July 11, 2011 Restaurant seats in the Car wash:))
People here at Healing2TheNations are all used to seeing me in a long skirt, or with a “paign” (simple length of material) wrapped around my waist, so when I came home from an excursion to Bamako in blue jeans and a nice tee-shirt, Fanta made a comment in Bambara that made Paul chuckle before translating for me. “Tonight Mimi is a lady. She is not a gramma.” What a nice compliment to be given! (We had also noticed that Fanta dressed differently when her husband came home after being away for several months. LOL)
All in all it was another “experience” day. We have been having some discipline issues with several of the boys--(Yes, boys are boys in Yirimadio as well as in Shippensburg!) so we're looking forward to a little time away to just relax. Our trip to town was our Sunday holiday, of sorts. We spent some time at the American Club in the afternoon before going to the Worship Service that is held (in English!) in a church downtown on Sunday evenings. We have enjoyed getting to know other missionaries who are here in Mali thru this English speaking group, and look forward to that time together when we can get there. It was thru this group that we discovered the American Club here in Bamako.
The American Club is a nice place to relax, with a pool, sand volleyball and tennis courts, a nice pavilion, and a small restaurant. We found we were able to join it as Americans in Mali for about the cost of 2 nights in a hotel, so we have afforded ourselves that luxury. Ray and Julie spent time in the pool and I relaxed in the lounge with my computer. I had intended to catch up on my blog, and send it out with pictures before joining them in the warm pool water—Florida warm, not PA swimming pool warm! It was a good plan, except for the fact that there was no internet service. When we got home we discovered that the lack of service was not a problem of the Club's wireless connection but apparently of the whole server for Bamako, as they had no service here at the base, either. Also, Ray had come back from the bathhouse to tell me that there was no water on in the bathroom. That meant there would be no showering to wash off after a swim, and the little plastic kettle with a spout, which we have come to recognize as part of an outdoor latrine's sanitary facilities, was in place beside the commode. Such is life in Mali! :)
Our intent was to get a snack or salad at the Club restaurant, but rather than opening at 4pm, we found that 4 pm is the CLOSING time for the kitchen on Sundays. Julie was hungry after having swum 20 laps (it is a small pool!) and the 3 oranges and a handful of peanuts that we had brought with us didn't satisfy her. OK! We did see a little Malian Restaurant just a block or so away as we came in, so we thought maybe we would be brave enough to try it, or at least look at it as we drove by.
That too was an experience! Arriving in front of the building that proclaimed itself a Restaurant, we parked along the street, being careful as we got out of the car to stay on the curbing and not step down into the open sewer that runs beside most streets here. (With the rainy season in full swing,there is a good quantity of water flowing, so its not too odorous.) The music was blaring, and the lights were on in the little building that housed the eatery. Inside the doorway was an open tilefloored space, where we saw various pots and pans stacked on a bench to one side. Before we had time to make a decision to leave, the proprietor came from across the street and greeted us. With the limited vocabulary that we have in Bambara or French, and his equally “small, small” English, we agreed that a sandwich would be what we would like to eat. He exited and crossed the street to the small car-wash establishment, quickly gathered up 6 plastic deck chairs and headed back toward us.
Meanwhile, we stepped into the interior room and looked around in surprise. Yes, the music was on, and a small TV was also playing from a shelf mounted high on the end wall, but except for a single corner counter and a small refrigerator that seemed to be unplugged, there was no furniture in the room. It was clean, but empty! Before we could process all this, he was back with the chairs and a matching plastic table, wiped them off with a rag and offered us a seat. Thru the window Ray saw a young lady bring a baguette from next door and come back into the courtyard out front. We asked for a Coke, Fanta (the soft drink, not our cook LOL), and a Sprite (usually a safe bet for something to drink- sanitary, if not cold) and began to wonder if we should just drink our sodas and do without supper. The sodas, which he selected from the bottles stacked in the freezer compartment of the small refrigerator, were pleasantly cold. The young lady came in and took a pan of something from the refrigerator and I (wondering what in the world we were getting into) followed her outside. She had split the baguette, spread something onto one side of it, and was spooning fresh vegetables from the refrigerated pan on top of that. We decide it was too late to back out and sat drinking our sodas while we waited.
The proprietor soon returned with a platter of the 3 sandwiches, each on its own piece of tin foil. What we had was a very acceptable, hoagie type sandwich, seasoned ground beef (we think!) with wedges of fresh tomatoes, onions and green peppers, on fresh french bread.)
We left there, marvelling, and drove downtown to enjoy a worship service. Beside the regular crew, there were 3 missionary families from out of country who were on holiday in Bamako. We also had a few minutes to shop at their small Christian bookstore where we selected 5 or 6 books, which are in the Bambara language, to bring back here with us. God has already used one of those books this morning-- but that is another story.
By th eway, we get more fish to eat here than I usually worked into the menu at home in PA. However, as you can see from the picture of Julie at our kitchen table, it is a little different than Mrs Paul's fishsticks of fish fillets.lol Usually we are eating it out of the community dish with 5 or other hands dipping in. This day we decided to take some rice up to our apartment and add a salad. This whole fish was the piece we were given
Count your many blessings and don't forget to thank God for all His many provisions for you.
Be blessed and be a blessing!
