Obama-mania Hits Mali

Craig and I joked that Mali's capital, Bamako, should be renamed to Obamako. We expected to find plenty of Obama supporters in Mali, but sometimes they came in the most unexpected of places.

As soon as we landed in the Bamako airport, we spotted an Obama T-shirt on one of the locals. We were brought to our hotel, and there in the lobby was another Obama T-shirt. Obama's book was in the window of the little book and newspaper shop in the lobby.

We went to Sangha - Dogon country. All of the houses are made of mud, and there is no electricity or running water. But what do we see on the door to one of the houses? An Obama/Biden bumper sticker.



Our Malian guide Baini had Obama's picture as the wallpaper on his cell phone. And we saw at least two other people who had also done this. As we walked through markets, people would hear our accents and would say in a sing-song voice "Ba-rack-o-ba-ma!!" giving us the thumbs up or a handshake.



We bought some Dogon handicrafts from a man sporting an Obama pin. We gave our hearty approval and the vendor at the next stall raced over to show us the Tuareg-style bracelet he had fashioned out of silver which bore Obama's name. I couldn't resist - a hand-made Obama bracelet from Mali...I bought it on the spot. They told us that they had all gathered around the hotel's satellite TV, staying up all night to watch the election results. They quoted his speeches for us, and told us how proud they were that Malian musicians Amadou & Mariam had been invited to perform at the inauguration.



While driving through Bamako on our last day in Mali, we passed a storefront which bore a poster of Obama's smiling face. What a fabulous time to visit Africa...at the dawn of the first African American Presidency. Malians are every bit as proud and happy as Americans are at this historic time.