Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope yours was full of love and fun!

My Christmas was pretty great. I spent Christmas eve day baking up a storm. Started with caramel apple pancakes, then i made sugar cookies to give out as gifts to friends, next i made pizza with friends for dinner (continuing the bailey tradition), and finally i made chocolate peanut butter cookies.

Thomas and I spent the evening together on Skype and AIM opening presents and being together. It was lovely. I got him Cloverfiield on Blue-ray and i downloaded it to my computer so we both watched it at the same time and got to talk over AIM while we watched! It was almost like being in the same room! We even made cocoa together (i know i know you are gagging on the cuteness).

Christmas morning I spent with friends at a champagne breakfast, then i moved on to the Deputy Ambassador's house for a fabulous lunch. Finally, I ended the day with friends again watching a movie.

All in all a great holiday. Hope yours was full of love and happiness!

I'll post pictures soon :) Miss you!

I'll be Home for Christmas if only in my Dreams

I haven't forgotten about you faithful few who read this. I'm just fairly boring these days.

I listen to a lot of Christmas music, read, exercise, talk to neighbors, and teach a couple days a week. That's about it. And I figure you've heard enough about all that.

To be honest, I've heard enough about all that. I'm getting rather tired of waiting for school to start. We're hoping for January, but with strikes and general Malian systems it's hard to say if that will happen.

Can I just say that Development work is frustrating and nothing like I imagined.

Merry Tabaski!

Yesterday was the Muslim festival Tabaski. Tabaski is probably the most important day in Islam. It celebrates the day Abraham took Ishmael (note this is where the major split between Islam and the Jewish/Christian tradition happens) to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice him. God spares Ishmael though by providing a ram.

So what do we do on Tabaski? We eat a lot of sheep. I probably ate my weight in sheep. My friend Racy was gracious enough to let me tag along with her to attend two parties. The first was a traditional Malian fete. They killed FIVE sheep. Our first course was the liver and heart, and, i'll be honest, it was my favorite thing i ate all day. It was soooo (surprisingly) good. Then we followed that up with sheep meat galore with some fonio (some sort of grainish thing that's like cous cous).

After that party we went to the head of the Millenium Challange Corporation (google it) and had a nice dinner there. It was mostly americans and embassy folk (even the Deputy Chief of Missions was there). It was lovely and the food was delicious, but I was still full. I did, however, indulge in a large bowl of fruit and some orange juice.

There are a couple pictures floating about, but they weren't on my camera, if i can locate them I will put them up and let you know.

So Happy Tabaski even if it is a Heathen holiday ;) bwhahahahahaha!

Gypsy on!

All I Want for Christmas

Phoebe had 3 babies! It was a serious endeavour which I observed with fascination and a bit of disgust. But now that they are licked clean, they're pretty dang cute. The gray and white one is my favorite. See them here

Here is my Christmas List:

1. Thomas to appear under my little tree (thanks for sending one momma and daddy) ... (oh i mean thanks for sending a tree, not a thomas lol)
2. A box of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch
3. A decent amount of iron in my blood
4. A new blanket, it's flippin cold here...60 is the new 30 when you are used to 100.
5. Hot shower. Scratch that, Hot Bath.
6. A night out in the ragin city of Agoura Hills with my beloved. Maybe some Mongolian BBQ followed by a rented movie and chocolate chip cookies with ice cream on the couch. Okay so that's mostly a night in, but still...i like being home.
7. A complete and full understanding of both Bambara and French
8. A hug from my mommy
9. One day in Pioneer Place. Yes I hate shopping, but I love Christmastime at the mall.
10. An engagement ring. I mean what? tee hee. Delivered by #1 please.
11. A calorie free, yet equally tasty, form of peanut butter, chocolate, and ice cream...on the double!
12. A kiss from my nephew
13. A hoody
14. A new pair of tennis shoes
15. A pumice stone
16. An automated retractable mosquito net. The stupid thing is annoying to put up and down up and down.
17. Books, DVD's and DVD's of TV shows. I have a lot of time to kill.
18. Christmas dinner with everyone. yes everyone, if you read this then it probably means you too. unless you are a creeper, then you are not included.

Hmm that's all i can think of now. To be honest the things I REALLY want for christmas all revolve around spending time with people i miss. Somedays I wonder why I left all the goodness i had to come to this crazy upside down place. It is comforting to know that things I miss aren't things at all, they're people...and the occasional chinese, mexican, or italian dish.

Loves you guys
gypsy on

Updates

Hey everyone

I've been neglecting you. Deepest apologies.

About two weeks ago I went on a Bike Tour from the regional capital of Koulikoro to a village called Banamba (I think that's spelled right). Twelve of us PCV's and 2 Malian friends biked from village to village doing skits and informational sessions on HIV/AIDS awareness as well as spreading the spirit of Global Entrepeneurship Week. Small Business Development is a major focus of Peace Corps Mali, and we spent time with Malian Youth helping them realize the oppurtunities for new businesses in their country. We also tried to bring up topics as simple as accounting and expenditure tracking within existing businesses (apparently many Malian business don't even do simple accounting).

I had a great time working on my Bambara and learning what it is like to live in "en Brusse" in Mali (en Brusse means in the bush). One village we went to even threw us a big party with traditional African dancing complete with scary masks and a person pretending to be a gorilla, very national geographic-esque. I will get pics up soon.

I can't hardly believe it's already december! I received several packages from my parents full of chistmas happiness and now my room smells and looks like christmas. It really lifted my spirits! I'm so blessed to have such great family!

Anyway, I hope you are enjoying the bustle of the holiday season! I sure miss it!

Eat Taco Bell for me and then tell me how good it was.

Gypsy On!

Thanksgiving Musings

It doesn't seem much like Thanksgiving around here. There are no Hallmark cards, no turkey decorations, no supermarket endcaps filled with Stove-Top, and certainly no overzealous department stores with Christmas decorations up. The weather isn't even right, 98 degrees just isn't holiday weather.

I remember being in the 1st grade Thanksgiving Pageant at school. I was a pilgrim woman and my line, along with the rest of the pilgrim women, was "Mercy Me, Mercy Me!" (This, when I think about it, makes me wonder what kind of education I was receiving, as, if I remember correctly, the men had an equally sexist line espousing their bravery as a foil to the womens' lack there of. But I digress...) I also remember that I was quite upset I wasn't an Indian woman. Indian women had much cooler costumes. This was also the year I learned the story of Thanksgiving. Oh, yes, I know I heard the G rated story that left out the many atrocities and near genocide of Native Americans. Instead, I heard about the Mayflower, and the kind Indian named Squanto who helped the Puritans survive in their new home and taught them to make popcorn. Since 1st grade, I've rarely thought about the origins of Thanksgiving. It's more or less been a holiday to eat a lot with people you are related to (which for the Bailey's is a common event that doesn't even require an official holiday!)

I was thinking earlier today, as I dined on some delicious Thanksgiving fare at the Ambassador to Mali's house, about that first Thanksgiving. I didn't think about the Indians, the atrocities, or even the food though. I thought about the Pilgrims. I thought about what it would have been like to be far from home, to be in a foreign landscape, listening to an Indian tongue, trying to eek out a living in a world which is hostile simply because it is unfamiliar. Perhaps, for the first time in my life, I'm beginning to realize why holidays were invented at all.

As a stranger in a strange land I completely understand the need to to celebrate. Tonight as I sat in the home of the American Ambassador (our gracious host for the evening's festivities) I felt a kinship with a group of people who left home in search of a different life. They left to gain freedom, and in our most idealist of moments we PCV's leave home to give (and gain in our own transient way) freedom. Even on the best days in a foreign country you can't help but think about the home you left, the people you miss, the food you ate, and the security afforded by being surrounded by the familiar. Maybe we create these celebrations as a way of recreating the familiarity that we left behind. For just a moment we can join together as a "family" and momentarily shrug off our lonliness in favor of unity. So even with the warm weather and sorry lack of parades, Thanksgiving somehow manages to make me feel at home.

