Mamadou's favorite activities (age: 18 months) :
1. Pushing things: chairs, wooden stools, push-toy with wheels that dont turn, buckets, the game of cards you were playing (off the table)
2. Kicking things: stuffed dog that scares him, the couch, people, food that is being prepared, buckets
3. Sticking his hands in things: trash, other peoples food, his mouth, my hair
4. Running: with his hands flopping like a doll and his lips bobbing
5. Being naked or at least bottomless: in any and all circumstances
Mamadou's really a little devil but he's so incredibly cute you can't not want to still play with him all the time anyway. Ive learned his tricks though and i think that finally, FINALLY, i have learned to outsmart him. Here's an example: Bintou (me) and Mohamed are playing SET. Mamadou approaches (dun dun dun). BUT WAIT... there is a wooden stool next to Bintou. She reaches out her hand and starts pushing it. AH HAH! Mamadou sees stool and gets jealous. He grabs it and starts pushing. Diversion accomplished! Mamadou pushes stool contently for 10 to 15 minutes. Game continues. (little does Mamadou realize that pushing off our game of cards would have been WAY more satisfying than pushing that little stool... sucker).
I've also found that making a tickling motion in the direction of Mamadou's stomach accomplishes a temporary break in being hit/drooled-on/pulled-at/offered-prechewed-mush-on-lap/and-so-on, though I think he secretly likes being tickled because he always, always comes back. I'm telling you, this kid is sly.
The cutest thing ever is that when I fill up my cheeks with air and then "pop" them in his face, he always giggles... and hes gotten so used to it that now, he makes a face like hes bracing himself for the wind even before my cheeks pop. Hes smart, you see.
Anyway, Im in good spirits because i finally got to the bank today so im not running on empty and borrowing money from everyone anymore. woooo! it actually took 5 banks and several hours before I could find a place that can do anything with Visa, but you have to expect that sort of thing here. btw mom and dad, travelers checks arent going to happen here... boo.
Oh so craziest thing ever happened. So i have this friend named Mama Koné. Hes the dude that plays djembe at the place where ive gone to dance a few times (centre togola). Hes chill and we've also hung out a few times outside of the dance stuff and climbed my hill and what not. and hes told me hes kind of internationally known as a drummer, but lots of people say that kind of thing here because like, "one time they went to senegal" or something like that. so i kind of blew off the claim. and THEN (yesterday) im searching through my ipod and HOLY ALLAH it says Mama Koné! ON MY IPOD! The album is "Danse de Bobo" and his ethnic group is Bobo and THAT is the music i bought on itunes last semester to practice west african dance to (mom- its the music we used in the DR) So basically, ive been dancing to his drumming since long before i knew him and i juuuust found out and jl:akdsjmf im still freaking out about it really. waa!
Anywho, gotta run. Im leaving for the 10 day excursion tomorrow so i may or may not be on computers. Si non, ill have lots of good stories when i get back.
K'an si
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
eeesh sorry did that last blog freak you out?
yeah that man was creepy and said he wanted to marry me so i said sorry i have a boyfriend and he goes "oh is it the rasta you referred to you in your blog?" THE NERVE!!! he had been reading over my shoulder!!! i wanted to smack him but instead i got up and left. probably a smart choice because he was huge. anyway, this isnt really a blog entry... its just a tease. mwahaha! sorry i gotta get back for dinner!
yeah that man was creepy and said he wanted to marry me so i said sorry i have a boyfriend and he goes "oh is it the rasta you referred to you in your blog?" THE NERVE!!! he had been reading over my shoulder!!! i wanted to smack him but instead i got up and left. probably a smart choice because he was huge. anyway, this isnt really a blog entry... its just a tease. mwahaha! sorry i gotta get back for dinner!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
"i cant dance... because... theres a cow"
context: at rastaman abdoulaye's casa with my friend lobo and a bunch of other rastas. everyones got instruments. most of them are handmade by the players themselves. lots of djembes... oh man this is going to be good. BUT WAIT... theres a cow. yep, just standing there in the middle of things, peeing somewhat frequently. uh, i think i just got a little bit on my foot. they all know i dance djembe. the music starts. "ey! bintou! i ka kan ka don kE!" (you have to dance!) i survey the space: person, person, person, cow, person, person. hmmm. "n tE se ka don kE... misi bE yan" (i cant because... theres a cow there). it makes sense. then lobo and i break into laughter. i just dont think ive ever used that as a viable excuse for not dancing. this is life in mali now. sometimes there are farm animals in the way and you simply can not dance.
