Malila
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Ruthless Mosquitoes
They are terrible insects that prey on every possible surface of your body. I was bit on the bottom of my feet! Unfortunately the peace corps house in Sikasso has a a limited amount of mosquito nets. So for the first night I stayed there I was without a net. I counted 10 bites alone on my left hand. It was ridiculously hot, because the power was out. Usually the fans help keep the mosquitoes at bay. Also the medical cabinet in the house had no mosquito repellant! fml. So there I was lying in bed with long pants, socks, a long sleeve shirt, and a sheet draped across my face. I am trying my best not to itch, because I learned the hard way last year when my itching led to a bacterial skin infection.
checkers here just ain't the same
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| Malian Checker Board |
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| Zaba, it tastes just like sour patch kids |
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| my tutor gave me an incredibly old English book to read interesting... |
...ghost machine...
Someone please watch Casper and tell me if this is not the ghost machine. I went to a technical school and saw this in the corner covered in dust.
Current conversation among pcvs and malians: During lightning storms does carrying a cell phone increase your chances of being struck by lightning? Well I guess it couldn't help.
Apparently in Mali, four people were killed last week using their cell phones. Also, lightning can strike through windows.
sometimes children are afraid of me
Djeneba my dear
you should have nothing to fear
I just want to see you smile
Monday, June 13, 2011
Fruit Roll-Ups and Paper
I made them both on two seperate uneventful days. I mashed up three mangoes added a lil' sugar and spread them out to dry in my solar dryer protected from the flies and ants.
The paper was something I was planning to do for a long time, but just never got around to actually getting it done. I had a reserve of used paper I have collected from the start of my service, a mortar and pestle to my disposal, and two rectangular screens made months ago, but had yet to put them all to use to make the paper I would like to use to write my letters. Until a few days ago. "What are you doing?" , "What are you going to do, make paper?" My host family was very skeptical. In the end it turned out better than I expected considering I had to cut and pound the paper myself rather than use a blender. I'll try to write you so you can feel the paper yourself and get a piece of 100% recycled JacquelineSita made paper from Mali. But, Ramon Q. I am still waiting for my Alaska postcard so until then no paper for you : ).
Another thing happened to brighten up my days in Mali. Over a week ago on one of my usual visits to a nearby village I got a flat tire half-way into my ride and decided to walk the rest of the way lugging my bike and the 6 moringa trees I took from my tree nursery tied to the back, to give to the president of a woman's association. The president is awesome and gives me a big box of mangoes everytime I come since the start of mango season. Best mangoes I have had in Mali are from her family's mango orchard. Anyway her son managed to seal the hole with super glue and I was able to ride back to my village, but I had no spare tire and did not expect to get one until the next time I left my village to go to my banking town, where I could pick up a new one sent on a PC shuttle. Of course, the next day my tire was flat again and I wouldn't risk fixing it and getting stuck on a hot day walking for miles to visit the villages on my usual day during the week. So one day I had nothing really planned, no laundry, too much energy to read, study, or write, so I walked around town visiting people and spent the day with my homolouge at the grinding mill and walked her part of the way home after. On this walk in the early evening kids were playing basketball on the court with a basketball. I was excited a) because they could actually play and b) because they were using a basketball, not any other ball and it was inflated. Surprised, because I have been here so long and have not seen people on the court with a basketball before.
These past three evenings I have gone to the school to play and it has been so great. The kids are hilarious to play with and it feels great playing a familiar sport. These girls keep saying 'sabali sa" really fast, at first I thought they were saying ashah or someone's name, but "sabali sa" means to calm down or relax, I guess for others not to be so aggressive. It's hilarious, because now I can't stop saying it with them through out the game. While I am in town for the next week I am going to look for a basketball and a b-ball jersey.
