Tennille, Nicole, and I walked downtown to the Art Market in Bamako (the
capital of Mail). That is when we met Melvin. Seeing us white people, this
younger looking black man chased us down the sidewalk asking us for help in
broken English and if he could talk to us. We stop. He continues to relate
to us how he is stranded in Bamako, arriving yesterday from Ghana on his
way to Morocco. He ran out of money in Bamako and needed to call his mom
in Philadelphia for her to wire him money, but he had no money to buy a
calling card. Melvin, by the way, is a native of Nairobi who was kicked
out his home due to political unrest and is now going to school in
Morocco. We quizzed him for awhile, skeptical of his story, but he
appeared trustworthy and knew what he was talking about. So we bought him
a calling card. Afterwards he said he would pray that God would be with us
for the rest of our lives. We then asked if he would want to pray with us
right then and he agreed and held out his hands to hold during prayer. It
was a remarkable experience.
So then we continued on our way to the Art Market. At this time, the art
market has mostly closed with only a few shops available to look at. Right
away, a man gets our attention and takes us to his shop and opens it hoping
to sell us something. That is where met Jazz. He came up a little later,
saying he recognized us from the previous night. We explained we did not
have money, but perhaps next month, after being paid again, we would
return. We got the first man's business card and went on our way. Jazz
then brought us to his leather shop to show us what he had for when we
return. Jazz also agreed to take us around the rest of the market and show
us some good shops. He took us to a shop selling Jimbe's and as we start
to leave another man yelled for us to come over as he wanted him and a few
friends to put on a little concert for us on the Jimbe's. Jazz said it was
okay and we excitedly agreed. They quickly got us chairs and told us to
sit, while about 4 or 5 of these guys started to jam on their drums. It
was so cool! Later, they got us girls to play on the Jimbe's and taught us
some rhythms/beats. Then they pulled us up to dance while they played and
it was so much fun! It is hard to describe how truly amazing this
experience really was. It was wonderful because there was no hustle and
bustle of the daytime barterer's and tourists. There was no rush to get
what you wanted and get out. There was just us, mingling with the natives,
enjoying what they enjoy, and laughing with them. it was almost like time
had stopped, and we just looked at each other, so proud of one another for
really getting in there and partaking in the moment. We soaked it up for
all it was worth.
