April 24

We have completed the standardized tests and I look forward to a normal four days of school next week. Giving the tests went fairly smooth for me. All the schedule changes and other problems of that type during the week was difficult for me. I like the status quo and I think the kids are happier when they have a set schedule.

There have evidently been some sandstorms in the Sahara Desert lately. The very fine sand gets drawn up high in the air and then the air flow from east to west brings it over us and out into the Atlantic. We have had dusty skies all of this past week. That also means that I have dusty floors, tables, counters, etc. in my apartment. My eyes are sore and tired from the dust too. I even made up an [Old Bamako Saying] for you. If you don't go to Timbuctu then Timbuctu will come to you! Since I chose not to go to Timbuctu I thought that was an appropriate saying.

Back to work

This was our first week back from spring break. We are into our last nine week period of school. Next week we have the Stanford Achievement tests. That kind of messes up the schedule. They are also something new for me to do. Pray that I won't mess up the kids to bad.

I have no new pictures for you this week. The traffic still amazes me. I don't see how they keep from having a mess of accidents. My drivers just tell me you always expect the other vehicles to do something idiotic and you are not disappointed. If you see someone signalling expect them to do something different. Motorbikes will always turn right in front of your car. I saw one motorbike that had rear view mirrors but they were folded down. I assume that it was to hard to squeeze between cars with those mirrors out.

I finally figured out why some of the dirt roads have all the big rocks on them. By putting one of those rocks in front of their dwelling the people effectively enlarge their front yard. Since vehicles can't drive over the rocks the people can use that space for play or washing clothes or something along that line. When you think of it that way it makes more sense.

Each week from now on you can insert the comment. It is getting hotter. You pour water in your mouth and it pours out of your skin.

branch conference

The past two weeks have been spent in branch conference for SIL and spring break for Bamako Christian Academy. Since spring break was rather dull I will try to let you peak into the branch conference a little bit. First imagine people from 6-10 language groups getting together to socialize and to plan. The first week involved local workers and cooperating pastors who mostly speak in their tribal language or in French. All meetings the first week were in French with some interpretation. Singing is definitely a talent that God did not think I needed. Singing in French was way out of my capabilities. The second week was mostly in English with other languages thrown in when the person needed to express something that they did not have the English words to express.

I got to meet the workers from other parts of Mali and from Ivory Coast (Cote D'Voire). Even with the language barrier I have enjoyed getting to know them.

spring break

The first picture is a tent church of the Assembly of God. It is about a block away from the SIL where I am staying. Since it is spring break I can walk in the morning when it is cool. I took my camera with me and walked out on to the new bridge. The donkey cart was on the way home. The last four pictures are the ones that I wanted to put in this blog. Three are pictures of gardens along the Niger river. These are irrigated one bucket at a time although I have seen some where they pump the water out of the river to their gardens. They get several crops each year. During the wet season they get to rest while the river floods their gardens. The fourth picture contains some mango trees. They have thick dark green foliage and most of the trees that I see are loaded with fruit.

I am also making some progress with my curriculum writing. I hope that I am doing them correctly.