In my previous post I mentioned that we had bought H-Mama a phone to play the Stories on and that we would "get it to her one way or another." What I couldn't tell you yet was that we were GOING TO GO SEE HER!!!!!! We weren't sure if we'd get to or not with everything going on in the country, but ultimately we just knew that that's what we'd been told to do. We prayed and prayed and prayed...Nafi made a few phone calls...and it was decided: we would go.
Abby and I pretty much leapt out of bed on Thursday morning and waited (patiently, even though Nafi says Abby was waiting outside her bedroom door tapping her feet) for 6:00 to roll around so we could go. I was so excited and also nervous, maybe even a little nauseated, the way you get when you're about to see somebody you haven't seen for a long time and you're not sure how it will go. Even just driving on the road toward Yosemite (what we call our village, where H-Mama lives) brought a rush of memories...good and, well, not so good. The plan was to stop in Bread Town to grab lunch, buy some rice, tea, and sugar, and to meet Max for him to go to Yosemite with us.
Nafi dropped us off on the side of the road so that we could hop out and run the errands while she got gas. Abby stopped off to get the egg sandwiches started (yum!) and Shasta and I started looking for a boutiki so we could buy the other stuff. As I was struggling to communicate with somebody, not being sure of whether to use French, Bambara, or Sunny...and not being all that great in any of them...someone tugged on my sleeve. I spun around (honestly, ready to give someone what-for) and landed face-to-face with Max! I screamed and fought the urge to hug him...and slapped hands instead. We went through all the greetings and he came to the boutiki with us...which didn't hurt the negotiating either. :)
We got in the truck, distributed the sandwiches and drinks and began the trip north to Yosemite. During this part of the trip we covered up as much as we could with our shawls and even sunglasses. The more we could blend in in this particular area the better. We gave Max the phone we had purchased for him and he was SO EXCITED. He actually kissed it at one point! We showed him how the Stories were on it and how he could share them when he came in contact with Sunny people.
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| Nafi can't pass up a roadside watermelon stand. We bought 10. |
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| Egg sandwich and Coke from Bread Town, yo! |
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| Abby showing Max how to play the Stories on his new phone. |
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| We love a covert op :) |
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| This non-functional "bridge" means we're about halfway to Yosemite! |
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