We have been out of Peace Corps for a while but have finally managed to put the "R" in RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer). Read: we're in America!During our 2 years in Mali we talked quite a bit about returning on a boat, dreaming of crossing the Atlantic in days instead of hours, so we did. Our ship left from Dover, England. We first spent some time exploring the famous white cliffs.Atop the
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Off to Bonny Scotland for some cold and rain and a visit with the brother. We leave from England to head home soon but a few pints up north is always a good idea. We saw palaces, pubs, mountains and football pitches, with plenty of pleasant nights with great conversations along the way.
Check it out:
Mark and Brian intrigued by the commentary at Holyrood Palace.
Scotland has plenty of
When arrived in the rather cosmopolitan city of Sofia, Bulgaria, there was a puppet festival going on. All around town there were advertisements for the shows. There were even a few 3-D advertisements: We stumbled upon one such show in a park (they were are held in various parks around the city) and it was a trip. The word "puppet" is much more open ended than we had realized. This show was an
The amazing scenery tour continues...We kept island hopping until we were at the southernmost outpost, Crete. Cretans are a proud, mustachioed lot. Mark was deep undercover, only Sam could tell.This island was much bigger than the previous islands we had visited. It required a car rather than a moto and it our adventures took us on some of the curviest roads in the world. We went deep
The exodus from Africa is complete. We left Egypt and met up with our old friend, Mark Lister, in Athens, Greece. From visiting ancient sites, to island hopping, mountain hiking, to drinking local wine from the barrel and eating fried cheese until bursting at the seams, it was a great time.First, a note about mustaches. When one thinks of Greek men one thinks, unless one knows very little of the
We returned to Egypt to relax for a few days on the Sinai Peninsula. It is seemingly world’s away from the rest of Egypt (so much so that it has its own special visa if you only go there). It is a rugged piece of land surrounded by the Red Sea. Strangely, while seeming as if there is absolutely nothing to do, there is tons of stuff to do here. If you scuba dive, you could stay for months and be
We decided we needed a little break from Egypt. Anyone who has ever been to Egypt will know what we mean. It is a bit taxing. Where to go? Sudan looked a little hot and Libya is a difficult border to get across. We decided on Jordan. No, Egypt does not technically touch Jordan, you have to take a boat across the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea or cut across Israel, but we figured we would go
We went to this light show at the temple of Karnak in Luxor, Egypt and the narrator said, “these monuments were not built on the scale of men but on the scale of gods.” She nailed it. The ancient sights in Egypt are so over the top huge it is hard to get your head around. In fact, we found we could stare at them all day and still not comprehend what we had seen. They are not just huge but every
Checking out the last remaining Wonder of the Ancient World
Well, we made it out of West Africa but only as far as North Africa. We are in Tunisia and having a great time. It is nothing like West Africa here. In fact, we think it is a bit of an insult to Tunisians to lump them in with “the developing world,” as some people insist on. There are paved roads to even the most far flung locations in the country and there is power and safe drinking water in all
Up until this point we have avoided boring you all with descriptions of our services here in Mali. This has been pretty deliberate and will continue. On the one hand we do not want to bore our readers with mundane tales of everyday life. On the other hand, many people believe we are out there saving the world, a rumor which we would not want to dispel. Therefore, we refrained from descriptions
One was from our friends Zack and Shannon, which apparently took much longer than normal to arrive due to it being strangely shaped like the elusive Wyoming Jackalope. Another came from our PCV friends Karmen, Joelle and Jessica, who managed to find an amazing likeness of Sam and Mark on a card in Ghana. The final card we ever received in Mali came from Belfast, Maine. We sent it ourselves.