Enjoy Black Friday!

Gypsy on!

Birthdays, Hashes, and Thanksgiving

Hey Everyone

I had a great Birthday! I spent the day out with my friend Joost marking a trail for the Hash. Then, after the hash we had delicious food (pizza and pasta salad) with about 60 people! I have pictures!!!! Click Here

I also got SIX packages earlier this week (so my birthday basically is lasting all month hehehe). Thanks to my mom for all the awesome stuff and thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for sending me such great care packages!

The holidays are getting closer and I'm starting to make some pretty fun plans to celebrate. Thanksgiving I'll be travelling south to Sikasso to celebrate American style with a bunch of other Peace Corps Volunteers. Then for Christmas I'll probably go to the Dogon country, again to meet up with lots of other volunteers. If Thomas comes, he and I will probably spend Christmas here in Bamako though.

In local news:

While walking to the store the other day, I passed a small girl seated on a stool with another stool in front of her on which she had put several small bowls. In the bowls was a mixture of water and dirt. The child was happily mixing the dirt and water together and pulling assorted rocks and debris from another large bowl behind her and adding them to the smaller concoctions in front of her. At first I was confused at what she was doing, but I slowly realized the scene was very familiar. Every street corner in Bamako has a woman selling assorted fried food, rice and sauce, etc. This little girl was pretending. She was "cooking" food and pretending to be a street vendor. It reminded me of kids in the US with their plastic food toys, lemonade stands, and all their assorted games of pretend. Sometimes it's nice, in this crazy mixed up world, to know kids are kids are kids.

Gypsy on

oh ya, my cat is pregnant. the hussy.

A huge disappointment

the passage of measure 8 in california makes me very angry my absentee ballot didn't arrive in the mail in time for me to vote.  (i only used a federal write in ballot for president).  anyway, can we all just step back a minute and realize what a mistake we made.

prop 22 was passed (also banning gay marriage) awhile back and then the california supreme court overturned it saying it was unconstitutional because the California constitution requires that everyone is treated equal.

so brilliantly someone decided to amend the constitution so everyone ISN'T treated equally. so we let a majority vote decide that the minority can't be treated equally....isn't that what equal protection under the law is supposed to protect against?

we amended the constitution so we could treat people unequally.  really?  that struck us as a good idea?  unbelieveable.

can i also just point out that i can't give students a tylenol in class but we are passing laws that allow them to get abortions without informing their parents....that seems weird.  although, admittedly, someone mentioned to me "what if the girl is pregnant by incest or rape and they don't want to tell their parents for fear of further abuse?"  I hadn't thought of that, but i'm still not convinced.

Happy Halloween!

Hey everyone!  Happy Halloween and Halloween Gift all around (if you don't get that you probably don't have Oakie roots).  

Halloween in Mali is mostly uneventful.  I made pumpkin pie and then went with my military friends to the American School to help run a haunted house.  I got to scare little kids and make them cry and wet their pants.  All in all a good night.  

I'm really starting to feel at home here in Mali.  I've been spending a lot of time outdoors: running, walking, going to the market, walking to work, etc.  On these walks I almost always stopped by random malians who just want to chat.

Malians are so hospitable and nice.  The other day on my way home from work I was stopped by a group of malians i frequently walk/run past and asked to sit and chat for awhile.  So we talked in Bambara, French, and some English and just passed the time together.  They even bought me a coke.  It's so crazy how generous people are here.  The butcher at the market likes for me to come sit behind his counter with him and he teaches me new bambara words.  He also gives me free meat.  So sweet considering Malians automatically think all white people are rich.  he's basically giving to me out of his poverty, knowing i'm rich....so refreshing.

I've been working at the Catholic Relief Services office, helping their staff learn english so they can advance their careers....it's been a lot of fun.  I've gotten to know a bunch of malians pretty well and learned more bambara and french a long the way.

Walking the streets of Bamako is becoming pretty normal, and I really like life here.  If I didn't miss ya'll so much I'd be perfectly content!

Gypsy on!

Every Living Thing

I just finished reading Every Living Thing by James Herriot.  He's the British vet that writes about his experiences working with animals.

Such a heartwarming book.  I love reading about the cats, dogs, horses, cows, pigs, etc. and the relationship the animals have with other animals, their babies, and their humans.  

It's pretty amazing how attached we can become to our furry friends.  I'm already pretty attached to my little Phoebe.  She's so sweet tempered and loves to cuddle, which is nice since I don't have Thomas around!  And it's funny how much I miss my little (well huge) Sawyer (he's in good hands with Thomas, but i still miss that fat cat).  

Anyway, pick up a book by Herriot and you'll not be sorry.  I've read a couple (I think this is my second time reading this book, but I was so young the first time I hardly remembered it) and they are all great.  

And give your own little shaggy, hairy friends an extra treat today cause there's nothing like the unconditional love and trust of a devoted animal.

UPDATE (and a completely different subject):  I don't care who you are voting for come November, Orson Scott Card got it right (and I loved his books when i was a kid) The Press Sucks.  Don't be taken in.  

Sugar cookies and the Monk

The internet monk has a really interesting post here.

Linda sent me sugar cookies (among other glorious goodies).  They are delicious and prove that baked goods can make the trans-continental and trans-atlantic journey.  Thanks John and Linda :)

mmmmmmm

My absolute favorite poem

Ode to Autumn

By John Keats

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernal; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease;

For Summer has o'erbrimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find

Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,

Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;

Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,

Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook

Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:

And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep 

Steady thy laden head across a brook;

Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,

Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

Where are the song of Spring?  Ay, where are they?

Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, --

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn

Among the river-sallows, borne aloft

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs bleat from hilly bourn;

Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft

The redbreast whistles from garden-croft;

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

I could write a lovely analysis of this, telling you why this poem is a masterpiece.  But I find the simple beauty of the poem enough.

Miss You Wish I Was There

Mom, Dad, Nathan, Kristi, Andrew, and Thomas all went to the pumpkin patch today.  Luckys.  First pic below is an old pic of me at the patch, and the one after is it is one of my favorite halloween pictures of all time.  Miss you guys!  Hope you ate a frito pie for me (sans the sour cream)! mmmmm fritos.

still researching...still undecided

collective shame...i don't want collective shame

but what about collective shame over what's happening in iraq or not happening in burma or not happening in the sudan or georgia or china

voting is serious business

i really like obama.  he's cool.  he's smart and eloquent.  he's like a mac and mccain is like a pc.  unfortunately i can't vote like i pick computers.  coolness doesn't count for much when you run for president.

so i'm trying to be an informed voter.  but the more informed i get the harder it is to make a decision. being moderate is harder than it looks.

i don't like war.  i don't like partial birth abortion.  i do think gay people should be allowed to get married.  i don't like the death penalty.  i do think health care needs reform.  i don't like universal health care because i think it is haphazard and shoddy at best.  i don't think people should die because they don't have adequate insurance.  i think our environment needs cleaning up.  i think we need to do something about the economy.  i don't think it's fair that rich people have to pay a higher percentage of taxes than everyone else.  i like the welfare system. i  think the welfare system needs reform.  i think peace corps needs more money.  i pretty much think palin is a retard.  i don't really like biden either.  i think mccain is a national hero.  i don't like bush.  i'm mostly quaker pacifist.  i do believe the soldiers i've talked to who say we are doing good things in iraq.  i'm glad saddam isn't in power.  i hate the patriot act.  i think jeremiah wright is a racist and his church needs to reevaluate their focus.  i don't like that obama sat under wright's tutelage for 20 years and then coped out when he was called to the floor for it.  i understand the history of oppression that produced jeremiah wright and the "black" church and i can't, in good conscience, condemn obama, wright, or his church for their views.  i think this country needs a morale booster.  i don't even understand the economy but i know it needs serious help.  i think countries that oppress their people (ie china, burma, sudan, etc.) need to be sanctioned without regard to if they have or do not have oil supply we want or trade "opportunities."  i'm afraid of abminijhad (sp).  i like israel.  i think hamas has a martyr complex.  i was bombed by hezbollah.  i'm a feminist.  and so much more inner conflict i can't even dredge up right now.

the world is topsy turvy these days.  i still don't know who to vote for.  sometimes i'm glad my vote won't really count in california, since it's rather blue.  but i can't get rid of the nagging feeling that i need to make a decision because it's an important character builder and to just cop out with a "my vote doesn't matter anyway" seems so irresponsible.

somebody give me a reason to make a stand.

yes i realize i didn't use any capitals. i didn't feel like it.

