More Mali Mews

Hippos spotted: 0 People bitten in half or third: 0 Pairs of pants soiled: 0

Okay so I got back from 12 days at my homestay site and I must say it was posh or at least pretty nice.  It was an interesting experience getting out of the car and immediately being surrounded by like 50 Malian children who just sit and stare at you.  They had a ceremony for us with some dancing, music, and some extremely jury rigged wiring so some of the instruments could be heard over the loadspeaker they have borrowed from the Mosque.

I have language classes eight hours a day or so, and my teachers are very cool.  My class has started teaching them how people talk in Appalachia which is incredibly entertaining to do, and to hear them do.  We just say to chop every word in half, and then speak rapidly.

My host family is also very nice, although I can't yet understand much of what they say.  I have a host brother of sorts who is extremely smart, and can speak French, and a little English, so I can at least sort of talk to him when my Bombara (the language I am learning) skills fail me.  My Malian name is Dramane Samake.

My average day consists of waking up at 5:30 AM with the call to prayer from the Mosque, then falling back to sleep until 6:30 or so at which point I do some sort of work out.  Then i bathe.  This involves filling a bucket of water, walking into the pit toilet area and pouring the water of myself with some soap and stuff.  Then eat breakfast which typically consists of sweetened rice gruel, french fries, and bread with peanut butter.  Then it's class time.  My classroom in under a mango tree.  The mangos will be ripe in a few weeks.  Some goats, or chickens, or mangy beaten dogs usually wander through class, and once we had a donkey who escaped his tether come charging through yelling very loudly, and there are usually a number of children who just show up and stare at us, or go through our lesson with us.  Lunch time is from noon to 2:30, and usually consists of rice with okra or goat sauce.  Most everything is eaten from one bowl with your hands, and by hands I mean right hand.  There are no left handed people in Mali because being left handed is socially unacceptable.  The men and women eat separately.  Then I have some tea.  Tea is a big deal in Mali.  It is a very strong Chinese tea with lots and lots and lots of sugar, and is sipped from shot glasses.