one of the girls from our trip went back to the US last weekend for an interview for a scholarship that might pay for grad school. we were all so freaked out about the idea of leaving here and going HOME and couldnt wait to hear about her experiences there. among other things, it was particularly interesting to hear about her friends and familys reactions to her photos. the fact is, weve all gotten really used to the way things look here, but when you all see the pictures, youre going to think 'wow, you really lived in poverty'. people here are poor, but it doesnt feel that way the way you would imagine. everyone is getting by together. there is an amazing sense of community and family and the people are so inviting and welcoming. here, people consider wealth to be in numbers -- the more children the better. while that may be contrary to our perceptions of wealth, you can see how family is sooo important to malian life and begin to understand a bit as you live here.
ok i have to sign off now because theres a creep next to me saying he loves me trying to get me to give him my information and reading over my shoulder.
bye!
one of the girls from our trip went back to the US last weekend for an interview for a scholarship that might pay for grad school. we were all so freaked out about the idea of leaving here and going HOME and couldnt wait to hear about her experiences there. among other things, it was particularly interesting to hear about her friends and familys reactions to her photos. the fact is, weve all gotten really used to the way things look here, but when you all see the pictures, youre going to think 'wow, you really lived in poverty'. people here are poor, but it doesnt feel that way the way you would imagine. everyone is getting by together. there is an amazing sense of community and family and the people are so inviting and welcoming. here, people consider wealth to be in numbers -- the more children the better. while that may be contrary to our perceptions of wealth, you can see how family is sooo important to malian life and begin to understand a bit as you live here.
ok i have to sign off now because theres a creep next to me saying he loves me trying to get me to give him my information and reading over my shoulder.
bye!
Friday, March 21, 2008
ze news wif me
this morning when i woke up, mamadou was pooping on the floor outside my room and eating matches. ohhh mamadou!
things are really good here lately...ive been uber-busy. ive been going to lots of concerts (boubacar traore on sat night was amazing!) and doing my share of dancing. there are these "cultural spaces" where theres always traditional music going on and people relaxing or dancing its great. weve made some cool rasta friends that we go out with a lot which is nice because they love to dance and be silly too. and ive still been climbing my hill just about every day. it turns out that my hill is aka-ed as 'rasta hill' hahah... all the rastas live there, but not in the part that i pass on my way to the top! its mango harvesting time which means you can get 2 for 5 cents...yum!
im very accustomed to malian life now... bucket showers are heavenly now rather than inconvenient and i think i prefer peeing in holes in the ground to western toilets... as long as you cant see the maggots at the bottom. toiletpaper is like a silly past-time as is silverware and spacious public transport. here, we get around by sotramas - big green minivans with the backs gutted. you wouldnt believe how many people they can fit in just one sotrama. we can seriously squeeze like 20-25 and just when you thought there was absolutely NO space left, two fat ladies enter and somehow squeeze in. you might get sat on a little bit, but thats just the nature of the game. you can get most places taking only one or 2 sotramas and each one only costs 125 cfas which is about 25 cents. its a good deal. if you want to take a taxi you might have to pay as much as 4 dollars (thats if youre going like, 40 mins away) and that is just completely unacceptable!
