Saturday, March 6, 2010

update

I’m pretty sure only Seinfeld could properly capture the comedy in my life. So my last bit of money was stolen, which left me with not even a a ‘tanna’ to my name (10 cents). As I’ve pointed out, food, housing, all that isn’t a problem. My only real need to maintain my sanity is phone credit. Kelly, my Peace Corps friend who lives 800k away, has been my lifeline this past year and a half. We were sent to Madagascar together with high hopes and overwhelmingly good intentions. The military coup saw us evacuated together in dismay with lingering, unfulfilled aspirations. We spent two weeks in South Africa mentally preparing for Peace Corps round two. Then, we were transferred to Mali together excited and full of nerves, wondering if we could do it all again. Well, at least we had each other for potential pity parties. So when I was out of money, I wasn’t surprised when she sent me $6 worth of credit via the phone. Of course, she’s struggling herself. So when she ran out of credit the following day, I simply sent her back a bit of the credit she’d sent me. Spending the little money we have in slightly superfluous ways, but then helping each other out even when we're both broke- its so wonderfully characteristically Malian of us.