Bday

"It's time to celebrate and have a good time!" - Kool & The Gang

I am having a birthday in a foreign country where everything is new to me and there isn't a person here that has been known to me longer than 2 1/2 weeks! What an amazing feeling this is! The birthday wishes started coming in at midnight, in the form of calls and texts, and have been continuing ever since. I have been trying to keep my phone with me at all times lest I miss an international call while I go get my water bottle from the fridge. I also opened the gift Erika gave me fbefore I left LA, stapled in a paper bag, daring me not to open it until my bday. I really am surprised I lasted this long!!!

This morning I took the Sotrame (bus) as usual. And I said good morning to everyobne already on it and then settled in. While I get off at the bridge I usually don't say anything because there are so many people getting off at the bridge. And those running the Sotrames are more likely not to speak French and just to speak Bambera. So when I say I need to get off here they are confused by my pronunciation and I have to shout over the din of the bus and the chatter of other passengers and try to perfect my pronunciation while everyone turns to look. Maybe I am being melodramatic but I would rather avoid the situation if I can. I find it easier just to be quiet. How do I get off at the right stop then? Well like I said, there are always other people getting off at my stops. I have been very lucky. Except for today. I didn't realize no one was getting off at the bridge until we headed up the onramp.

Good thing I have a sense of humor. I laighed to myself that this would be yet another adventure. I thought about where to ask the Sotrame to stop. On the bridge I would have to cross too many lanes of traffic and I could not be sure that the Sotrame going to work would pass the spot where I got off just after the bridge. So I waited and said nothing and laughed at the kind of silly situations I get myself into. At the very least I thought I can always get out and take a taxi, although I prefer not to waste money on that. I started leaning more heavily toward that as the Sotrame passed through an area that I was not familiar with and just as I thought I needed to put an end to this game, I saw the BDM bank arise from a mass of trees and buildings in the distance. The very BDM bank where the teller had once refused to serve Rodney because it was 15 minutes to closing time.

I knew there was a place across the street from BDM where every Sotrame in Bamako stops and so I descended there, asked for the Sotrame to Magnambougou and boarded, having spent no more money, just more time, than the usual commute. I texted Coumba to let her know my predicament and when I entered work she smirked and said, So you went to the other side of the river this morning, huh? Glad I can keep folks amused. She and Sogona and Tchou Tchou all wished me a very happy birthday and sang to me. Other than that the day was punctuated only by two long blackouts.

Demba had said we should hang out as he was expecting a contingent of American friends in a week or so. When he learned it would be my birthday today, he pushed that date up. He has organized a bunch of us going out dancing tonight. And surprisingly, Andrew is going to be social and come out too. I have never been more excited in my life.