All posts tagged: bamako

on meetings

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Last week we had an important, VIP-level meeting. The kind for which preparations are endless, and staff wrings its collective hands, and fingers are crossed that it goes off well. Fortunately, we had two advantages right off the bat: this Very Important Meeting was held under a most perfect tree (a good omen), and the welcoming committee was enthusiastic: Thus the meeting commenced in great form and style, with a masterful emcee. And it continued with a walk to see Important Things. Admittedly, a long walk. And a very hot one, under an African sun. Maybe a little too long. But there was a point, and there were no complaints. No whiners in this bunch. They were on Official Business. So we continued. This was the point: And after many questions and inspections, even the skeptics were convinced. And thus the meeting was a resounding, if sweaty, success.

on a funeral

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There was a funeral to attend, of a well-known and well-loved gentleman from the North. I was set to go with hair wrapped up, sporting a red and gold djellaba. Outside the home of the recently deceased, men mingled on overlapping carpets under a tent set in the road, some waiting to ride to the cemetery, where men alone are permitted. I headed inside the adjacent house to join the women, whose task it is to mourn and comfort the newly widowed wife. The front hall was lined with somber women seated on chairs. I gave a weak greeting, Bon soir, and the name of the person I hoped to find. A few hands pointed through a doorway and down another hallway. I passed through and found more women: on the floor, on carpets, on woven mats, on chairs, standing. I repeated the name of my inviter. They pointed up the stairs. I climbed up and, at the landing, I looked down over a railing into the courtyard: every square inch was packed with women, …