Abdoul is a friend of a friend of a friend, and I’ve had the great pleasure of staying with him in Bamako Mali over the last 3 days. My brother from another mother!
He’s so nice that he gave me his bed to crash on and he is sleeping on the floor. Before I arrived, he went to the store and fully stocked his fridge, bought me toiletries and even a traditional Malian shirt. He’s been driving me all around town and won’t let me spent a dime. This is hospitality at its finest.
Abdoul would literally take a bullet for me and we just met for the first time 72 hours ago. From the photo it looks like we have nothing in common — he’s tall, black and Muslim, I’m short, white and Jewish — but we’ve deeply connected over several games of chess, eating pizza late night and talking about American sports (which he loves).
It’s people like Abdoul who keep me going in this journey to every country. Sometimes, nonstop travel can get stressful and overwhelming, but then I meet someone like him and everything becomes great again.
P.S. Abdoul would love to make some more American friends! Feel free to email him at [email protected]
