Thoughts of Home

While I sit completely still, shaded, inside my house with the windows and door open (for optimal air flow), I'm amazed at how the amount of sweat dripping from my skin could easily fill my Nalgene. And yet, it's really not all that bad. I think that once it gets any hotter than 95 degrees Fahrenheit, I can't really tell what temperature it is anymore- it's just hot. So, no, I'm not complaining, and yes, I know that it is much hotter other places (including places in the US). It's merely a reflection on the fact that I currently like snow, or maybe the thought of snow, and other daydreams (maybe heat-inspired delusions?) or actual activities that remind me of home.

It Helps to Think We Might be Wishing on the Same Bright Star

Last night I slept next to a day-old goat who, luckily, had not yet found its voice. With the heat, my tin-roofed house has become too hot to sleep in and therefore I find myself pitching my mosquito net tent under my front gwa (hangar/porchish area). There are grass-thatched walls that encloses my gwa on two sides, but leave plenty of space for all sorts of night time visitors to join my camp-out. To be honest, I was quite reluctant to sleep outside at first. Reluctant because I was scared, unjustifiably so of course. It was just like when my father, brother and I used to pitch a tent in my backyard during warm summer nights in the north country. I remember getting all prepared: gathering my old red flashlight, changing into my pajamas, having popcorn as our late night snack and then carrying my Rescue Rangers sleeping bag out the back sliding door to our tent. It wouldn't be more than a few hours (maybe only one hour even) before I would become unnecessarily frightened and would wake up the boys to profess my fears. Although they were more than enough protection from the noises of the forest, they could not convince me to stay the rest of the night with them and Matt would kindly wriggle out of his Alf sleeping bag to walk me the 15 yards back inside. Conversely here, the noises of the forest are more like noises of a farm- donkeys, cows, dogs, goats, frogs- and are more comforting and reassuring than anything else. I usually end up humming the song "Somewhere Out There" from An American Tail --"it helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky."

TOM'S sandwich

To supplement my rather unchanging diet of millet to with yummy leafy sauce, millet porridge and more millet to with a gross fish sauce that I don't really like eating, I have begun purchasing large amounts of veggies whenever possible. (Mango season has also arrived... I like the ones you can bite into like an apple). And on nights when I get the gross fish sauce that I don't really like eating, I can return to my home and whip up some midnight snack that is much healthier than Papa John's. My special treat to myself is what I have dubbed "TOM'S sandwich" in honor of my father and his stories about his university days where he lived off of tomato sandwiches. This is my Malian version of a BLT... but the only things it has in common are the tomato and the fact that it's an accronym. TOM'S sandwich consists of garden fresh tomatoes, sliced and strategically placed on the bagget, a handful of diced onions, a thin layer of mayonnaise, and salt. Delicious thoughts of home.

Let's Shea-r Ideas!

In preparation for the shea butter and association building formation being held at my site the last two days of this month, I have been working very closely with our now legally recognized women's group called "Miiriya Nyuman" or Good Idea in Bambara. As I mentioned last entry, the formation was postponed a week, but now seems to be gliding along as planned. I'm currently in Bamako making some final preparations here before the wedding (this week) and the formation (next week). If all goes well, approximately 40 women- 30 from my village and 10 from surrounding villages- will attend the formation to learn the best practices for high quality shea butter and ways to improve the functioning of an association. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures and stories to share come May.

During the next month of hot season, it is my hope to work intensively with my community to identity and outline specific goals for the village-- where do they want to be at the end of this year, the end of two year, the end of five years? Having already tossed around a lot of ideas at the past few all-community meetings, all we have to do is clarify and make a game plan. I'm also attempting (with another volunteer) to write some scripts to be performed over the radio that would encourage the proper practices to make and sell good shea butter (in radio soap opera form). After speaking with the director of the radio in my banking/post town, I'm thinking that I might be able to have a regular radio program to speak on a variety of issues. This is an idea in the works, so we'll see how it progresses. No podcasts as of yet. Maybe next year.

Currently, some interesting things going on in village are:

-The construction of a well at the school (with the assistance of an American NGO). It's temporarily on hold, but the community contribution is complete and makes me encouraged to see what the village is capable of when really motivated.

-The making and firing of pottery, which is then sold at a number of markets in our area. The women are pros!

PS: To quell any fears that my last blog was a direct insult at my homestay family members by calling them donkeys, it was, but an insult meant as a joke... because that's what joking cousins is. Sorry for those of you who were confused. I guess my transition between paragraphs could have been clearer.

My homestay family set me up as their "joking cousin" with a last name unlike their own. Historically, our peoples (identified by last name) have had a tendency to not get along. So today, the cultural practice of "joking cousins" allows me to call them names (and vice versa) all day long with no real repercussions, except a sore gut from laughing so hard at some of the jabs they come up with. That's the reason for all the donkey references.