Keita has gone to Segou. Birgit is on her way to Ghana. The Christmas decorations have come down, with that perennial sense of nostalgia it gives me. It was fun this year too. Inescapably ,the Question presents itself: what is going to happen? Will I be here next year? Can we survive? The end of year accounts make grim reading, both for the hotel and MaliMali. But everything is dwarfed in comparison to the the largest question mark of all, which hangs over Mali itself. What will this year bring? I cannot even begin to guess. Mali feels like a rudderless nation now. The forced resignation of Diarra seemed to me to strip away even the pretence of legitimacy and adherence to a constitution, albeit an interim one. I am glad to be going to London for a couple of weeks. Leaving on 11th January for the celebration party for Princess Lulie at the Chelsea Arts Club.