Maria on the move…

Maria, now in Africa!

It was good to hear from Liza Michaelson that her daughter Maria‘s show went well, and that that set her up for traveling…here’s the story, from Liza:

After completely selling out at her art show in Friday Harbor in November, Maria made enough money to travel indefinitely in West Africa. She also raised $450 at her show from selling handmade African toys, enough to purchase a projector for her planned Skyped charades games between American and African school children.

Also, 47 San Juan island residents donated $10 each to sponsor an interview with a West African artist for her blog. She has no clear itinerary, and plans to stay as long as she is healthy and has money, visiting Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and possibly Senegal.

For Christmas, Maria asked for and received a series of rabies shots to go along with all the other immunizations…Last time she was over there she had a pet bat and a pet monkey and was always fearful of the rabies issue…

Maria left SeaTac on Dec 26, in the middle of the blizzard delaying all flights on the east coast. After five days of pretty intense travel, including  an unplanned layover in Tunis, she has arrived in Bamako, Mali, where she will be living in an art center called Ko Falen for the next two months, studying French and making art.

She has made two entries to her blog.. I was astounded to hear stories which include happily consuming a VARIETY of MEATS!! The first in 19 years!  Evidence of her desire to be a polite guest…

To visit her blog, click here. Once there you can subscribe by clicking on “Subscribe” in the gray bar at the top. I just subscribed today myself.  I think it means you get an email alert every time she uploads a story or video.

Flying into Mali - artist's representation... 🙂

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