by phil | May 14, 2013 | Mali
Earlier this year, I was emailed by a Malian woman named Coumba. She was trying to get in contact with Bruce Whitehouse about a post he had written, in which I was quoted. His post linked to my site and she ended up writing to me thinking that I had authored...
by phil | May 2, 2013 | thoughts, W. Africa
As the words were coming out, I knew I was making a mistake. I knew because I had made the same mistake before, in front of the same friend whose eyes were now widening. “Hεrε sira?” (did you pass the night in peace?). Under most circumstances, this is an...
by phil | Apr 17, 2013 | Mali
After Bankoni and behind Djelibougou, is a neighborhood that straddles the sprawling tentacles of Bamako and the villages that lie just beyond the hills. I didn’t have any reason to go to Nafaji until Sophie put me in contact with a dancer at Yeredon, a...
by phil | Apr 3, 2013 | Mali, W. Africa
I recently wrote a post on How to Draw Camels about what I’ve been up to in Bamako over the past month. You can check it out here. I haven’t had time to write the final chapter in my Yopougon Toits Rouges saga (see part 1 and part 2), so in lieu of another...
by phil | Mar 21, 2013 | Cote D'Ivoire
The following is part 2 of a piece on Toits Rouges, a neighborhood in the Yopougon quartier of Abidjan. I have spent a lot of time in this neighborhood over the past several years. I hope this offers an accurate picture of that place. Click here to read part 1. Both...
by phil | Mar 5, 2013 | W. Africa
lounging with a Tuareg family from Timbuktu in Bobo-Dioulasso I have not yet posted the sequel to the piece on toits rouges. I was traveling to Burkina Faso, attending the FESPACO film festival and spending a few days in Bobo. I will finish that post up in the next...
