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