Musée National Du Mali

I woke up at about 7am. A guy from my dorm room was on his way out. His name is Fromo and he studied theology in the United States. He is on his way to Egypt through Niger and Sudan to visit an ill relative since he is a spiritual healer. I wish all the luck in his endeavor to help his relative. So he headed out and I took a shower and got ready to head out.

My first destination is the Ikatel which has the fastest internet connections in Bamako which I need since the internet connections I've used so far have been painfully slow and the computers too old to run my webmail client. I passed the Pâtisserie le Royaume des Gourmands and popped in. I got a café expresso (CFA 800/US$1.60) and pain au raisin (CFA 600/US$1.20). I basked in the deliciousness of the coffee and sweet grape bread. After a while as the only customer there in this Ramadan period, I headed north. I crossed the railroad tracks and headed east. I passed another pâtisserie and the Azur supermarket which is not huge but just like a French grocery store (except a bit more expensive). The Ikatel was not where the icon is on the Lonely Planet map. So I gave up and stopped in le Relax, the other pâtisserie and had a café expresso and a chausson des pommes. Their coffee wasn't quite as good as the first one. That part of Bamako has some expensive hotels, therefore more people targetting tourists trying the get them to buy stuff. A bit annoying, but they aren't that persistent. I stopped into the Azur and picked up an envelope for sending my letter to the American embassy in Guinea about the shakedown in Faramoya by the corrupt customs police and 2 candy bars. The guy wanted small change which sort of pissed me off because I need small change for small entrepreneurs. I expect big enterprises to be able to handle CFA5000 bills which are only worth US$10.
I headed down the road to find the Musée National du Mali. After a bit of a walk in the hot sun, I found it right where it should be. A ticket was CFA 2500 (US$5) and again, they wouldn't take small change, either. Dammit! My supply of small money is drying up. Apparently one can get a guide for CFA 3000 but that's US$6 I'd rather not spend. I entered the exhibit hall. Wow! This is one nice museum. It had 3 wings--archaeological finds, ritual items of the cults and fraternal organizations, and textiles. They are all fascinating. They items are labeled and there are posting going into some detail of the context of the items. Sadly, many of the archaeological artifacts were dug up by people with no appreciation for archaeological digging, so the context was lost. Many of the artifacts were repatriated by French customs who seized them from travelers trying to smuggle them into France. Lucky for me, my comprehension of written French is pretty good so I was able to read and understand 95% of the descriptions. That made me feel smart.

Through 2/3 of the exhibits, I was trading places with a pretty woman in a long black summer dress, maybe a little younger than me. I have often said that the only thing better than looking at art in an art museum is looking at girls looking at art in an art museum. Seems it applies to historical and archaeological collections as well. ;-)

A restaurant called the Africa Grill has a small café at the museum with museum pricing (a little more than usual). I got a small water to start for CFA 600 (US$1.20). It was so refreshing. I was really starting to get thirsty when I got the textiles. There was a table with a North American foursome--a pretty woman in her 30's with sexy glasses and 3 older men. I stole a few looks but for the most part just read my Lonely Planet rearranging my itinerary. Mali is turning out to be a little more interesting than I thought it would be and I'm afraid I'll have to spend a little more time here than I had planned on. I want to go to Djenné and see the mud mosque and that'll add a few days. Going to Gao will also potentially add a few days, though it may save me time, depending on the boat traffic on the Niger River. I think I might have to cut out Cameroon and Nigeria. We'll see.

After I drank my water, I didn't want to leave, partly because the atmosphere of the museum is so nice and partly because the woman with the sexy glasses was still there. So I ordered a beer (CFA 1200/US$2.40). Then I got some post cards and another beer. I wrote one out to someone I met in France and addressed a couple to my nieces--I still need to write them, though.

After that I checkout out the miniature reproductions of Malian architecture on the museum grounds. Very nice. It was a very nice way to spend some time.

I headed back. A guy who speaks English started following me and eventually started asking for money. Mark's Ironclad Rule of Anglophone Locals in Francophone Countries: unless they work behind the desk in a hotel, they are out to get your money. I arrived at the youth hostel and started to type up my day. A guy in my dorm room from Guinea asked me if I could help him get to America. I get this request once every couple of weeks. People think that since I'm American that I can grease the skids at the American embassy, but there's nothing I can do. They probably don't believe me. I tell them about the green card lottery and family reunification which allows legal relatives to bring over immigrants. But as a person with no relationship to somebody else, there's nothing I can do. I'm always surprised whenever someone I just met at random asks me to do this for them.

Not long after I returned, it started raining. It rained in the late afternoon yesterday as well. Maybe Bamako is beset by late afternoon rains. There is even thunder and lightning. Cool. We never get it in Seattle. I grew up with electrical storms in the Midwest, so I miss them.
Later, I'd like to go get some CFA 500 beers at the attached bar, but I hope that clinger with the raspy voice and goofy hair isn't there. He never shuts up and annoys the living hell out of me. The Swiss couple will leave tomorrow as well so I hope I see them one more time so I can give them my blog address.

September 13, 16:54 Mali local time