Djenne to Bandiagara

we left Djenne in the early afternoon, headed for Bandiagara.  a dry, hazy afternoon lay still upon the horizon.  we all seemed to grow quiet that afternoon.  whether it was the distilling of new ideas of this African experience or preparing oneself for the upcoming unknown ahead of us, i do not know.  the ride was uneventful, but still i felt in my heart a stirring of anticipation.  

we had spent the morning working with a family of bogolan mud-cloth artists.  Bogolan is a local textile technique that uses mixtures of clay and other natural ingredients to dye cloth.  the traditional cloths tend toward complicated geometric patterns while the newer cloths are more representational.  after a quick demonstration, they set us to work on our own cloths.  i often refer to  myself as someone who is artistically challenged.  i even get jittery in the face of crafty or otherwise art-y projects.  that morning however, as we set up our cloths on the roof of the house overlooking all of Djenne with the Grand Mosque in the background, i realized that it would be foolish to do anything but find peace in the process.  the night before, i had had a dream about a mint green cruiser bicycle, so i decided to attempt to give my bicycle life on cloth.  after the mud had dried, we carried our cloths to the river where our new friends carefully washed the mud away to reveal the designs we each had created.  Aubrey's swirls and shapes, Anna's motorcycle, Ursula's geometrics, all of them were wonderful.  little bits of ourselves right there on the cloth.  surprise, i even liked mine a little bit.  

there was a stillness that settled in me while we were working on our cloths.  since arriving in Africa, it had been all go, go, go.  last minute running around, logistical details, trying to find the time to get to know everyone in the group, all these things seemed to wring the hours out of the day.  so to have a few moments on a crisp, sunny morning to be quiet, yet together held a sweet richness for me.

perhaps this opportunity for introspection lingered as we loaded up the trucks that afternoon and followed us down the road to Bandiagara.  one member of our group was not feeling well and i was worried, but optimistic.  i grappled with other uncertainties as well.  nothing special, just the regular program-running sort of stuff.  but more that anything else, the refrain that settled in my internal dialogue went something like this, "i am here.  here i am.  Africa Africa Africa."

several hours later, Timothee, Moussa, Daniel, Isaac, and Noum hosted us to a lovely welcome dinner.  the stage was set.  the momentum had been created.  it was as though everything up till then had been a slow walk up a long mountain and we were just about to crest the hill to get our first view of the landscape.  but not yet.  there were still a few more things to do.