Sushi in the Savanna

This weekend actually ended with sushi, so I shouldn't lead with it. But the picture is fun, and I shouldn't have to present my weekend in chronological order, right?

Two especially awesome things happened since the last time I went to work. Friday night, I went to see Samba Toure at the CCF. He totally lived up to his reputation as a Malian bluesman, mixing styles. Here's one of my favorite songs that he played:



Then Sunday was a fun field trip with some coworkers. We went to Koulikouro for a hike to see where Soumanguro finally disappeared after his battle with Sundiata. I'd love to tell this medieval Malian story, but I fear I won't do it justice. You can read more here. It's historically interesting. It's socio-culturally interesting. It's economically interesting. Basically, read Sundiata, because that wiki article does NOT do it justice -- you can probably get it at your library -- and then read a few more footnotes about what came after.

Here are some photos of the Niger River and the hike that followed:

It's definitely hotter out now than it was just six weeks ago during the last coworker field trip. The hot season is coming. This last week was the first time I've turned on an air conditioner outside my bedroom.

And it also feels like the humidity has gone up a bit, though that could just be in my head. We're now awaiting the mango rains, which will be followed by mango season, which will be followed by the *real* hot season.

I've decided to stay focused on the awesome mangoes. Not the awesome temperatures.

After the hike, we went to the local market, where we were each assigned a different item, in Bambara, to find and buy. I found my incense burner fine, but the problem was finding someone who could make change! The woman who helped me find the incense burner eventually just gave up -- she bought me the burner herself. It took me a while to figure out what was going on. After that I went and bought some garlic from her. But, yeah, very nice.

I also stocked up on some sweet mangoes and an avocado, which brings me to the most important part of the trip: FOOD!

We went to an awesome restaurant on the side of the road, in between Bamako and Koulikouro, where there was much deliciousness to be had. As alluded to in the headline of this post, we were given the opportunity to order sushi ahead of time. And, of course, I was down for that! (This picture is not sushi at all, but dessert, in keeping with the last-things-first theme of this post.)

The sushi was yummy too -- my favorite was an avocado-grapefruit nigiri that I've never had before. Not only was it a really interesting flavor combination, but it just *looked* really interesting. Good times.

Sole medaillons in buerre blanc + petit legumes followed. And then coffee and a bunch of desserts. We ended up going in on them, so everyone could get a little bit of everything. And boy, am I glad we did. Above, you see this awesome chocolate custard coconut pie pastry thingie that hit the spot. And below you see my two favorites -- strawberry melba and strawberry cheesecake.

So yeah, good times, good company, good weekend. I even used the pool for the first time, properly. (I'd taken dips in it twice, but honestly just hopped in and hopped out.) There are plans in the works to paint the house and I may even just get my home life cleaned up and organized. Hope springs eternal. And sometimes, just sometimes, so does sushi in a landlocked semi-desert.