We visited Yelimané for the last time this past weekend. As much as we realize things have changed since we first set eyes on that place, we also realize that nothing really does change. Kids get bigger, new ones arrive, older people leave, mud buildings are replaced with concrete, temporary markets are replaced with more permanent structures, true, but one could return there in twenty years and
A few final cards have joined the wall. These will likely be the final additions, as our time here comes to an end in less than 2 weeks. If you sent us one (or many) we thank you, if you are planning to send us one you are too late, if you sent one that never arrived don’t worry about it as that is pretty common, if you never sent one shame on you. There are kids in Africa starving for news from
The World Cup is on. Africa is quite psyched to be hosting its first tournament and, truthfully, its last for many, many years. It doesn’t really matter how well the South Africans pull it off or how well the “home” teams do (that would be all African teams except Algeria, who would be the first to tell you they are not African), it is just how the tournament is set up. The next time it will be
On to Ghana, the whole point of the trip. We got to Accra and headed to, brace yourselves, the mall. We know this sounds strange to you all back in civilization but it is hard to understate how relaxing it was to escape Africa for a day by going to a western style shopping complex. There was a super modern movie theatre there which we hit and then, being starved for big screen movies in
For our second year getaway trip we decided to head east, to the beaches of Ghana. We went with our normal plan, which is to have no plan at all. Our travelling companion was our friend Susan and our only fixed date was to meet her boyfriend, Brian, at the airport in Ghana two weeks after we started our trip where he would join us for the remaining two weeks. In certain places having that much
The sights in West Africa are “few and far between.” This saying is usually an exaggeration meant only to add emphasis to a story but not altogether true. It is difficult to express how literal it is here. The countries here are pretty big and the distances are made almost impossibly far by grueling transport but there is almost always something along the way in a journey, right? Not so much in
The good news is we made it back to Mali. The bad news is that it is full on hot season, which means it is uncomfortable in Bamako. As we did last year, we planned to flee the country during a portion of this time. We are still going on our vacation, regardless of having been home recently,since we have been looking forward to it for a year. We will be gone to Burkina Faso and Ghana for quite
The fantastic cards keep pouring in. We had some seriously far-flung ones since last report. We also had quite a few first-timers getting on the wall, always nice. Time is running short, so get yours to us!The Travelling Cambells continue to lap the planet, checking in twice from Ireland and Scotland. They also made it to Costa Rica, Italy and Denmark. A strange set of cards too, everything from
We have returned to Africa after an up and down few weeks in the States. The joy of seeing our families was tempered by the sadness of burying a father. While the graveside ceremony was something Frank would have bore begrudgingly, the Irish wake was an event in which he would have reveled. It seemed the entire town of Belfast, Maine came out to the pub for the memorial and a great time was
Mark's father, Frank Hannon, passed away on Saint Patrick's Day. He was happy man who enjoyed life fully. He was sixty three years old. We've returned to the States for the memorial services. While we are terribly saddened by the reason for our return, it is nice to see our families and friends once again. Bringing us home and the family together would please Frank greatly. One last gift. He
One thing there is not a lot of in West Africa is genetic variation, at least not among domesticated animals. When you picture in your mind cows, goats, sheep, camels, dogs, horses and donkeys you can be confident that the same picture appears in the heads of everybody else in West Africa because they all look the same. All donkeys are grey with a black stripe across the shoulders, all horses
It is probably true that pretty much all volunteers who are out en brousse think to themselves at some point or another, “I should ride into my regional capital (or banking town or whatever).” It is also likely that most of them actually do it once or more, depending on the distance and transport, etc. The Hannons are no different than any other volunteers. We often discussed how we should ride
We headed up to Yelimane recently for a visit. Mark’s old counterpart up there, Kadja, had a baby so we went up to see him. Needless to say, he is a cutie. Kadja was calling Sam his mom and when we asked if that made Mark his dad, Kadja answered “no, of course not.” Her reasoning: Mark is already Ablo’s dad! The baby’s name is Fassouri. He is a lucky kid, not just because he is from a loving
