Easter and Rain

So life happens. I am here in Mali West Africa living. And life progresses as such, that hard part is getting used to the fact that time continues at home just as it does here. So Easter we spent in Uncle Joseph’s village Jigila (spelling?) On the way there, we saw an accident, this would be my first dead body apart from a funeral. It was an ambulance that had crashed, and one man was still alive and being pulled from the wreckage, the other was dead and was no longer whole. That was really hard to see, but I don’t have much to say about it.  We were welcomed by all the elders in the village and were presented with red and white cola nuts and a chicken (mmmm).  There was another village that had come to jigila to perform, so Saturday night we watched the other village perform and Sunday we got to see Jigila perform for us. Two very different performances. Jigila was more about masks and telling stories that way, and the other village was more acrobatic, but both were amazing.  As you can see on my facebook, there is Easter fabric, and we all had outfits made with it and so do most Christians. I will never complain about pants again, I miss them too much. Lol. In Jigila the church and believers are small and few, compared to other places. We did stay up dancing celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. It was fun. I pittered out not feeling too well, but I love dancing Malian style. Earlier that day we went to the Baubau tree which the nonbelievers in the village sacrifice to once a year. This is a form of animism, there are a lot of other fetishes in the village, and things that mean things you would not think of. Like for instance I had a crocheted necklace that I was wearing before we went to Jigila. Uncle Joseph told me I should not wear it to his village because some people might think it was a fetish to protect against (goiters? ) weird stuff. The tree’s fruit when it is dry however tastes like dried apples, pretty good. And after that we bought a deer. Some people in some random Village heard that white people were in Jigila and they thought we might like to buy this deer they caught. Yep it was just too cute. We named him Sean the Faun. (with shoes on) Sean is doing pretty well.

This last weekend we went to Bamako for the 50^th anniversary of the EEPM church. We sat through a 4 hour service, recounting history of the EEPM and a bunch of other stuff. (all not in English, but one part was) A normal church service here is like 3 hours long. Yeah! We stayed with uncle Sacko and got to sleep on his roof, outside under the starts, did I mention cold. We have become so accustomed to heat here that when it is like 80 degrees after a rain we sleep with a blanket on. Crazy stuff. Rain feels so good and it makes us shiver.  Other than that I love it more here every day. And I miss home. I have 8 weeks or 2 months till I get back home and I want a tackle hug from everyone I see. 

stuffness sorry this one is long!

Blog post 3

The new additions

 I know I keep comparing Bougouni to Bamako  but there are a lot of differences. Yes the power is still irregular so be in prayer that they get it up and running consistently. As the hot season approaches more energy is used for fans and such. Our new shower buddy happens to be a bright orange frog. It is completely harmless but poor Kaeli has had three showers with it. We think it is coming from the shower drain but we don’t know yet. Anyway it freaks her out so she comes and finds me to get it out of the shower. I have found frogs are really fun to throw like a baseball, mainly because you see all its little legs flinging in the air. Up until today she was the only one who had a frog in her shower, today it was my turn.

Differences

Here is the part where I am going to try to explain more of the differences of life that have just become normal for us. In Bougouni yes we have running water. It is not safe to drink, I always say this but there are more things that we don’t do with it than you would think. We can’t brush our teeth with that water. But we still brush in the bathroom, and every once in a while we catch ourselves. Sometimes it takes us a moment to realize what is wrong about putting our toothbrush underneath the faucet. We do this same process with ice cube trays. We also try not to cook with it in less we are boiling it for 20 or more minutes. It is normally cooler under a mango tree than in the house. But if we go outside we have to wear skirts, where as in the house we can wear shorts. So we are in constant battle with the weather, outside or inside we have yet to conclude which is actually cooler.

Shaking hands is odd for us girls. We have to wait until someone offers their hand to us first. Because if someone is a strict Muslim they might actually abide by a law, that says something about the fact that you cannot touch a woman during the day without becoming ceremonially unclean. When shaking hands we normally do a little courtesy or more like just bending one knee like an inch just to show respect. Or if you know they are very honored you can touch your left are to your right and shake with your right and this clearly shows great honor to that person.

