What I Will Find In 2009

(06-01-09)

I spent the first week of the new year in Kayes, before traveling to Bamako for a Peace Corps training. Since some of our friends, fellow volunteers, were in town, all the women, Ashley, Sam and I walked to 'Restaurant MacDonald' for the only item on the menu, a chawarma plate, Malian-style. (Of course, we brought dinner back for our significant others.) After dinner, we dropped Ashley at her apartment, then Sam and I continued along one of the main roads (one of the only paved roads in Kayes).

When I am out and about in Kayes, I try to greet everyone. So naturally, as we were walking, I greeted two older women sitting on the side of the road. After greeting, the older of the two women motioned for me to come closer. She was sitting with both of her hands in her lap in a way that I could tell she wanted to show me something. As I came closer, she slowly opened a piece of tattered cloth that contained a small pile of shells. Immediately, I knew she wanted to read my fortune. (Just the week before, Amy, another volunteer, told me about how she had her fortune read by shells in Dogon.) Without hesitation, I sat down in the chair next to her and explained to Sam that I would just be a minute. Right next to the woman, there was a white bucket with a lid (like the ones that contain paint), she began throwing the shells onto the lid of the bucket like she was rolling dice. It took both Sam and I to try and decipher the woman's mixture of Bambara and French words in the exact same sentence, but we managed to understand at least four parts of my fortune. According to her, (and pertaining to my not so immediate future) I will find two children, a boy first and then a girl. In 2009, I will find a lot of work. I will find a lot of money. And most importantly, I will find a good year. (Ironically, Sam received the exact same reading as me except she will find a girl first and then a boy.) It only cost me 50 cents to find out that I will find all of these good things. (Yes, the woman continuously used the verb to find during my reading.) I can't wait to see what I will actually find in 2009.