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!

Trying new things in Mali Part 1 (PICS!)

From getting my hair braided to spending all day walking around a village, for the purpose of greeting, there are everyday things that I do here in Mali, that I might never get the opportunity or time to experience in America. 

The last two months have existed solely for me to get to know my community - to greet, to chat, to drink tea, to ask questions, to walk around and meet people, to dance, to be seen, to introduce myself, etc. That was considered "work" during the last two months here. 

So here are some pictures from my journeys during the last two months, for the sole purpose of getting to know people and building relationships with them...doing things I would probably never do in America...but my heart has grown much bigger for it...here goes.

Learn to make tea and drink tea at all times!! Here are some pictures from a day in which I learned to cook kous kous with my host sisters. We took an afternoon break and made and drank tea. Tea in Mali takes a long time to make, and they cook it over hot charcoal, then pour the tea into another pot. Then they add a shot glass full of sugar and pour into another pot. Then pour it into another pot, over and over again until the tea and sugar are mixed. Then they let the tea heat up a little more, taste it and serve. Here's some of the process. As you can see in the shot glass, the more foam you have, the better your tea is considered. They say the foam is "beautiful." Ha I haven't learned how to cultivate more than a millimeter of foam :)

They pour the tea from up high like this, to better produce tall and abundant foam. This is a good example of tea with a lot of foam.

Tea with a lot of foam after drinking. Nice and sugary.

Awesome foam!

Mixing the tea. They also ONLY use their right hand when making tea. NEVER, NEVER the left hand. And they tear apart the tea box and use it as an oven mit, or just use their fingers on the burning hot silver, when mixing the tea and pouring. Malians don't really use oven mits - a concept that doesn't exactly exist here - they use their hands and torn fabric they have, or pagnes, instead. So they can pick up really hot pans and tea kettles that would burn the hell out of our hands!

Two other volunteers for "Take our Daughters to Work Day" - The positive effects of the three day event were the girls learned about networking, they learned a skill while shadowing women in leadership positions, they bonded with other girls, met other American Peace Corps volunteers, learned goal making skills, presentation skills and we talked a lot about how gender roles are not set in stone. How women can be presidents, how women can hold positions of leadership. How women can be business owners. And it ended with the girls singing together about how they were going to be president one day. 

My host family (except my host moms and dad), slept on the hard concrete every night. Unlike anything I'd ever do in American on a daily basis, I took to sleeping outside in this tent (this pic is in my house), on the hard concrete too. I used an extremely thin mat to sleep on only. I really like sleeping outside and would usually spend my late nights reading Harry Potter by flash light. 

Women here juggle several jobs at once, all hard labor, while carrying their newborns on their backs like this. Keep in mind that babaies don't wear diapers here, so there are times when the babies just go to the bathroom while sitting tied up like this. This baby felt like he weighed at least 30 lbs and I walked across town during tile (hottest part of the day), when it was at least 110 degrees out. I was drenched in sweat when I arrived at my destination. The point is not me carrying this enormous baby, but the endless hard, I mean, HARD work that women in Mali do every day. One of my host moms carried her two-year-old around the village like this every day, with at least 20 lbs of mangoes balancing on her head, while she's eight months pregnant, wearing flip flops with no support and walking all across the village trying to sell mangoes in 110 degree heat...for the profit of about 10 cents average per mango. 

I got so much attention for carrying this "bellebelleba" (Fat) baby on my back. People were stopping me and laughing and asking if I had acquired a Malian baby. Personally I love this little guy, so I was like, "YES, I have!"

Here's the "bellebelleba" baby. Soooo cute. His little clothes were too small and his belly was protruding out of his shirt. So cute!

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful and committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
"We can never have peace in the world, without mutual respect." - Martin Luther King Jr
"Be the change you want to see in the world." - Ghandi 

Got my hair braided!!! Half way through at this point...Malians kept asking me to get my "kunsigi dege" which means hair braided, So finally, I was like, "why not?" I'm in Mali, it's what Malian women do, might as well go for it. I'm supposed to become as Malian as possible, why not?

Ha, it's done!! It didn't turn out anything like I told them I wanted...but I've learned I HAVE to go with the flow here! Things almost never turn out as planned. My braided hair was no exception!

I'm not going to lie - I thought it was hideous, but I pulled it up into a pony tail every day and wore extremely tall musoros (head wraps) every day! I had Malians tell me in beautiful French, "You have become Malian now." 