speaking of money, having bills are a curse here, even if theyre only 2000 cfas (4 dollars). if you try to pay for something using a 2000 cfa bill, people will look at you like "are you kidding me? you want me to give you change for this?!" and depending on who you talk to you, they might even just say no because they dont have enough change for you. our prog director gives us money every month for transport and food and such, and he gives it to us in 5.000 and 10.000 cfa bills and were all like NOOOO because we know noone will accept such bills. its like paying for a banana with a 100 dollar bill... they think were crazy!
nonetheless, im def getting good at the system. i know where to break a bill and i will argue in bambara with a sotrama apprentice over 5 cents if i know hes ripping me off because im a tubabu (whitey). its the the principle! classes are over next week and im excited to start isp. i think ive found a really great womens coop to work with. its in a village just outside bamako so i can still live here, and its a farming coop that also does fabric dying and literacy programs for its members. i think there could be a lot there...plus i just really want to farm. im determined to be good at bambara because i know the women there wont speak french...so ive been working hard at that!
i have a busy weekend coming up and tonight were going dancing, so i best be heading off.
k'an si!
things are really good here lately...ive been uber-busy. ive been going to lots of concerts (boubacar traore on sat night was amazing!) and doing my share of dancing. there are these "cultural spaces" where theres always traditional music going on and people relaxing or dancing its great. weve made some cool rasta friends that we go out with a lot which is nice because they love to dance and be silly too. and ive still been climbing my hill just about every day. it turns out that my hill is aka-ed as 'rasta hill' hahah... all the rastas live there, but not in the part that i pass on my way to the top! its mango harvesting time which means you can get 2 for 5 cents...yum!
im very accustomed to malian life now... bucket showers are heavenly now rather than inconvenient and i think i prefer peeing in holes in the ground to western toilets... as long as you cant see the maggots at the bottom. toiletpaper is like a silly past-time as is silverware and spacious public transport. here, we get around by sotramas - big green minivans with the backs gutted. you wouldnt believe how many people they can fit in just one sotrama. we can seriously squeeze like 20-25 and just when you thought there was absolutely NO space left, two fat ladies enter and somehow squeeze in. you might get sat on a little bit, but thats just the nature of the game. you can get most places taking only one or 2 sotramas and each one only costs 125 cfas which is about 25 cents. its a good deal. if you want to take a taxi you might have to pay as much as 4 dollars (thats if youre going like, 40 mins away) and that is just completely unacceptable!
speaking of money, having bills are a curse here, even if theyre only 2000 cfas (4 dollars). if you try to pay for something using a 2000 cfa bill, people will look at you like "are you kidding me? you want me to give you change for this?!" and depending on who you talk to you, they might even just say no because they dont have enough change for you. our prog director gives us money every month for transport and food and such, and he gives it to us in 5.000 and 10.000 cfa bills and were all like NOOOO because we know noone will accept such bills. its like paying for a banana with a 100 dollar bill... they think were crazy!
nonetheless, im def getting good at the system. i know where to break a bill and i will argue in bambara with a sotrama apprentice over 5 cents if i know hes ripping me off because im a tubabu (whitey). its the the principle! classes are over next week and im excited to start isp. i think ive found a really great womens coop to work with. its in a village just outside bamako so i can still live here, and its a farming coop that also does fabric dying and literacy programs for its members. i think there could be a lot there...plus i just really want to farm. im determined to be good at bambara because i know the women there wont speak french...so ive been working hard at that!
i have a busy weekend coming up and tonight were going dancing, so i best be heading off.
k'an si!
Monday, March 17, 2008
salut
so i just added a couple pictures from the village... id put up more but it takes a really long time. today was a good day because i think ive finally decided on my isp topic: womens cooperatives. k so thats really broad i still have a lot to narrow down, but im excited i at least have a starting point. on wednesday (we have wednesdays off from school) one of my teachers is taking me to a fabric dying cooperative and im really excited. i also want to look into agricultural cooperatives but i have a feeling if i do something with that i wont be in bamako so well see what happens. if anyone reading this can share any information about this sort of thing with me, articles and what not, it would be much appreciated!
anyway, my bambara is getting a lot better lately so thats nice. tonight my family asked me in bambara if im afraid of mice and i answered in bambara: no, im not afraid of mice, but mamadou (the baby) should try to catch the mice. this was a big step and they all got really excited and my sister diami clapped and lala the 4 year old danced. they were like HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT! it was pretty exciting.
