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