I realize that I'm way overdue for a new post, but it just seems so daunting with all that has happened in the last 3 months, so here's the run-down:

• April 8: evacuated from Mali with all other Peace Corps volunteers, flown to Accra, Ghana 
• April 12: got a tip from an old acquaintance about an internship opportunity in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso April 13: closed my service with Peace Corps and traveled with friends around Ghana for a while, got offered and accepted the internship I had learned about less than 24 hours before 
• April 21: arrived back in the US and drove straight from the airport to the hospital in Longview to meet my adorable and brand-new niece, Finley 
• rest of April and May: hung out with family and friends, prepare for moving back to West Africa, spoke at a bunch of different schools about my experiences in Mali 
• May 22ish: found out I will be flying back to Accra before I start working in Ouaga 
• June 3: arrived back in Ghana 
• June 4: started work at West Africa Trade Hub on the Home Decor and Fashion Accessories team
• June 5: found out I would be staying in Ghana and doing a few trips up to Ouaga due to changes in my work 

So, now that I've got you a little up to speed:
 
I'm living in working in Osu, which is a pretty busy part of Accra, but also pretty cool. I can walk to work in about 20 minutes and usually do (unless I'm going out into the field, in which case I get picked up on the way), and try to leave work in time to get home before dark. I often fail. My work is pretty cool, although not even close to what I thought I would be doing before I took this internship. Most of the time I'm in the office, and right now we're preparing for an exporter training workshop in Abidjan, Côte D'Ivoire (http://www.africa-now.org/news/export-workshop-artisanal-sector), so things are pretty busy. My favorite part, though, is going out into the field. I've only done it a few times, but I love going out to where the artisans work and/or the businesses are run. I have discovered an addiction to Ghanaian glass beads. I'm pretty sure that I've spent more on beads in the last 2 weeks than I've spent on food in the month that I've been here.

Oops. Priorities I guess.



I was initially disappointed that I was going to be based in Accra instead of Ouaga, because I had this idea in my head that it was going to be kind of like going back to Mali. I knew that that wasn't really true, but Burkina is far more like Mali than Ghana, and, well, I had packed like I was going there.

The most visible difference is dress. I brought all my nicer complets with me this time, but rarely wear them since virtually no one else in my office does. It's so much more western here, and I really miss my shoes.... Fortunately, I have now bought some new-to-me ones. :) Unfortunately, I find the clothes to be too expensive in this part of town, so I don't have new clothes, only new shoes. Hopefully that will change soon, as I've entreated some of my co-workers to take pity on me and show me where the more affordable shopping options are. Another notable thing about dress is also related to the more western style here: people show their knees ALL THE TIME. I am constantly scandalized and then have to remind myself that it's not scandalous here. I still feel uncomfortable when mine show, don't worry.

Also much more visible in Accra, especially in the part of town where I live, are all the foreigners. Even in Bamako, I could spend a whole day walking around town and only see a handful of other white people, but here we're everywhere. This may sound weird, but I feel like I stand out more somehow because there are so many of us. In fact, I keep wanting to type 'them' instead of 'us.' I think it all traces back to when I was living in village, and I would forget that I looked so different until I saw a picture, because I wasn't ever looking at me otherwise. The impact of my paleness is further amplified by my lack of local knowledge. I had gotten so used to first appearing to be just another tubob, but then being able to converse comfortably in Bambara and being treated more normally. Here on the other hand, all I can say in the local language is 'thank you.' It's a start.

I am truly enjoying myself though. I've found a red-red (spicy beans with plantains) lady a short walk from my office, am making friends, and like my work. I'm pretty excited for what the next 4 months will bring.

If someone were to go into my apartment right now they might very well think I saw the coup coming. There are two large wash basins and a bucket full of water, a small case of medicine, and a several month supply of toiletries in my bathroom alone. But the fact is that I’m just a Peace Corps volunteer who has stocked up and has such little water pressure that I have been keeping all that water for about a month now, so that I don’t have to plan my bucket baths an hour ahead of time. The fact is that this coup blindsided me.

By nearly all accounts, Mali has been a shining example of democracy in West Africa. During my first two years we took evacuees from three other countries, confident that Mali would be a safe haven even if neighboring countries were dealing with unrest. Perhaps I should have taken the conflict in the north more seriously. A co-worker who is ethnically northern certainly did. When the reaction in Bamako became violent for a short period last month he expressed worry about himself, his family, and me. Thousands of people fled to neighboring countries, even Niger which has had its own grave problems recently. I, on the other hand, was confident that Peace Corps would make sure I remained safe and that the actions would be over soon, and my confidence proved to be accurate. I did, however, express my concern over what would happen here in the following months. There was a volatile situation brewing: the worst rainy season I had seen in my time here had caused a serious food shortage nationwide; the Arab spring, and more specifically the fall of Khadafi in Libya, had led to an influx of soldiers and weapons into Mali, thus triggering another uprising in the north; and there was scheduled to be an election in April. People had already started to move into the cities as their stockpiles of grain in village ran out, months ahead of previous years. I also don’t know if I was just more aware, living in Bamako, but it seemed as if crime had gone up here, too.

Earlier this week I was going about my life as normal. On Tuesday night I was driving back into Bamako with co-workers after a couple of days doing work in the field. We were supposed to return Wednesday but had finished a day early, so I had cancelled my French lesson for that afternoon. Since I didn’t have the lesson I had planned on going into the Grande Marche/Suguba, but then got caught up in cleaning my apartment instead. I had the music cranked up and wasn’t aware of anything going on outside until mid-afternoon when Peace Corps contacted me and let me know I should stay inside until further notice. The first noises I heard suggesting things weren’t totally normal sounded like the popping of firecrackers, and it was only at about ten o’clock that night that the gunfire became constant. At that point in time, I later learned, there wasn’t even fighting anymore, but firing the guns into the air in celebration and also to clear the streets. I fell asleep several hours later, with intermittent gunfire still going in the background. When I woke up at about 9 the next morning, later than I’d slept in months, everything had calmed down again, but I knew things weren’t normal. The sounds of children playing in the streets weren’t loud enough, and I didn’t smell the lady frying and selling furufuru below my window. After talking with Peace Corps, I headed across the street to the home of one of our staff members, Jolie, and was able to speak with her and get online to feel more like I knew what was going on. Now Thursday has bled into Friday and Saturday and I still feel about the same as I did then: confused, sad, and a little angry.

Why? Why did they choose now for a mutiny and coup d’état? There was supposed to be an election in a month! Who is going to be in charge now? How long will it take for things to return to something resembling normalcy? Will the country I hadn’t even heard of 5 years ago, but has now become a part of me, recover? Mali has been the happy recipient of international aid over the last 50 years, but has now lost an incredible amount of legitimacy. With the US, France, and other big donors talking about pulling funding I wonder what will happen. Probably even more significant is the root cause of the mutiny: the fighting in the north. The rebel fighters have taken advantage of the chaos in the capital to gain ground. Will the new ‘government,’ whenever it does take hold, be able to respond? I don’t know the answers to any of these questions.

What I do know is this: I love Mali, despite of, perhaps because of, all its flaws. It has been my home for three years and I’m not ready to leave yet. Not like this. So I hope, I pray, that the situation here will be peacefully resolved as quickly as it can, as long as it is in the best interest of the Malian people.
Inchallah.