The Bamako Blitz: Countdown to Ameriki*

Wow - I've got 3 more days here. In a way, these three days seem like an eternity. I have prepared my mind and body for my departure, so I feel like I am walking through slow motion film as I tackle the small challenges that remain: getting final Ministry of Ed data, writing reference letters for my TAs, copying data on multiple drives, and then the extended waves of goodbyes.

I remember back in college, when I went home from Spring break - after multiple all-nighters, a season of basketball, waitressing: I would be so exhausted that all I would want to do is sleep. One memorable spring break, my college roommate Maggie came home with me, we curled up under a comforter in my bedroom, and I think we slept for 3 days straight.

That is sorta how the end of fieldwork feels. Your body finally gets to process 11 months of cold showers, trying to walk the line between your food budget and nutrition/health and happiness, living somewhere where the poverty is still ever present and there is so little you can do, every interaction being a cultural navigation, and constant linguistic gymnastics - french to bambara to english to french. It's easy to get overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by what's outside your door; overwhelmed by what you can't change; overwhelmed by what you have actually seen and done.

In a way - the almost year here seems like a 30 second movie trailer - images, conversations, and feelings pop up, mesh together, and cycle in and out, but it also feels like more than a year of trench warfare. For my own sanity and for your entertainment - I have tried to quantify some of what I have experienced here, what is dancing and clawing through my mind:

Visited 6 regional capitals (Bamako, Timbuktu, Segou, Kayes, Sikasso, Sevare/Mopti)
Trained 4 rockstar research assistants
Conducted 1000 household interviews (Well between me and my team)
Witnessed 4 fatal accidents (all moto drivers)
Learned lots of great new Bambara two-word words like muna-muna (turn) and walla-walla (to feel well/embrace life/attacking the day
Attended 1 wedding and 1 baptism
Danced in a record 3 nightclubs in one weekend - thanks Jessica
Passed 2 Malaria tests with negative results
Introduced 4 new people to Mali including my little bro
Taught English, coached basketball, cooked 4 dinners for in-laws/fake Malian parents
Talked my way out of 4 police bribes
Unable to talk my way out of 3 police "tickets"
Gathered voting data from 1999-2009 for 702 communes
Conducted 450 exit polls for the communal elections
Survived 1 sotrama accident where we hit lots of motots; 1 car accident where we rear-ended a donkey
Hosted 2 roof parties
Bought a car, sold a car, fixed a taxi, bought a bridal shop
Attended the Festival in the Desert, music/film fest on the Niger, Photo Biennial, and a crazy dance party/video installation exhibit in the old brickyard on the river
Learned how to "chi-ri-ry"
Played against the Malian 15 and under national basketball teams on local TV
Met and re-met some amazing folks: researchers, pilots, supportive spouses, teachers, coaches, students, NGO workers, peace corps, and students
Wrote 3 papers; 1 presented and 2 to go
Lost 15-20 pounds, 1 cellphone, and my favorite dress
Interviewed the head of the electoral commission, a anti-privatisation activist and the star of "Bamako," ATT's boyhood friend, Association of Koranic school leaders in Kayes, a WWII vet, and dozens of educators
Shared my home with 7 visitors
Recorded 200 interviews with university students
Became skype, web, facebook, internet dependent - wow Africa in 2009
Obtained 3 research clearances
Made a lot of Malians laugh

It seems silly to make a list. But it's also comforting as I am tired and I want to know that I did something while I was here. Mali and Bamako in particular continues to grow and expand by the minute - some problems remedied, others exacerbated. One feels a bit helpless, there for the ride, watching everything pass. Like when you learn a language - the better you get, the more you realize there is to tackle.

Going to try to make these last few days count. Then on to Kenya; then home in time for thanksgiving!

*Research Team Members and Drissa in the Sikasso Region