pre-arranged for us. This was my second trip to the area, but it doesn't get old. I can't describe how unbelievable it is to see villages built straight into the side of a cliff. The Dogon legends say that the Tellum people, the original inhabitants of these villages, had wings, or sticky hands, and built the houses with magic. That's the only explanation we were able to get out of the guide, so I'm still at a loss. Lots of hiking, rock climbing, singing Christmas carols, dancing, tasting traditional millet beer (just tasting, really...it's an acquired taste I haven't yet acquired. I think it tastes like stomach acid), and just spending time together made for a very merry Christmas this year.

The ride back was quite and adventure. We left Sangha for Severe mid-day, so by the time we left Severe for San, it was pretty late and we didn't have many transportation options. After waiting for a few hours on the side of the road we found a bus claiming to have just enough seats for the group of us. Seats, yes. Room, no. Every square inch of room on the floor of the bus was covered with sheep. Instead of walking down the isle, we stepped on the edges of the seats. Instead of putting our feet on the floor, we rested them on the backs of sheep. Add to that our huge bags on our laps and the smell of the whole ordeal, we were rather uncomfortable. This was the first time we were actually relieved when the bus broke down (under the weight of us all) and we had to unload and find a new one. We got into San very late, had a few minutes to talk to the volunteer there, Eric, and left for Bamako very early. Home sweet home!

Tired as we were by this point, my teammates Lindsay, Sarah, and Jacqui and I rallied to meet a friend for dinner and to check out a Salif Keita concert. The information about the concert was a little sketchy, and we weren't sure we were going to find it at all or if Salif Keita was really going to be performing. Once we did find it, after a couple of fun acts with lots of dancing and drumming, we learned he wouldn't be. Luckily, thanks to a connection via our friend, we weren't dissappointed!! After the show we had the opportunity to meet the famous Malian singer and snap a few pictures. A wonderful end to a wonderful vacation.

Now, I'm ready to head back to Tioribougou in time for Tabaski, the Muslim holiday at which we all eat lots of mutton:) This time, I'll finally be heading back with the funding to open our health center's pharmacy! It wasn't always this way, but the during the last couple of months I've felt really good about being in village instead of only looking forward to getting back into Bamako. I'm crazy about my host family and have finally overcome the language barrier enough to make some really good friends. I'm falling head over heels in love with Mali.