not a moment too soon!

"Did you get a car yet?"
That's a question I've been asked a lot of times in the past year.  And with good reason.  We did fundraising for a car when we were in the states, and that was over a year ago now.
We were able to buy the car in the picture from another expat in Mali.  It is not the car we fundraised for.  This was just an inexpensive temporary solution.  This car is a 20 year old Toyota Corolla Station Wagon.  We are so thankful to have been able to use this car for the last while, but we are really looking foward to having something newer and more dependable (and with good air conditioning!)  We plan to go to Togo next week to get a car.

This photo could be a joke, like "how many Africans does it take to fix a car?" or something like that.  That's JP at the left, I think he's just there to lend moral support to the mechanic.  The other guy without his head under the hood is the guard for the guesthouse we were at. 
JP drove to Bamako to get me and my mom.  We had to push start the car after we stopped to get something to eat the night we arrived. Fun.
The next morning the car wouldn't start, so JP got out of going to the zoo and mom and I took a taxi while JP tried to get the car fixed.  It turns out that the starter needed replacing.  Cars are pretty worn out after many years on hot, dusty Mali roads - beyond the worn-out-ness that any 20 year old car would have.

The starter only cost $30 including labor to replace.  When we got on the road for the 6 hour trip home it was clear that the car had some other issues.  JP had gotten really sick the night before our trip home, so he just scrunched himself in to lay in the back seat of the car and I drove the whole way with the car having serious issues.  Welcome to Mali, Mom!  It wouldn't accelerate properly, which is terrifying on a highway where it is necessary to pass slow moving trucks and there is oncoming traffic in the other lane.  The car was not fun to drive, but we made it home.  The mechanic took it, which meant more time of my mom's trip in Mali without a car to use.  We got the car back a few days and $300 later, though, and it's doing much better (for now at least.)  Thankfully, a friend offered to let us use her much better car for the trip to take my mom back to Bamako to fly home.  That was such a blessing and we really felt the difference in riding in her car. 

So not a moment too soon!  We are ready to buy the car that so many people have generously contributed to in our fundraising effort.

been busy traveling!

Well, I am finally posting something on my blog again... I think it's better to put something than nothing, so here's something. :)  Here is a summary of what I've been up to in the last two months:

**End of June:  traveled to Bamako by bus myself to fly to France.

**Then:  flew to France!  I love Mali, but after 14 months in country I was pretty excited to go somewhere where it's not so hot, I can sort of blend in, and they have plenty of cheese and chocolate (and almost any other food goodie you could want, though peanut butter is a bit hard to come by!)

**first weekend of July:  stayed with friends who were in Mali for a long time but are in France now, it was very good to see them and to go hiking around in some fresh green nature next to a lake.

**July: did a summer French language course and met some awesome people there.

** end of July after French school:  flew by myself to Poland for a few days of cheap backpacker type tourist fun

**first part of August:  I met my mom in London.  We spent a few days there and then a few days in Paris before flying together to Mali.
We were in Bamako for a few days and home for a few days and had a good time in spite of JP and I both getting really sick for a few days each.  Thankfully my mom didn't catch our sickness!

**Now:  trying to get my brain and life organized.  We are planning a trip to Togo next week and I need to be ready for English school registration when we get back.

So that's the quick version.
The photo is of me at the Palace of Versailles just outside of Paris.  It feels almost scandalous for me to wear a knee-exposing skirt after always making sure my knees are well covered in Mali.  I actually wore this skirt so much that I'm pretty tired of it now because after I left French school I didn't get my suitcase back for 13 days (thanks KLM!) so I didn't have many clothes to wear!