just took the final larium. mixed feelings about that. mixed feelings about taking the stinkin drug to begin with. just thankful that i don't go too crazy on it. none of the camp lejeune killings here, thank you very much.
so i guess that means i am back home. whether or not i want to be. no more pretending i am in africa. although i do get to go visit my folks this weekend, so maybe i can warm up a little bit when i'm at their house. sunny and 60 always. or so says my dad.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Monday, January 24, 2005
ahhhh! snow!
hiding out at home in boston. trying to dig out my car. just put in 1 hour, and i've done one side of the car. damn. too much snow and nowhere to put it. welcome back to the usa. no fun.
and just when i felt i was almost back here. getting things going again. stuffing up my schedule with too much stuff as usual. calabash, producing a couple shows, afropop, dance, the usual.
drifts up to 6 feet or more, about a solid 4 feet all around my car. insane. no one in mali would believe this stuff.
and just when i felt i was almost back here. getting things going again. stuffing up my schedule with too much stuff as usual. calabash, producing a couple shows, afropop, dance, the usual.
drifts up to 6 feet or more, about a solid 4 feet all around my car. insane. no one in mali would believe this stuff.
Saturday, January 15, 2005
thanks for this
"If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."
-jesus, from the gnostic gospels of thomas
long time no post
hello out there. so this has been a very interesting week. trying to adjust to being back in the usa (still), having people (mis)read sections of this blog and go on to high drama, etc.
i think one of the biggest things that is strange is living in a house basically all alone. my 3 roommates are rarely around, and if we overlap in the house, it is for a couple minutes. so strange. i had to go to the coffeehouse yesterday to just be around other people. this life we lead in the us is so isolating in so many ways.
i had a great dinner and discussion last night with mf (names shortened to protect the innocent). anway he and i talked about this project that we're wanting to do, which would be really great if it happens. it should be exciting to watch this whole thing happen. then we picked up his girlfriend and went to see "huckabees"
interesting movie. funny stuff. i had more to say about it, but i'm going to run off now. see ya!
e
i think one of the biggest things that is strange is living in a house basically all alone. my 3 roommates are rarely around, and if we overlap in the house, it is for a couple minutes. so strange. i had to go to the coffeehouse yesterday to just be around other people. this life we lead in the us is so isolating in so many ways.
i had a great dinner and discussion last night with mf (names shortened to protect the innocent). anway he and i talked about this project that we're wanting to do, which would be really great if it happens. it should be exciting to watch this whole thing happen. then we picked up his girlfriend and went to see "huckabees"
interesting movie. funny stuff. i had more to say about it, but i'm going to run off now. see ya!
e
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
culture lag
i'm not sure if it's jet lag or culture shock or both or what. anyway, it's a tough little re-entry process. went to the supermarket tonight for essentials and of course that just totally bugs me out. i also think all the quiet is really freaking me out. bamako was never silent like it is here. not in a house with 30 people moving around, not with people playing radios and stereos all over, not with animals running around at all hours making noises. chickens crowing, donkeys doing their sick ass (ha ha) noise thing, dogs fighting/mating, etc.
remember africa . . .
Romilly Greenhill, policy officer for ActionAid, said deaths as a result of poverty and preventable diseases in Africa amounted to the equivalent of the tsunami death toll every week.
Africa is the only continent to have grown poorer in the past 25 years.
It is the continent with the largest number of people living on less than a dollar a day - 49% of the total population. [in Mali, that number is somewhere around 70% of the population living on less than $1 a day!]
One African in three is undernourished.
Twenty-eight million people in Africa are now affected by HIV/Aids.
There are 11 million orphans in Africa as a result of Aids.
Africa also accounts for 90% of global deaths from malaria, and a woman in Africa is over 100 times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than a woman in a developed country.
(from the BBC)
Africa is the only continent to have grown poorer in the past 25 years.
It is the continent with the largest number of people living on less than a dollar a day - 49% of the total population. [in Mali, that number is somewhere around 70% of the population living on less than $1 a day!]
One African in three is undernourished.
Twenty-eight million people in Africa are now affected by HIV/Aids.
There are 11 million orphans in Africa as a result of Aids.
Africa also accounts for 90% of global deaths from malaria, and a woman in Africa is over 100 times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than a woman in a developed country.
(from the BBC)
the minister of sound
listening to "edou" last night, i was taken back to fiji for a sec. edou was one of the groups that was headlining the festival in fiji in november. they are a traditional/reggae/pop group from new caledonia. good stuff. lots of fun to listen to and to dance to. anyway, listening to the cd i was reminded that their guitar player is the minister of culture. that's right, the guitar player is a minister! nice. kind of like brazil in that they've made gilberto gil the minister of culture there as well. get some people who actually know music in positions to help other musicians. edou's guitar player is a great guitar player and a great guy as well. fun thoughts and remembrances . . .
