the trip home, our car

Here is a picture of our car!  We were blessed to be able to buy it cheap from a friend here.  It is a 20-year-old Toyota Corolla station wagon.
We did fundraising for a vehicle while we were in the states a year ago, and this is NOT the car that we fundraised for.  We plan to buy a newer vehicle this summer.

Because we have a car now, we have the luxury of being able to go places like Bamako and not take the bus!
When the American family that stayed with us over Christmas needed to go back to Bamako to fly home after their visit, I was able to drive them in our car.  Thankfully we got to Bamako without any problems!
I can't say the same for my trip back home...

Here I am on the side of the road in the middle-of-nowhere (I was about 40 minutes out of a town) because the clutch went out on the car, so it could be started up but not go into any gears to actually move.  Oh, and this was after I had dealt with a flat tire in the town 40 minutes back.  A large metal bolt, not even pointy, had been lodged in the tire, so a repair guy put the spare on and patched the holey tire, all for $2, and then I continued until the clutch went out.  Then I made some calls and waited... and waited... and waited for the mechanic to come save me.
The sunglasses that I am wearing here are ones that I bought in Bamako for $1 on my way out of town.  I couldn't find my sunglasses that morning when I started the drive so I was able to stop and buy a pair from one of the guys who wanders the city streets or hangs out on busy corners with a big board covered in pairs of cheap sunglasses.  I found the ones I'd lost under the car seat after I got home.

While I waited I walked around a bit.  I was thankful that it is now the cool time of the year!  Here is a passing mini-bus with a big load of calabash bowls (big gourd things cut in half) on top.

 

It really was the middle-of-nowhere.  When I walked down the road a way I did see a herd of cows and some sheep, but the shepherds didn't come over to talk to me.  I found the remains of some animal that may have been hit by a car because it was just off the edge of the road.

I thought these 4 trees were cool.

And finally!  The mechanic came with his assistant and some parts and tools.  I'm not even clear as to what all they did to get the car rolling again, but as they asked for a total of less than $50 for coming out there, the parts, and the work, I think I got a good deal.
From there it took me another 2 hours of driving to arrive home.  At a security checkpoint the officer asked me if I could take a young lady as a passenger.  She looked pretty harmless, and it's kind of hard to say no to a security officer with a gun, so I brought Fatoumata back with me for the last hour of the drive.