OH lucy asked me the other day what the weirdest foods are that ive eaten here. they are:
1. there is a dish which is hardboiled eggs coated in ground beef. yum.
2. in the village i expressed once to my host father how much i love bananas (yes, its true, im no longer afraid of them). that night for dinner we had a pasta kind of dish with some variation of tomatoey meat sauce and GUESS WHAT HE DID?! he put 3 raw bananas right on top!!! for me! here all meals are eaten with everyone over a big communal dish and you use your hand (the right one to be specific). so i couldnt offend him... i ate that banana with the pasta and meat sauce all together... yuck!
other than that, there isnt anything too wild about malian cuisine although im eating lots of things i dont eat at home. i love eating with my hand and im starting to get good at it. theres a real cuppage technique that takes some practice. i miss some american foods though and especially cheese. mmm cheese.
hErE
anyway, my bambara is getting a lot better lately so thats nice. tonight my family asked me in bambara if im afraid of mice and i answered in bambara: no, im not afraid of mice, but mamadou (the baby) should try to catch the mice. this was a big step and they all got really excited and my sister diami clapped and lala the 4 year old danced. they were like HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT! it was pretty exciting.
OH lucy asked me the other day what the weirdest foods are that ive eaten here. they are:
1. there is a dish which is hardboiled eggs coated in ground beef. yum.
2. in the village i expressed once to my host father how much i love bananas (yes, its true, im no longer afraid of them). that night for dinner we had a pasta kind of dish with some variation of tomatoey meat sauce and GUESS WHAT HE DID?! he put 3 raw bananas right on top!!! for me! here all meals are eaten with everyone over a big communal dish and you use your hand (the right one to be specific). so i couldnt offend him... i ate that banana with the pasta and meat sauce all together... yuck!
other than that, there isnt anything too wild about malian cuisine although im eating lots of things i dont eat at home. i love eating with my hand and im starting to get good at it. theres a real cuppage technique that takes some practice. i miss some american foods though and especially cheese. mmm cheese.
hErE
Friday, March 14, 2008
my hill
so i only have a few minutes to write
but
i would like to let my readers know
that there is a marvelous hill behind my house
(much closer than i thought it was)
and since first climbing it
on sunday
i have been up everyday since
and at the top you can see all of bamako
and you can look down at the birds
it is so windy
there are no people
it is so wonderful
there is a village half way up called lassa
at the top, i always drink a mango juice
that i bought at the bottom
this is how things are
lately
love bintou
but
i would like to let my readers know
that there is a marvelous hill behind my house
(much closer than i thought it was)
and since first climbing it
on sunday
i have been up everyday since
and at the top you can see all of bamako
and you can look down at the birds
it is so windy
there are no people
it is so wonderful
there is a village half way up called lassa
at the top, i always drink a mango juice
that i bought at the bottom
this is how things are
lately
love bintou
Saturday, March 8, 2008
in sanankoroba, it is best to abandon all germ theories
so i just got back from my one week village stay in sanankoroba, a village not far from bamako. i will start from the beginging.
on monday we arrived and were paired off and sent to families (i was with my good friend youma and we were with the traoré family which is nice bc we both live with traoré fams in bamako.) the village is a lot different from the city. our house is made out of mud and barely has electricity (just a few lights in a few key spots... not our room). we put down mats on the floor and hooked up our mosquito nets, not without noticing about 20 huuuuge hairy spiders on the walls! the area where everyone hangs out outside is just a dirt ground and there are chickens and donkeys and stuff all around. the bathroom...oh man... i dont think most americans could fathom this bathroom. basically, its this outdoor, semi-closed off space with a hole in the ground (the toilet) that smells like death and is FULL of maggots and hugggge cockroaches. it is a really horrible experience to be avoided at all costs... especially at night when the cockroaches come out and are just all over the place. but believe it or not, by the end of the week (aka today) i actually got used to it and have figured out ways to get the cockroaches to run away. haha take that cockroaches!
