Happy Thanksgiving! With Pictures!!
I feel like it has been a while since I’ve checked in with you, and a lot has happened in the last month or so. But first, since it is Thanksgiving, I would like to thank all of you for your encouraging letters and emails; they really really help! And for as much as they help, I should really do a much better job of writing everyone back. So since it is Thanksgiving, I am hoping you will find it in your hearts to forgive me for my lax communication, and I will do my best to get my ass in gear and write.
I hope that everyone is enjoying a restful and relaxing day with the family. I have come into Sevare to spend the holiday with 11 other volunteers from my region, and we are even going to get to celebrate with a real turkey (it is about the size of an adolescent chicken, but that is alright) and Stove Top stuffing (thanks Dad and Judy). The only thing we are missing is the football. Through creative Malian cooking and the bounty that we received in care packages, it looks like we will also have a pumpkin/sweet potato pie, mashed potatoes, yams, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, green beans with French fried onions, corn, dinner rolls, peanut butter toffee cookies, watermelon, and mint oreo cookie ice cream. Not too shabby. I’ll make sure to take lots of pictures.
Speaking of pictures, there has been some interest from your end in knowing what my house looks like. So this month’s blog will spotlight the interior of my home (I suspect Better Homes and Gardens will be ringing me up soon). Since we last spoke, I painted the inside of my house, and it has made a world of difference. I would describe the color of my bedroom as eggshell, and my kitchen as maize. It has a very cutesy, cottage feel. And with the lighter walls, I’ve discovered that I have a fairly sizable scorpion population sharing my space. Huh. Oh well, they squish easily. I also have acquired a cat to help work on my mouse problem. He’s a really spastic black kitten. No name yet, but I welcome any suggestions. He hasn’t killed anything so far, and he is afraid of my chickens, so I’m not sure what kind of hunter he is going to turn out to be, but he is awfully cute, so I’ll keep him around regardless.
Ramadan ended recently, and I got to celebrate twice. I was in Bankass when the official word came out of the sighting of the new moon, so I celebrated there, and when I returned to the village the next day, Mandoli hadn’t seen the moon yet, so we waited a couple of days before celebrating there. I am really happy that it worked out that way, because the celebration in my village was so much better. All the kids of the village ran around shouting that the new moon had come out, and the festivities would be the next day. The following day everyone put on their finest clothes and went out to a large rock face to pray. It was really beautiful, and I wanted to take pictures, but didn’t feel it was appropriate for a religious service. Of course afterwards everyone wanted to know why I didn’t take any, but I’ll know for next year. Afterwards they gave money, ate dates, and visited all the neighbors, offering benedictions and asking for forgiveness for any of last year’s wrongdoings. It was really enjoyable. The next big festival will be Tabaski in January, and my village assured me that they party hardcore for that one, and that I should be prepared to dance a lot and eat plenty of goat. I better start training.
Otherwise life has been pretty quiet. I have been helping harvest the grains, and most of the harvest should be done within the next week or two. Just the sorghum is left. On days that I am not out in the fields, the village is really deserted; usually it is just me and one older woman and all of the young children. And for that reason alone, I try to make sure that I go out to the fields as much as possible – having the undivided attention of 15 three to eight year-old Malian children is something that I would not wish even on my worst enemy. I made the mistake of giving a Tootsie Pop to a child that came to visit me last week, and ten minutes later was greeted with a horde of kids wanting one as well. So I decided to give them all out at once and be done with it, and I have a couple pictures of the event. They were really excited. I feel like the makers of Tootsie Pops would do well to use these photos in their marketing. In another child related story (that seems to be what most of my stories revolve around), I have been having serious issues with children just coming in and hanging out in my yard uninvited (This is due to the fact that my outside door, when made, was measured using a broken millet stalk, and as a result is about a foot to small for my door frame. A full-sized adult can easily pass through the gap broadside, let alone dozens of children). Last week I was working on a project inside my house when I heard a group of what sounded like 4 or 5 kids come into my yard. I told them that I was busy and that they needed to leave, which of course they did not. They kept begging me to come out, and I did my best to ignore them, until I got completely frustrated and burst out of the door yelling at them. It turns out there were actually 17 children (I counted) gathered around something on the ground. I was furious. I shooed them all out of the way only to discover that they were crowded around a pile of 10 or 12 dead lizards that they had spent all afternoon killing as a gift for my cat (who at this point is about the same size as some of these lizards). I felt like such a jerk. No, I was such a jerk. So I apologized profusely and gave three to the kitten before they got so rotten that I had to throw them over my back wall. Those little bastards keep me on my toes.
Well I suppose that is enough for now. I have started a project with the women of the village making a better type of porridge from grains that are available here in Mali. The reception to it has been really positive so far, and I am really impressed by their enthusiasm and dedication. I met with two representatives from each women’s association in my village to discuss the porridge and see if they were interested in making it. Because it is harvest time right now, they asked to wait for the full moon, and we held the meeting at night. After I discussed nutrition and the benefits of this porridge for their families, I gave them each a sample. They immediately asked if they could have another sample so that they could in turn prepare it for the women’s association meeting the following evening. I attended the meeting, and the representatives from my quartier did a fantastic job of talking about it to the other women. The ladies went a little crazy over it, and were stealing each other’s samples they liked it so much. I suggested that if they were willing to provide the beans and peanuts needed to prepare the flour, I would provide the corn, rice and millet. I am very happy to report that my house is now full of beans and peanuts (and bugs) because the women are so interested in preparing this porridge. My villagers never cease to impress me. I’m very pleased indeed.
Alright I've run out of time, so I will have to post the pictures tomorrow morning - sorry.
