The last six months in a nut shell.Paul and I ended our travels and moved back to Bloomington this past January.We found our self a cute little place downtown in the heart of Undergrad Party Ville. On average we are woken up in the middle of the night to the sounds of drunken cheering, loud music, breaking glass, and fighting about four times a week.Paul has been writing his dissertation and finished teaching an art appreciation class at IU.I have been working part time subbing for the public schools and teaching art class at the Boys & Girls Club.In my spare time I have been making pot holders, and bags.
05/07/2010
11/08/2009
Faces of Paris
In the Jardin Des Tuileries making faces with Ugo Rondinone's sculptures.
paul trying to bring sexy back
dad on the right
janet and the boat man
boing and his inner Persian
me
mark aka gopher boy
10/09/2009
09/30/2009
Italy trip
Our first sit down meal out side of Bamako. You can't get this stuff in Bamako.
Road trip to San Giovanni d'Asso. The hills of Tuscany were scattered with little villages.
Little village and an old Castle.
Paul and I were looking for a place to eat on our ride back into Florence. We pulled off the freeway to find some quick eats. We found an sign for the city center of the town Monteriggioni and followed it. It lead us to "the best preserved medieval town in Italy" dating back to the 13th century. The walls are a total length of about 570 meters and were built between 1213 and 1219. Except for some work done in the 16th century, very little work has been done to Monteriggioni's walls or buildings since they were first erected. Tuns of tourists visit the town daily. It also attracts architects, medieval historians, and archaeologists. We didn't find a Mc D's but we did find some expensive pasta and gelato.
Houses and pricey hotels in the Monteriggioni.
The Ponte Vecchio in Florence.
View of Florence from the Boboli Gardens
My new Duomo hat.
Paul and I in front of the Boboli Grotto.
Paul and I paid 8 euro each to go to the top of Brunelleschi's Dome. I warned Paul that I was nervous about the height, but I thought I could make the 463 steps to the top. I made it high enough to see the interior fresco up close. We were so high up I could not look up or down without feeling like my world was coming to an end. A spinning, hot, panicky feeling rushed over me and I knew then that there was no way I could make it to the very top exterior of the dome. I rushed for the exit. Paul tried to stop me and kept calling my name but then remembered you shouldn't talk loud in the church. I didn't look back, once I saw the sign that read Exit in ten different languages I was out of there.
tinny little people
Notice one of the three large cracks in the dome. Three reasons not go up there.
The Last Judgment
birds eye view from the top
Paul, living on the edge.
Our first and only affogato, gelato and espresso. Yum! Cost us $10 so it better be good.
Lounging in front of Santa Maria Novella
09/24/2009
Florence apartment
Good coffee every day, sometimes three or four times a day. I heart coffee. The bananas here are bad.
They have no taste. Nothing beats Bamako bananas
view from our bedroom
view from our kitchen
We think the apartment may have been a servant's or guardian's quarter back in the day. It has a little door and narrow staircase that leads you up to the apartment from the back yard.
inside the main building. behind the glass door is the little back yard and the little door that leads to the apartment.
Its a good price and close to everything.
09/20/2009
African bug vs European bug
Paul and I aren't in Bamako any more. We are now resting in Florence, Italy. Boy, are things done differently here. But, there is one thing that we can't seem to escape from.... the Mosquito. Paul and I were surprised to find our new little apartment came filled with mosquitos. The little Italian blood suckers have been waking us up in the night and biting us while we eat dinner. They don't move as fast or stealthy as their Malian relatives and their bite isn't as venomous. This makes them easier to kill and not as annoying as the ones in Bamako. Maybe we will escape their wrath when we make it to France.
Can you tell the African bug from the European?
08/28/2009
running out of time
Our time in Mali is winding down. Paul and I have sold all of our Malian possesions and moved out of the not so "Magnificent Apartment." We decided to spend our last 6 weeks with our friends Greg, Nana, and their daughter Kaya. They are from California and Burundi and have a huge house with a big pool and a cook. Our new location is a lot of fun we are just a short taxi ride over the old bridge to downtown and walking distance to one of Bamako's fancy big expensive grocery store for foreigners. We also have many restaurants and and even a lavish night club, No Stress, in the neighborhood.
Birthday Robbery
Last month on my birthday, I received a little birthday SURPRISE from a Malian plumber. Surprise! He stole my computer. The plumber came to our apartment the evening before my birthday explaining that the rental agency had sent him to fix our toilet and electricity. Paul was surprised the agency had finally sent someone. The plumber took a look at the toilet and said he would have to come back the next day, my birhtday, because he didn’t have the right tools. Paul explained that he would be out of the house but I could let him in to work on it. The next morning he started working on the toilet as I sat on the couch with my laptop watching him work in front of me. Long story short, he convinced me to go outside and show him were to turn the water off. He then went back into get a “tool” and stuck the laptop under his shirt and walked right past me as I was going back into the house. Surprise! Happy Birthday.
Since the Birthday incident I have talked to two other Americans that were robed of an Ipod and a laptop in a very similar manner.
07/09/2009
Let's Go Fly a Kite
I brought back four kites from the dollar store in the states. Last month, Paul and I had a little kite flying evening on our roof. Our neighbor Papus saw the kite and came up to help fly. I think every kid in the neighborhood could see the kite and we started hearing kids on other roof tops chanting things..not sure what they were saying but they seemed pretty excited. This last week we broke out the kites again. Ryan, one of our curent housemate, helped fly. Ryan and his girlfriend Candace are staying with us for the month while Candace, a friend and colleague of Paul's, does some research here.
So the second time around Ryan, Paul, and I told the gang of kids that were gathering in front of our apartment ka na sanfè, "to come upstairs." Oh man.. they kept pouring in. It was pretty cool how excited they were. I reverted back to Boys and Girls Club mode and started counting them. I couldn't stop myself, "12, 15, no 18, now we're at 21." At one point I counted 25 kids on the roof.....and surprisingly no one impaled themselves on all the exposed rebar.
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