So I have completed my first full week at site! It went by both fast and slow, if that makes sense. I can’t believe its been 2 weeks since swear in, but every day seems like a challenge to get through. The people are amazingly nice and patient, and they always put me in a better mood, but its still hard trying to adjust to a new culture and language and such. Getting up and knowing that I’m going to have to struggle to understand what’s going on makes the mornings tough, but usually I go to bed thinking that I can totally do this for 2 years. As my host family and I are getting used to each other, I like them more and more. At first I felt like they didn’t really know what to do with me, but now they talk slower for me, and get really excited to have post-dinner chat time. They joke around with me and like it when I come to sit outside with them even if I’m not really talking. And my host brother speaks French, as do his friends (he’s probably about 30), so that’s always a relief to talk to them. The other day, we had a conversation about how men and women can’t do the same things. I, of course, was trying to say that men and women can do the same work, which Amadou (my brother) and all of his friends vehemently denied. Mali is a VERY patriarchal society, so I’ve made it my personal mission to make Amadou believe women can do everything men can. Hahaha. I managed to get him to admit that men and women can be as smart as one another. So that was a step.
Im already restarting the project that began with the last volunteer so that keeps me busy. I am on a french keyboard now so this isnt going to be too long, usually i can type my posts on my comp first but i was too lazy yesterday after writing some emails so the next one will be longer. I promise. Miss everybody so much. AND EMILY I LOVED LOVED LOVED THE MAGAZINES
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Bye Bye Homestay, Hello Site.
So the last 20 days have absolutely flown by!!! Homestay is over and on friday we officially become volunteers!!! We have our swear in at the embassy, which is on Malian national television, and then a party at the ambassador's house, then off to the American club, thennnnn partying it up in Bamako. haha. SO it should be a really fun night!! And I got a brand new outfit for it, very malian. A complet - matching top and bottom. It is a skirt with a cute top. Eventually I will get pictures up, I promise.
Leaving homestay was actually really sad. My dad killed 2 chickens for me for a big dinner the night before we left. And they made my favorite dinner with it, rice with peanut sauce and african eggplants. oooohhh man. I gave them a 25 kilo bag of rice and 10 kilos of sugar too as a thank you, and they were sooooo surprised and so excited. I was glad that I could give them something because they have really been amazing. Annnnd, tomorrow night they invited one person from every host family to come for dinner so my dad is coming. And my friend beatrice's dad is coming too, which is going to be soooooo much fun b/c we all just sit around and make fun of each other. So I'm really really excited for tomorrow night. So anyway, leaving was hard, malians don't like crying, they never ever cry and always stop children from crying, so my host dad said bye and then disappeared into his house, and my sisters had to leave before I actually left. It was cute, and I will definately be visiting them in the future since they are on my way back to Bamako. And, I promised that if my parents came to visit I would take them there to meet my host family. They had a big party for us too, and the town came out and thanked us (we did some health talks, painted a mural, and taught them how to make more nutritious food for their children). They said some really amazing things about how they had never met white people like us who treated them equally and such. It was very heartfelt. And we thanked them so so much for everything they have done for us. I literally would not have survived without them.
Oh and my mom sent me this singing card that when you open it up it plays music. And it was the most fantastic thing that my host village had ever seen. hahaha. They would all open it, and then look at me like I was the devil, then start to smile, and then just start laughing hysterically. They really loved it. And then they would make me put it back in my house and wouldnt let the little kids touch it because they were afraid it would get broken or something. Oh and with that, I cant put my address on my blog for safety reasons, but I can email it out (emily I will email it to you!!!) if you feel the need to send some mail my way. hahaha.
And on to more important things, I SAW BATMAN LAST NIGHT. oh my god. that is all I can say. It was a spanish bootleg version, and I still loved it. It was everything I had wanted and more, which was hard because I built up that movie so so much. Oh man. i cant even talk about it. What a great great job.
Humm. So it is ramadan now, and since Mali is predominately muslim, everyone has to fast during the day. They dont eat or drink from sun up to sun down, which is crazzzzy, since they are still farming and working. But Mali, as a whole, is definately not as conservative as it first seems. So a lot of people don't fast, if they are sick, or pregnant, or older. Or people will do one day on one day off. But, for me, its great, b/c I still get to eat, and when they break the fast they have really good hibiscus juice and this sweet porridge stuff that is amazing. And then they have a huge dinner. Works for me. hahaha. Except when people are crabby and annoyed because they are starving, that's not so fun. But still. And Tabaski comes a month or so after ramadan ends, and there is a big feast for that. So that is exciting. Kinda makes up for the lack of christmas. hahaha.
I am sure that there are other things I am forgetting. But mostly we're just waiting for swear in and site installation. Sooooo that's all for now!!
Leaving homestay was actually really sad. My dad killed 2 chickens for me for a big dinner the night before we left. And they made my favorite dinner with it, rice with peanut sauce and african eggplants. oooohhh man. I gave them a 25 kilo bag of rice and 10 kilos of sugar too as a thank you, and they were sooooo surprised and so excited. I was glad that I could give them something because they have really been amazing. Annnnd, tomorrow night they invited one person from every host family to come for dinner so my dad is coming. And my friend beatrice's dad is coming too, which is going to be soooooo much fun b/c we all just sit around and make fun of each other. So I'm really really excited for tomorrow night. So anyway, leaving was hard, malians don't like crying, they never ever cry and always stop children from crying, so my host dad said bye and then disappeared into his house, and my sisters had to leave before I actually left. It was cute, and I will definately be visiting them in the future since they are on my way back to Bamako. And, I promised that if my parents came to visit I would take them there to meet my host family. They had a big party for us too, and the town came out and thanked us (we did some health talks, painted a mural, and taught them how to make more nutritious food for their children). They said some really amazing things about how they had never met white people like us who treated them equally and such. It was very heartfelt. And we thanked them so so much for everything they have done for us. I literally would not have survived without them.
Oh and my mom sent me this singing card that when you open it up it plays music. And it was the most fantastic thing that my host village had ever seen. hahaha. They would all open it, and then look at me like I was the devil, then start to smile, and then just start laughing hysterically. They really loved it. And then they would make me put it back in my house and wouldnt let the little kids touch it because they were afraid it would get broken or something. Oh and with that, I cant put my address on my blog for safety reasons, but I can email it out (emily I will email it to you!!!) if you feel the need to send some mail my way. hahaha.
And on to more important things, I SAW BATMAN LAST NIGHT. oh my god. that is all I can say. It was a spanish bootleg version, and I still loved it. It was everything I had wanted and more, which was hard because I built up that movie so so much. Oh man. i cant even talk about it. What a great great job.
Humm. So it is ramadan now, and since Mali is predominately muslim, everyone has to fast during the day. They dont eat or drink from sun up to sun down, which is crazzzzy, since they are still farming and working. But Mali, as a whole, is definately not as conservative as it first seems. So a lot of people don't fast, if they are sick, or pregnant, or older. Or people will do one day on one day off. But, for me, its great, b/c I still get to eat, and when they break the fast they have really good hibiscus juice and this sweet porridge stuff that is amazing. And then they have a huge dinner. Works for me. hahaha. Except when people are crabby and annoyed because they are starving, that's not so fun. But still. And Tabaski comes a month or so after ramadan ends, and there is a big feast for that. So that is exciting. Kinda makes up for the lack of christmas. hahaha.
I am sure that there are other things I am forgetting. But mostly we're just waiting for swear in and site installation. Sooooo that's all for now!!
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