our family has 6 kids ranging from age 2 (sadio aka. BOOGERMAN) to age 12 (Yaye). They have a set of fraternal twins who are 4 and adoooorable (asiatou and mahamadou) and they also parent Yakuba, this really wonderful little boy who is actually their nephew but his father died. Yakuba is 7 and he is deaf and paralyzed from the waist down. here, that means he drags himself around using his hands. this boy has the most beautiful smile and is so sweet and gentle and loved playing with me and youma. its really hard to think though, about how hard his life is and will always be. the family is for the most part really nice to him though so thats good.
so at the beginning of the week i just really didnt want to be there. the critters freaked me out and the family didnt really speak annnny french (except the dad, dramane, who was out a lot) and the heat seemed even more excruciating than in the city. plus i just didnt really understand my purpose. during the day, all us american students would go off and do art projects and i just felt so awkward coming home to a mother and children, who had worked all day, and not contributing at all. plus, even when youma and i would offer to help with the cooking, etc, theyd just say "no, have a seat"... they meant it in a nice way but we really wanted to do something!
the turning point for me was wednesday night. first off, i took my first shower (i rushed home before dusk so i could shower in daylight before all the cockroaches came out of the maggot pit) so i felt relatively clean and cooled off--by the way we shower using a bucket full of well water and that stuff iffy. then, at night, i started dancing around with some of the kids (in addition to the 7 kids at my house, the neighbors live so close there are always like 20 kids around). at first we were just clapping and singing and showing off some moves and they all wanted to see me and youma dance. but then, some little 12 year olds came over with some tin cans and sticks and made some AMAZING african dance rhythms and it became a legit dance party! it must have lasted like, 2 hours and it was sooo much fun! youma didnt really want to dance a lot so she ran around pretending to be a monster and the kids were SO scared of her it was hilarious. i picked up yakuba to run around because he wanted to participate but cant walk.... he was so scared of youma that he peed on me. haha. anyway the dancing/running around/pee fest went late into the night and i went to sleep feeling really happy... like i had finally integrated with the family despite the language barrier. that is why dance is wonderful.
thursday, i woke up feeling good. youma didnt though, and she ended up going back to bamako in the morning because she was sick. so that left me alone with the fam for the rest of the week (which would have been hard at the beginning, but i felt really good about things by thursday). that day, my host mom fatmata let me help cook and do laundry and i played a lot with the kids from the night before and they all wanted me to take photos of them so i filled up an entire memory card with pictures. at one point i went out and bought about 20 bananas to share with everyone (for like 50 cents) and after i did that all these people were like, offering me their children to take home. its weird but people here do that. at night there was more cooking and of course tea and ceaseless handclap games with all the children...good times. its a good thing everyone goes to bed early in the village because the days are so tiring.
yesterday, friday, there was a village dance in the evening. it started out kind of lame to be honest.... lots of people stood in a big circle with 4 djembe players and the african women would pull in the tubabus (white people aka us) one at a time and try to show us some easy steps. it wasnt high energy though. BUT after a little while some african women showed off some steps a bit and then asked if any of us wanted to come up and solo. it was high pressure but i was just thinking its now or never! so i got up and soloed like 4 or 5 of my favorite steps from my west african dance classes and it was great! everyone cheered a lot and it was sooo fun! im really proud of myself for stepping up. more people came in to join me and the dancing that continued was a lot more upbeat. when it all ended, a lot of people came up to me and said nice things and i left with a huge energy boost. hoorah!
on the way out though, i took a step and OW! i looked down and there was a stick coming out of my foot. i screamed but all the other people from my group had gone so i was just surrounded by kids. it hurt so bad and i pulled the stick out-- i think it was like, half an inch deep in the side of my foot. i almost fainted...it was scary. there was a lot of blood and i hobbled over to this old lady who helped me clean off the area and then i stumbled home and put on some disinfectant and such. all the million kids from my fam helped me and were so sweet about it so that was nice. i think it will be fine so long as i keep it clean.
