Heat, Dust and Uncertainty

Keita has left for Segou.

The thermometer shows  35 Celcius in my bedroom.

Great dust clouds are whipped up at the passing of a horse and cart or a moped. Most colours have disappeared and all is becoming a uniform pale ochre.  I go riding with Petit Bandit late afternoon across the great dusty plains, then  I sit alone on my sunset terrace watching the Djenne boys at their football games- little stick figures like a Laurie painting, surrounded by halos of dust with the Great Mosque behind.

After the excitement of the fashion show and the TV companies all has gone quiet. There is nothing on the horizon to work towards, and an unaccustomed feeling of abandonment and lack of direction has taken hold.

What will happen next? What should I do? Can I stay on here? For the first time since I arrived in Djenne, I am beginning to doubt my presence here. Everything was so clear before, now I don’t know...