First Impressions of Mali

Well, I was installed at my site today. A few days ago we (as in those of us transferring to Mali) went to a village near the training center to practice our frankly non-existent Bambara. In that moment I had never missed Guinea more. It hit me that I was going to have to do it all over again. The awkward silence, not understanding anything people say to you, embarrassing yourself, offending people, setting your boundaries and limits, getting used to new food, feeling like an asshole – I HAVE TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN. And in that moment, sitting there surrounded by women and children with Corinna and Mark I was just like…I don’t want to go through this again. I was deluding myself into thinking it would be easier this time around. Yeah, it would be easier if I were going to a Pular-speaking village (never realized how much Pular I really knew until I couldn’t use it anymore). Or a village closer to Guinea’s borders who ate the same kinds of foods. But this village is TOTALLY different.

Let me preface by saying that I am happy to be here. And it is a little bit easier because I KNOW I have to make an ass out of myself and embrace that fact. I made a kid fall on the ground and cry today because I chased him with my broom. I was just kidding but he ended up really scared after he fell. In the States the mom would be like, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY KID???” But here, they laugh. Getting hurt is funny (it was like this in Guinea, too).

So the things about my new village that I like more than Santou:

1. My house is small, just two rooms. It is a real “mud bush house” as my APCD called it. And it is. It is made out of mud. The thatch roof is held up by good-sized tree trunks. There is black plastic hanging under the roof to prevent rain leaks and catch falling debris. It is, in a word, awesome.

2. I live with people. I live in a concession (sort of…it’s not really surrounded by a wall but it’s clear all these houses are “together”) with I don’t know how many other families. Maybe they are all part of the same extended family. I haven’t figured it out yet. But the point is, they are falling all over themselves to do stuff for me. They bring me water (the well is only like 30 yards away, I could do it…however the pump is kinda far and they brought me two big bidons of pump water so that’s a plus). They bring me food because I said I was too busy and tired to come out and eat ensemble tonight. THEY HEATED MY BATH WATER!! Which seems ridiculous. In fact I think I told them not to do it. I mean, it’s not cold. But I remember Jake saying his family in training heated his water because even though it was hot as hell in Forecariah, if you bathe in warm water, you feel cooler afterwards. It was a quality investment. I don’t want to put them out, though, so I hope they don’t do it every day. (UPDATE: they do it twice a day, every day. I am grateful because it is cold when I bathe at sunrise and after sunset.)

3. I am the first volunteer ever to live here. They have wanted a volunteer for a really long time and now that they have one they are really excited.

4. I sort of have reseau. If I put my phone on the little ledge above my window outside it gets a signal so can receive calls and text messages. If I want to talk on it I have to stand with my back against the wall on my tiptoes with my ear bent as far up as possible. If I stand flat-footed I lose the signal. I am considering finding some sort of box I can stand on.

5. My homologue is 18 and actually wants to be my homologue. He comes over every morning and hangs out pretty much all day. We eat together and he helps me with my Bambara. He also helps me get stuff like kerosene and putting together my stove.

6. Donkeys. ‘Nuff said.

7. Pretty much nobody speaks French. This means I HAVE to learn Bambara and be able to communicate in their language which means I can do a lot more communication with women, whose French skills also lacked in Guinea.

Things not as awesome as Guinea:

1. My dog isn’t here. Self-explanatory.

2. I have a cockroach problem. Only at night, but there are lots and they are big. Have to bomb my house.

3. Petites. There are SO MANY KIDS. I mean there were a lot of kids in Guinea but the kids here outnumber the adults at least 3-to-1. And because they’ve never had a white person here before they are VERY curious. Also noisy.

4. Nobody speaks French. I know I had this in my likes, too, but right now it’s also in my dislikes because it pretty much means I can’t communicate AT ALL. Keep in mind that Peace Corps Mali usually trains their volunteers in the local language of their village for the two-month PST period. I’ve taken Bambara for about 6 days.

5. I live with people. Also in the likes, but it means I don’t really have a lot of privacy and always have to be worried about being social and always have people walking up to my door and windows to say hello. Or other things I can’t understand.

6. Food. All they eat is millet. Every single meal. In the morning it’s like a millet porridge (would be improved with some sugar and cinnamon). The dinner I had the first night I really didn’t like. It was like un-molested millet with a tomato sauce. I really didn’t like it. But the other meals I’ve had have been good. I even like the “blob with snot sauce” as some volunteers refer to toh and baobab leaf sauce. In fact I had that for lunch. It was good. They make cous-cous out of millet, a keke-like thing, toh, and others. There are like 10 different bases they can make out of millet. It’s creative. Plus the peanut sauce is pretty good. But there’s no manioc leaf sauce. And I have yet to have a fresh leaf sauce (baobab leaf sauce is made from dried leaves). So we shall see.

All-in-all, there are lots of pluses and minuses but as usual, I’ll make the best of it.