i was really sad to say bye to everyone this morning. we bonded a lot since wednesday and especially the kids are sooo cute. asiatou is just the most beautiful little girl and she just gets up really close to my face and makes this huuuuge smile. and yakuba...i am really sad to leave him too. im definitely going to try to print some of the photos i took of the kids while im here and hopefully i can go back to visit and bring them the pictures. i think its in the cards...inchallah.
so i got back to the house in bamako and was really happy to see everyone. my sister diami even said "you are welcome" in ENGLISH when i arrived! compared to the village, here seems sooo clean and sooo urban. i guess its all relative. of course seeing mamadou put a huge smile on my face. that little bottomless boy seems to be a little older each time i see him (i think its becase hes growing in teeth). theres a baptism across the street from our house so there are lotssss of people in the road, listening to music, playing cards, and drinking tea.
my cybertime is running low so im going to go back to that scene. by the way, the new baby is named sekou.
love to all and keep sending me the news with you!
bintou
on monday we arrived and were paired off and sent to families (i was with my good friend youma and we were with the traoré family which is nice bc we both live with traoré fams in bamako.) the village is a lot different from the city. our house is made out of mud and barely has electricity (just a few lights in a few key spots... not our room). we put down mats on the floor and hooked up our mosquito nets, not without noticing about 20 huuuuge hairy spiders on the walls! the area where everyone hangs out outside is just a dirt ground and there are chickens and donkeys and stuff all around. the bathroom...oh man... i dont think most americans could fathom this bathroom. basically, its this outdoor, semi-closed off space with a hole in the ground (the toilet) that smells like death and is FULL of maggots and hugggge cockroaches. it is a really horrible experience to be avoided at all costs... especially at night when the cockroaches come out and are just all over the place. but believe it or not, by the end of the week (aka today) i actually got used to it and have figured out ways to get the cockroaches to run away. haha take that cockroaches!
our family has 6 kids ranging from age 2 (sadio aka. BOOGERMAN) to age 12 (Yaye). They have a set of fraternal twins who are 4 and adoooorable (asiatou and mahamadou) and they also parent Yakuba, this really wonderful little boy who is actually their nephew but his father died. Yakuba is 7 and he is deaf and paralyzed from the waist down. here, that means he drags himself around using his hands. this boy has the most beautiful smile and is so sweet and gentle and loved playing with me and youma. its really hard to think though, about how hard his life is and will always be. the family is for the most part really nice to him though so thats good.
so at the beginning of the week i just really didnt want to be there. the critters freaked me out and the family didnt really speak annnny french (except the dad, dramane, who was out a lot) and the heat seemed even more excruciating than in the city. plus i just didnt really understand my purpose. during the day, all us american students would go off and do art projects and i just felt so awkward coming home to a mother and children, who had worked all day, and not contributing at all. plus, even when youma and i would offer to help with the cooking, etc, theyd just say "no, have a seat"... they meant it in a nice way but we really wanted to do something!
the turning point for me was wednesday night. first off, i took my first shower (i rushed home before dusk so i could shower in daylight before all the cockroaches came out of the maggot pit) so i felt relatively clean and cooled off--by the way we shower using a bucket full of well water and that stuff iffy. then, at night, i started dancing around with some of the kids (in addition to the 7 kids at my house, the neighbors live so close there are always like 20 kids around). at first we were just clapping and singing and showing off some moves and they all wanted to see me and youma dance. but then, some little 12 year olds came over with some tin cans and sticks and made some AMAZING african dance rhythms and it became a legit dance party! it must have lasted like, 2 hours and it was sooo much fun! youma didnt really want to dance a lot so she ran around pretending to be a monster and the kids were SO scared of her it was hilarious. i picked up yakuba to run around because he wanted to participate but cant walk.... he was so scared of youma that he peed on me. haha. anyway the dancing/running around/pee fest went late into the night and i went to sleep feeling really happy... like i had finally integrated with the family despite the language barrier. that is why dance is wonderful.