Even babies drink tea here! Here's the "bellebelleba" baby chugging tea!  Something I have learned here is how much I love kids. In an environment in which the tiniest thing can be super stressful, and emotions are constantly running high, I have used goofiness with children, dancing and writing and reading as stress relief. I never knew that being silly with little kids who giggle and giggle and run at you, laughing and smiling, would be a way to keep things light. 

Braids, musoro and big earrings. So Mali!

I like this picture because it illustrates how Malians will do anything to make you comfortable and happy. This is my host brother transporting my chair (on his head) for me to sit in a more comfortable spot for dinner. Malians give me tea first, give me their best chair, give me their best food, greet me especially, invite me into their homes and want to get to know me because it's their nature. 

My host family!! When in America, would I ever have a family of 20? I have never had little sisters. I have never lived in the same house as my siblings (for long periods of time). My parents divorced when I was little, and here I lived with a host dad, a host mom, a host grandma, my host dad's second wife, two sets of kids and literally 20 people. Their sisters' kids lived there too. One HUGE family!

I have a younger sister for the first time! This is my 16 year-old sister who participated in the "Take Our Daughters to Work" event. She was chosen because she is the best student in her class. My other sister, Kadia (pronounced Kaja), who is 11-years-old, is also the head of her class. My oldest host sister, but still my younger sister, who's 17-years-old, is one of the top students in her class and just finished her tests to help her get into college in Bamako. I made her promise me, that she would do whatever she can, to go to college. But normally, it's not as easy as "going to college." Anyway, for the first time in my life, I live with my siblings, I have younger siblings and a big family. 

This is my little sister, Howa, who is 2-years-old. I like this picture because we all made fun of her afterward that she was "crazy," because she looks crazy here! That's what I love about Mali - that I wish was part of American culture - they make fun of each other endlessly - joking cousins and joking are a significant part of Malian culture. I have heard people say that Mali is a peaceful nation amid other African countries that are disrupting, because of its joking culture. We tell each other they're thieves, our children, crazy, their head has left them, sick, they eat beans, they eat donkey meat, cat meat, dog meat...and they're all jokes. It's awesome because it happens all the time and it keeps things light. 

What I love about the Peace Corps - is you really learn to go with the flow. This is from the day in which I randomly went to an agricultural research facility next to my village, with people I had never met before, for reasons I didn't understand, all day, at the request of my women's association president. That's the thing about Peace Corps - there's so much I don't understand now - the language barrier makes it very difficult to get everything right - but there's a lot of trust and going with the flow. I trust my women's president - so I decided to go. I ended up learning a lot about what a research facility is like in Mali. In America, there would be doctors and physicists and chemists everywhere, in white coats, in million dollar buildings and labs - but not here. It was all men, out of at least 20-30 men, they told me two women work there. Showing that Americans and Malians could do a helluva lot better in encouraging women to pursue fields in science, technology, math, engineering, etc. I have a bunch of pics to post on the trip. But the point is, here, your biggest ally is trust and going with the flow. 

My three host brothers and my neighbor girls. I LOVE this picture because this is one of the days that I glued their fingers together with super glue!! They were begging me to do it, day after day, because one day I played a joke on some of my host family and glued their fingers together. I love this, because here, I have learned how simplicity is often much, much more valuable than valuables and things. These kids don't have toys to play with. They don't have jungle jims, stuffed animals galore, talking toys, nintendos. They have car tires and super glue. And their environment. They have mud and rain water when it rains. They have each other. And this picture illustrates the beautiful simplicity here. Kids don't need hundreds of dollars of new toys every year for Christmas. The best toy and entertainment they have here are their families and each other. 

This is my host bro, Bamusa, trying to pry his fingers apart!

Thoughts, thoughts...

I've been thinking that I finally, finally...feel like Mali is becoming my home. I no longer long for the day that seems so close by for when I will return back to America. Instead of that longing for America, I look forward to tea with my family's friends, hanging out in my hammock with my little sisters and yaala yaala'ing around my village just to see people smile when I greet them.

I get the feelings of accomplishment when I walk down the street and almost everyone I see knows my name. It's not a notoriety thing, but a recognition that I am no longer a white person in their eyes, but a member of their community who they are starting to know...

When Malians tell me they love me, I can honestly say it back.

I've been reading Ghandi and I feel like I have the right idea here. His convictions reinforce that direct experience, living with the poor and denouncing worldly possessions (this is a slow process) is the right path for me.

