A Busy Week

I started off the week by getting some Henna done by a woman who came to our school. It was pretty cool, and weirdly enough, she just used black hair dye to draw on our skin. I was sort of hoping for something slightly more mystical (and something that wouldn't leave the hair on my arms permanently black), but it still looks pretty sweet. It should last for about two weeks.

With my newly henna-ed hands, I went to the zoo the next day. It wasn't really what you would expect when you think of a fun day at the zoo in the U.S., mostly because the words "developing country" and "zoo" probably just shouldn't be put together. When I walked in, the first thing I saw was a sign that said giving cigarettes to the animals was not allowed. Apparently visitors used to give the monkeys cigarettes all the time, but they started to get sick so they had to put an end to it. We were also pretty surprised to find out that the animals' living conditions are pretty poor. Most of them live in small concrete enclosures. A couple of the animals looked pretty sick, as well. There was a hyena that had both of its front legs broken, and it was just hobbling around. Needless to say, the zoo was a little depressing, but it definitely gave us some new perspective on things.

My next stop on the tour of depressing city institutions was on Wednesday. We no longer have classes on Wednesdays, so we're supposed to use the days to prepare for our Independent Study Projects. I think I want to do something involving children, so I spent the day with two other girls from my program at the Pouponnière. The Pouponnière is a government-run home for abandoned children. At any given time, there are between 75 and 125 children under the age of three, as well as about 20 mentally or physically and handicapped children that are slightly older. The director took the three of us on a tour of the building and after, we stayed for three hours and helped take care of babies. The building itself is fairly nice and the caretakers do the best they can, but they are severly understaffed. Children will go for hours without any attention either laying in their cribs or on the floor, and they are frequently left in puddles of urine for hours at a time. The three of us did the best we could to help, and we all left exhausted and covered in really smelly stuff. Hopefully, we'll get to go back and help again next week.

So, this week was pretty interesting. It was a little depressing at times, but it was good to see the city and learn more about Mali. Hopefully my next post will be a little more of an upper!

Sikasso

This past weekend, our group traveled to Sikasso in the southern part of Mali. It had recently rained, and the climate is slightly wetter to begin with, so Sikasso was very green and beautiful. The roads, however, were slightly muddy.

On Saturday, we visited a cave where people of the Muslim, Christian, and animist faiths all have a designated area where they can go to pray. The cave itself is actually beneath a plateau, which we later climbed. During one part of the climb in particular, we had to pull ourselves up a rock face while holding on to a chain. It was really fun, and the view from the top of the plateau was absolutely incredible.

After that, we drove back into town and visited some historical sites including an old wall and a what is left of the Mamelon, a French fort. We also visited a large compound that belonged to the family that once ruled Sikasso. While we listened to a guide, kids from all over the place started appearing to check out the Tubabus (us). There were probably 20 or 30 kids just following us around for an hour. When we left, they chased our bus down the road. It really is hilarious who entertained they are by white people.












We got to go into town a little while later and walk around the large market where I found a really cool straw hat that I bought from an old man. I also bought a carved out kalabash with drawings burnt into it that I bought from a little girl. Many people use kalabash to prepare meals, and a common Malian blessing literally translates to "You and a kalabash full of water," after the ancient belief that God gives those who die a kalabash of water in heaven.

We wrapped up our journey to Sikasso with a visit to a waterfall (that unfortunately was a little too dirty to jump in) and a government-run tea leaf field. Sadly, we had to tell our new hotel friends goodbye and head out on Sunday. It was back to Bamako for another long week of classes.

Challenges

Life in Mali is interesting, different, and above all, challenging. These are some of toughest things for me:

Mosquitos and flies everywhere. The mosquito net is clutch, as are the bugspray and the itch relief creme that I take with me everywhere.

Bambara. It's pretty cool learning a new language, but it's less cool not really being able to understand what anyone is saying until they decide to speak to you in French.

Cockroaches. Enough said.

Air quality. The pollution in Bamako is incredible. There is a constant haze over the city, and sometimes it's just plain hard to breathe.

Trash. I can't seem to figure out where to put it. Any trash my family has, they just chuck over the wall of our compound, and I don't really want to do that. For now, I just hoard it in my armoire.

No toilet paper. This is by far the toughest thing to deal with. Somehow, wiping down with water and a hand just doesn't cut it.

So, life here is a little bit of an adjustment. I'm sure it will get easier, though, and the value of the experience will definitely be worth it in the end.

No, no, it is you who eats beans.

Monday and Tuesday of this week I spent in Siby, a small village about an hour and a half outside of Bamako by car. The people there were incredibly nice and taught us how to play the djembe and dance a little bit. We spent the evening with families and helped them draw water out of their wells. They also had giant turkeys walking around everywhere, so we should be all set for Thanksgiving. The next day, we got to hike up a plateau and hear a little bit about the history of the area and how an ancient prince carved a huge arching rock formation with his knife. The highlight was standing under a huge waterfall. It was amazing.

The fun continued on Wednesday when my luggage finally arrived just in time for me to move in with my family. They are very nice, and they all call me by my new Malian name, Safi. My family name is Traoré. My older sister, Jolie, has been leading me around the city by the hand, showing me all sorts of interesting things. Walking around the city, it's not uncommon to hear people chanting Tubabu! Tubabu! which loosely translates to Whitey! It's all in good fun, though, and our professors told us we could yell back something that sort of means Blacky! if we want to.

Besides being basically a local celebrity, by far the most interesting thing I have come across so far is a custom called joking cousins. Your joking cousin is someone who, according to your family name, is linked to your descendents. Many people have the last name Traoré, and we're from the Bamana tribe originally, so anyone else with about three other family names all from the Bamana tribe would be my joking cousin. The way joking cousins works is that, if I meet anyone who is my joking cousin on the street, I can poke fun at them and insult them, and it's all a big joke. Even if I've just met the person, it works this way. The favorite insult is telling someone that he eats beans (Get it? Farting joke.), and then the common reply is, No, no, it is you who eats beans. It's hilarious, and people say it all the time.

Tomorrow, I'm going to hang out with my family. I could watch La Madrastra dubbed in French, or even Care Bears. Then, I might play a little football with the kids down the street and get called Tubabu by some neighbors. It's going to be a big day!