Coup D' etat in Mali

There has been a coup here in Mali, and understandably,  things are unsettled.  The post that I had started earlier this week, "Christmas Child and Campaign Unrest", I finished & posted on Wed night, when we knew there was some unrest, but defore the coup became known.
Now, 3 days later, the information that we have is mostly the same as you can hear on BBC.  There were gunshots heard in many parts of the city over the first 2 days and nights, and some reported looting. We also heard it reported that some of the soldiers had confiscated cars at the bridges crossing the Niger River, ("keep your 4 x 4 at home", emails suggested) and demanded goods and fuel at boutiques or gas stations that were open. There has been a curfew announced that is to last til Tues am at 7:30, at which time Malians are supposed to be free to return to work. Some reports say that the curfew has been lifted during the day from 6am-6pm. It helps to know that there was a scheduled holiday on both Friday and Monday, so Tuesday morning makes sense.
YOU might even have acess to some things on U-tube and fb that is more than we know here, where we are confined to our base.  Following US Embassy reccommendation, we are 'sheltering in place', staying put but watching and listening.
BBC broadcast an interview today that they were granted with Captain Sanogare, the reputed leader of this 'military coup', which has also been referred to as 'action of renegade soldiers' or 'a mutiny'.

The Presidential Palace stands high on a bluff overlooking the Niger River and the City of Bamako from the North. There was a protest march announced to be taking place on Wednesday March 21, 2012, proceeding from Kati, a military base area N of the City and of the Presidenial Palace, and ending at the Presidential Palace. 
There was also 'a remembrance for the martyrs of 1991'  scheduled to take place in downtown Bamako on Thursday.  Our school decided to cancel classes for Thursday, since many parents had had difficulty getting across town to pick their kids up from the school in a timely fashion when this kind of thing happensed earlier. It really was more about convenience than about danger to students at that point. hence my joke about substituting 'Political unrest days'  for  'snow days'. ( Not so great , in retrospect.)
When the announcement of the coup came thru on Thursday, it all seemed surreal! This kind of thing does not happen in Mali, or not for the last 20 years at any rate.  Mali has been held up as a model of democracy at work in Africa, and the attendant stability is at least one of the reasons that it has been the fastest growing city in Africa for the last while.  Elections were scheduled to take place in just over a month, and there were probably 12 or 14 candidates vying for the position of President. so a coup to get to the will of the people rings hollow .

Sleep overtakes me, more tomorrow.
Stay with God, so that you can continue to Bless and be blessed!
miminMali