on a swim
Today I spent a few hours at Logon villa pool, on the banks of the Niger. Lots of French soldiers, local kids, two turtles, a few friendly mosquitos, and this guy:
Author: erinwrote
what’s to eat #4
Beef pâté! A savory mix of ground beef, onions, garlic, and spices, folded into a flaky pastry pocket and fried. These are ubiquitous in Bamako, and an example of the legacy of high-quality baked goods (croissants, baguettes, etc.) instilled by French colonists.
on the invasion
Where I come from, you make an invitation to the morning. The morning waits for you, at your leisure, until you’re ready to ease back the curtains, slide into slippers, and entertain the gentle follies of birds beyond the window. Not so, in this place. Here, the morning creeps into you, pries you open, and delivers a weighty blow. It starts with the noise, and the noise starts early: a 5am call to prayer from the mosque across the street. and then the heat, lingering just beyond the front door. the brazen sun has no need for stalking; it lies still, waiting for victims to stumble out of their homes and into its stifling trap. Once you’re there, the blurred white noise of the street crystalizes into its thousand pieces, and they come at you from all angles: a cow bellows, ambling by; a huddle of goats next door gab through breakfast; motos tip and dip across holes puckering the dirt road; neighbors call out and chatter; children shriek and cry; dogs bark, hammers clank. …
what’s to eat #1
Made a new friend at Le Glacier Moderne on Rue Hippodrome, in Bamako.
on the sky
There is something about the sky in this place. It’s bigger. It’s closer. It’s right here. This sky has presence, and personality. I’ll do my best to keep us on good terms.
what’s to eat #3
Lunch date this week. Only one dish on the day’s menu: Senegalese Chebjen (or Ceebu Jën, or Thiéboudienne)–rice with fish (and some vegetables, and hot pastes, and a fish paste, and a sweet paste). Ginger juice to accompany.
outerNotes 