thursday, i woke up feeling good. youma didnt though, and she ended up going back to bamako in the morning because she was sick. so that left me alone with the fam for the rest of the week (which would have been hard at the beginning, but i felt really good about things by thursday). that day, my host mom fatmata let me help cook and do laundry and i played a lot with the kids from the night before and they all wanted me to take photos of them so i filled up an entire memory card with pictures. at one point i went out and bought about 20 bananas to share with everyone (for like 50 cents) and after i did that all these people were like, offering me their children to take home. its weird but people here do that. at night there was more cooking and of course tea and ceaseless handclap games with all the children...good times. its a good thing everyone goes to bed early in the village because the days are so tiring.
yesterday, friday, there was a village dance in the evening. it started out kind of lame to be honest.... lots of people stood in a big circle with 4 djembe players and the african women would pull in the tubabus (white people aka us) one at a time and try to show us some easy steps. it wasnt high energy though. BUT after a little while some african women showed off some steps a bit and then asked if any of us wanted to come up and solo. it was high pressure but i was just thinking its now or never! so i got up and soloed like 4 or 5 of my favorite steps from my west african dance classes and it was great! everyone cheered a lot and it was sooo fun! im really proud of myself for stepping up. more people came in to join me and the dancing that continued was a lot more upbeat. when it all ended, a lot of people came up to me and said nice things and i left with a huge energy boost. hoorah!
on the way out though, i took a step and OW! i looked down and there was a stick coming out of my foot. i screamed but all the other people from my group had gone so i was just surrounded by kids. it hurt so bad and i pulled the stick out-- i think it was like, half an inch deep in the side of my foot. i almost fainted...it was scary. there was a lot of blood and i hobbled over to this old lady who helped me clean off the area and then i stumbled home and put on some disinfectant and such. all the million kids from my fam helped me and were so sweet about it so that was nice. i think it will be fine so long as i keep it clean.
i was really sad to say bye to everyone this morning. we bonded a lot since wednesday and especially the kids are sooo cute. asiatou is just the most beautiful little girl and she just gets up really close to my face and makes this huuuuge smile. and yakuba...i am really sad to leave him too. im definitely going to try to print some of the photos i took of the kids while im here and hopefully i can go back to visit and bring them the pictures. i think its in the cards...inchallah.
so i got back to the house in bamako and was really happy to see everyone. my sister diami even said "you are welcome" in ENGLISH when i arrived! compared to the village, here seems sooo clean and sooo urban. i guess its all relative. of course seeing mamadou put a huge smile on my face. that little bottomless boy seems to be a little older each time i see him (i think its becase hes growing in teeth). theres a baptism across the street from our house so there are lotssss of people in the road, listening to music, playing cards, and drinking tea.
my cybertime is running low so im going to go back to that scene. by the way, the new baby is named sekou.
love to all and keep sending me the news with you!
bintou
Saturday, March 1, 2008
n ye jirimөgө ye
the title of this entry is i am the tree person.
weve learned a bunch of verbs in bambara now but not really any nouns so this is one of the few i know which i use in almost every sentence. also, balon, tabili, jakuma, sugu, wulu, sogomogo balimamuso, sogobalimamuso (ball, table, cat, market, dog, meatman, sister, meatsister).
