our walk

this afternoon we decided to go for a little walk to get to know the city of bamako a little better. we were out for a couple hours going up and down random streets and practicing greeting people in bamarakan. it was a fun little walk and some of the bigger streets had really wide sidewalks that ellen could rumble around on. the funny thing is that the sidewalks of mali double as culverts. all the rain water funnels to the hollow area under the sidewalks. they lay concrete slabs over the top and that creates the sidewalk itself. there are some cracks between each slab and some are larger than others. well, ellen will freeze when she comes to one that is larger than an inch. she can be walking along and screeeech!!!! she'll stop right at the edge and look up at us with terror in her eyes. as if to say, "mom and dad, save me from the black pit of torture and torment." it's really funny. we literally have to pick her up and carry her over some of the bigger ones. you can see that in one of the pictures.
some of you have been wondering about tessa. she is great. we see the doctor that works at the US embassy. USA #1. it's kinda' funny because in the states these diseases are seen as death seeking african beasts, and not to downplay them because they do kill, but the african people are like, "oh, you have malaria. gargle salt water and see me in the morning." they really aren't worried about it cuz it happens all the time and thy know how to treat it.
so there you have it. tessa is pretty much back to normal and the baby is doing great as well.