Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Day dreaming

So, I have this AMAZING vacation lined-up in about 2-weeks. Before I went to Segou and Sikasso, I had been starting to feel really antsy. And I don't know why, but here in Mali, I seem to let my emotions take over more and I look out for myself a lot more too. Maybe it's a survival instincts, lack of hugs and wireless internet, outburst. Anyway, I was beginning to feel antsy and could not imagine how I would make it through the next 3-weeks before my trip, so I had to take a vacation before my vacation, you see?

Anyway, my trip is going to be amazing. It's basically the trip of a lifetime. I used to day-dream about America, conversations I wish that I could have back home, being a hot new guitarist/singer solo act, the boy who won't be mine, what I'm going to do after Mali, but now my mind is focused on one thing: ParisLyonMarseilleCairoDubai, all one word.

I'm about to go from hot to cold, to warm, to hot, to hotter, back to cold and then back to hot. Ahhhhhh!

Segou-Magic

I've now been to Segou twice. The first time was when Jasmine was here. We took a trip with my friends to Dogon Country and took lunch in Segou while passing through. From that 2-hour stop, I knew that Segou would be a place that I would have to visit again. So, when my friends, Krystal and Dani, decided to celebrate their birthdays there, I had to go!

Segou is one of the cleanest, most chill river-town I have ever been to, in Mali. When I'm there, it's like taking in a nice gulp of fresh air. It has everything that Bamako has, except it's smaller, cleaner, neater and more quiet. There are nice hotels, nice places to shop, delicious food, boat rides, nice trees for shade as you walk along the streets, and an awesome bogolan (mud cloth) factory/shop. Honestly, Segou reminds me of small-town America, except Malian-style. Love it! And I can't wait to go back in February for the international music festival!

"Not all white people play beer pong at Thanksgiving" (T-Day Peace Corps-style)

Last year, for Thanksgiving, I had a lovely evening dining with the Ambassador. The atmosphere was perfect. There were red and green draped tables with paper turkeys and the food was good. But, this year, I spent Thanksgiving in Sikasso (another region in Mali).

The dinner itself was surprisingly good! There were eight turkeys, stuffing, mashed potatoes, greenbeans, fruit salad, pumpkin and apple pies, and then when everyone was done eating, the beer pong table was set up!

It was weird enough eating dinner inside of an auditorium and having Malian children staring at us, but beer pong just stripped away any sense that this was Thanksgiving. However, this occurrence brought up something that Jasmine and I have always found strange.

Back in college (wow, so long ago now!), whenever it was football Saturday's, there were always pre-game parties on almost every lawn in Ann Arbor. And when we walked along the streets, we would see families playing beer drinking games together. We would see grandpa's and grandson's throwing hackey-sacks and slugging back red cups of beer and this weirded Jasmine and I out. Like, we could never imagine drinking with our grandparents, let alone on wholesome holiday like Thanksgiving!

So, I just had to know, even if it was a stupid question, but I asked some of my white friends if this is what they do back at home? Thankfully, they all said no. And then, we all went around and said what we're thankful for, which is something my family does. With that, some of that Thanksgiving-spirit was salvaged. But, then later, we went to the club hahaha!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Dirtiest moment of my life!

The other weekend I was invited to visit my friend, Abdoulaye's home in Bamako. We've been friends for about a year now and he's helped me with my projects and I've assisted him in his English class. So, I was really excited to go visit him and his wife.

I around at his house around 12:30 and had planned to stay for lunch and leave in the evening, but he and his wife invited me to stay the night. I thought about saying my good-bye's, but then decided to stay and this is what led to the dirtiest moment of my life!

My friend is a teacher, and like all teachers, he is not rich, and his place showed that. It was a 2-room apartment in a grimy, crowded apartment complex. There was electricity, running water, but no plumbing system. It was like being in village, but on a much, much smaller scale, which is what made it so dirty. If someone is building an apartment complex with a community bathroom, I would think that to keep disease and all other grossness from forming, one would think that more than two toilets and two showers are needed.

When night time came, my friend's wife asked me if I wanted to bathe. To keep myself from saying that I wouldn't dare bathe there, I shamelessly said that I only bathe once a day and had done so that morning, luckily. Then as night came, I noticed that everyone wanted to bathe at the same time. And the place where people bathed, also served as a "pee-only" toilet. So, no thank you. But, as the night went on, I had to pee really, really bad.

So, I made my way to the toilet. I tried the shower/toilet, but there was a ton of sitting water after bath time. So I was left with the latrine. At this point, I hated my bladder, I really had to go. So, as I tippy-toed in, I saw the biggest spiders I've ever seen! I gripped to the side of the wall, but then I saw an albino cockroach (way better than seeing red ones)! I thought about making my retreat, but I wasn't going to make it through the night. So, I stepped on the pedastal and glanced down the latrine. And there, staring back at me was a rat! A RAT! The rat saw me! And I saw it, eating the pile of fecal matter that was left by the lady who went right before me. I grimaced and closed my eyes and relieved myself. I looked down once again, and the rat was gone, but OH MY GOSH! I couldn't decide whether to burst out laughing or crying out of disgust. I decided to laugh, and it was really funny, but that was the most disgusting moment of my life.

The past few weeks.....

It has been a very long time since I've written in here. I've been busy! My schedule is perfect not too packed. I work in the high school and middle school in the mornings, at noon, I take my lunch break and the afternoons are left free, except for Thursdays when I have my Life Skills course. And lately, I've been feeling really restless as my AMAZING vacation is coming up, so I've been spending time (and money) in Bamako every weekend. But, it's cool.

Anyway, to give a little glimpse of what I've actually been doing, I'll explain my role in the classroom. I never imagined myself teaching, but here I am, teaching and it's kind of thrilling, oddly. I'm teaching a subject that I sorta know, English. I'm not gonna lie, my English is not perfect, but I can do a better job teaching than most of these teachers. And it's thrilling to be in front of the classroom and holding the power to mold theses young minds (mwhahaha!). I also find my creative-juices flowing, trying to come up with ways of making English fun, and this challenges me. So, I'm enjoying myself inside the classroom.

As for my Life-Skills course, this has been my greatest challenge so far. I'm teaching fifteen 7th and 8th grade girls once a week for a 1-hr course, in Bambara! When I was preparing for my first day of class, I had prepared everything in French. I figured, at this age, they have all of their courses in French, so I should be okay. But, just in case, I had my lesson-plan translated partially in Bambara. So, when I got to the classroom, I tested the girls French by asking them for the day's date, that's when I knew I had a problem. Only one or two girls responded! I got nervouse, started sweating as I had to think quickly on my feet. I then wish that I had translated everything into Bambara, but I managed okay. For the next sessions, I knew that I would have to find a translator, and I did! So, now the sessions have been going a lot smoother and I know that the girls understand each lesson.

Aside from working in the classroom, I'm preparing to motivate other schools to participate in a bigger and better "Career Day" event. I would like to have those preparing to go to high school to participate as well. The only problem with having more people, is the costs. So, I hope that others are willing to contribute.