It's the little things

i really love buying warm watermelon slices for the equivalent of a dime and eating it as i meander through dirt roads passing goats and shaking hands with small children

Tid Bits

I just received the "Best of San Francisco Box."  It is divine.  Thanks John :)

Phoebe killed a bird today, it was gruesome, I still love her.  She also ate a cockroach, which although was disgusting and made me almost retch, I'm very pleased that she is taking it upon herself to rid Mali of pests.

Can i just say i love eric clapton.  My Father's Eyes is awesome.

(thanks to Thomas for showing this to me) Prince is unreal during his solo:  George Harrison Tribute

Thank goodness for Hot Chocolate and Rain

Nothing like a cup of hot chocolate on a rainy African morning to aleve October homesickness.  I'd kill to go to Disneyland and look at the Halloween decorations holding hands with Thomas (see pictures below).

Good news: mom sent me It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Halloween decorations, and plenty of boxes of g

oodness to keep me baking throughout the month.  I'll be fine.  

There is always Halloween 2010, sweety.  We'll go decorate those outrageously expensive Spider Cookies at Woody's Halloween Round up, then we'll go on Tower of Terror....muhahahahahaha!  

Feel free to join us in 2010 everyone else.  Mark I just KNOW you want to take Jackie!  Andrew will be just the right age, Kristi ;)  Mom and Dad, by

 then you'll be ancient and probably senile, but Thomas and I will push you around in your wheelchairs and Nathan will change your diapers.  Mark is in charge of wiping the drool.  hehehehe.  Miss everyone!

I have a few pictures to share :)

This one is of cute little Phoebe snuggled up on the end of the bed while I was sick. 

I was invited to go out on a friend's boat on Sunday.  WAY FUN!  

On the boat, I'm obviously very happy about boating on the Niger.

After boating, a few of us went to lunch.  While eating, there was a torrential downpour which turned the street into a mini river.  Mike is not happy about fording the street to the car.

Wolverine carving his pumpkin last year.  I miss this

Disneyland at Halloween Times last year.  Thomas looks a lot like Elvis in this picture....

Gypsy on

This and That

I got a bit sick again.  Nothing major, I think it's just a spot of the flu.  Aches, fatigue, upset stomach, etc.  Nothing a day in bed couldn't fix.  Feeling much better today.  

I've started pod casting Imago Dei's sermons each week.  This month Rick started an indepth study of 1 Corinthians.  I highly recommend you tune in.  When I started attending Imago he was doing the same sort of study with Romans, quite possibly the best series I've ever heard.  Rick takes each verse and unpacks it.  Literally each one.  He's guessing it will take a year to finish the series.  A YEAR!  That dude is committed, and so is that congregation.  Short attention spans need not apply.  I've listened to the first two sermons so far, and although they aren't stellar, if you read the first 15 verses of the book, well...he's not got a ton to work with.  Can't wait til he gets to the nitty gritty, these first few weeks are just set ups for the rest of the book.  If you are interested click HERE.  

I also added a few links over there on the side bar of people I find interesting.  I've been reading most of them for quite some time now and find them thought provoking.  Highly recommend Internet Monk and Bitch PhD.  I like opposites.

Other than my stomach, things in Mali are quiet.  I baked some box carmelita bars today that tasted like heaven...thanks mom and Betty Crocker.  I've started working with an NGO called CRS, Catholic Relief Services, they do all sorts of things in Mali like Malaria prevention, and health care, etc.  I'm simply showing up twice a week to sit with their Malian employees and help them practice their English by discussing whatever topic is interesting for the day...American elections, Islam, whatever.  To advance in their professional lives, they need English...I'm happy to oblige.

Peace Corps finally gave us our bikes.  They had been stuck in customs for quite some time, but they are worth the wait.  Brand new Trek bikes!  I've already started using mine to get around.   Don't worry I wear a helmet, Peace Corps will kick me out if I don't.   

Gypsy on!

***EDIT*** I'm making marinara sauce now.  When I can't leave the house (well the bathroom) I get cagey.  Being cagey makes me cook.  I've never made marinara sauce...we'll see how it goes.  

Giddy

So i woke up this morning dreading the errands i needed to run.  I had to go to the market and buy some ground beef, and, although this sounds like no big deal, in Mali...EVERYTHING is a big deal.  Or at least it seems like it is when there is a 12 foot language barrier to deal with.  

So anyway, I leave my house and gear up for the million times I'm going to have to greet someone, ask how their family is, how they are, how there night was, and more.  In the two blocks from my house to the market I probably greet about 30 people.  Then, once I get to the market, I have to deal with people asking me what I'm looking for, why I don't buy their tomatos, and whether or not I'm married.  

At first, I hate greeting, but usually by the 3rd person I like it.  Everyone is so nice, and even though I don't know what they are saying, I seem to do a little better each day.  Also, I noticed today that EVERYONE I saw knew me by name and wanted to talk with me.  It was crazy.  I called into a tailor's workshop by name to greet the tailors.  I don't know how they know my name, but they did.  I finally get to the market and go to the meat seller I bought meat from last time.  I asked him if he had meat without bones I could grind, but he didn't.  Then another guy came running up and told me to follow him.  He took me to another meat seller who DID have the meat I needed and he helped me buy it and take it to the grinder.  Grinding takes a few minutes, so while I'm standing there all the men are teasing me because my last name is Traore and they are Djiarras.  We joke around and I accuse them of eating beans and tell them they are bad people.  (this is all very normal in Mali and is a good way to make friends...i know it's weird.)  Anyway, so my meat is being ground and the guy who helped me find the meat and grind it tells me that he and I are going to get married and I'm going to take him back to America.  I readily agreed.  (Don't worrry Thomas this is another way of joking around in Mali). 

My meat is finished, and as I leave the market two girls i buy vegetables from call me from across the market to come talk to them.  So I do, and again it's mostly me not understanding anything they say, but I entertain them, so I guess it wasn't a total loss.  

Finally I'm almost out of the main market area when my "fiance" comes running up to me.  He asks me what day I'm going to return for him.  I told him that when he had more money I would come.  (Again this is a fairly standard joke). 

Okay, so that was fun.  And I'm already wondering why I dreaded leaving the house.  Then as I make my way back home I stop to talk with the older woman who sells peanuts on our corner.  She was one of the first people in the neighborhood that I talked with when I moved in.  She is very sweet and I try and talk to her everytime I pass.  Well today she gestures at her peanuts and says something to me....I figure she wants me to buy some.  So I ask her in bambara how much they are...but she says something and gestures like I should just take them.  

SHE GAVE THEM TO ME FOR FREE!  I know that doesn't seem like a big deal....but to me it was.  She gave me free peanuts!  how sweet is that?  She gave the rich white girl free peanuts!  I will now buy peanuts from her everytime I pass to the market.  

I feel loved.  My neighbors rock.  Even people in the scary market are nice to me.  Life is good.

Gypsy on!

