Why Carrie Bradshaw would love Bamako:

Lately, I’ve been giving up the last remnants of home, silly little things that are evidence of my time here in Mali. For instance, I just consumed the very last of the food I had brought with me in September. It was a peanut butter and chocolate chip granola bar, something I had stashed away at the bottom of my backpack for desperate situations. On the day that I unwrapped it, nothing warranted its consumption other than the fact that I wanted just finish my snack stock.

It was stale.

It tasted exactly like something that had been living at the bottom of a backpack for 2 months. Is there a lesson to be learned about hording things for the future and never really enjoying the present? Currently, I’m in love with these Metro chocolate bars that cost about 40 cents and these short-bread oreo type cookies that cost 50 cents a package. The supermarket is way too close to where I’m now living.

My big step towards becoming Malian was choosing a new pair of sandals after walking through my GAP pair (which, for the GAP, held up much longer than expected). In the markets, it seems like 1 out of 3 products sold are flip flops, coming in infinite colors and sizes. And at 500 CFA each ($1), you could buy one for everyday of the week should you choose (I did not). I could have waited a little longer for holes to appear in the soles, but was suffering from a lack of arch support.
So, without any further hesitation, I’d like to introduce the newest member of my currently small and dirty wardrobe, my Burberry flip flops: