Saturday

Waking up was fairly easy until we stepped outside to experience the harmitan, the white, dusty wind from the sahara, again. With nescent colds in half of the team, fresher air would have been appreciated. Nevertheless, we were excited to help teach an entire class of level two English as a Second Language with the Reddings, the missionary couple who has welcomed and oriented us the most. The lesson was centered around transportation. When discussing the differences between transportaion in Mali and the US, we found out that the entire class thought that a car in America was free. After much laughing, they were gently informed of their error, and the lesson continued.

We returned back to the station in time to have lunch with a World Vision chauffeur we have grown to love, Charles. He brought his wife and daughter and they treated us to his favorite dish, spiced (but not hot spicy) chicken with vegetables on tomato seasoned rice. The portions, as usual were more than generous and the meal and conversation was wonderful. Coca-cola and other soft drinks, we have found, are integral in having a welcoming dinner--they are offered at every meal we have had from outside people. We tried to spoil them with some chocolate covered cookies for dessert, but they had melted during transport to the store we bought them from, so they received an entire stack of chocolate cookies melted together instead.

After they left, we made our way to the artisan market. When we arrived, we were swarmed by people hoping to guide us there. Dr. Widmer, who had been there before, was leading us confidently until two or three people ran up yelling "You can't go to the mosque! It is not open to white people! You must come this way!" We followed them and found that we simply had not walked in the way that took us past their shops and they wanted us to thank them somehow for their generous gift of time and direction. Upon arriving, we found that Dr. Widmer had been leading us correctly--but it is hard to have confidence in one's self when there are four clueless people following you and three Malians shouting at you.

Inside the artisan market, there were less beggars and thieves, so we could let down our guard a little and enjoy the amazing art. Each artisan is very welcoming, hoping to attract potential business. We found that jewelry (at least bracelets) are priced by weight and not as much by their intricacy. When we finished buying what we hoped for, we returned back to the base, exhausted. A skype date, dinner and devos later, we all headed to bed around 8:00. We were tired.