Update: Back in Mali

Hello friends,

Just a quick update to let everyone know that we returned from our trip safely and had an absolutely wonderful time. There were so many times when one of us would turn to the other and exclaim "Best. Trip. Ever." The vacation has provided us with many extraordinary memories for years to come: the colorful markets of Morocco, the powdery snow of the French Alps, the incredible coast of the Brittany region, and the gastronomic greatness of French home-cooking.

Of course, every trip has its hiccups. The past few weeks were full of news, which forced us to be extra vigilant while traveling. But heaviest of all was a phone call we recieved (while touring a fine arts museum) reporting that Kongodugu's village chief, who was also our host-father, had died of sudden illness. We regret that we never took his photo, which we may been able to give to his 2-year-old son, since we overestimated the predictability of African life... or maybe just life in general. This sad news came just after we learned that our airlines, Royal Air Maroc, rescheduled our return flight by 24 hours. And then, they rescheduled it a second time, only two hours before the flight while we were enjoying a promande through Paris. Fortunately, Joye ran track and James is in shape; otherwise we may have missed a set of Food Security meetings in Bamako. But alls well that ends well, and despite the return of Mali's oppessing heat, here we are, safe and sound, ready and anxious to return to site.

We are excited to share our travels with you over the course of the next few posts. And, of course, just to show off, we will include lots of pictures. :)

Have a great weekend. -James (& Joye)