My cat is a hussy

A myseterious white boy cat is hanging around the house trying to get into bed with my little Phoebe.  Maybe I should go get her fixed or get her on birth control (ya they have it for cats).  Mali needs Bob Barker.

Speaking of animals...I love animals.  Phoebe eats ground beef, rice, and eggs for pete's sake.  That's better than I eat!  Sawyer (my cat back in Ameriki that thomas has) is the fattest cat I've ever seen.  He lives like a king.  I love dogs, our dog used to get her own happy meal at McDonalds (which led to some medical problems, but that was totally accidental).  I even think animals we eat should be treated nicely until they are butchered for my table.  And, although I absolutely LOVE the zoo, I am theoretically against its existence.

Anyway, clearly I am an animal lover.  However, I am also of the firm belief that people matter more.  As I walked down the dirt road today I noticed a sign pointing me in the direction of an organization name something along the lines of Animal Rights Abroad.  It wasn't that exactly, and I cant' manage to remember the name right now, but you get the idea.  Then I looked around me...open sewers, malnutrition, destitute poverty, malaria, HIV/AIDS, THE THIRD POOREST FREAKING COUNTRY IN THE WORLD....and we are wasting someone's money, be it government or private, on protecting the animals of Mali.  

Now I"m not talking about the hippos that are chilling out in the south or the gators in the north, that I could at least understand....that's the environment and what not.  But no, this sign had a picture of a cow.  A COW!  Okay I know the sheep here have it bad, I mean they live in the sewers more or less, the dogs are kicked (I hate that), the donkey's are whipped and forced to carry HUGE loads, the cows eat out of the landfill, etc etc.  I just don't see how anyone could justify donating money to Mali for animals.  I mean 85% of the population here is illiterate!  Something like 1 in 5 kids die before they are 5 years old! Maybe we should address the bigger problems here before we start saving the goats from being mistreated.

Argh.  People are nutty.

This

Bonne Fete

Today was a great day.  Ramadan ended today, so that means everyone gets to eat during the day.  Think of this holiday on par with the American Thanksgiving in terms of eating.  

I was bummed this morning because I was pretty sure i was going to miss out on all the fun since I don't have any really good Malian friends yet.  HOWEVER, my friend Racy called me around noon, to ask if I wanted to go with her and her friends to celebrate.  Of course I said yes, and they picked me up minutes later and whisked us away to a beautiful house outside Bamako proper.  

Her Malian friends made us DELICIOUS food, and we just sat and talked all day.  It was so fun and I had the best lamb ever!  I love Mali!  

Before I left for the fete, I organized the Halloween decorations my mom sent me (thanks momma) and started looking online for ideas for halloween crafts I could do to add to my decorating prowess.  (We all know how crappy i am at art, and how I got S- in grade school in neatness, but still, I try).  Anyway, I raided my med kit for gauze pads (sorry PCMO's) and made little ghosts from them, and I'm in the process of constructing gravestones to put outside in the yard (my yard is walled, so Malians won't know, otherwise I think I'd be labeled a witch or something).  I also found a recipe for salt dough, which you can mold into ghosts....but one needs a mircowave....I think i'm going to try and use the one at the Peace Corps Bureau to make some ghosts....muahahahahahahaha!

Anyway, tomorrow is the first, so I'm going to get up early and run to the grocery store to get a loaf pan, then i'll attempt to make some pumpkin bread from a mix my mom sent me while I decorate with my meager, but festive, decorations.  Long Live Halloween!

Gypsy on!

Sundays

Sundays make me homesick. send good thoughs :)

I know, I know

I've been absolutely terrible at updating this lately.  My mother has reminded me of this.  

So I did get a new cat.  Her name is Phoebe, like I said.  She was given to me (shots included) by the administrative officer of Peace Corps Mali.  Her cat had kittens awhile back and she still had three to get rid of.  Although I do love cats just for being cats, I especially am enjoying them in Mali because they keep bugs and mice away!  Phoebe is very affectionate and likes to nuzzle under my hands and arms to get pet.  She's a sweetheart.

Living in Bamako has been good as of yet.  Most of my days are, admittedly, slow.  I don't have a lot to do yet since school doesn't start until December.  I have been trying to find projects that can fill the time between now and then, and supplement my schedule once I start teaching.  I've also been running and working out most days and just "yalayala-ing" around my neighborhood (yalayala means wander around).  I've met most of my neighbors, and they're very nice and we exchange greetings several times a day.  I can't wait to start my Bambara tutoring so I can actually talk to them.  I'm actually going to schedule with my tutor later today, so hopefully I can get going on that!  Also, I've been hanging out with the Ex-Pat community.  I play football on Sundays, basketball on Tuesdays/thursdays, and soccer or softball on Saturdays.  They're all really nice and, because they actually make good money here, are willing to feed me occasionally!

I've also been enjoying being able to cook for myself.  I've learned the joys of eggplant.  I've never in my life cooked eggplant, but now it's a staple to almost everything I make.  I've made a simple ratatouille several times which is cheap, filling, nutritious, and delicious.  As we speak I'm munching on a eggplant pizza I made with some pita bread (available here due to the large Lebanese population), hummus (which I got from a can but then added garlic, lemon, paprika, and olive oil to), and stir-fried garlic and eggplant.  It's fabulous.  I think I'm going to try and make some fried eggplant either tonight or tomorrow to eat with the left over hummus.  I used to get fried eggplant from the falafel (which, by the way, I've also made here) guy at the farmers market near my house.  I really liked it, so I'm going to give it a go.

I've also located a bakery that makes whole wheat bread!  Yay!  Peanut Butter and Jelly is my usual post run snack :)  yay america.  Sometimes I couple it with some koolaid people have sent me.  SOOO GOOD!  The produce quality in Mali is pretty good, it's just limited to what can grow here and the seasons.  For example, mangos are delicious but we only have them for 4 months or so.  Green beans only come around for a few months too.  I should be able to do just fine for myself, and, on top of that, I'll learn how to cook some new foods since my old fall backs from home just aren't feasible here.  

Cheese is really hard to get, for example, because it is so expensive here.  A kilo (2.2 pounds) of cheddar cheese is about 35 dollars.  Emmentaller is the cheapest cheese by far, but even that is about 20 bucks for kilo.  

I'm really telling all of you this so that you can send me recipe ideas :)  So here's an idea of what I can get:

• Potatos
• Eggplant
• Onion
• Okra (LOTS AND LOTS OF OKRA...Any good recipes?)
• Carrots
• Cucumber
• Tomatos
• Flour
• Eggs
• Corn Flour
• Sugar
• Baking Soda
• Yeast
• Green Peppers
• Pasta
• Pita
• Soy Sauce
• Greek Olives
• Most spices
• MANY asian and middle eastern sauces/condiments
• Rice
• Corn
• Olive oil
• Green beans
• Watermelon
• oranges
• Apples
• Canned and dry white/red beans
• Lentils
• Canned corn, peas, tuna, tomatoes
• Tomato paste
• And most meats are available....really good meat is expensive though, I should be buying meat in the market (think 3rd world....) but i can get good ground beef and good cuts in the white people stores.  The market meat is not BAD, it's just hit and miss in quality.  Chicken is available, but chickens here are scrawny and there isn't a lot of meat on them and I've never seen boneless skinless chicken breast....

Okay everyone...send me your best recipe.  Either by email or just post a comment.  JR i expect something good.  I'm in a country of savages, help me out here ;)  

Money is a bit of an issue...for example I can't go buy like 40 spices for a dish.  I have the salt, pepper, garlic salt, paprika, cayenne, garlic, oregano, cinnamon and basil.  I can buy some others, just don't give me a giant list. 

I think I'll attempt to make some cornmeal soon.  I haven't been able to find it here, and i've got enough time on my hands to try making my own pioneer styles.  After that I can make corn pone and fritters or something :)  (After reading Cold Mountain I've been craving something corn-like...maybe some corn mush)

Anyway, nothing exciting I know, but such is life for the next couple months.  