Monday, January 10, 2005
my favorite photo from fiji so far. i figured since i got this thing sorted out to post pictures, i'd put this up as well. this girl grabbed the ukulele that had been used in this village by their string band and was happily 'playing' away. so cute. even better when she grabbed the guitar (as big as her) and tried to play and then carry that. too much.
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one more post
one more post for today. got lots to get off my mind and lots of writing to do here and in my journal to get back to the states mentally. leaving mali was tough. i had never really known what the phrase "parting is such sweet sorrow" meant until now, really. before after big trips, leaving places i had always either finished what i came to do, wanting to get the heck out, or just wanted to get home or get wherever i was going. however, this trip i really wanted to stay but really wanted to get home. i had some wonderful trips and was with some wonderful people, but was really ready to get home, get back to my wonderful friends here and get back to work. hence the sweet and the sorrow. (kind of like sweet and sour food, but different)
sidy, ba and kadi all took me to the airport in a cab. now that the air france flights arrive and leave at night, getting to and leaving mali is a different story. now you drive through town both ways in the dark and when arriving, don't really realize where you are until morning.
at the airport, check in was easy and my bags fit the weight limit. i even had the same porter as in 2001. he recognized me from the music videos i was in last trip and started up the conversation again from 2001. crazy stuff.
i left the airport to hang a bit with ba, sidy and kadi and then they left and i went through customs, security etc. managed to spend a little bit of cash on some last minute souvenirs. and spent some time talking with the aforementioned nurses from utah. they were really great, and it was nice having that conversation.
on the airplane, i finally got a chance to see some photos of the tsunami disaster and read a bit about that. shocking. i feel like each trip i take to mali, some huge disaster unfolds. i hope that is really not true cause i want to go back. the first trip was sept 11 and this trip the tsunami. it is really interesting how i rely on photos to give me a sense of what is happening and what is real. i had of course been listening to the bbc and rfi and knew kind of what was going on with the tsunami and that hundreds of thousands had died. but it didn't really sink in what was happening until i saw the photos in the magazines. wow.
france. cdg airport is a bad place to spend lots of time. alone. not well organized, so lots of lines, lots of confusion, expensive expensive food, fairly dirty, etc. but i made it out and made it home to be greeted by karen and lucy. and i've spent the past 36 hours kind of unpacking, but really just adjusting mentally to being home. my room is a disaster since i had 8 hours to drop unpack and repack between fiji and mali. so it'll take some time to sort out. and of course post africa, i have this urge to just throw all my stuff out. or rather find a way to get it to those with less.
just a reminder that i am extremely lucky and priviledged. trips like these are always humbling and grounding and centering. if i haven't called yet, don't take it personally, i'll be easing back into life here. thanks again to all of you for your support of me in these journeys. stay tuned. . . . . . .
peace.
e
sidy, ba and kadi all took me to the airport in a cab. now that the air france flights arrive and leave at night, getting to and leaving mali is a different story. now you drive through town both ways in the dark and when arriving, don't really realize where you are until morning.
at the airport, check in was easy and my bags fit the weight limit. i even had the same porter as in 2001. he recognized me from the music videos i was in last trip and started up the conversation again from 2001. crazy stuff.
i left the airport to hang a bit with ba, sidy and kadi and then they left and i went through customs, security etc. managed to spend a little bit of cash on some last minute souvenirs. and spent some time talking with the aforementioned nurses from utah. they were really great, and it was nice having that conversation.
on the airplane, i finally got a chance to see some photos of the tsunami disaster and read a bit about that. shocking. i feel like each trip i take to mali, some huge disaster unfolds. i hope that is really not true cause i want to go back. the first trip was sept 11 and this trip the tsunami. it is really interesting how i rely on photos to give me a sense of what is happening and what is real. i had of course been listening to the bbc and rfi and knew kind of what was going on with the tsunami and that hundreds of thousands had died. but it didn't really sink in what was happening until i saw the photos in the magazines. wow.
france. cdg airport is a bad place to spend lots of time. alone. not well organized, so lots of lines, lots of confusion, expensive expensive food, fairly dirty, etc. but i made it out and made it home to be greeted by karen and lucy. and i've spent the past 36 hours kind of unpacking, but really just adjusting mentally to being home. my room is a disaster since i had 8 hours to drop unpack and repack between fiji and mali. so it'll take some time to sort out. and of course post africa, i have this urge to just throw all my stuff out. or rather find a way to get it to those with less.
just a reminder that i am extremely lucky and priviledged. trips like these are always humbling and grounding and centering. if i haven't called yet, don't take it personally, i'll be easing back into life here. thanks again to all of you for your support of me in these journeys. stay tuned. . . . . . .
peace.
e
one more photo for today. this is m'ba couliblay, one of the kids at the coulibaly house. ami, another 'kid' at the house, took this photo after i showed her how to use the camera. good stuff.
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