Trying new things in Mali Part 2 (PICS!)

Naps. Donkey carts. One fabric from head to toe. Insane transportation. Constant sweating, especially when trying to sleep. Rice, TO, bread, potatoes, dough balls, porridge, tea, repeat.

There are daily things I do here in Mali that I would never get the opportunity or time to do in America. Here are some pictures of me doing those things!

Naps! People take naps here all the time. You could be walking down the street, and there are people napping at their butikis, in the middle of town, during tile (lunch time to about 3 ish). During that time, you get really tired because it's so hot out and take naps! I nap in my hammock, chair, etc.

Joking cousins - aka making fun of each other as part of Malian culture. We joked that Howa was "crazy" because she kept taking pictures like this!!

This is the lady who braided my hair. But I wanted to post this because of her shirt - Obama. Being in a place where everyone loves Obama, it makes me feel very proud that he's my president. In Kansas, he's not well liked, but here, he's worshipped. It means a lot to me that my president represents hope for an entire world of people. 

Bellebelleba (fat) baby is eating TO here. Here, people refer to each other as fat, and it's considered a compliment. Here, most people want to be fat, because it's considered a status symbol or a sign of wealth. My family would always tell me I was fat, or I was getting fat. It's actually nice because I can get away from a lot of the pressures from America to be super thin. This baby is eating TO. To is something I would never have in America...because it doesn't exist there! I can't explain the taste, I can just tell you, it's not my favorite. Ehhhh

The US should really adopt tall musoros as a fashion item. Musoros - something I never did in America. Now, I tie musoros every day...and as tall as possible. Here's my quest for the tallest musoro. Let me know which one you like!

OMG this is so lame looking - but more musoros

Musoro

Here, at night, we do everything by lamp light, flash light or cell phone light. Not having electricity or running water has turned out to be a lot better than I thought. Every night, I read by cell phone flash light. I sit around and chat with people at night by lantern light. And you see the faintest light at night from the fire, where people are still cooking. 

New family!

The girl in red is sousou'ing - pounding a substance, like onions or hot peppers, into a fine powder. Malians pound every substance into a powder themselves. That is hard work! Anyway, I have sousou'd a couple of times. And Malians just laugh. They have to wet their hands because their hands blister while sousou'ing. In America, all our powdered substances are packaged and sold neatly, already as a powder. In Mali, powdered items are hand ground into powder and packaged...in a tiny little clear baggy. 

Getting used to simplicity and learning that I don't need all that stuff. The kids here play with tires and old cans as their toys. This is my host brother spinning the tire around as entertainment.

Howa (middle) looks actually sweet here. She has so much energy and personality for a two-year-old. She'll call you names and then laugh hysterically at herself. 

Doing everything by the light we can get - solar lighting, cell phone lighting and mud brick stove fire light.

Little guy just sitting there by himself. While everyone else eats.

There's a lot of research to back up that eating with your family has positive effects on kids. Mali is no different. I love eating with my family. Here is everyone eating dinner together. They sit on their little stools and eat with their hands out of one big bowl. 

Trying new food - here is cooked rice with a delicious sauce. Malians love rice and TO.

Eating with our hands - something I didn't do often in America...that I do every day here in Mali

The brooms here. Sweeping my porch and house has become a form of stress relief and I just love it. 

This is the thing Malians use to keep their water cold. It really, really works!

Thing I never did in America: Hand wash my clothes, by washboard . and dry by the sun.

Took my braids out! My host family was freaking out! They wanted me to take some pics...so here you go.

My host mom is a small business woman...but not in the same sense as an American small business person. She bought this huge bag of plastic cups, dishes, plates, buckets, etc and sells them to people in our village for a very, very small profit. My host sisters would balance them in a basket on their heads and go around, door-to-door, selling the dishes. When people would come over, my host mom would bring out her dishes. This is right after she bought a new bag of dishes to sell.

This is super dorky - but I taught my host family how to give noogies. OMG I can't believe I'm publishing that online...but they all chase each other around now and yell "NOOGIE!" It's cute.

Other "NEW" adventures in Mali, that I don't yet have pictures to post:
--Riding donkey carts

--Buying cell phone credit, instead of unlimited minutes. We constantly talk as fast as possible and double check we hung up, as to not waste cell phone credit. I buy 5,000 CFAs of credit at a time, which lasts me from one week to about three weeks, but my Malian family would only buy a few hundred CFAs at a time.

--Clothes tailored! It's super cheap to get clothes made here. I recently bought two sets of fabric for 750 CFAs each (equivalent to 1.25 each) and got them tailored for 3,000 CFAs ($6). I can get it tailored as an American style outfit, or Malian style.

--The. Sometimes terrifying. Always unreliable. Jiggling. With chickens, goats, sheep on it. Dead or alive. And guys jumping on and off. Running after it after it's left and jumping on, while moving. With people riding on the roof, squished like sardines. TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM HERE!

It's crazy. I'm used to it by this point, but it is just nuts here on public transport. Sometimes there are animals. There are usually never seatbelts. People are seriously squished like sardines. The guys who work on there run and jump on the vehicle while it's moving. And perhaps, most differently, are the people riding on the ladder on the back or on the roof!

**Off to Bamako tomorrow! Eight hour bus ride on that crazy public transportation system. Last time, a bag of river fish fell on my head, soaking my seat, so who knows what's in store for me this time. I am hoping to get some Ghandi and Nelson Mandela reading in....See you in Bamako!