Last night I was riding my bike with two fellow Peace Corps volunteers, (going to get pizza!!) when at the only stop sign in Segou we got pulled over. ON OUR BIKES! The police officer starts yelling in Bambara, so I just smile and nod having no idea what is going on. He makes us get off our bikes and walk them to the police station to be held. Our violation, not having a flashlight attached to our bike. First off, we were on a well lit street. Second, it wasn’t yet dark enough to require a light. Third, we were racially profiled (being white we are assumed to have tons of money), none of the other biking Malians were pulled over for not having a flashlight.
So the three of us calmly walk our bikes over to the station where the officer puts our bike in a graveyard of collected motorcycles. We ask to talk to the chief on duty and I call our safety and security officer for Peace Corps. I explain the situation to him, and he talks to the chief of police over the phone. As soon as the phone is handed back to me, the chief asks for our names, we all give our Malian names. Some bean jokes (bean jokes are a way to joke with people, eating beans = farting, hilarious in all cultures) were exchanged and they told us to walk our bikes back home and find some flashlights. A bana (Finished).
We get our bikes back, thank the officers kindly for letting us go so quickly and walk a few blocks past the intersection where we were pulled over, find our flashlights (you NEVER go anywhere with out at least one flashlight) and bike to the hotel where the pizza is, have a few drinks, enjoy the luxury of pizza and laugh at our luck.
That is the story of my one and only moving violation.
2 comments:
Yeah, same thing has happened to me on several occasions in Segou-usually just before it's actually dark. God bless Alkalifa for saving our rears all the time!
where were the police to handle the jay-walking donkey???
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