on the way out

I am now in Bamako, still in Mali. I left home late this morning with 2 Dutch friends in their Land Rover. This is the first trip I've ever made to Bamako in air conditioned comfort, much nicer than a trip on the bus! We are staying the night at a mission guest house and we will leave tomorrow morning at 6 to head west toward the border to Senegal.
When I looked out in the street in front of my house this morning I was struck by how normal everything seems. It was just another Thursday morning. Kids with backpacks walking to school. Ladies with huge bowls of something balanced on their heads and babies strapped to thier backs. Goats roaming around eating trash. It looked like any other day. And then when we arrived in Bamako we were able to fill the car with gas no problem, and I saw fruit seller stands with plenty of apples. Gas and apples are both shipped in over the borders, so the sanctions aren't hurting us here too much yet I guess. Everything seems normal.
We know that its not normal though and things could become dangerous. Some people are saying that maybe the problems here will just blow over. I hope they're right. But I won't be here to find out if they're wrong.