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