How to sum up the last twenty days?
Well first off I must start with a petite histoire. When my roommate Kevin found out that I was going to go to Mali West Africa for the Peace Corps, he would daily serenade me with Toto's “Africa” as he belted out “I BLESS THE RAINS DOWN IN AFRICA!!!!!!!” at good ol 204. He reminded me everyday that each day I wake up in my mud hut… I would need to sing that song. He had promised to try to get me a CD with the song on it, but time flew by too fast before I was swept away by the Peace Corps. I had almost forgotten about the song, until one day when nyenafin be n na (nostalgia was on me) and my friend Kelly said, “Audge, you gotta listen to this song, it will make you feel better”. Right as the song began I started laughing. We both had an ear bud in and danced and belted out the song. At that moment, I don’t think I could have felt happier. Maybe it is possible, but truly, homesickness was gone. I had completed one of my small… small goals. Also, Kevin can be glad I took his advice.
So a weird way to start off an entry maybe, but I needed to get that out there. So the past twenty days were spent in beautiful Kabe learning Bamanakan gua koro (under a hangar). Eating bread and tea in the mornings, macaroni at lunch, and rice and na(sauce) for dinner. The past twenty days have been very very warm with every few days a downpour to cool us down. Plus, the rain helps put me to sleep as it pit pats (or slam bams) my toli (tin) roof.
My language teacher was intense and fantastic. He pushed us four trainees real hard, and I don’t think my language would be anywhere near to how good it is right now if it wasn’t for his work. I tested at intermed. Mid at the mid stage test which is the requirement to pass training, so I have exceeded that by now (at least I would hope so). I have gotten compliments from my homestay family and other villagers because I can finally understand them and they can understand me.
Now when I say “N t’a don” (I don’t know) I actually mean that I don’t know and I assure them that I understand by saying “N y’a famu, nga n t’a don” I understand, but I don’t know. I find it funny though when some of my Malian friends in town would talk to me in French and I would answer in Bambara, because that would be the first language that would come to me. It is really exciting to see how much a difference being emerged really makes in the language learning process. I feel blessed with being placed in the village I was in. I was very lucky to be placed with a very open and enthusiastic, helpful community. I was very sad to leave them Yesterday, but this only means my real service is going to start.
I will be swearing in this Friday at the embassy! How exciting! Then a few days after I will be on my way to Nyamina! Working with the women’s garden there. I am also working with my APCD to work with Soulyemane Cisse on organizing the film festival in Nyamina! So many many exciting things.
I am feeling sad though lately. I loved my homestay village, probably most than other trainees. I made a lot of great friendships, so it just means I will have to visit a lot! There was a little rumor that my host dad and a friend might come visit me after Ramadan, but Malians like to joke, and are just about as sarcastic as I am, so it may just be a cruel cruel joke.
But that is another thing I love about Mali. Everyone is funny. I am pretty sure I have mentioned this a hundred times, but I think this is what has helped me learn the language as fast as I have. I joke. I try to learn new jokes or new funny sayings such as I am going to marry 15 men and have 25 children (the women get a kick out of this). I also like to tell the men that propose to me that they will have to cook and clean if they want to marry me, and can’t be upset when I marry a new husband. It is also funny when they ask me what I am going to be doing in Africa for two years, I tell them that I am searching for a husband and they laugh and they say seriously what are you going to be doing. I continue to say well I might garden but my priority is to find a husband. They usually ask if I will be going back to America after the two years and I said that I will probably just stay in Mali for another hundred, and that I will never go back to America. That one also gets a lot of laughs.
The nature is also amazing out here. I would describe Kabe as a savannah esque type area, though it is really hard to know for sure because most places are fields. There are some trees, lots of bushes and grasses. There were some very pretty flowers out in the kungola (forestish area) that I had wanted to get a picture of but decided that if I didn’t take the picture I would have to go back. The birds are also amazing here. Some just look like simple finches while others are just amazingly different than what I am used to. The kids are afraid of frogs and anything amphibian or reptile, so of course I pick them up and display them for the kids to see that really the creatures are fine.
I was constantly having a great time in village and unfortunately it had to end. I’m sure Nyamina will be awesome, but a piece of my heart is always going to be in Kabe.