Mim in Mali
July 11, 2011 Restaurant seats in the Car wash:))
People here at Healing2TheNations are all used to seeing me in a long skirt, or with a “paign” (simple length of material) wrapped around my waist, so when I came home from an excursion to Bamako in blue jeans and a nice tee-shirt, Fanta made a comment in Bambara that made Paul chuckle before translating for me. “Tonight Mimi is a lady. She is not a gramma.” What a nice compliment to be given! (We had also noticed that Fanta dressed differently when her husband came home after being away for several months. LOL)
All in all it was another “experience” day. We have been having some discipline issues with several of the boys--(Yes, boys are boys in Yirimadio as well as in Shippensburg!) so we're looking forward to a little time away to just relax. Our trip to town was our Sunday holiday, of sorts. We spent some time at the American Club in the afternoon before going to the Worship Service that is held (in English!) in a church downtown on Sunday evenings. We have enjoyed getting to know other missionaries who are here in Mali thru this English speaking group, and look forward to that time together when we can get there. It was thru this group that we discovered the American Club here in Bamako.
The American Club is a nice place to relax, with a pool, sand volleyball and tennis courts, a nice pavilion, and a small restaurant. We found we were able to join it as Americans in Mali for about the cost of 2 nights in a hotel, so we have afforded ourselves that luxury. Ray and Julie spent time in the pool and I relaxed in the lounge with my computer. I had intended to catch up on my blog, and send it out with pictures before joining them in the warm pool water—Florida warm, not PA swimming pool warm! It was a good plan, except for the fact that there was no internet service. When we got home we discovered that the lack of service was not a problem of the Club's wireless connection but apparently of the whole server for Bamako, as they had no service here at the base, either. Also, Ray had come back from the bathhouse to tell me that there was no water on in the bathroom. That meant there would be no showering to wash off after a swim, and the little plastic kettle with a spout, which we have come to recognize as part of an outdoor latrine's sanitary facilities, was in place beside the commode. Such is life in Mali! :)
Our intent was to get a snack or salad at the Club restaurant, but rather than opening at 4pm, we found that 4 pm is the CLOSING time for the kitchen on Sundays. Julie was hungry after having swum 20 laps (it is a small pool!) and the 3 oranges and a handful of peanuts that we had brought with us didn't satisfy her. OK! We did see a little Malian Restaurant just a block or so away as we came in, so we thought maybe we would be brave enough to try it, or at least look at it as we drove by.
That too was an experience! Arriving in front of the building that proclaimed itself a Restaurant, we parked along the street, being careful as we got out of the car to stay on the curbing and not step down into the open sewer that runs beside most streets here. (With the rainy season in full swing,there is a good quantity of water flowing, so its not too odorous.) The music was blaring, and the lights were on in the little building that housed the eatery. Inside the doorway was an open tilefloored space, where we saw various pots and pans stacked on a bench to one side. Before we had time to make a decision to leave, the proprietor came from across the street and greeted us. With the limited vocabulary that we have in Bambara or French, and his equally “small, small” English, we agreed that a sandwich would be what we would like to eat. He exited and crossed the street to the small car-wash establishment, quickly gathered up 6 plastic deck chairs and headed back toward us.
Meanwhile, we stepped into the interior room and looked around in surprise. Yes, the music was on, and a small TV was also playing from a shelf mounted high on the end wall, but except for a single corner counter and a small refrigerator that seemed to be unplugged, there was no furniture in the room. It was clean, but empty! Before we could process all this, he was back with the chairs and a matching plastic table, wiped them off with a rag and offered us a seat. Thru the window Ray saw a young lady bring a baguette from next door and come back into the courtyard out front. We asked for a Coke, Fanta (the soft drink, not our cook LOL), and a Sprite (usually a safe bet for something to drink- sanitary, if not cold) and began to wonder if we should just drink our sodas and do without supper. The sodas, which he selected from the bottles stacked in the freezer compartment of the small refrigerator, were pleasantly cold. The young lady came in and took a pan of something from the refrigerator and I (wondering what in the world we were getting into) followed her outside. She had split the baguette, spread something onto one side of it, and was spooning fresh vegetables from the refrigerated pan on top of that. We decide it was too late to back out and sat drinking our sodas while we waited.
The proprietor soon returned with a platter of the 3 sandwiches, each on its own piece of tin foil. What we had was a very acceptable, hoagie type sandwich, seasoned ground beef (we think!) with wedges of fresh tomatoes, onions and green peppers, on fresh french bread.)
We left there, marvelling, and drove downtown to enjoy a worship service. Beside the regular crew, there were 3 missionary families from out of country who were on holiday in Bamako. We also had a few minutes to shop at their small Christian bookstore where we selected 5 or 6 books, which are in the Bambara language, to bring back here with us. God has already used one of those books this morning-- but that is another story.
By th eway, we get more fish to eat here than I usually worked into the menu at home in PA. However, as you can see from the picture of Julie at our kitchen table, it is a little different than Mrs Paul's fishsticks of fish fillets.lol Usually we are eating it out of the community dish with 5 or other hands dipping in. This day we decided to take some rice up to our apartment and add a salad. This whole fish was the piece we were given
Count your many blessings and don't forget to thank God for all His many provisions for you.
Be blessed and be a blessing!
Mim in Mali
Hi Mim! Jeremy again! I tried to call Ray, but apparently I have the wrong number for him. Can you give me a call when you get this? I would like to stop by there in Yiramadio to see how you are helping out in Mali! 77 68 six eight 1 four. Thanks!
ReplyDelete