North North

Cardinal directions develop different meanings from place to place and it is fun to see the way individuals understand the words North, South, East, and West.  Montana is divided between a mountainous west and the flat east.  California has a colder more rural north, and the opposite in the South.  Throughout all of America, the term "The South" carries a very specific connotation.  The region it represents is defined just as much by history and culture as it is by actual geographic location.  Virginia is in "The South" while New Mexico is not, even though New Mexico is in the southern part of the country and Virginia is not so much.  Even most of Florida isn't considered "The South" since the culture of Miami and Orlando don't fit the definition.  You can see North, South, East, West carry strong and strange meanings all over the world.  Florence, Italy insists it is not Northern Italy even though it is clearly in the Northern half of the country.  Then there are the terms like "The Middle East," which are very Eurocentric and don't really make sense.

Mali has a very strange idea of 'North.'  This is probably because no one lives in the northern half of Mali, and because the country is shaped oddly.  Kayes region is West, Bamako and Koulikoro (and maybe segou) regions are central (even though it is not far from the border of Guinea), Sikasso is South, and everything else is North.

The Orange line from Bamako to Mopti were 12 hours on Bus.  You can see Dogon country to the East of Mopti, a trip I will leave for in a couple hours.  The 'no go zone" line cuts across the northern parts of Kayes, Koulikoro, Segou, and Mopti.

 Mopti is the region highlighted on the Map.  It is where I will be spending my 2 years.  When I explain to people in Bamako (It is represented by the tiny dot of a region) that I will be going to Mopti they say that it is so far away, way up north.  I think this is hilarious since so much of Mali is further north still (the regions of Timbiktu, Gao, and Kidal).  So I like to ask if Timbiktu is far and Malians will say that it is far far far...  I ask if Gao and Kidal are far and their response gives off an impression that going there would be impossible.

The strange thing is that It is impossible to for me to go to the far North without breaking Peace Corps rules.  A line exists that cuts across the southern third of Mali, and crossing the line is deemed unsafe by Peace Corps for security reasons, and doing so could result in termination of service.  I have heard of previous volunteers getting kicked out of Peace Corps for traveling North and getting caught.  Apparently a branch of Al Qada operates in Northern Africa and the result is a closing of Peace Corps in Niger and Mauritania, and the creation of this 'No Go Zone' in Mali.

Today I spent 12 miserable hours on bus from Bamako to Mopti, 'the North'.  Even though Mopti looks like it should be called central Mali, it is characterized as being in the North because it is so far from Bamako and towards the Sahara.  And even though it doesn't compare to Timbiktu, Gao, and Kidal, it terms of northerness and isolation from Bamako, Peace Corps restrictions make it (and Dogon country expecially) the furthest North (and East) a volunteer can go.

So even though it doesn't make sense on a map, I can say "I am going to the North to do my Peace Corps Service."