Wednesday, August 29, 2007

This Was Only A Test...

First I want to tell a funny language story. In Bambara to show possession over things you add ka to the front. So if I say "N ka Biki" I'm saying "its my pen." N ka wulu would mean that's my dog. Now when talking about body parts you don't need the ka you can just say n kungolo which means my head. So every morning for two weeks a certain volunteer would greet every male in village and go through the normal routine of "how are you, hows your family, did you sleep well, etc etc..., but just for fun she thought she would ask "how's your dog." Unfortunetly she forgot the ka SO instead of asking "how is your dog" she was asking every male in the village everyday for 2 weeks "how's your penis."

Site Visit...
I don't really know where to begin. Every PCV has what is called a homologue in their village so PC brought them down to Tubaniso so we could meet them here and then head to site with them. Mine seems pretty cool, but it was awkward because I don't have much language yet and so our conversations were pretty short.
So my homologue, me and maybe 4 or 5 other volunteers and their homologous all headed up to Severe last Tuesday. It was over 12 hours on a bus that had no air and it was packed and had to be over 90 degrees that day. So that was fun. We pulled into Severe and spent the night at a place called Mac's Refuge. Mac gives PCV's a discount so we can stay there when we are in town for pretty cheap. Pretty cool place. We got settled and went to a "restaurant." Again its a place PCV's go and have been going for a long time and so they know the lady very well and are treated well. It was some of the best food too. I had a steak and some fries and green beans! It was so good. That was Severe. I got in a fight with my mosquito net at Mac's and ended up getting my hand caught in a ceiling fan. Gashed it pretty good.
The next morning my homologue and I found a bush taxi to take us the rest of the way to site.
It took about 2 or maybe 3 more hours to get there. The road is dirt and can be tricky to navigate.

Side note: I think its funny how Americans all think they need SUV's when we have paved smooth roads, but Africans have some the worst roads with giant rock piles and mudslides and the whole nine and they navigate them using tiny Toyotas or French station wagons.

Arriving at my village was a weird experience. There was none of the pomp that surrounded our arrival in Banakoro with the singing and dancing and speeches by the dugutiki. It was almost like they didn't even expect me to come. There was a lot of staring and looks of who are on peoples faces. I sat down outside my homologue's house while I guess they were getting my house ready. I knew going in that Bambara wasn't spoken much in my area, but I very quickly realized how little it is spoken. So that made for an interesting site visit. I think there are 3 people in my village whom I am sure speak Bambara the rest speak a Dogon dialect. That was a very sobering realization and it really made me reevaluate my picture of how the next 2 years are going to go.
My house is nice. Brand new built for me. Its mud brick with 2 rooms, a nice brand new negen, and a big concessions. Right now there is okra planted in it, but in October they said the okra would be done and I can do whatever I want with it. I think I will set up a vegetable garden and maybe plant some fast growing trees so I can get some shade. Shade in Africa is priceless real estate. So now I have a garden to make and a house to furnish. If anyone feels like sending some seeds or some posters for my walls that would be SWEET!
My visit was pretty laid back. There is a slightly bigger town just down the road and I went to the Market and met the mayor and Commandant and people I might be working with or need help from.
The guys in my village like to hang out in my concession. It was pretty cool. I would eat and then we would drink tea and they would talk and every now and then someone would ask me something in Bambara and I would answer.

I did have a big adventure on Friday. PC told us that we had to get to Bandiagara in order to open a bank account. So Friday morning I got up and told my homologue that I had to go. He and about 7 others all walked down the road to flag down transport, but there was none. The only people who drove by were Toubob tourists and I couldn't get them to stop. I tried calling my Regional Coordinator, but cell phone service is sketchy in my village and then my battery died. So about 11:30 I decided to ride my bike into Bankass and try and get transport from there. Its about a 20 Km ride, but it is very nice country and very easy on the eyes. I was biking West and a Toubob car was coming East so I waved and was just saying hello and the bastards hit a puddle and sprayed me with mud. I hate tourists.
I got to Bankass and asked around for transport to Bandiagara. One guy said a car would come and offered me a spot under his hangar in the shade. I sat there for about 45 minutes and nothing came. So the guy hopped on his moto and drove down, came back about 10 minutes later and said he had found me something. I follow him down the road and there is a big dump truck waiting for me. They said they can get me half way and I'll have to bike the rest, but it isn't far. I said cool and hopped in. To get to Bandiagara you have to cross over a range of cliffs and it was very very beautiful landscape. I had no idea the cliffs were so close to my site. It was awesome. We got to the top and they let me out. I hopped on my bike and sailed down the other side into Bandiagara. Of course the bank was closed and PC was gone. I found a cheap hotel and a phone and called my RC again, told him I was in town and that I was staying the night. Fortunately he was in town too and came and picked me up. Chris, another PCT, and Heather, a PCV, were there too. Heather is a volunteer who extended for an extra 6 months and will COS when we swear in. COS means Close of Service which means the volunteers time is up and they are going home, if I haven't told you that before.
I ended up staying the night at Chris's sight and I have to say I have site envy. His site is up in the cliffs and looks a lot like Utah. There is a natural spring where the village gets it water and its hard to explain, but trust me its cool. I hope pictures will come. I know I say that a lot, but they will eventually I promise.
Also since Heather is leaving, Chris is getting set up with a fully furnished house.

