Alas! I mislaid my camera in all the commotion, and the promised pictures from the historic event: the first ever fashion show in Djenne, were taken by Papa our chef on his telephone.. Nevertheless, the fashionshow was a triumph! So much so that the Danish Embassy, who had taken the hotel over, and on whose request the fashion show was held, have invited the whole team down to repeat the show in Bamako at the embassy in the near future, possibly in connection with the Danes taking over the presidency of the European Union in January. More about this later of course, should this come to fruition...
It has been a mad week, with much fun, some of it involving the said Danes. On Thursday night I and Mory Cisse, the Prefect of Djenne, trundled off to Mopti in his air conditioned 4x4 from the prefecture. Travelling with the prefect is much recommended. The 'bac' (ferry) stands to attention, waiting for one, and the journey takes a fraction of the time. We two made up the Djenne delegation, invited to a cocktail party held by the Danish Embassy at La Maison Rouge. The Danes have been escorting a group of important Danish government people around Mali, showing the many different projects that the Danes support.
I was very excited, since I never ever get the opportunity to wear my high healed shoes.
Menwhile, at the manuscript library, the work room is up and running, a pleasant place to be now with the air conditioning running and all the computers and cameras in place. We are beginning the real work tomorrow, the workers having been taught the intricacies of the digitisation techniques. More soon..