Gypsy on

Phoebe!

I got a cat! Her name is Phoebe! 

We had to bail out our courtyard today to keep our rooms from flooding!  It was a huge storm!!!!!  Thankfully we got enough water out before the ship went down, i mean the house flooded.

Gypsy on

YAY I finally finished painting my room.  It took all day.  Literally.  But it looks so much better!  It's not a great job, and i have ghetto crown molding (also known as I can't reach the top of the wall without painting the ceiling so i just stopped a couple inches short) and if one looks hard enough, one can see missed spots and blotches, but it's still better than dingy dirty white.

New Pics Up!

Okay there are some new pics up including ones of my new house, but even those aren't up to date!  I painted my room today and i'll get you some finished product pics soon :)  It looks great, well....great for Mali.

For the last days of training:

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2061025&l=161eb&id=8501838

and for swear in and the house:

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2061130&l=3b09e&id=8501838

Home is where the heart is

Well i'm settled into my new house in Bamako.  It's seems like a mansion compared to my hut in Sanakoroba.  I must admit, this is MUCH cushier living than out on Brusse (this means bush in French...well i assume in french, i actually don't even know lol).  I've got my own bathroom with running water, a shower (albeit a cold one), and even a toilet.  Now I just have to figure out how to get the mildewy smell out of the shower drain, it's gross.  I've got my own kitchen now too.  So i can start cooking food in my ghetto oven.  I even have a fridge!  

All the same i live in a city with open sewers, terrible pollution, and there is livestock meandering down the center of the road at any given time.  Life is strange in a Developing Country.  

My house is very nice, and some pictures are posted in the links below.  So check it out.  They are all before pictures, I actually moved all my stuff in today, so the house isn't so empty.  I live with two guys, Jeffrey and Alec, so I'm not all by myself like most Peace Corps volunteers.  Again, my service isn't very normal since I"m living in a capital city working at a university.

I'm very happy to have finally unpacked my bags.  It's been hell living out of a bag for 2 months without any REAL place to call home.  I love my house.  I love my neighbors.  I love that I have a Malian Market around the corner (think bazaar in a very 3rd world kind of way....i get most of my food here, among other things...i'll take pictures later).  I love the dirt roads, the cows wondering about the streets, and the life of the city.  I think I might even love the mosque down the street that wakes me up at 3:30 in the morning for call to prayer (well actually it's to tell people to eat before the sun comes up cause of Ramadan, call to prayer isn't til 5)

My address is still the same, but now I'm a PCV, not a PCT (WOOT). 

things are good, and getting better.  

Gypsy on!

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057370&1a&id=8501838

The new pictures are after picture #30

there are more new pics, but i'm having trouble uploading, stay tuned

Swearing in 9/12/08

I, Tiffany Bailey, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

I trained for 2 months.  I learned French.  I passed my tests.  I took the oath.  And now I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer.  

Swearing in is at the US Embassy with all the hoopla of Ambassadors and Press etc. etc. etc. 

Then we party.  

Then we save the world.

Sending Fire Trucks to a Stone Village

Development Work.  I, apparently, am involved in Development Work.  I thought I was just making the individual decision to make a difference in peoples' lives, however, I've learned that I'm actually involved in Developing a Nation.  

What does that even mean?  Development from what and to what?  I'm assuming all this Developing has something to do with alleviating poverty.  That makes sense right?

So poverty.  Our guest speaker today is the director of the Millenium Challenge Project.  Google it, I don't have time to explain other than it's an NGO that wants to Develop countries.  Anyway, he asked us today to consider the following:

Country X (big hint here, X is Mali) become a democracy in 1990.  

• Every year since that time the GDP has increased 5%.  Not bad.  In fact between 1990-2008 the GDP has more than doubled. 
  
• From 1990-2008 60% of the GDP is Agricultural and originating from Rural populations
• The Urban population accounts for 20% of the total population with 80% residing in rural areas.
• From 1990-2008 the Urban Poverty rates have decreased from 27%-23%.  
• HOWEVER in the same period of time the Rural Poverty rate has Increased 76%-79%

What the hell is going on.  The economy is getting better nationally.  The majority of the GDP comes from the rural areas, but the rural populations are getting poorer. 

So what does Development look like to a Peace Corps volunteer?  Is it planting better seeds?  Getting better irrigation?  Making farmers produce more?  This is a common goal for volunteers.  But then what.  They make more, to sell it for crappy prices, to get poorer.  They sell raw cotton, which is exported, and then they buy fabric that is imported.  The farmers have no property rights because there are no land deeds.  Property is considered owned as long as you are using it...so you send your grandma out to throw some millet seeds around and farm a meager product while you (the male bread winner) go try and find a job in Bamako.  

I feel so far out of my league tackling problems of national Development.  I have no idea and I'm overwhelmed by a country, no a continent, that has basically become a welfare state.  A Welfare Continent, if you well.  Africa gets money sent to them to improve their schools, if their schools improve they stop getting money.  If the schools don't improve, they get more money.  

In fact, Mali is the darling of the Development world because it is a real democracy (sort of).  It's secular and there is universal suffarage, in theory at least.  Developed Nations like the USA are very vested in making Mali succeed.  Money is no object when the outcome is an African Nation that is Democratic and a Success.  Too bad it's not really working.

There is a village in Mali where a fire truck is sitting on blocks outside the town mayor's office.  The town is made of stone.  The fire truck was donated by some Baptist church in Southern America.  Why did they donate a fire truck?  Because the town didn't have one.  The truck has subsequently been scavenged for parts and tires, and now sits outside a lonely idol to nonsustainable Development.  

There are Malian tailors who are going out of business because American's are donating clothes to ship to Africa.  Tailors are no longer needed to make traditional clothing.

Sustainable Development.  What the hell is it?  How do I contribute to it in a University setting?  

Don't worry I'm not discouraged, just intrigued.

The end of Home Stay

Well, I'm finished with homestay!  I'll become a real live Peace Corps Volunteer on Friday.  We're swearing in at the American Embassy and then having a rockin party at the Deputy Ambassador's house.  Should be a lot of fun!  In the meantime I'm at Tubaniso and have internet, email me!

The last few days at homestay were good.  I shared some American food with my family every night (Oreos, starburst, tootsie rolls, etc.)  And I really tried to enjoy my time with my fam.  They were really good to me and I'll miss hanging out with them.  Ramadan also started the first of the month, but my family didn't really fast.  We did however have huge dinners every night.  The food was really really good!  We had Pate one night, which is basically like a hot pocket.  It's fried dough with delicious meat inside....not the sketchy meat the good stuff.  

My last full day at home my fam gave me one last present-- Henna tattoos on my feet and hands.  It's pretty cool and I'll try and get some pictures up soon.

Check out the blog I wrote this week at homestay in the mean time:

September 3, 2008

Mark and Jackie….you guys rule.  Thanks for the sweet package.  The Mickey Mouse shortbread cookies were truly amazing.  I really don't think words can express the yumminess experienced...it was sublime.  Thanks so much! :)   Thomas your package made it too, but the freak shows in the Malian mail system stole your note from the box.  How weird….but at least they left the candy.

Thanks to everyone who is sending me things.  I appreciate it so much and feel very loved and supported.  I must say that I'm pretty sure I have enough peanut butter to last me a good 6 months.  I'm also up to my ears in tootsie pops and jolly ranchers.  In fact you all have done so well I think I've gained back a couple of the 10 pounds I lost on arrival, but I can't be sure until I weigh myself Sunday at Tubaniso.  If I come home from Africa fatter than when I left, I'll have you wonderful people to thank for the cases of Oreos and Starbursts that have been sent my way J  Now if anyone can figure out how to send me some Taco Bell and a Papa Murphy's pizza….you will win my heart forever. 

