I got online at the hotel and had to wait for a Japanese guy to move from the one of two computers that can use a USB key. Once he left I got to upload my blogs. Whew! My parents can breathe easy. I also updated my facebook Cities I've Visited application. When the Japanese guy was about to leave I asked him "nihon no kata desu ka" and he said he was. We chatted briefly.
I went to the bar after that. In a little while, the Japanese guy (Koji) came up. He sat with a seat between us and we spoke quite a bit in Japanese while various guides came to sit between us and interrupt our conversation. One of the Africa guides could do basic Japanese greetings, even. Two young women came and sat behind us and I could tell by their accent that they were American or Canadian. But I just kept speaking in Japanese and English with Koji and French and English with the locals. I was firing on all cylinders linguistically. I was the language machine. This day will stand out as my best language day ever as I navigated between English, French, and Japanese almost effortlessly. I was on cloud nine! The bartenders were totally amazed.
After an hour or so, the topic finally turned to Barack Obama. Koji said that every American he meets likes Barack Obama. I said "well, Americans who travel." At that, the young women behind us laughed. I turned around. "You mean people who know the world," one of them said sort of cynically. They were Peace Corps volunteers from Niger--one from Michigan and one from Hawaii. We had a good time talking about the Peace Corps and stuff. I got their email addresses and it looks like I may be able to meet them in Niger which would be very cool.
I had so much fun talking in Japanese with Koji. He doesn't speak French so he has to deal with the English speaking guides who are basically out to rip you off. I used Japanese to talk about these people behind their backs. It was fun. Only 2 people could understand us--him and me. I loved it. My Japanese was still there. It came back pretty well. I did spend 4 years there, after all. Still, with all my French study, my Japanese seemed to paying the price. I was so happy that I could still get by excellently. My Japanese was definitely better than my French. Still, there were times when I had to push away the French which tried to come up.
The bar at Y Pas De Problem closes at 11 since it is in the hotel itself. So it was an early night. But it was a blast. I met a 23 year old Japanese world traveler, two young Peace Corps volunteers, and had a fun time. I have to be up and out by 8am to meet Mamadou anyway. So I'll set my alarm and turn in for a restful night since I'm sure my next 2 nights will be hell on earth.
September 22, 2008 23:15 Mali local time
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2 comments:
When did this become a blog about Obama?
When a guy from Africa runs for President of the United States, then the topic of Obama becomes a big part of the African travel experience. And the view of the US elecion from abroad is also very interesting as everyone in the world is watching this election very closely. And, of course, I'm a political junky who is just plain sick and tired of the style of governing over the last 8 years and who is extremely anxious to it stop on January 20, 2009.
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