things are still going swell here. even though classes are way too long, we get wednesdays off which is marrrrvelous! my friends and i have been going to lots of concerts--- there is alllllways something musical going on. yesterday was a really fun day... after school i met up with a friend who goes to the INA (art school in bamako). hes a story teller and djembe player and he hooked me up with a dance practice in another part of the city. it was the first organized dance thing ive done (although were always groovin at concerts and what not) and i had such a great time! it was exhausting but i kept up with most of it thanks to west african dance class last semester. im so glad ive gotten the in with this dance troupe because its really cool and everyone was so nice and the place is close to my school. also all these kids from the cartier showed up to watch and dance along and stuff... it was sooo cool! when i got home i relaxed for a bit and then went out to a nightclub with my brother Sa (that means snake in bambara because hes like 1000 feet tall). a bunch of my friends were at the night club and we were there until 4 in the morning. sa's a sick dancer so he showed me all the specific dances for the different countries' songs. there are very specific dance moves that you use for each contry... for example, the cote d'ivoirians are major booty shakers! you should have seen how excited i got when soldja boy came on...
oh man right now in this cyber cafe the thong song is playing.
ANYWAY
i know that i write about mamadou in just about every post, but he is just so effing cute. i just look at him and laugh. it seems like every time i come home he has a new tooth coming in. his smile is so cute. the other day when i was leaving to meet up with some friends, mamadou followed me out and tried to come zith me (he does that a lot). so i picked him up and gave him a big hug and was like k'an ben mamadou! (bye mamdou!). and when i picked him up he grabbed my cheeks really tight with both hands and pulled really hard and one of them got cut! little devil! i have a scab but you cant really get angry at this child. lala is sick at the moment but i think she will be better soon. she still plays handclap games with me all the time so thats a good sign.
the weather is getting bloody hot now, and they say it will get a lot worse. even at night i just sleep on top of my sheet and im sweaty. luckily im always tired enough so that doesnt prevent me from sleeping...
i have a lot more to say but only 1 min left on my cyber time so i will have to continue a la prochaine fois.
keep writing me emails... i miss you all!
xo
bintou
weve learned a bunch of verbs in bambara now but not really any nouns so this is one of the few i know which i use in almost every sentence. also, balon, tabili, jakuma, sugu, wulu, sogomogo balimamuso, sogobalimamuso (ball, table, cat, market, dog, meatman, sister, meatsister).
things are still going swell here. even though classes are way too long, we get wednesdays off which is marrrrvelous! my friends and i have been going to lots of concerts--- there is alllllways something musical going on. yesterday was a really fun day... after school i met up with a friend who goes to the INA (art school in bamako). hes a story teller and djembe player and he hooked me up with a dance practice in another part of the city. it was the first organized dance thing ive done (although were always groovin at concerts and what not) and i had such a great time! it was exhausting but i kept up with most of it thanks to west african dance class last semester. im so glad ive gotten the in with this dance troupe because its really cool and everyone was so nice and the place is close to my school. also all these kids from the cartier showed up to watch and dance along and stuff... it was sooo cool! when i got home i relaxed for a bit and then went out to a nightclub with my brother Sa (that means snake in bambara because hes like 1000 feet tall). a bunch of my friends were at the night club and we were there until 4 in the morning. sa's a sick dancer so he showed me all the specific dances for the different countries' songs. there are very specific dance moves that you use for each contry... for example, the cote d'ivoirians are major booty shakers! you should have seen how excited i got when soldja boy came on...
oh man right now in this cyber cafe the thong song is playing.
ANYWAY
i know that i write about mamadou in just about every post, but he is just so effing cute. i just look at him and laugh. it seems like every time i come home he has a new tooth coming in. his smile is so cute. the other day when i was leaving to meet up with some friends, mamadou followed me out and tried to come zith me (he does that a lot). so i picked him up and gave him a big hug and was like k'an ben mamadou! (bye mamdou!). and when i picked him up he grabbed my cheeks really tight with both hands and pulled really hard and one of them got cut! little devil! i have a scab but you cant really get angry at this child. lala is sick at the moment but i think she will be better soon. she still plays handclap games with me all the time so thats a good sign.
the weather is getting bloody hot now, and they say it will get a lot worse. even at night i just sleep on top of my sheet and im sweaty. luckily im always tired enough so that doesnt prevent me from sleeping...
i have a lot more to say but only 1 min left on my cyber time so i will have to continue a la prochaine fois.
keep writing me emails... i miss you all!
xo
bintou
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