Mali has completely transformed my idea and value of the family unit. Sometimes I think Malians think I am such a weirdo when I chase after the kids in my concession and splash water at them, or throw them over my shoulder and run around, or glue their fingers together with super glue and we all laugh magically...but I have learned how much I love kids. There is a sweetness and lightness to their innocense that is very refreshing here. The kids laugh and play like they don't have a care in the world, and some times I want to feel that way too. The kids run at me, and hug me and yell my name, and laugh when I wave at them, and yell and wave frantically from across the street until I see them, just to greet me, because they know that we are friends.

The family here does everything together. They eat together. They work together. They split the profits (sometimes). They go to school together. They walk together. They live in the same village their entire lives and go to school together from day one until the last day...and they know each other by heart. This breeds a different type of closeness that I have not ever known. Nothing is just theirs, but for them all to have and share and witness and enjoy together.

They have kids together. Their kids are the same age and their kids hang out together. They grow up together, and just like their parents, their kids go to school together from day one to the last day. They learn every Malian custom together and they grow together...grow together...from children into adults with their own lives...There's a closeness there...the concept of sharing it all and knowing each other fully...of having nothing else but trust, friendship and community...that really grips me.

Felt the love when my host mom refused to let me go into the village by myself last night. She said, "NO. One of us will go with you because you are part of our family and it is our job to make sure you can do yours." My homologue let me down and stopped coming around, so my host family came to bat for me and, put their work on the line, to go with me around the village so that I can know my community. The American in me wanted to go by myself to do it by myself, because "I'm independent," but my Malian family reinforced that, NO, we are in this together...

I am a total nerd, but I read the entire Harry Potter series while at site. I explained, in broken French and somewhat okay Bambara, the story line to my host sister, who insisted that she understood, but who really knows. I can't help but really, really, wholly, relate to many of the themes of the story. Blood deep, never-ending friendship. Unstoppable trust. Trust that scares you, because you're putting it all on the line, but there's a time and place for everything, and it takes a certain amount of bravery to be able to trust like that in others.

The battle against good and evil. Inequality, oppression, sexism are the evils...education, light, understanding, open-mindedness, new experiences are the good. Growth. Self growth. Learning. Persistence.

The story of growth. Taking risks for the good of others and growing while doing so.

Best friends.

Best family.

The fact that, if  your heart is in the right place, and the "right" place is subjective, but if your heart is in the right place, you will always end up on the right side of things.

Peaceful, nonviolent persistence toward a bigger goal.
-->I really connected with the story of H. Potter. And no, I am not an 11-year-old boy obsessing over the H. Potter series, but I can say that I believe the story tells a tale about the human condition. I mean, what is our true human nature? If you're like me, you believe that we are all good at heart, and we all have that hero inside of us to strive toward a better form of being. A stronger, more united way of living. I seriously believe this. We all have that bravery inside of us, but it's always the harder decision to be good than bad. Nothing that was ever worth a damn was ever easy. I think about things that come easily to me, and everything from which I have learned the most, grown the most, came from suffering or some type of calculated risk.

On a different note, I think I am starting to learn that things can change, well, rather quickly. but on the bright side, that is life. To me, that is life. It's a constant stream of change. Nothing is the same second to second. It's always changing and evolving, or at least, trying to evolve (Sam Brownback/Kansas...maybe not evolving like I'd wish)...but always, always, always changing. especially here in the Peace Corps I have witnessed my expectations constantly get thrown out of the window and surprises to come flying at me at all times. Things are going to change, that is certainly constant.

It's also amazing how  you learn how much people mean to you, being so far away. There are people who I haven't thought of in years, who I find myself thinking about almost daily. There are people who I used to think about daily who barely scrape the surface of my mind anymore. And there are people who I had no idea would be so...there for me...who have called every time I needed them. Thank you for that, by the way.

The importance of gratitude. There's not a lot I can do here in Mali to change the way I see women being regarded...but I can do my best to do my part. I can say "thank you"...I can recognize them for their hard work. I can greet them when they're usually greeted last or whatever...And smile big while I'm at it...I'm learning that it's the little things that count the most here.

My heart no longer aches on a daily basis for America. American seems like light years away...but really, I don't want to be there. I want to be here because I think THIS is the right type of work for me. I am living with the poorest of the poor...where kids literally wear rags but families band together and having little more than trust and love. What a beautiful lesson to be learning...