fun with tuaregs

I spent this afternoon sitting with some Tuareg guys watching as they turned a giant piece of cowhide into a beautiful purple belt. I was looking for someone to make me gris gris, a charm that you wear for good luck or protection, and was led to this leather worker stall. The guy invited me to sit, his apprentice made me tea as the guy scraped and dyed and cut and glued and braided this thing in front of me. We talked about Timbukto, which is where he's from (yes it's a real place, you can go on camel rides for a night in the Sahara but every now and then the Tuareg--they're this very independent nomadic tribe--kidnap foreigners to show that they're still independent), we talked about Guinea and the problems there, some other guy came up and borrowed the leather worker's shoes so he could run an errand...basically it was a day hanging out in West Africa, and I loved it, and I am going to miss it. What a bizarre and beautiful place.

Anyways I'm leaving tomorrow morning to visit Dogon country, this amazing region where the people live in cliffside villages and hold tight to traditional practices. We'll be walking from village to village for a week, me with all my worldly possessions on my back. Maybe I can rent a donkey. Man I love being able to say things like that and mean it!

K bye for now and I hope to have fabulous updates in the very near future :)