07/29/10
This afternoon was very interesting. First, a begger boy came by the concession today. He was singing songs for money. I saw one of my host mom’s grab some money from her pocket and started fixing the boy a bowl to eat. It was awesome to see this act of kindness and warm-heartedness, because from what I’ve seen, Malian’s are not very heartwarming. Basically, it seems like once you learn to walk, you are on your own! There have been many times where I have seen children crying at my concession and not once have I seen an adult come to their rescue, unless they are a baby. A lot of the parenting is done by the older kids, which is also evident in America. However, I have seen some affection, it’s just different. For example, friends hold hands while walking down the street, even the young men. I’m still quite surprised when I see this. Another interesting occurrence today was that an ice cream man came through the village on a moto. He even had music! Instantly, I had my little sisters at my side asking me to buy them an ice cream. I suddenly felt like I was at home, buying something for my little sister or cousins. I asked them how much it costs, and they told me “mugan.” I am still adjusting to the monetary system, so I was a little slow and thought it was 100CFA for each. I ran to my room to get some money and we walked to the vendor. I asked for three and he said “mugan.” Holy crap, that’s only like 20 cents American for three ice creams! Oh Africa.