I really really love all you guys (not just cause you send me nice cards/letters/packages) and I feel truly blessed to have all you good people in my life.

Actually, I'll be moving into my own house soon and I'll be able to cook my own food.  I'm pretty excited about this, but I'll miss the plethora of goat meat I'm served here in Sanankoroba.  Okay, that's sort of a lie, there is a lot of goat meat, but I don't actually eat the goat meat.  My family is under the impression that I don't eat meat, except for chicken and fish.  This has worked to my advantage several times and may keep me from having to eat goat head at the end of the week.  They think I'm strange for steering clear of all their sketch-tacular, fatty, grisly meat, but lucky for me, they think white people are weird anyway and just chalk it up to another facet of our bizarratude (ya I made that word up, take that Spell Check).

I heard a story the other day and I don't' think I've recounted it yet, but I can't be sure cause I have no memory of any blogs I write.  I write them and immediately forget what I said.  I chalk this up to my mother's genes.  Anyway, at the beginning of the war with Iraq, Malians were discussing whether they should go help Iraq since America was fighting what they termed a "religious" war.  (Lets, for the sake of our sanity, ignore any political implications of that for now).  It turns out many of the radio stations were asking Malians to call in and give their opinion on the topic.  A great many Malians did call in and there were a vast number of calls that went something along the lines of the following: 

"We should not help Iraq.  There is an American in our town who works for Peace Corps and he/she has always been very nice.  They live with us, work with us, eat with us, and talk to us in our National languages (national languages are Bambara and other tribal languages…not French).  Where are the Iraqis in Mali?  I have never met one in my village, but the American in my village is very good."

If that doesn't make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside when you're homesick, I don't know what will.

In health news….

I've seemingly developed several ticks while here in Mali.  I'm constantly swinging my arms around and slapping myself.  I've also been known to kick my feet in the air for what appears to be no reason.  It would seem I have Teret's (sp????) But if you look closer it's the damn flies.  I swear all of Mali is rotting.  It's like National Geographic over here…all these frickin flies trying to crawl all over you.  It's probably one of the most annoying side effects of living in Mali.  There are more flies here than I've ever seen in my whole life combined.  So, if I come home and accidentally smack you in what appears to be wild flailing, be kind, I'm probably seeing imaginary flies from a PTS type of psychosis.

The past two days I've been teaching 11 Malian students in a bit of a "mock classroom" type setting.  The students are 4^th years at the University and the guinea pigs for my first Malian teaching experience.  The two lessons went well, and I especially enjoyed teaching the subtle nuances of Ralph Waldo Emereson's essay "Self-Reliance" while explaining the finer points of Trancendentalism.  The students are bright but hard to control.  They are loud.  Much louder than American students.  And there were only 11 of them.  I will have 130 in December…..I may have a break down. ;)

I've been filling a lot of my time lately with reading.  So far I've plowed through:

• ·      Steinbeck's Once There Was a War Verdict: There is a reason Steinbeck is my favorite author – it's a collection of his war correspondence during WWII, and I found it to be really interesting. 
  
• ·      Allende's The Infinite Plan Verdict:  Allende is always Amazing.  Read her.
  
• ·      Gregory Maguire's Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West Verdict: Decent, but not as good as I'd hoped.
  
• ·      Marian Keyes  Anybody Out There?  Verdict: GREAT CHICK BOOK J You'll laugh, you'll cry, and then you'll want to get married.
  
• ·      Robert Ludlum's Apocalypse Watch Verdict: Quite possibly the worst book I've ever read
  
• ·      Carl Hiaasen's Basket Case Verdict: eh I've seen worse….and much better
  
• ·      Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain Verdict: Great, absolutely fabulous. Read it.

That's it so far.  I'm going to be working my way through a small library by the end of two years.  If you have any good books and are willing package them up for me, I'd be grateful.  We have a lot of books collected here by other Peace Corps Volunteers over the years, but I can always use a new (or old) good book.  J  I'm about to start Catcher in the Rye, somehow after majoring in English I still haven't read it.....

That's all for now J 

Gypsy On.  

 

(PS Leave a comment or two if you're so inclined.  Don't be shy.  If you want a question answered or you're wondering about something or you wanna know random Malian trivia or maybe you just wanna say hi….well go ahead push the link for comments…..everyone is so quiet….it makes me think I'm talking  to myself

A quick stop in Bamako

here are the recent blogs from my long haul at home stay :)

 

Gypsy on

August 30, 2008

It's 7:17 am in the morning.  I went for a short run this morning hoping that the worst of the storms had passed over in the night.  The good news is there wasn't any lightening, the bad news I didn't miss the storms.  All is well though.

So, I'm sitting here getting ready for the day and I'm looking out my door at a grey wet Africa, and suddenly my I-Pod starts playing the very comforting voice of Willie Nelson (I love the shuffle songs option).  Suddenly this strange land of Mali looks suspiciously familiar.  It's just like the movies, in my head I flash back to some wet streets outside of some department store made of brick, a brown sectional couch, a tepee in the woods, Dairy Queen, card playing, and climbing down off my bunk bed to the smell of bacon and the sound of happy voices. Yep, that's right, of all the places in the world, it's Tillamook and Garibaldi that I'm reminded of in Africa.  Who would of thought?

Those were good days.  A HUGENORMOUS bathtub, John and Linda, cards, bikes, BB guns and slugs.  Mom and Dad, I loved that house.  Thanks for the good times.  John and Linda, miss you guys J Send sugar cookies ;)  hehehehehe…just kidding…kind of.

Gypsy on, cause them blue days all of them gone, nothing but blue skies from now on.

P.S. I took the I-Pod of shuffle, now I'm listening to the whole Stardust album.  If only there was some SPAM sizzling in the frying pan and a game of Pinochle going on in the background, it'd be heaven.  Any chance you can get that house back Dad?

August 28, 2008 

Mmmm…just finished a hearty meal of French fries, tomato oniony sauce thing and….fish heads.  Yummy.  Actually if you don't look at the fish head while you eat it, it's not so bad. 

Have I told you I'm liking Malian food lately?  Okay "liking" is strong.  But I even have a favorite Malian dish and everything.  I'm not sure if I already wrote about this….my life is just a blur at this point.  I'd go back and read, but I'm writing this sans access to the Internet, so I can't just scroll down and check.  Anyway, my favorite Malian dish BY FAR is Tigi Digi Na.  Don't quote me on spelling; I haven't learned very much Bambara yet. Tigi is peanut and Na is sauce.  Basically it's a peanut butter sauce.  BUT, if you are thinking yummy Thai food peanut sauce, you are very very incorrect.  The first time I had tigi digi na I was sorely disappointed and didn't like it.  But have the ol' tigi digi na 5 times and you start to think it's good….especially when compared to To (playdoh with snot sauce), fish heads, and unidentified meat parts and organs.  J  Don't worry I fully plan on learning how to make Tigi Digi Na so that you all can experience it when I move home J Get excited people.  I'll even throw some dirt in the rice to make it an authentic experience.

I have only 10 more days or so of home stay, and then it's life in the big city.  I'm pretty excited to get into my house and stop living out of a bag, but at the same time I'm really gonna miss my Malian fam.  They're so great.  Tonight I sat outside under the stars with my 17-year-old host sister and helped her cook (mostly watched and held a flashlight) the fam's dinner.   After that my dad talked to me about how Malian's need to be literate, and then I watched a movie with Steven Segal.  Is that how you spell his name?  Steven Segal, that man can break necks in any language.  Malians love action movies.  LOVE THEM, the finer points of more lofty and philosophical movies are lost on them, but they love Van Dam (again is that even spelled right?)

