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Archive for March, 2006

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The Brightest Diamond in the Roughest Mine

Tuesday, March 28th, 2006

After a sleepless night scheming and a sweaty day spent plotting with black market bankers, I had to admit defeat.

I was stuck in Mopti, Mali with a pitiful cache of cash – and facing a country that lacked functioning international ATMs, would not touch travellers checks and didn’t “do” credit cards.  And so I found myself emailing home:  “Hey Mom, did you know Western Union wires money to Timbuktu?”  

This trip is nothing if not humbling.

[read on]

Posted in Travel | 4 Comments »

Ghana, Burkina, Hasenfeffer Incorporated

Thursday, March 9th, 2006

What’s with all my references to vintage television today, I’m unsure - let’s blame it on the anti-Malarial medication.

Actually, the names of countries in West Africa have always sounded to me like mysterious or sordid diseases — like STDs or that condition where you poison and injure your children for sympathy? You know, like - “I got the worse case of Togo from the towels in the Y locker room,” or “It’s really sad, his Burkina Faso has become totally debilitating. He doesn’t even recognize me anymore.”

But anyway, enough rambling. Let’s get back to our story.

[read on]

Posted in Travel | 1 Comment »

Welcome Back Cotter…

Thursday, March 9th, 2006
Hey there - remember me?! I'm pretty certain the only audience I have left at this point is comprised of my creditors and people in need of organ transplants who were guiltily hoping only my kidneys would emerge from West ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Travel | 1 Comment »