What I Miss the Most

While there is much I do not miss about life in the United States, there are a few things I would not mind having again after Peace Corps service. (Naturally, I miss the relationships, my family and friends.) From my experience, the average Malian family lives without many of the amenities that many of us take for granted in the 'developed world.' For example, many Malians live without electricity and at times a proper water source (water sources: tap water, pump water, well water, river water). Therefore, the average Malian family does not have a refrigerator, stove, oven, dishwasher, water heater, washing machine, air conditioner or computer, many of the 'amenities' that we have come to know as commonplace in our daily lives.

After much thought and while Steve may disagree, I miss access to a washing machine the most (at least for today). While every volunteer may have their own strategy for cleaning their laundry, I thought I would share mine. To begin, I first fill up two buckets with water, one for washing and one for rinsing (for many volunteers this step also involves fetching the water). I normally put half of a handful of powdered soap into the wash bucket. While I can normally wash four or five shirts in the same wash bucket, I can only wash one pair of pants before the color of the wash water is below my standards. For some reason, in my opinion, a pair of pants gets quite a bit more dirty than any other article of clothing. While you can find wash boards in Mali, I have found that rigorously rubbing a bar of soap across the clothing and then rubbing the clothing together does the trick. (Yes, you need good upper body strength for this.) After all of the stains are visibly gone, I dunk the article of clothing in the rinse bucket, wring it out, and hang it on the clothes line. (For many, after the space on the clothes line is full, tree branches, concession walls, or the ground are also acceptable places to dry one's clothing.) Now here's where I miss the washing machine... the process is tolerable, perhaps even a little enjoyable (with my iPod) when it is only one bucket's worth of laundry, but after two or three hours, I am usually exhausted.



For the record, I would guess the top three amenities Steve misses most (in no particular order) are air conditioning, refrigerator, and the internet.

How I Met Rouge Keita

(17-01-09)

During the month of January, we were in Bamako for our Peace Corps technical training. During the three weeks, I learned a lot including how to make soap and jam and how to construct a solar dryer for fruits and vegetables. I could not be more excited to implement this new knowledge.

Our first free Saturday afternoon, Therese, Mark, Steve and I decided to walk to the nearest village for some refreshments. Upon arrival in Samaya (a village a few kilometers from Tubani So, the Peace Corps training center), we were pleasantly surprised by a new patron at the establishment. Off to the side of the main building, there was a live, full grown chimpanzee with a chain around its waist connected to one of the branches of the tree it was swinging from. We had frequented this establishment several times, but this was our first encounter with one of the local's chimpanzee. Naturally inquisitive, we went over to meet the men sitting near the tree and to meet the chimpanzee. It was interesting how the men treated the animal as a pet, a friend. One of the locals wanted all of us individually to introduce ourselves and shake the chimpanzee's hand. We were informed that the chimpanzee's name was Rouge Keita and that he has lived in Mali, just down the street, his whole life. When I reached my hand out to greet him, he swung his legs and twisted them around my arm before shaking my hand. Surprisingly, his grip was impressively strong. Although Steve is an animal lover, I could sense his hesitancy with Rouge. I mean, after all we were hanging out with a powerful, wild animal.

A little while later, we were all sitting around enjoying one another's company, when the locals spending time with Rouge decided to walk him around the concession. They brought Rouge over to where we were sitting and he immediately jumped onto the chair next to Therese. The locals told us that Rouge liked soda and could also smoke a cigarette, to which we all expressed our disapproval. While sitting next to Therese, one minute they were shaking hands, the next he had pulled Therese's hands into his mouth. At that moment, one of the locals pulled him away to chastise him. He did not actually bite down on Therese's fingers, it was more like a play bite, but enough to shake her up. Not thinking clearly, shortly after Therese's encounter, I decided to play a little with Rouge.

On my way to the restroom (actually a rudimentary outhouse), I reached out to shake Rouge's hand and he did the same thing to me. Before I knew it, with all his strength he had pulled my right hand toward him and my right hand up to the knuckles was in the chimpanzee's mouth. Immediately, one of the men watching over him pulled him away to chastise him. But, just like Pete (my cat from home), Rouge was good at the play biting game. Actually now in retrospect, I am not sure why I was so afraid of Pete's play biting game, it is much more frightening with a wild animal. As if I didn't learn from my mistake the first time, with the encouragement of the local Malian, I decided to shake Rouge's hand again as an 'I'm not afraid of you' thing. Again, before I knew it, he had pulled me toward him and grabbed at my necklace, only he missed my necklace, grabbed my shirt and pulled off a button. At this point, I made it clear to all the Malians that yes, I am afraid of Rouge Keita. They all chuckled a little, but insisted that I give it one more try. After a few minutes, I finally decided to try playing with him one last time. We held hands, jumped up and down together, stuck our tongues out at each other, and my favorite making kissy faces at each other. Every time I would pretend to give him a kiss on the hand, he would smile from ear to ear and shake a little like he was laughing. While I think chimpanzees are incredibly smart and extremely like us, they are still wild animals, not pets, and I am freaking afraid to be up close and personal with them.

What I Will Find In 2009

(06-01-09)

I spent the first week of the new year in Kayes, before traveling to Bamako for a Peace Corps training. Since some of our friends, fellow volunteers, were in town, all the women, Ashley, Sam and I walked to 'Restaurant MacDonald' for the only item on the menu, a chawarma plate, Malian-style. (Of course, we brought dinner back for our significant others.) After dinner, we dropped Ashley at her apartment, then Sam and I continued along one of the main roads (one of the only paved roads in Kayes).

When I am out and about in Kayes, I try to greet everyone. So naturally, as we were walking, I greeted two older women sitting on the side of the road. After greeting, the older of the two women motioned for me to come closer. She was sitting with both of her hands in her lap in a way that I could tell she wanted to show me something. As I came closer, she slowly opened a piece of tattered cloth that contained a small pile of shells. Immediately, I knew she wanted to read my fortune. (Just the week before, Amy, another volunteer, told me about how she had her fortune read by shells in Dogon.) Without hesitation, I sat down in the chair next to her and explained to Sam that I would just be a minute. Right next to the woman, there was a white bucket with a lid (like the ones that contain paint), she began throwing the shells onto the lid of the bucket like she was rolling dice. It took both Sam and I to try and decipher the woman's mixture of Bambara and French words in the exact same sentence, but we managed to understand at least four parts of my fortune. According to her, (and pertaining to my not so immediate future) I will find two children, a boy first and then a girl. In 2009, I will find a lot of work. I will find a lot of money. And most importantly, I will find a good year. (Ironically, Sam received the exact same reading as me except she will find a girl first and then a boy.) It only cost me 50 cents to find out that I will find all of these good things. (Yes, the woman continuously used the verb to find during my reading.) I can't wait to see what I will actually find in 2009.