Moving on…Some shout outs are in order…

Grandma is rocking the mail!  I've gotten 4 cards already.  Thanks G-ma (you too grumpy old man) they really make my day!  Also, to mom and dad, I got the second package today…..yuuuuummmmmmmmyyyyyy Oreos have never been so good.  Today was actually a great mail day….I got two other package notices (meaning I have to pay for the packages to be released from customs and I should have them in my hot little hands early next week).  I'm assuming one of said packages is from that hot stud of a man I left back in the USA (thanks hunner), but, the other one is from a mystery person.  Someone out there rocks my socks off for sending me a package….thank you to whoever it is, you shall be properly shouted out to once the package is delivered and I can see who you actually are.

August 20, 2008

Jill Denbrook, the Durminator, that was the most awesome letter every written.  ;)  Thanks.  Ya made my day.

Also, Mom, thanks for the tootsie pops.  I pretty much had a tootsie pop once every 6 months in the USA….but here I can't get through a day without one.  Delicious.

Malian education is messed up.  However, there are some bright spots.  USAID funds a project to bring education over the radio.  I know, when I first heard about it I thought it was a crack pot scheme that reeked of boredom.  However, after speaking with the folks at FIER (some French Acronym for People Who Make Learning Fun for Students and Teaching Easy for Teachers Over the Radio).  The gist of the idea is that 2 days every week (although they just got approved for more funding to make it EVERYDAY) 3^rd and 4^th grade classrooms (and hopefully with the extra funding more grade levels) can tune into their local radio station to hear and participate in a pedagogically sound lesson.  But these lessons are uber fun and come with a teacher handbook with which the teacher actually learns how to teach better.  I'm doing a terrible job explaining it, but trust me….this idea, this program is phenomenal.  I heard one of the broadcasts today and talked with the Director from USAID and I was beyond impressed.  American tax dollars hard at work, and for a good cause, and even cost efficient….they create, record and implement the radio show with only 9 employees, only one of which is American.  Yay.

One of the great parts of this program is that it addresses the enormous problem of poor teacher training in Mali.  Often teachers are simply given a 3 week training course (care of the World Bank's economists working education like an economy) and sent out to Malian classrooms to teach.  Often these people have finished maybe the 9^th grade.  The radio program helps their teaching become more pedagogically sound and actually gives them the right answers.  There are no teacher editions in Africa.  None.  They don't exist.  This doesn't seem like a huge issue, but think about it…..I'm a teacher, and more than once I've glanced at the teacher's copy to make sure I actually knew what the past participle in a sentence was….these poorly trained teachers don't have anyway to check and see if they are dispensing the right answers……scary.

In other Malian education news…

The short end of the stick is that there simply isn't enough money or resources in Mali.  Mali has a great education ideals, curriculum, and goals in theory, but in practice they just aren't getting it done.  For example, there are several girls initiatives to get more girls in school, but without a drastic change in school structure that's still a long way off.  They also want all boys and girls to have an equal opportunity to attend school, but rural boys and especially rural girls are missing out.  Although there are 1.2 million children in school, there are just under a million who aren't.    New initiatives are on the ground to fight for change, however.  For example, the Millineum Village Project (among other NGO's….Non Government Organizations for the non acronym savvy) is trying to get more one room schools set up.  The premise of this is that all 1^st world countries founded their education system on one room schools.  It wasn't until schools were able to provide transportation that multi-classroom schools were created.  Think Little House on the Prarie styles.  Right now, there are so few schools, and many children have to walk miles to get to school.  Throw in the likelihood of chores, the problem of lunch, and worried parents concerned for their kids safety….and you've got a lot of kids not going to school simply because of distance.  Other programs included in the Millenium Village Project include a Lunch Program for students.  If you feed them, they will come.

There's a lot happening in education in Mali simply because Mali is the poster child African democracy and many countries (especially the USA) have very vested interests in making this secular democracy succeed. 

In my sector of higher education, the statistics are staggering.  My program alone has 6000 students and 40 teachers.  That's crazy.  That's 130 students per class or more.  In addition, textbooks and resources are scarce.  Even if a student manages to make it through 4 years of school, there is no guarantee of a job waiting for them; unemployment is high.   As in so many Developing Countries, there is also the colossal brain drain (graduate from college and escape to France, the USA, or other better off African countries).

All right.  Enough serious talk for now.  I need a tootsie pop.

Gypsy on.

August 19, 2008

 

Back at home stay.  I was sort of dreading coming back out here, but now that I'm here I can't remember what it was I dreaded 

My family greeted me with smiles and handshakes (Malians don't hug, much to my dismay….I miss hugging).  After warm greetings, they took my bag and escorted me to my door.  After dropping my things I answered questions as best I could about my trip to Tubaniso and Bamako, my language skills still lack, however, and the best I could get out was that the trip went well.

I ran back to my room at this point to bring out the gift I had purchased for my family while I was in Bamako, a tea set.  My father grinned from ear to ear when he saw the present.  Malians love presents, and whenever one leaves home to travel one is expected to bring a gift back.  My father, for example, often goes to Bamako for a day and usually brings me back some sort of fruit as a small token.  He also buys his kids toy guns and dolls.

Anyway, the tea set had a special meaning that crossed the immense language barrier.  My family and I have made many many cups of tea, resulting in some jittery caffeinated evenings, but also a bonding experience that goes beyond words and back to the ancient custom of offering drinks to travelers, friends, and family.   My family loves to watch me make tea since I'm so inept at Malian tea brewing.  It consists of several steps that I inevitably mess up by leaving the water boiling too long or not long enough, adding too little or too much sugar, or the ever present lack of ability to produce Moosh (apparently this means foam).  Through all this tea making, I began to notice my family's tea set was old, worn, and broken.  The teapot was missing a handle, and the usual set of two glasses was down to a lone vessel.  Although a tea set is not a cheap gift (although to American's it is…only about 10 dollars) I felt compelled to bring my family back something that I knew they would see as a tribute to their hospitality and a token of my appreciation for their patience and willingness to attempt to include me in the cultures, customs, and traditions of their family even while I blundered and used my left hand to eat, greeted improperly, and offended them unknowingly with who knows what else.  

We immediately made tea with the new set, and my family told me thank you several times.  But really, I'm the one who's thankful.

In other news….

I had an interesting talk with a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) that has been in country for a year.  She asked about my tattoo and it's meaning, questioning why I had put the Hebrew word for mercy on my body.  I told her it was because I wanted to remember the mercy I've been shown by God and have an ever-present reminder to show mercy and compassion to all I encounter.  I also placed it on my foot as a symbol of commitment to be the hands and feet of Christ.  To make a long story short, this PCV ended up having a long discussion with me about faith and Mali and how she was struggling with her own walk.  She told me she'd been praying that she would be able to have more conversations with people about God and faith. 

It was interesting speaking with her about God; it seems like so long since I've had a good talk like that.  It reminded me of the distance, both literally and figuratively, from my church and faith.  Mali is a crazy place.  It both reminds you of the wonders that God has put on Earth – the unbelievable night sky, the sunsets and sunrises, the rain storms – and allows you to easily forget the base on which you've stood strong for so long. 

So, anyway, I opened up the ol' Bible tonight with a short prayer that God just direct me to some passage that would just give me a bit of a push.  I paged through the Bible fairly randomly and, not surprisingly, ended up in Psalms.  I write in my Bible a lot, and I noticed Psalms 51 was circled, so I looked it over.  Then Truth walked in and sat down. 

