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!
