Good things are happening to me lately. I thank Fate for part of it, and for the rest, I thank the pleasant un-self-consciousness I'm feeling lately. Not to get too new-agey, but I think the good things are happening because I'm letting them.

Example 1: N be bo ameriki. I be bo min?

I dropped off my husband at the airport on Monday (he is in Dakar on business this week). On the way out, as I handed the parking lot attendant my CFA 150, he asked if I would mind dropping off his younger sister. I could see her from the car -- she looked young, friendly, and harmless -- so I said what the hell. I sort of knew where he was telling me to take her, and I figured she could always explain ... Except, I realized after she got in, she didn't speak any French. Not a word. Only Bambara. She asked me a question that I didn't understand, but I heard the word "Bamanankan" and figured she was asking me if I spoke Bambara. No, I said, out of habit. But wait, I thought, I know a few words, what the hell. I tried out my little phrases on her: I ni sogoma, i ka kene wa? She laughed and laughed. We introduced ourselves to each other. N be bo ameriki, I said, I come from America. Do you come from Mali? And so we passed the time until she said something else I didn't understand, and made a clear gesture that meant, you can drop me off here. As she got out she tried one last word on me: Kambufo. It took me a beat, but I responded: Unamen. It's saying goodbye in Bambara, but the first person literally says, Send them my greetings, and the second person responds, They will hear them.

Example 2: Je vous presente ...

Geekcorps is providing training this week, in collaboration with Helen Keller International, to staff from some of the radio stations we're working with. Today we started teaching them how to use SPIP, the content management system they will use to manage their websites. Early on I saw something that needed to be explained, and offered to explain it. To the class. In French! Next thing I knew I was telling the class to "cliquez ici" and god knows what butchered tongue I was speaking. But amazingly, they got it, they understood what I was trying to show them. Wow. If I had known the night before that I was going to teach part of a class -- even just 20 minutes -- in French, I would have freaked myself out with fear. But I didn't have time to worry about it.

Situation 3: Canon Speedlite 420EX

This is a little embarrassing to admit. I first got into photography in high school (15 years ago) and after a lapse have been heavily into it for the past five years. And I never, ever, ever take pictures indoors because they never come out the way I want. It is so frustrating: The flash either washes everything out of doesn't reach the subject; without the flash, at a slower shutter speed, everything is blurred. How do people like Eliot take beautifully-lit indoor photos without a whole studio setup?

Well, they don't use the shitty built-in flash on their cameras, that's for sure! Today I borrowed someone's Canon shoe-mount flash and IT CHANGED MY LIFE. I can't believe I've never figured this out! And nobody told me! (Photo club, why didn't you tell me?!?)

It was just set on auto (and had a red filter), but the resulting photos are sharp and beautifully lit and warm. Lovely.

I am getting myself one as soon as possible.

I can't believe no one told me this before now.