Anyway, we are alive and well in the beautiful town of Djenné! Right now I am sitting on the roof of our host family's house, watching the sunset. The past few days have been extremely eventful, and many amazing pictures have been taken. Unfortunately, the internet dongle thing from hell will not permit us to upload pictures. Damnit. Google Image search Djenné, and Djenné Djeno, and you should get some pretty nice pictures of where we are!
We left Bamako on Monday at 7:00 am with Bou, and arrived in Djenné at 3:00 pm. It was a very long, hot, visually stunning and occasionally terrifying ride. Large buses bomb along the narrow road at top speeds, tearing around corners and sending livestock, people, and other vehicles scattering. Many times, the four of us saw death approaching on swift wheels only to be spared by mere inches. Finally, we reached the ferry that crosses the Bani River and brings you to the west side and the floodplains on which Djenné is located. Because it is the rainy season now, the town is a virtual island surrounded by marshland.
We have spent the past several days meeting and getting to know the people who work at the Cultural Mission of Djenné. Mamadou Samaké and Idrissa Oumar have been extremely helpful, introducing us to Djenné’s political leaders and the elders of the nearby villages. We have also discussed the details of our work here with them. In addition to our survey, we would like to help them with any of their ongoing projects. Today, Samaké proposed that we help prepare exhibits in the new museum that is being built (it’s almost finished – exciting!). We will be writing out explanations of the artifacts in French and English, and we will be taking pictures of the many sites that surround Djenné and providing explanations of their importance. One of the Cultural Mission’s main concerns is that of site preservation. Many of the ancient towns in the Djenné area are being destroyed, both by natural conditions and by human action and habitation upon them. Samaké and Oumar hope that by informing the citizens of Djenné of the importance of such sites, the people will develop pride for their ancient heritage and the desire to protect its remains.
We hope to begin our work at the museum next week. We have also spoken to Samaké about getting somebody to drive us out to the area we wish to survey in order to do some preliminary reconnaissance. The area is huge, partially underwater, and far away – complicating factors when you only have three people, no boat, and no car. We’re exploring our options right now about how to go about starting the survey.
Yesterday Oumar took us out to Rod and Susan McIntosh’s site, Djenné Djeno. It is absolutely amazing. A huge mound of ancient mud brick rising above the water, a mile wide, completely covered in artifacts. Beautifully decorated pot sherds of every size and shape, grinding stones, burial urns with bones sticking out of them, remnants of thick mud brick walls… Kirsten, Wade and I were in archaeological raptures. I have been sold on West African archaeology forever. This place is unutterably cool.
We’ve been having an awesome time here! Djenné is a fascinating place to explore, and the people are wonderful. In the mornings we go out and walk around the town, sometimes guided by people from the Cultural Mission. During the hottest part of the day (after lunch until about 5 pm), we hang out in our mud brick compound, reading and sleeping like many of the locals. Our mosquito nets are lifesavers – literally. It’s quite nice to be able to retreat to a place where the bugs can’t get at you – suckers! In the evenings we occasionally go to a nearby hotel – the Djenné-Djeno – that is run by a Swedish woman called Sophie. She is the only other longterm white resident of Djenné, and completely understands our growing frustrations with the hordes of small children who scream “toubabou!” at us wherever we go. Her hotel is absolutely beautiful, with a great view of the town and the greatest treat of the day – Coca-Cola! Sophie even invited us for a welcome dinner on Wednesday night. We had sunset cocktails on the roof, ate a delicious meal accompanied by French wine, and enjoyed great company. All in all, it’s been an incredible five days here. We’re looking forward to the coming weeks, and the work that we’ll be starting soon. I hope that in the next blog post, I'll be able to put up a few more pictures of where we're living and what we're doing. Until then, hope you're all having a great time in the first world!
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