Sometimes Christ saunters over to me (yes my God saunters) with a couple of Dr. Peppers (ya Jesus loves Dr. Pepper and so do I), sits down across from me and just starts talking.  Like old friends we discuss the weather, the global political scene, and make the same old inside jokes about Judas, Catholics (hehehehehe…just kidding my Catholic friends), and Samaritans (lucky for me I don't know any Samaritans, so I don't have to apologize for that comment ;)).  But, like a true best friend He notices I'm a little off, a little slow to laugh, a little distracted.  Instead of prodding me, He simply keeps talking, peering into my soul through simple questions, observations, and comments.  He asks me if I'm enjoying Mali, if I noticed the stars last night, and if I'd given any thought to the way the African storms sound in the middle of the night.  Before I know it, I'm opening up without meaning to, and He simply listens and nods, allows me to get off my chest all my frustrations, joys, and questions.  As we finish our drinks He stands up and throws his arms around me and asks me why I didn't call earlier, why I didn't tell him about all this before, why I spent so much time carrying my own burdens.   Usually I tear up when He does this.  I don't expect it.  Usually I expect Him to tell me what I did I wrong and how I should feel guilty for such loathsome actions.  So, his blatant and unashamed display of love takes me off guard and I can't help but become overwhelmed with relief and hope.

There are a lot of things I don't understand about God.  In fact, most things I don't understand about God.  I don't understand Judgment, the existence of a Hell confuses me, I'm perplexed by the dogged perseverance with which God pursues humanity despite our constant unfaithfulness, I have serious existential questions about the nature of sin and death and religion and the interpretation of scripture and the infallibility of the Bible; however, if there has ever been one thing I'm certain of, it's that God is relentless in his love for me.  Time and time again I close my eyes and my ears, slam my mind shut to Him, but each and every time He sets before me such Raging Beauty that I can't help but open my eyes, unstop my ears, and refocus my attention to the Creation and Love that streams past me.  Once I do, I can't understand why for so long I chose blindness over beauty, and isolation over love. 

I don't mean to preach, and I hope I don't sound that way.  I mostly am writing as a cathartic release, in an acknowledgment of the Truth that has sat down before me.  God is just so startlingly real sometimes.  He can also be severely distant.  But today, thank God today, He knocked on the door of my heart and I opened the door in order to eat with him.  (Check out Revelation 3:20…one of my favorite verses).  God doesn't want to come in to my life and throw all my shit – sorry mom, but don't forget the word "shit" is in the Bible -- on the curb and berate me into obedience…he just wants to eat with me….that's frickin cool.  That's the Christ I read about in the gospels, the one that partied with sinners and reached out to the margins of society and breathed life into people who'd been determined worthless by the religious world.  That's the God that died to redeem Creation and restore our Glory.  It just blows me away.  He wants to eat with me, and He brought me a Dr. Pepper.  ;)

Gypsy on.

Land of Pure Imagination

So Bamako rocks.  I spent the week eating yummy food (well we call it Mali Good, which translates to America OK).  

The university is huge!  I'm excited about working there, but it is a daunting task.  Alec and I found a house to live in that is walking distance from the university and the local market, so that's good.  The house is pretty awesome and I even have a kitchen.  YAY!  I can bake!  (First, however, I need to buy and oven....but all things in good time).  

It's hard to even blog about my time there because it seems like an overwhelming task.  Basically it's a big African city just like you'd probably imagine.  Dirty, animals in the street, huge, loud, but oddly exciting and pulsating with life.  

I'm pretty stoked.  Back to homestay today, though.  3 LONG weeks of homestay.  Sigh....i can make it.  I can't wait until training is over.  Swear in is September 12 (I think, I can't actually remember).

Shout out to everyone who has sent me a letter or package.  Thanks mom and Grandma :)  And Thomas, yours is somewhere in the Mali mail system....SCARY ;)  Nah it'll come sooner or later :) 

Anyway, I'll be awhile before I can get back on I'm guessing.  But no worries, next time I'm back I won't be living out of a backpack and I'll actually have a house WOOT!

Gypsy on!

Bamako or Bust

I leave for Bamako tomorrow.  Leave is a strong word...i'm only like 10 minutes from Bamako while residing at Tubaniso.  But all the same I'm staying with another PVC who's been in Mali for 2 years and we're gonna see the town!  

I'm hoping to get a look at my future work place, and see a bit of the fun in and around the capital city of Mali.  I'll let you know how it goes.....

I did receive a handbook put together by PCV's of years past detailing all the good places to go, eat, and be entertained in Bamako.  Some of my favorites include American Embassy flag football, Hash Runs, and a softball team full of American ex-pats.  Oh and there is chinese food.  Woot.

Gypsy on.

Pictures :)  it's not many but the connection is so slow here....they are all of my family and my concession and what not....enjoy 

Pictures

Violently Ill

So i got the ameobas.   Yep Ameboas are not fun.  At all.  I won't go into graphic detail, but it involved severe digestive problems, fever, and fatigue that started Sunday and ended late Monday night.  I couldn't walk to and from the bathroom (and I went there a lot) without my heart rate going to about 120.  It was awesome.

It was actually kind of funny cause the night i was sick there was a lighting storm and i'm squatting over a hole in the ground filled with water while throwing up in a bucket while lightening is threatening to strike at any time.  All I could think was this was not the way I wanted to die.  It was pretty humerous.  (sorry that got more graphic than some of you would have liked...but it was really funny)

I'm on meds now and feeling great though.  First major sickness tackled!  HOORAA!

My family was great while i was sick.  They kept trying to feed me, but the last thing i wanted was food.  It's the though that counts.  Additionally, they brought me water to bathe with and take to the Nyegen with me.  They checked in on me several times too.  

My friend Alec also came over a lot and brought me a Sprite and just generally made sure I was okay.  Yay for good friends and host families :)

Back at Tubaniso, I'll update more soon.

Gypsy on.

August 1

August 1, 2008

August is here.  That was fast. 

Some recent observations about Mali…

I'm surprised at how good my dad is with his kids.  He's actually really cute with them.  I would have guessed a patriarchal society that oppresses women wouldn't have such nice men.  Stereotyping proven wrong again.  My dad is a great guy and his family seems genuinely happy. 

Apparently the Penis-snatching debacle I posted about a few months ago is true.  Not only true but my otherwise level headed Malian teachers, Mohammad and Sagio, both believe that witch doctors really CAN steal your penis.  WHAT???!??? They really believe this?  Sagio told me that the doctors put something on their hand and when they shake your hand it makes your penis 3 cm…..really?   Someone do some research on this!  This could be a new way to Bobbitt a dude.  Is it weird that Bobbitt doesn't show up on a spell check as a misspelled word? 

In this same conversation with my teachers (it was a cross culture session) we were talking about the animist religions and fortune tellers.  Mohammad and Sagio, interestingly enough, don't believe that the fortune tellers can help you change your life, but they do believe that they have special psychic powers, or at least some of them do.   Furthermore, Mohammad, a devout Muslim, told me he didn't worry about the witch doctors and fortune tellers cursing him because all he needed was God to protect him.  It was one of those moments where the similarities of Christianity and Islam really shone through.  Here was a man who believed in "another" (albeit the same…but you know what I mean) God than I do and yet he took the words right out of my mouth. 

This has turned out to be one of the many times where I'm intellectually challenged in my walk with God.  Looking at my amazing, genuine, good friends and teachers, Mohammad and Sagio, I just can't come to terms with the idea that I'm supposed to think they're wrong about life and God.  The only thing that keeps me sane in believing in God is that I can just as easily be wrong too; without that constant companion of doubt I might just go and explode from a big head.  I just hope none of us have to have it all right, otherwise we're all in a heap of it.

Funny enough, God can't keep you from the Penis Snatchers.  BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  That just doesn't get old….penis snatchers.

In Americans missing America news….our little group here in Sanankoroba got together and bbq-d hamburgers.  It was delicious.  We made French fries and fried plantains as side dishes.  I made myself sick.  I'm borderline miserable full as I'm writing this now.

All in all Mali is wonderful.  The people are kind, tolerant, and accepting; the weather is actually amazing (you should see the thunderstorm going on outside my door right now), and the country is poor in pocket but rich in spirit. 

Gypsy on