This morning I finally found the strength to meditate an hour. I really need to meditate these days but cannot seem to find the energy to do so. Lame excuse, I know. Anyhow, I will try to progressively get back to it.
After meditation and some laundry, I finally made it out of my room. It was already quite hot outside. And the thick dusty air here makes it even hotter.
I went and purchased my usual bread and bananas to make my breakfast, and was set on walking around the big mud mosque and find a spot on the bank of the lake to eat.
However, behind the mosque, as I was looking for a street access to the lake side, I bumped into this intersection art/furniture store, which because of the crisis now mostly sells cooked foods, and got saluted by its owner, a Guinean named Adama, in front of the gate. For some reason I don't know, I stopped and started chatting with him. He seemed very well educated and spoken. At first he just wanted to show me what used to be his atelier and boutique. Then we sat down on a chair and the showed me photos of old creations he made and events he was part of.
We said Hello at around 10am. I left his house by 6pm or so.
We basically spent the entire day chatting about tourism, about art and decoration. About ideas for the tea house he used to have on the first floor and will renovate when tourism starts again. About other business ideas I had for him. The whole day. I bought lunch from his wife. He showed me some of the jewelry he had in stock. Beautiful pieces. I even bought one for my mom, because I liked it but also because I wanted to help Adama and his family. He gave me another piece as a gift and also so that I can use both pieces when in Morocco to try and maybe fins him some contacts who might be interested in his art. Who knows?
The roof top of his house has a fantastic view over the city, the lake, and even the big mosque.
Late in the afternoon, the sky suddenly turned black. We went up to chat and watch the light change. It was spectacular to see how the clouds and send storm were progressively sort of eating up the whole city and spitting back tons of rain over it. An incredible sight. Almost paralyzing because it was so beautifully cataclysmic.
And in a second, a diluvial rain was pouring over the city. Something unbelievable. Like a dirt brown wall blocking the sight of the sky and the horizon.
We sat by the windows to watch the street life change, the kids run naked and play in the water, the adults trying to run back home and get as little wet as possible, and the muddy water level rising and rising slowly taking over the whole street.
What a moment!
Finally short after the rain stopped and the street life started again, almost as if nothing had happened.
We walked out. He accompanied me to check out the times and prices for the vans going to Djenne tomorrow and then he dropped me off at my hotel.
Later on, after resting for a bit at the hotel and waiting for Mamadou, the kid from last night whom I was supposed to help again tonight, who never showed up, I went back out to Adama's house to have dinner and spend a few more hours chatting about creative ideas. His house and his neighborhood are so relaxing and entertaining at the same time at night. The wind was blowing relatively strong. So it was just the right temperature.
By 10:30pm I was beat. My medicine is really knocking me out on and off throughout the day. Can't wait for the treatment to be over.
What an interesting day. Not necessarily productive or active in terms of sightseeing, but so fulfilling in terms of cultural and human interaction. I was missing some of that.
Voila...buenas noches.
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