Friday, December 24, 2004

xmas in mali

guys running around selling 2 foot tall inflatable red santas, sheep being washed by the side of the road in preparation to be sold for xmas dinner, joyeaux noel (or however you spell it in french) sprayed on store windows. these are just some of the signs that christmas is approaching.

oh yeah, before i forget, i have to post a bunch of small posts today, as i am computing by generator. that's right, the power blew and they started things up again on a generator. yeah africa! but this must be development, last trip i just sat in the dark or went out to the street until the power started up again.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I guess that it's hard to escape Christmas -- even in a nominally Muslim country.

Sheep for Christmas dinner? Haven't they heard of turkey? Or goose? Or tofu?

Glad to learn that you have power, if only intermittently. What fuels the power plants and generators in Mali? Do they import oil or natural gas from Nigeria or from the middle east? Has the Iraqi conflict affected their supply of fossil fuel?

Too bad, Erich, that you don't have the family Santa hat so that you can distribute presents at the Coulibalys. Your family back home in California will also miss having you cheerfully perform this ritual!

Joyeux noël from all the stateside Ludwigs!