So that site is cool and I will spend a lot of time there because Chris is the closest volunteer to me and also Heather has done a community vegetable garden which is my project and so I want to see how she set it up and talk with the people she worked with. It will be good experience for me. My mom wants me to mention that when I talk about a community vegetable garden I don't mean a small jag in someones back yard. These things are pretty big pieces of land and can get complex when you consider wells that need to be dug and storage to be built. So from finding the land to finding the funding from various sources can be a challenge. Especially when you've been learning the wrong language and can't talk to the people you'll be working with. Thanks Peace Corps! *WINK*
But it will all work out and Chris is in the same boat with the language and the Dialects of Dogon in his village and my village are similar so we can help each other with language.

So where was I...
I think Saturday morning? We woke up and Heather wanted to see my site. We walked to the road and hitched a ride in the back of a pickup. It was good to have Heather come to my site because she can communicate and we got a lot of details sorted out like who will get my water and wash my clothes and will I eat with a family or cook for myself and all the details that would take awhile to sort out on my own.

That was pretty much my visit. I think my village will work out really well. They seem really organized and hard working. The language is making me nervous and I know I have a lot of work in front of me, but I also have a lot of time.
Homesickness has been getting to me a little bit lately. I'm not sure why. The hot nights that make it hard to sleep or 12 hour bus rides to and from Mopti, or maybe I'm just on that part of an emotional curve and here soon I'll pick up again. Either way, home has been on my mind a lot lately. I miss it.

So that's my story. Only a few more weeks until we swear in. After that I'll head back to Mopti for installation. I think that the first few weeks at my site are going to have a real "What the F@%$ do I do now" feeling to them. But this probably too long so I'll wrap it up. I have been getting a lot of comments on this and I really appreciate it because it always brightens my day to come back to Tubaniso and see that people are keeping up with it. Feel free to e-mail too if you have specific questions, my e-mail is up here. People sometimes leave questions on my blog, but no return e-mail so I can't answer them and I feel bad. And if you do ask be patient because computers and internet are hard to come by and my days are pretty busy as is. Also I learned Bandiagara's internet is crap. Its expensive and slower than dial up so I'll probably do internet in Severe, I just don't know how often I'll make that trek. The good news is that the internet is Severe is cheaper and faster so there is good potential for a lot of photos when I get there.

Ok I'm gonna go eat lunch.
Peace

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Bamanakan Kalan

I ni Sogoma! I ka Kane? Somogow be D'i?
I have successfully completed another jaunt in Banakoro. This one was exponetially better than the previous. I was never sick, I am getting used to the food and eating more, and I can communicate a lot more with my family. I know how quickly time passes in the States, but here a day is week and a week is a year so I can't remember what i wrote in my last blog so if I repeat myself please forgive. Being able to communicate with my family makes life so much better, but I imagine it is very humorous for my family. I'll paint a picture. Imagine a half naked white man walking to the negen and 6:00 in the morning with his goofy white man walk announcing to the world "I'M GOING TO CLEAN MYSELF!" or during dinner "WE ARE EATING. THIS FOOD IS GOOD. I DON'T LIKE EAT BONES!" There is a lot of that. Last night though I threw caution to the wind. I ate fruit washed in well water, I ate goat meat, and I petted the dog. I should explain though. Dogs here are not like dogs in the States...at all. They are here to bark when someone comes into the compound and something to beat on when the kids are bored. And when I say beat I MEAN beat. Oh and they bark all night every night and won't let the Toubob sleep.
We changed schools. We no longer have class under the Mango trees. It rained and dumped maybe 8 to 10 inches on us in a single night and the negen overflowed. Now we have class in the kindergarten. Its ok, but I liked it better out under the trees. We're still outside, but there are walls around the place and it feels more isolated.
My Bambara is coming along nicely, but I am a little slower than I should be. I tested out at Novice High when the most of my class is at Intermediate Low. N HAKILIMADI!
If you want to act smart at home then I'm actually learning Bamana, and if you want to act really smart at home tell people I'm learning Bamanakan. Bamana is what they call the language and every language has kan added to the end of it so...Bamana...kan
So now I am at Tubaniso until Tuesday, maybe Wednesday and then I head off for site visit. Dogon country! I get to see my house and my village and meet the Dugutiki and set up my bank account and all that fun stuff. I might even start learning some Dogonkan ;) Its hot up there, but there are fewer mosqitos so take the good with the bad. Most PCV's sleep outside especially during the hot season. Right now its the rainy season and then it will cool off through Aprilish. I am told I will see parents putting big winter coats, hats and mittens on their kids even though its like 50 degrees out. I'll try and get some pictures for you guys. I know they make these things more interesting.
I'm trying to keep this organized but I'm not having much luck. Every time I tell myself I will write these out the night before, but it never happens and so I just write as it comes out of my head.
I might have wrote in my last blog that i will be near Bankass and that bankass will have internet? If I wrote that I am a liar. Bankass does not have internet and so I will only be able to get to a computer once maybe twice a month when I go to Mopti or Severe for banking and post.
Lastly, enjoy America. I'm not going to stand on a soapbox or anything, but it is beyond mind boggling the things I took for granted. Also I would give my left hand for a Double Cheeseburger Fries and a Pepsi (Coke flows like water here).

