Money problems and marriage proposal !

  Timbuktu, Mali
Tuesday, March 3, 2009

It's the middle of our second week in Mali, and there's a problem. There were no banks at all in Djenne, and when we visit the bank in Timbuktu they will only change Euros. They won't give cash advances on my card.
Sue and Steve 'phone a friend' in Hay who will send money by Western Union, and they will lend some to me
( I spent too much money on bogolans in Djenne) but their friend has all his cards blocked and not enough money arrives to cover my hotel bills too.
Hmmmm. I wonder how many decades I'll have to wash up in the hotel to earn my keep. Will I ever see Cradley and Home End Farm again? Just when things are looking a bit bleak , my mobile phone springs to the rescue and suddenly picks up a signal ( It had been lying dormant since we left Mopti) I text a very good friend :
No money and can't get any on card to pay  hotel bill. Please send money by Western Union.
( This is a very good friend!) At first there's no response and I think my text is lost in the sandy air over the Sahara. Then later that evening my phone rings. My friend Chris asks suspiciously 'Who's that?' She thinks that someone may have stolen my phone and is trying to extract money. ( Was there a news story about a scam asking for money to secure the release of a kidnapped Jack Straw in Nigeria, when he was in the House of Commons all the time?)I explain the situation and she arranges to ring me back when she's done it, to give me the reference number. Phew! What a relief! Chris phones half an hour later, and she's made the payment to Western Union over the phone. The money will be in Timbuktu in 15 minutes! She gives me the reference number and then a question which I must answer before they will give me the money at the Western Union Office. It must be something that I will know, but nobody else in Africa will know the answer. ' What's the name of our dog?' Chris says ' And you mustn't say anything in case anyone is listening to our conversation.'
'MY dog?' I ask.
'No, OUR dog!' Chris replies.
My mind goes totally blank. I can see their dog in my mind, but I can't for the life of me remember her name. This is like Rumplestiltskin!
'Give me the first letter', I say
'A'
'Oh, ABBY!!!' I shout out with relief. Chris is exasperated on the other end of the phone.... and I just have to hope that no one else is going to get to my money before I do!


The next day we were in meetings all morning, and I agreed to act as a chaperone in the afternoon to Freya and her new friend Bijoux, but on condition that someone would show me where the Western Union office was and I could collect my money first. I was directed down a narrow sandy street to a scruffy doorway with a Western Union sign on it. Sand on the floor and a scruffy barrier.A sleeping man lept to his feet and I explained ( in French!) that I had come to collect my money. Name, passport, the reference number and the question. Great! He'd got my wad of CFA francs in his hand( there are 750 to Ł1 so it's quite a bundle). MORE questions!
'What is the name of your hotel?'   La Maison
'Are you married?'   No
'Will you marry me?' Umm. Thank you for asking but I'm really busy today
Reluctantly he handed over my money, but when I reached to take it he grasped my hand with a flourish and kissed it!  They don't do that at HSBC in Malvern.

Sand dune running!

Freya and Bijoux

So I spent a busy afternoon running up and down desert sand dunes with Freya and Bijoux. ( Well, they ran and I waded and lost my shoes ... it's really difficult to run on soft, deep, dry sand!) At the edge of the town it's the Sahara desert  and there are camels 'parked' , recovering from their trek on the salt route, and donkeys and goats wandering around freely - I'm told they all know where they belong and will go home. When we were hot and tired we went to a little cafe near the Peace Monument for a cold drink.There was a civil war in Mali, sparked by a Tuareg Rebellion in the 1990's, and hundreds of people were killed. Things calmed down when a lasting peace agreement was made and it culminated in the ceremonial burning of 3000 weapons in Timbuktu, and the monument, apparently funded by the Chinese government , was built on the spot, and some of the weapons are welded into the structure.

That evening there was yet another dinner on the flat roof of a house. Other guests included Tim Short, film maker,and two women who are making a film for the BBC, together with four sixth formers from the school in Hay. They are having an exciting time, meeting their Timbuktu penfriends and having so many new experiences. The lad sitting next to me blanches as the whole roasted goat dish appears. He admits that it's been a very challenging week gastronomically as he's vegetarian. Lucky he's only here for a week or he'd waste away!
The party breaks up early as there are a few enormous drops of rain which splat in the sand. Our Timbuktu friends are amazed- this isn't the time of year for rain - it must be an auspicious sign connected to our visit from the rainy country!