Like a gremlin in water, our postcard wall multiplies amazingly fast. We’ve consolidated them all onto one wall (except the original nine) and there they will stay until the we or the cows come home, whichever comes first. Please note: we received many Christmas cards and truly like them so don’t be discouraged from sending those for other holidays (heck, you can slip in a $5 for old times sake),
O.k. people. Let’s get back to Peace Corps goal #3 for a moment here. This is when we tell the folks back on the home front something about life here in Mali and how it differs from life in the states. Todays topic: meetings.Unlike meetings in the U.S., most meetings here are not held to schedule another meeting. They are usually held to discuss who to invite to another meeting. This is an
So, why have we not been heard from lately? A combination of reasons (excuses really), but the one we will offer (because it comes with a ridiculous story) is that our computer was destroyed.Get this: while Sam rode back from her workplace in Bamako one day she was struck at high speed by a motorcyclist. She was thrown from her bike a remarkably long distance. So far, in fact, one marvels at the
All this time we enjoyed joking about E.T.ing (early terminating of our service) on New Year’s Day 2010. That way we could say that we were in Peace Corps for 2008, 2009 and 2010. While it was sound reasoning, we had not anticipated that we would be too tired from celebrating to go through with it, nor did we think that at the end of the year we might want to stay. Much to our surprise, we
The New Year is upon us and it could not have arrived in a more different setting. Last year we spent New Year’s Eve in our mud house on the edge of the Sahara. This year we spent New Year’s Eve on the rooftop of a Bamako mansion sipping champagne and watching fireworks. Last year, New Year’s Day was a normal village day. This year it was going on a hash run (see link) followed by a double
We moved to a new postcard wall! Our friends and family are so amazing that we are not only be able to decorate a part of our living room but have now moved on to what we’ll call our "solarium" (which is actually more of a sandarium). At least once a day we check them out. It is inspires us to see where you all travel. It cracks us up to see what ludicrous cards you can find. It makes us
Its official, we have transferred from Peace Corps to Posh Corps. Moving to Bamako a few months ago from Yelimané has been less like moving towns and more like changing of planets. While we certainly still have challenges in our daily lives, when compared to village life it feels like we are on vacation. Get this: there are these switches on the walls of our house that, when toggled, turn on and
We recently marked two holidays, Thanksgiving and Tabaski. These are strikingly similar. Although one is religious and one is not, they both are marked by gluttonous consumption of meat. Thanksgiving has its turkeys to commemorate the survival of the Pilgrims thanks to the cooperation of the Native Americans. Tabaski has its rams to commemorate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his only son,
Just a quick note to let everyone know we are doing well. Another Turkey Day without the family but at least there was turkey this time. We headed over to the U.S. Ambassador's residence for a feast she was throwing for those less fortunate (read: Peace Corps Volunteers). We were treated to turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, veggies and wine and we didn't have to clean one dish. That's
Here’s a picture of Sam and Mark at a Halloween party in Bamako:Those tins on their arms are beggars’ cups. No, they are not dressed as street beggars. C'mon, that would be uncouth. While Sam and Mark appear to be dressed as mere beggars, a closer inspection of their clothes reveals them to be - wait for it - twins. What?!A word about twins in West Africa: they are considered good luck. Yes, I
We recently had a bit of a postal delivery/common sense snafu which could only happen of in Mali.PCV: Can I have my mail, I see it there on the desk (pointing). Mail Guy: We have to wait until the names are correctly on the mailboxes. PCV: Here’s my mailbox (holding out hands), put it right here. Mail Guy: We have to wait until the names are correctly on the mailboxes. This went on for so
There are three distinct seasons in Mali: hot, cold and rainy. Hot season is an agonizing torture. It is the time when the entire countryside shuts down, reduced to hiding from the sun and napping for most of the daylight hours. Cold season is a misnomer. It has nothing to do with our normal understanding of the word “cold” but is merely a reference to our new understanding of the word “hot”,
