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.