This culture to a Biblical culture

Today in church they were reading from Genesis 24 it is the story of how Abraham’s servant was sent back to Abraham’s homeland to find a wife for his son Isaac. Specifically there is a part where she is carrying a clay pot of water on her head and lowers it to the servant to let him drink. We talked about it walking back to the house, and how we had to realize that that was not weird or that we could see it and it was normal. It was told to us before that this culture is closer to the Biblical one just because of how they live. But it is interesting to understand that for ourselves for the first time. We get really dirty here cause there is so much dust, I completely understand the whole giving someone water to wash their feet. 

Goings on

We have started watering one of the gardens here at IBR. It contains like 30 banana trees that will be for the students and will be ready during the rainy season. So one of us, who is not cooking that day, gets to water the garden since it is only a one person job. I love watering the garden it is just like detasseling for me. If there is no one in the other gardens I bring my ipod out and sing. Refreshing.

Samantha, Andy and I went to a wedding in Koumantou. We stayed up till 2 a.m. cause we thought there would be dancing the night before, it was planned that there would be, but they got into town so late that everyone was too tired. We stayed up so late for nothing. While there we had sheep, chicken and pig meat. All things we don’t get often at all. Fist times for pig and sheep while here in Mali. The pig was absolutely amazing. Just to have it. We joked that we had forgotten what pork tasted like, yeah it is kind of true. Lol. The day of the wedding there is a procession of cars that go to the mayor’s office, part of the ceremony is there the signing of the document but the bride and everyone are already dressed up and all. The bride will shave off her eye brows to draw them back on. Henna is done on her hands and feet. This will also be the most makeup she has ever worn but you might not be able to tell. Her hair is ironed flat and made into a hair style. Any way after the mayor’s office they drive to the church and the ceremony continues from there. This bride couldn’t walk down an aisle, cause there was not one. It was held under a tent outside cause the church is normally too small. But there was no aisle, so she walked to the front with the groom on the outside of the tent. She is followed by two drummers. They sit on a couch with the groom on her left and her Maid of honor on her right. He sits next to the bride with the best man on his left. Her bouquet is made with ribbon, there are not many flowers in Mali, but the bouquet resembles flowers. If there would have been a stage we would have been seated on stage, I was in line with the arm of the couch. There was a bit of a sermon given, and children and a couple other groups of adults danced and sang for the couple. Songs of blessings for their marriage. There were joke gifts given, jokes between cousins in Mali consists of either side saying that the other eats beans, (beans are expensive) the other then denies it and calls the other a bean eater. They got beans, and some other food items. Uncle Joseph was the ordained pastor marrying the couple. He always makes sure to tell the crowd that the ring that signifies the marriage is not a fetish it does not have magic powers it is symbolic and explains the commitment that goes along with their covenant to God. When it is over you walk by and shake hands with the bride and groom and there is a big bucket where you can give money if you want and the other bridesmaids throw confetti at you. It is weird.

Favorite part was this old lady who danced and played this gourd instrument

 and during one song she danced in front of the couple, this was definitely not planned but she danced and swung her scarf like a blessing over them. Hilarious. The couple laughed too. There was dancing after lunch, we are getting our feel for it. It is fairly simple dancing style the hard part is that they change the dance in the middle of the song sometimes. So you really have to be paying attention to keep up with them. They dance in a big circle, it is so much fun. In Bamako one of the girls said I was a really good Malian dancer.

Here in Mali the population is mostly Muslim according to the CIA fact book. However it is mostly syncretism a mix between Islam and animism. We took a field trip to Cola less than two miles away from where we are staying, and got to see this. There is a mosque there but they very much believe in fetishes or things you wear that will give you power or protect you. They beat their drums at night in praise to idols and Satan.

Be in prayer for Mali it is most influenced by Ivory Coast and Libya. Ivory Coast has been in disarray and now so is Libya. If Gaddafi  does gain or stay in power the Malian president might try the same trick next year when it is time for his term to end. There have been anti American involvement, protests in Bamako, mainly against the no fly zone and such. The students are for Gaddafi. We get weekly texts from the American embassy about some sort of protest but Friday was the first one that involved the American embassy. It was to start at the French embassy and end at the American embassy. We have heard nothing about these protests being uncontrolled or uncivil in any way. As far as we know and have heard they are simply protests and nothing else. Today we got a text from the embassy saying that there will be a protest in the Kayes region. This is the first news of the protests moving, first one of our knowledge out of Bamako. So yes be in prayer for Mali. Be in Prayer for our team, for unity, peace, and wisdom.