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| pre-fruit roll up, drying sliced mangoes |
Another thing happened to brighten up my days in Mali. Over a week ago on one of my usual visits to a nearby village I got a flat tire half-way into my ride and decided to walk the rest of the way lugging my bike and the 6 moringa trees I took from my tree nursery tied to the back, to give to the president of a woman's association. The president is awesome and gives me a big box of mangoes everytime I come since the start of mango season. Best mangoes I have had in Mali are from her family's mango orchard. Anyway her son managed to seal the hole with super glue and I was able to ride back to my village, but I had no spare tire and did not expect to get one until the next time I left my village to go to my banking town, where I could pick up a new one sent on a PC shuttle. Of course, the next day my tire was flat again and I wouldn't risk fixing it and getting stuck on a hot day walking for miles to visit the villages on my usual day during the week. So one day I had nothing really planned, no laundry, too much energy to read, study, or write, so I walked around town visiting people and spent the day with my homolouge at the grinding mill and walked her part of the way home after. On this walk in the early evening kids were playing basketball on the court with a basketball. I was excited a) because they could actually play and b) because they were using a basketball, not any other ball and it was inflated. Surprised, because I have been here so long and have not seen people on the court with a basketball before.
These past three evenings I have gone to the school to play and it has been so great. The kids are hilarious to play with and it feels great playing a familiar sport. These girls keep saying 'sabali sa" really fast, at first I thought they were saying ashah or someone's name, but "sabali sa" means to calm down or relax, I guess for others not to be so aggressive. It's hilarious, because now I can't stop saying it with them through out the game. While I am in town for the next week I am going to look for a basketball and a b-ball jersey.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Seasons Change...
and nothing seems to stay the same. The start of the rainy season and less than a month away from the date I first entered Mali. At first I was under the realization that rainy season is my favorite season, but now that I look back on the year and everything that accompanies each season I have reconsidered. I love rain, especially when it is accompanied by lightening and thunder. (I remember the time Sasha and I drove to Westcliff in Santa Cruz to watch an awesome thunderstorm and the lightening that lit up the ocean. Or when my parents and aunt came to visit during a similar storm in Santa Cruz and we lost all power. As a kid we would turn off all the lights in the house, if they already didn't go out due to the storm and open the blinds to our glass sliding door and ooh and aah when the lightening lit up the room. ) The rain clouds are also quite spectacular to watch move across the sky.
The downside of rainy season I realize is mostly due to the lil' critters; mosquitoes, huge ants, crickets, and spiders. These insects are here all year long, but it seems like they are in greater numbers and enjoy the inside of your house. Also the heat is worse, because of the humidity.
Despite the bugs and the humidity, I am excited to see the ponds fill up with water, collect ripe shea fruit that has fallen during the storm, eat mangoes, watch the crops growing through out the next three months and collect rain water to wash my clothes or water the garden on those days it may not rain.
Last Sunday on the 5th, I was leaving my concession to go to church when Shaka came running up to me asking were I was going. As we walked I spent the next 5 minutes saying I was going to church in the local language, but I suppose because he is not christian he is not familiar with the place so he kept asking as if my responses were inadequate or I was lying. A few months back he walked me halfway to church and this time he went all the way to the front steps, and asked if he could stay. So he stayed and sat with me through the entire mass, he behaved very well and even tried to imitate the sign of the cross and other motions. The days after every time I left the concession he would ask where I was going, and if I was going to church. About the fifth time he asked me if I was going there I said no and why he asked, apparently he saw a friend from school while he was there.
Despite the bugs and the humidity, I am excited to see the ponds fill up with water, collect ripe shea fruit that has fallen during the storm, eat mangoes, watch the crops growing through out the next three months and collect rain water to wash my clothes or water the garden on those days it may not rain.
Last Sunday on the 5th, I was leaving my concession to go to church when Shaka came running up to me asking were I was going. As we walked I spent the next 5 minutes saying I was going to church in the local language, but I suppose because he is not christian he is not familiar with the place so he kept asking as if my responses were inadequate or I was lying. A few months back he walked me halfway to church and this time he went all the way to the front steps, and asked if he could stay. So he stayed and sat with me through the entire mass, he behaved very well and even tried to imitate the sign of the cross and other motions. The days after every time I left the concession he would ask where I was going, and if I was going to church. About the fifth time he asked me if I was going there I said no and why he asked, apparently he saw a friend from school while he was there.
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