I’ve been getting pretty wordy lately so I’m going to try and journal more in little spurts so as not to bore anyone to death. Or try to remember what I want to write all at one time at the end of the when I’m tired and should be sleeping.
Today we had some culture training, diarrhea lessons (how to avoid it, not how to get it…I’m sure I’ll figure out how to get it soon enough), shots and my language interview.
Culture training was very interesting. Being immersed into another culture is one of the reasons I wanted to join PC. So it’s very exciting but also realizing how important it is to be respectful and learn and know about others cultures. There are so many interesting differences:
Dress – they are always neat and clean no matter where they are. Men wear slacks and a button up collared shirt or traditional pants and tunic all the time. If they wear less than that they are made fun of as they dress like a boy. Women always wear skirts, dresses or wraps (pana with a ~ over the n) and a shirt that covers the shoulders. In some areas the shirt should cover to the wrist and they may also need to cover their hair. Knees are ALWAYS covered no exception. Pants are more accepted now but there was a time when you could get in trouble for wearing pants…only as far back as 1985. I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of African people in brightly colored skirts and tops, or pants and tunics for the men, before. That is how they dress. Every local volunteer, teacher, nurse, admin are always perfectly dressed with clothes cleaned and pressed. They are so beautiful and handsome. I wish we had stricter rules about dress. I was glad when Jarrod went to a school that required the boys to wear collared shirts and the girls appropriate clothing. Not uniforms but just respectful. We are having a cultural festiveal on Sunday. I’ll be able to buy some material and have something made and I can get a pan~a.
Food/eating – Meals is such a large part of the Malian culture. And the food here is different depending on what’s available in the different areas. In some areas you can’t get very much fruit or vegetables. In other areas you won’t be able to get much meat. In some areas they can’t afford much other than millet as their staple food. Rice is for people with money. And no matter how little they have they always want to share with you and you will be invited in at any time of the day. I’ve had experience with this when visiting ma famille afrique in San Diego. You can’t go to visit and not eat. It is very insulting. They have to cook the crap out of everything because of bacteria and parasites. No fresh, uncooked food. No salad!! I saw someone eating a salad yesterday and got so excited only to find out that was for the volunteers that have been here for quite some time. Obviously they have built up enough of a resistance that there are some things they can eat that we can’t eat quite yet. Not without suffering the consequences.
Today for lunch we ate the way we will be eating when we get to our homestay sites (the site and home that we will stay at for the duration of our training). A large mat is laid out on the floor and there can be anywhere from 3 to 6 people sitting around a huge bowl. Around the outside of the bowl was rice cooked in a tomatoey type sauce and in the middle was cabbage, carrots and some meat. Not sure exactly what kind but I’m assuming beef. But you know what happens when you assume? Then with only your right hand (I’m sure you can figure out why since we now know what you do with the left hand in the nygene) you scoop up some food, try to give it a good squeeze to make it more solid and shove it in your mouth trying not to spill it all over yourself. The food was good, the culture behind the communal bowl and just the socialization of the “event” is amazing.
Diarrhea or better known as Mr. D. I guess we were learning how not to get Mr. D. That’s good. Although I don’t think you can really avoid it. Everything has bacteria on it. So unless you boil the crap out of everything or use a filter and/or bleach diarrhea is a given. So far I haven’t pooped since I left San Diego. Everything is boiled and cooked to death. Never eat any meat that has any pink it. No fresh vegetables or salad and only fruits that you peel the skin off…after a water and bleach bath…and not until after we’re been here for a while. Keep your mouth and eyes shut during bathing. Brush your teeth with filtered, bleached water. Filter and bleach the water. They’ll be giving us a 2 gallon bucket that has a build in filter in it with a 1 gallon bucket that sits on top with the another filter. You pour bleached water into the top and it goes through the 2 filters and sits in the button bucket…that has a spigot on it. Now we will always good drinking water. At site here they do all that and always have good water available. These are the most important ways to keep from getting Mr. D.
Shots – We are scheduled for 3 shots or the first of a series of shots today. Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and Typhoid. I’ve already had the Hep B series. Thankfully…it was painful and I couldn’t move my arm for days. And that was each time. Hep B is a series of 3 shots 3 months apart…I think…or maybe one. Either way I don’t need it. I got my two and went on my way.
Picture – Got my picture taken for my Peace Corps ID. As a trainee….we are not volunteers yet. That will happen April 13ish, if all goes well.
Language interview – So I had to sit with someone today to decide what my French language skills are. She was asking me questions and I had to try and answer. It wasn’t pretty. After 2 semesters of French and all the CDs I was graded at Novice-mid…at best. My French teacher would be very disappointed. From this point forward I will be learning Bambara. If there is time when I become somewhat proficient in Bambara I can get tutored in French…if I would like. Of course I would like…where else in the world will I ever use Bambara again??
Language – Today we started our first Bambara lesson. How exciting. Malians (as well as my African family at home from Uganda) is all about the greetings. And not like our greetings as if anyone exchanges them anymore, Hey what’s up? How are you? When no one really cares. It is a whole ritual. And it’s almost like reading off a script. You have to go through the whole process. Depending on the time of the day (and by time where the sun is…and then after the sun goes down. Not really a time as we know it but space in time. So you will either say “good morning” or “good day”, “good evening” or “good night”. There is a little tonal response to that and then you say it back. Then you say a formal how are you. From we were told later in culture training you never say anything but very well. Not that they don’t care but there is room for that discussion after the ceremonial greetings. Then they ask how is you family, how is your mother and then how is your father.
I ni sogoma (good morning)
N se (sounds like ‘in say’ but that N comes all the way from the back depths of the throat…this doesn’t really mean anything. And if you are addressing a man they respond with M ba...again neither mean anything). I ni sogoma.
I ka kEnE? (I was having trouble with this but it sounds like “I killed Kenny” from South Park…got it…and there are “e”s that make one sound and E’s that make another)
Toorote (those o’s aren’t really o, they are backward c’s…but there is not key for that. This means “Well”). I ka kEnE?
Toorote. Ew fa ka kEnE? (how is your father)
Tooro tu la
Ew ba Ka kEnE? (how is your mother)
And then it goes on depending on how well you know the person and the rest of the family. Then they do it back to you. You don’t have to do this if you are passing at market but when you pass by their home you have to do it. And to each home…and that’s just the hello. The goodbye is another ceremony ending with…A la ka tile here caya (said chia…if you say c as K, caya it is a bad word. That too close for comfort for me. Guess who got it wrong once in class. Fatim said she could not tell me what it meant. Hahahahah…figures sailor mouth over here is already cursing). This means May Allah give you a good day.
Amiina (amen) and everyone goes their separate ways. Now that we know this much and all the workers at camp know we do it takes 10 minutes to get from point A to point B. But they mean every word of it. It is said sincerely even though as from a script…a ceremony. No one says good morning, or good day to each other. The only greeting we use anymore at all is goodnight. So sad. It’s nice to be greeted with smiles and blessings from their god. Mmmm…maybe we should bring back respectful, polite greetings again. What a better way to get through the day.
This is one day in the life of Clare. I did more today than I did in a week at home. .
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