Mopti would have been quite uneventful (not to mean boring, just relaxing) if we had not decided to go to the A.T.T. Supercup final. This is an annual soccer tournament during which the different regional champions play in a championship tournament. It is named in honor of the president, Amadou Toumani Toure, a.k.a. A.T.T. It was fantastic. In order to get anyone to the stadium instead of just
We had some enough time to squeeze in a bit of a safari. We stopped in Douentza and hired a Land Cruiser for a day, heading to Boni and then southward for a chance to spot some of the last of the wild desert elephants on the planet. It had rained the night before and ended up being a bit sloppy on a number of levels, to say the least. Apparently, the only thing that could match up to our driver
After Dogon, we were back in Mopti for just long enough to convince Susan that she needed to cross Gao off “the list,” so it was the five of us that headed out for a night trip “up north”. This is the furthest east town you would really ever want to go to in Mali. That is, until you get there and then you realize that you probably passed the most eastern town you would ever want to go hundreds
After checking out Mopti (which has a mud mosque to rival Djenne’s if you don’t have the time or the inclination towards uncomfortable transport to go to Djenne itself), we headed to the true “Crown Jewel of West Africa”, as far as we could tell, Dogon Country. The Dogon people live among the cliffs that stretch for 200km more or less from Douentza to Bankass. They retreated there with the
The Lonely Planet guide to West Africa opens up its description of this town with, “One of the premier sites in West Africa…is worth as much time as you can give it.” This says a lot about West Africa. While definitely a cool town with the world’s largest mud building, the giant mosque at the center of town, we feel we may have to disagree with LP on this one. Since it’s a UNESCO World Heritage
In certain circles, Mali is known as “the Crown Jewel of West Africa” for the amazingly cool stuff that can’t be found anywhere else. We took this designation with a grain of salt both because we had never been out east, where the amazing stuff is supposed to be, and because we had not seen anything for which it was worth coming all the way to Mali on a vacation yet. Considering each “Paris of
Thanks for all the responses to our call for postcards. They are great. Our collection has tripled in the last month. To those who have sent some, we say well done. Some of you have not. You are reading this thinking you have been to lazy to send us one. Shame on you. Now you are reading this thinking, “Oh my god, how do they know I am reading this thinking I need to send one but have been too
Mark’s cousin Mike and his wife Sarah are teachers. While they love the youth of our nation and want to help them improve themselves, blah, blah, they really do this job to support their world travel habit. Each summer they pack up their gear and hit the road to some of the coolest travel spots on the planet, from Central America, to Southeast Asia, to India and a bunch of places in between.
As we said, we have moved to Bamako. We are trying to decorate our place and would like your help. Please send us postcards to improve our postcard wall. It has only been added to by Mark's mom, twin brother and his wife and his older brother. It doesn't matter whether you think your location postcard worthy or not, just send us one from where you are or where you visit. They will all be exciting
We headed to Manantali recently. There is an annual gathering of Peace Corps volunteers in this western town for the 4th of July. It was really nice to get away from Mali for a few days. By that we mean that the scene was quite American. There were people speaking english all around, listening to tunes and drinking beers just like back home. There was even a full roasting pig on a spit. Sam and
We have moved. No longer do we dwell on the edge of the desert. We now live in the capital city of Mali, Bamako. There are trees around our new house! Needless to say, this is a big change. While we will miss our families in Yelimane, we will not be missing the oppressive heat and frequent sandstorms. We recognize that Bamako will be hot and also has sandstorms but right now it is rainy
Now, from time to time we all have bad ideas but rarely do the stars align in such a fashion as to allow our worst of ideas to come to fruitition. Sometimes, just sometimes, you find yourselves very close to the war torn border of northwest Cote d'Ivoire and more rare still are the times when you decide it would be a good idea to cross that border. Let's rewind a moment to the safety and
So, after a couple hours of Mark and Steve being detained for a money changing mishap and Sam and Natalie being hounded during that interval by a crazy man named Barack Obama who wanted to give them some of his incredibly valuable diamonds and make them both his wives, we were in Sierra Leone. The only catch was we had no visas. Predictably, we all had a long, uncomfortable sit down with an
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