Lots of love!

Bougouni!!!!!!!!!!!

POWER; I miss it so. Bougouni has been without power for 2 weeks. I mean sometimes we get power but it is not reliable. 3 seconds ago the power went out after being on for the first almost day. Then it went out  for half an hour and came back on and like I just said went back out. Yeah it is annoying. So keep praying for power here in bougouni. We are excited to use things that we didn’t have access to before like our fridge. COLD WATER. Yes it is like 110 here everyday or so yea. And for the last 6 weeks we have not had a fridge at the Sacko house. No problem but no cold water either. I miss cold water and am thankful for the power we have it is normally for a couple hours at night and it gets some water cold enough sometimes even freezes the ones in the freezer.

SO COOKING for ourselves is not what we thought it would be….yes we have more American meals and stuff more comfort food. But we have to make a lot more by hand and so it takes forever. Like I made tacos the other night, thinking easy peasy, tacos, come on. Nope.. had to make the tortillas and then everything else. It is safer for us to grind our meat ourselves so that is an added task to any meat meal. Make tortillas grind meat… it is fun making other things cause if it has any sort of milk then we substitute our lovely powdered milk called NIDO. Good thing the wycliff cookbook has a substitutions list don’t have buttermilk add vinegar it gives us ways to make condensed milk. So yeah everything just takes a lot longer to make. I have made a lot of stuff like I made bagels for the first time in my life. This morning we had English muffins home made of course. Kaeli made plantain banana chips, sam and I made tortilla chips. Crazy stuff.So for my b-day we are going to make homemade ginger ale. This is going to be an interesting experience.

MAKING TEA

I love Malian tea and for the last 6 weeks have been a student of its preparation. I still fumble through the process a little cause they mix it and get these bubbles called moush at the top and to get them you try to raise the little cups like 4 feet above the other one and pour. It gets messy. So 4 day here in Bougouni I tried to make and practice my tea making skills only to realize I could not get the charcoal lit. Can’t for the life of me figure out how I missed this part of the process but I did, so I can’t make the tea without fire. … we tried everything a little brush fire in the middle of the little rocket stove  yeah everything… we ended up starting the little brush fire and then got out a can of really old bug spray…. It still did not light! It was hot enough to make the last 2 rounds of tea though.

Tafe Skirt/ Clothes Hunting

We went to the market to get tafes and Kaeli and I both had an outfit made. Because of the electricity problems we won’t get them for another week but we are stoked to have more clothes. We have sort of been living off the skirts we brought from home and one or two we picked up in Bamako, so it will be nice to have a little variety.

GOT MY B-DAY PACKAGE

Thanks Mrs. Martha for the packages of crosswords and word finds and stickers the kids are going to love them and my team mates jumped at the word finds. We each have our own stack to keep us busy. And I got my b-day package thanks church family and Mom and Dad and Tad for all the stuffs. I have it rationed like it is the end of the world not one piece will go un-enjoyed.

Disclaimer : exaggeration used

Late update

So blog update… don’t really know what to say this time. We are not going to get to go to bougouni for another week or so because we had the chance to take a class on Holisitic mission, and some repairs still need to be done to the house there. We are stoked to be able to get a little more freedom and be our on our own. Although this is still a scary thing don’t get me wrong. Kaeli has been the brave one to go to the market here with Tante Susan but the rest of us have only had a couple interactions in the market buying fruit or bread a few times. Oh my goodness Uncle Joseph and Tante Marth got here Sunday night and we got to spend a little time with them. They will be our hosts kind of when we get to Bougouni. Marth asked us if we missed hugs…. Our answer “yes” with a whimper. I am so excited to get a hug every morning from her. Something so small as a hug can be overlooked. Yes If you know me I love hugs and don’t have a bubble for the most part. But my team mates do and so I respect that. It is hard. Still on cloud nine from the three hugs I got last night though. Uncle Joseph said that he and Uncle Sacko would hug us too but that would not be culturally acceptable. People don’t hug much here in Mali. Affection is a little backwards. Guys hold hands in public to show friendship and it is normal. Sometimes girls will hold hands but couples even married ones show no public display of their affection.  

