jito ka so te jo

[a fearful person's home will never be built]

Today we woke up for a two-hour soutraman ride to Siby to hike up the highest point in Mande country. I'd never been to this part of Mali and spending the day hiking, jumping, and climbing the Arch of Kamandjan was just incredible and so much fun to experience with some of those staying at Yeredon from Brown, but also Sali and M'ba (our dance instructors), Sekou (our translator and resident expert on everything), and Ali (a friend we picked up on the way who is also a brilliant Malian painter). Some parts of the climb were actually kind of terrifying with very narrow and steep parts of rock for my feet and weight and balance. In some parts of the climb, I would slowly and steaduly butt-scoot or baby-step or move at the pace of a two-toed sloth while Sekou or any of the Malians would just skip by barefoot and without hesitation! It got me to thinking about fear and hesitation and whether my Malian friends were more skilled in cimbing the rocks of the Arch of Kamandjan or if they just had no fear about the feat. They claimed they just weren't afraid and I deliberated a lot about how much I might be restricted in my day-to-day life, my achievements, and my relationships with others by my own self-constructed hesitation and fear. I'm going to try and keep this is mind as I work on my drawing board for my life goals and aspirations but also in my artistic and advocacy work in Mali this summer.

All in all, reaching the top of the mountain, taking a breath of air, and gazing over Mande country was awesome and gave me a lot to think about and reflect on. What a day!  I need some rest!