sometimes when im just walking absent-mindedly i stop and look around and think 'wow, this is my life right now' and it seems pretty crazy. in the same way that its easy to take for granted the place where you live at home (you see the same familiar things everyday), im getting really used to here. but then sometimes i clear my head and im just like 'yeah... this is pretty awesome'. today i realized that when i was on the sotrama and we had to stop for 4 cows crossing the road (no biggie) and then later the sotrama broke down and half the men inside got out and pushed us all the way to a gas station. all that kind of stuff is pretty normal until you think about it in comparison to home.

also, im loving my cooperative. even though its a million miles (2 sotramas) away, its just so great. and despite the language barrier, im starting to feel like i really belong with those women. i know the routine now, i know most of their names (not easy mind you), and they all know me and get a huge kick out of my bambara. today a film crew came from UNICEF belgium to take footage of cooperative farming for a big project theyre doing in mali (not at kalikan specifically though). they were interested in talking to me since im this weird intermediary that looks like them but carries buckets of water on my head and communicates with the malian women (the unicef folks dont speak a word of bambara). it was great talking to them because i felt knowledgable enough to explain the coop and talk about the needs of the women there (from what ive learned in my interviews), like a better irrigation system, better fencing, and consistent transport to the big market.

also, if anyone happens to be watching belgian TV, look for me :)

this afternoon, i went to a free outdoor concert at the art museum and it was amaaazing. the group is Mam Sidibe and her orchestre and it was this great mix of more current malian music with a heavy traditional base. one of the dudes in the group was the best african dancer ive ever seen. he could even contort his body and still be dancing to the beat. and he could breakdance to the beat! and this old dude came out and danced a little and it was cute and then all of a sudden he did a flip! it was so willy wonka of him! lots of kids danced too... the music was very djembe oriented which i love. and the crowd was roaring and moving the whole time. anyway, it was so great im going to see them again tomorrow night with my friends at the palais de la culture. this ones not free, but hopefully its equally as fun and dancey (dancey?)!

tomorrow i have an interview with this dude at the union for farming cooperatives in mali so im pretty excited to get some big information. research is hard here, without having a computer all the time, but its going.

oh also im feeling a lot better now :)
n ka kènè

write back to my posts people! i like that!