K'an Ben

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Assignment

Real quick update. Today we recieved our assignments and placement for after we are sworn in as official PC volunteers. I will be posted in the Mopti region in a village about 20 km outside a town called Bankass. I will work with villagers (mostly women) working on small community gardens among other projects. Its a new site and has never had a PCV before so I will be starting fresh. Its in Dogon country so along with Bambara I might also pick up some Dogon and Fulfulde. I am super pumped about my location and there are some really cool volunteers that will be up there with me. Swear in will be Sept. 21 so about 6 more weeks of training. I feeling better, Mr. D is leaving me alone, I'm recharged and ready to go again. I'll be back at Tubaniso on the 17th I believe so I'll write more then.

Bankass has internet and electricty, but I hear the internet is expensive. Also I will have cell phone service at my site.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

I am no longer Braxton Bragg

One of the first things that happens to you when you arrive at your homestay village is you are given a Malian name. I am now known throughout Banakoro as Djigi (the d is silent) Coulibaly!
But anyway I am now back at Tubaniso after spending two weeks in village. I can honestly say it was probably the most intense two weeks I can remember. We arrived and there were women dancing and playing the drumbs and man children all gathered around us. After the music stopped we were taken into the square to meet the Chief of the Village. There was a lot of talking, but none of us knew what was going on and we just sat and smiled. Also we were introduced to our host families whom we would be living with during the duration of our training. I'm with the Coulibaly family, but Coulibaly is a very common name and there are I think 3 other volunteers with that last name.
My family has a nice house with mango trees growing in the concession (but the mango season is over). I have a small room which is usually hot so I don't spen much time in there. We have a decent sized training group 8 of us (started at 9, but one ET'd). Our days are very long and usually pretty exhausting. I get up about 6:20 and have myself a splash bath. Nobody talks to you until you are clean. After my bath my sister makes me breakfast usually consisting of eggs and bread and powdered milk. I head to school at 8:00 and we have language class under the mango trees until noon. I'm learning Bambara which is not the most difficult language, but still frustrates me. At noon I go home and have rice and some kind of sauce with maybe some fish or beef. Eating here...I could write a whole blog on eating, and maybe I will someday, but the short version is the food is in a big metal bowl and everyone sits around and eats out of the same bowl. With their hands, but only the right hand because the left hand is used in the jegen(bathroom) in conjuction with the salii daaga (which is a teapot basically that holds water). They don't use toilet paper. Do the math on your own. If you need help consult with your neighbor. DO NOT EAT WITH YOUR LEFT HAND!
After lunchmore lanuage and cross cultural. My LCF's are the best. They are teaching us well. I think I will be speaking Bamabara in no time. After school we hang out in the village or go to the butiki for a coke. I'm usually home by 6:30 and I get another splash bath. I usually eat dinner around 7:30 or 8:00. Sometimes I get macoroni or potatos or fish. after dinner I study or read or try to talk with my family, but am not having much success there.
In bed by 9:00 usually.
Now for the fun part
I seem to have picked up a bacterial intestinal infection and have had severe "Mr. D" for 6 dys now. It was pretty hard to eat and choke down rice and fish everyday. I tried to just let it run its course, but after 5 days I thought this is no longer just me getting used to the new food. So I'm on Cipro now and I think I'm close to better now. In 5 days though I lost 7 pounds. The good thing about Tubaniso though is that the food is really good and I can try and beef back up. It really wasn't that bad, and I'm fine now so nobody worry.

But I need to get going. I'll be around computers until thursday then its back out to homestay.
I'll update again if I can before I leave Tubaniso.

Sorry no pictures my camera battery died, but I'll get some up soon