We have some new arrivals here at the Sacko house, there are four baby chicks now roaming the yard, the Sacko’s raise chickens cause it is cheaper to raise them yourself and benefit from the eggs and then eat the chicken than to buy either of them in the market.  They are so cute.  The Sacko’s Daughters /niece/hired help have been trying to teach us Malian dances. Saturday was the second dance party night.  It is pretty fun till we like die of sweat.  So my name Tamara ya you know the one, well  I now have a picture of the Tamar tree that sort of shares my name; And have eaten of its fruit. Not great stuff but good none the less. There is a big Mango tree in the yard here and we have been told there are tons of trees at IBR in Bougouni but March beings the main Mango season and we are all really excited. Mean while we have to listen to the others fall off the tree and on to our little tin roof in the middle of the night. We also hear lizards that either fall from the tree or just go up there to fight. Either way our roof makes some pretty crazy noises all day long. LoL!

So yes we are craving American food. We have a few Wycliff cookbooks. So while we are in Bamako we dream of what we can make when we have a stove…. And other things. Yes Milk is expensive but powdered milk isn’t so we have been living off of that, Sunday I found a recipe for powdered milk ice cream…. Can you even imagine right now. Yeah I am excited to try this. We have had chicken once here in Bamako and that was last week while we were eating lunch at the holistic mission class. Excited to have stuff like chicken too.

So I heard that I was brought to Dare 2 share this year even though I was not in the U.S. So here is a shout out to Kayann  and probably Amanda and Amena  you guys rock my socks off! Thank you for making and bringing me I can’t wait to see pictures.   LOL

Skype will be coming my way soon. 5 days ok 5 days the number five has never looked so glorious. As much as this time has stretched me I am very thankful for it. Not many people can say that they lived with a Malian family for 6 weeks. And most programs won’t offer this type of exposure to the culture.

Loggin off for 5 count them 5 days.

pizza is so good

So just to let eveyone know my team and I were most excited when we were invited over for pizza at the Cochrans house. Cheese and any milk product is very expensive here in Mali and so we live off of Nido or powdered milk which is an aquiored taste to say the least but we got to have cheese and none the less on Pizza. Heaven! It is a little unexpected but we will be staying an extra week here in Bamako. Uncle Joseph our host in Bougouni has spent the last month actually in the U.S. when he gets back at the end of this week he will go and I think put electricity in Andys room there in Bougouni.But this has given us a chance to take a class on Holistic Mission which was not planned but has been a wonderful oportunity. The class is for a group of girls here for 11 months and we just got to sneak in. This pushing back our language lessons cause our brains would melt with 5 hours of that and language. Kaeli has been going with Tante Susan to the Market and learning more about how to bargain. The other day we went to the artisan market just to look at stuff. but we went with one of Uncle Sackos cousins and we took a soutrama which are green vands with the inside ripped out kind of and wooden seating encircling the back if that makes any sense. I got Mancala it is hand carved and looks really cool. it was crazy at the market though. Paul the cousin bartered for us if they didnt know english and one ti,e it got pretty intense. they called him a traitor for wanting to help "this white person" or "toobaboo". we answer to "toobabo" which means white person, it is kind of sad. Ala Kadubaye! God Bless

Finally from Mali

Hello all;

 I think the most frustrating thing right now is simply that i cant type as fast as normal because i am in a cyber cafe to get internet, and they do not have good old querty key boards so the a and m and q and w are all switched around forcing me to type slower. i knoz stupid thing to tqlk qbout. So Mali is hot. but i am learning so much here. I wont post much today cause i spent too ,uch time on facebook but I love and miss you all and i have heard about the monthly prayer meetings that will be happening and just about cried not going to lie. that was most encouraging to me. our group is finding its way.... coke tastes better here the formula for the factory here in bamako beats all. Promise to fill you in a lot more later. Kambufo

less than 24

Less than 24 hours before we leave for Mali. Please be in prayer for a safe trip with no complications. Be in prayer against sickness as well. No one likes being sick while traveling. I can't believe it is over. We have graduation tonight. They are going to wash our feet as a sign that they are sending us out. which I think is a cool aspect (a little awkward though). Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Missing you all!