Timbuktu!

For most of my life, I thought Timbuktu was a parking spot far away from one's destination. Turns out there's much more to this mythical place than that. Having gotten it's reputation because of the difficulty explorers had in locating it, Timbuktu continues to be a city on the edge of the world, a challenge for travellers. Six of us decided to brave the heat and sand and distance last week with the goal of conquering the mystery. After 28 hours on a bus (a stretch which should have taken 10 hours, but when our bus broke down we had to sleep on the side of the road) and 8 more in an 80's era Land Cruiser over Sahelian scrub into Saharan sand, we finally arrived exhausted, dirty, and triumphant. A language professor from the Peace Corps lives there now and invited us to stay with him, so we were able to avoid the aggressive tour guides and souvenier vendors for the most part. I was able to talk on the phone that first night to my sister who graduated May 5th from the University of Portland! Go Becca!! Then we spent some time wandering the streets of sand admiring the unique architecture and history...mud mosques, Moroccan doors and gates, ancient manuscripts. One can't visit Timbuktu without taking camels out into the desert for a night. Camels are rediculous looking animals...like caricatures of real animals. We all wrapped our heads up in turbans for protection against the sun and sand, and headed out 8 kilometers to live with the Touregs for a night. I fell in love with the stark beauty of the desert, but my heart is on a coast. I'm looking forward to being home in September where I hope to start nursing school!

As far as work goes, I'm still going Hearths, giving impromtu health talks, and tutoring English students. I've been doing alot of work with the women's organizations on various income generating activities and with the nearby town to put in a small dam. A youth soccer club has been set up recently and has asked for equipment so they don't have to play barefoot. Hopefully, this will be a really rewarding project and I'd like to give you all the opportunity to contribute. If you're interested, look out for my next post for more details.