07/28/10

07/28/10
Today was another field trip day to Bamako! We went to the US Embassy to learn about the work that USAID does in education in Mali. It was almost like being back in America! The embassy has grass and palm trees, air conditioning, cold water, brownies, coffee, marble walls and carpet! Omg, carpet! I don’t remember the last time I stepped on soft ground, haha! It was great! I’m not even going to try to remember what we learned, because I was enjoying my brownie too much to even pay attention. Then, we visited PRADDE-PC, another organization that is working towards training more teachers with effective tools to teach grades 1-6. After that session, we headed to lunch of tubab food! I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich and a salad. It was soooo good. Then, I made room for dessert and ordered a scoop of strawberry ice cream, ahhhhhh. It was the most I’ve eaten in weeks! After lunch, we made another visit to PHARE, the national office of education. They gave the most interesting presentation I’ve heard so far and I’d really like to work with them, because they not only look at the logistics of education, but they venture into the social issues as well, and that is me! I want to analyze the issues behind Mali’s education system and help implement strategies to improve the system. Unfortunately, we don’t specifically get to choose who we’d like to work with. Only once we get placed, will we have any say in that regard. Anyway, after that session, we headed home. Dinner was promptly at 8:00. I still haven’t figured out how they tell time here when no one wears a watch. I suspect they count the number of times they hear the call to pray from the mosque and looks at the sun. At dinner, I noticed that my sister, Ma, was wearing a shirt that said “Every Day is Hell.” I chuckled to myself because of the irony of this sour-faced girl wearing this shirt! She can’t even read English, let alone Bamabara. Sadly, this shirt speaks some truth to her life. I mean, it’s written all over her face although. I don’t know if she thinks of another life, where she’s not 17 years old, married with kids, cooks, cleans, works in the fields and does laundry all day. I doubt she ever goes to the city. That life would be hell to me too.