07/30/10

I spent this evening talking with my brother and sister to find out why they are not married. Most young people in Mali are married, so I was curious to know their reasons. I found out that my sister, who is 23, is engaged and is waiting until she is done with university. My brother is 17, and he said that he wants to go to university, so he doesn't want to marry until he's done with school as well. I then proceeded to ask them how many children they want. My sister said, four (go 'head girl!) the average here is like 9, I believe. My brother said he wanted nine! Oh boys, they just don't understand what women go through. Heck, I don't even know yet. I wanted to keep questioning my sister on why she only wanted four, but I don't have the language yet, darn it. I'm sure she would've said something like, "I only want four because that's probably all I could handle with my JOB."