A little Mali in MtP

My dear friend ari has come back from Mali. yay! well sort of yay. yay for us. not so yay for mali. In any event we cooked some terrific food and ate on the front porch. as people walked by some came for a visit. our next door neighbor, a retired professor, led by his life-loving dog elmo, joined us and we shared stories of mali, development issues, dogs, beit mishpacha, and of course, project muso.
Apparently this is how things work in Mali, you sit outside, eat, and invite people to sit and share food and drink with you. they stay and schmooze for a while and then go on there way. what a neat system!