Over the past few weeks I have spent a bit of time thinking about some of the host country nationals that I have had regular interaction with at site. My roommate and I were commenting today on how when we came to country everyone assured us how friendly all Malians would be and how surprised we would be by how happy Malians are on the whole. In reality there are a great number of hospitable people in our area, but like everywhere else in the world, there is a diverse spectrum of personality types and degrees of friendliness. Being a city volunteer I feel as though I was placed in an area which will be more conducive solely to my development work, rather than integrating into the community. One of our main goals and assignments for the first three months at site is to visit with and develop relationships with the other members of our community. Unfortunately when you live in a place where all homes are walled and gated, and all white people are looked at as tourists, it’s unnaturally difficult to interact with welcoming and caring individuals. They are the people who are staying inside their concessions each day with their other welcoming and caring friends having a jolly good time without us foreigners. Now many of you know me to have a rather strong personality and the ability to enter most situations with confidence and what some might refer to as charisma; yet when entering a concession where I do not speak the language well and have no one around who I remotely know I become amazingly introverted. Therefore it has been rather difficulty over the past month at site to develop a real sense of friendship with any of the people who live in Djenne, and to have patience in doing so.
I would like to share with you some of my interactions with Malians so that you might better understand what it is that I am experiencing in my day to day life. Any time that I travel to and from the city of Djenne to either my regional capital, or country capital as I did the previous week, I must cross through what is known as the Djenne Carrefour. This is simply the crossroads between the road leading 35 kilometers to Djenne from the main cross country highway which stretches from Kayes, in the far west, and out to Gao, in the east. This Carrefour has become a sudo village where I may spend not even five whole minutes waiting for further transport on the main road, or a stop in which I may wait upwards of 4 hours. At the Carrefour there is a gentleman who’s name I believe to be Omar, and do not know his last name, who sits in his one room roadside house each day selling tea and Nescafe in the mornings. In the few interactions I have had with Omar he has been nothing but completely welcoming to me, always offering me a place to sit out of the midday African sun and enjoying the little conversation we are able to share. Omar must be somewhat educated, indicated by the fact that he speaks French, on top of the other 5 languages he speaks; but has complied to reside in a small what we would refer to as shack on a roadside making little to no income. The last time that I was fortunate enough to visit with him, unfortunately for me it was for 4 hours, he invited me to eat lunch with him and his family. I sat amongst ten Malian women and their children eating rice and chicken with my hands, and feeling for the first time in a long time, that I was completely welcome to be a part of a meal. I greatly appreciate the work and hospitality of my host family in Djenne, nevertheless at times it is abundantly apparent that they are in fact from the city and do not bestow the same warm and fuzzy feeling upon me that I had from Omar’s family in the brief time I spent with them. Aside from Omar the other most welcoming person I have met in Djenne, who seems to genuinely care for my wellbeing is a friend of Omar’s who just so happens to work at the Carrefour but reside in the same concession as I do. Ali, my non-Malian friend, is a man from Senegal who looks almost as if he fell out of the Caribbean islands and landed in Mali, unsure with how to live his life. None the less he seems to be a very happy individual who is always ready to lend a helping hand or language skills when needed. I have begun to think of Ali as my host older brother, and will assure all of those at home who are worrying about my safety, that with Ali in the concession Stacy and I will be fine.
Disappointingly I have also had some rather remarkable interactions in which I felt not only unwelcome but mentally and physically hurt. The day after I arrived back from Bamako and had my wonderful lunch with Ali, Omar, and his family I was walking through the streets of Djenne with my roommate, hands full of packages from my family (thanks mom and dad), items from market and bikes, when I received a small but piercing blow to the back of my head. I turned to find a young man who I believed to be around nine years old but when he stood up it became apparent that he was much older and should know the correct way to interact with not only a foreigner but anyone on the street. It was at this point in time where I lost myself completely. I should have reacted more rationally in this situation, as responding with any emotion to negative attention draws more negative attention. I did not cry as I thought I would have, given my taxing week, but rather began yelling at him quite loudly in French; though I seemed to have made sense to myself the young man simply laughed in my face. It was at this point where I did something I am not proud of but should be honest about because it did happen; I simply and deliberately backhanded this boy in the face. Although I am not happy about it, this seemed to be pinnacle moment of change in the way I interact with the children and young people who taunt me on the street. Now I am not excusing my actions, but you do need to understand that each day I am taunted by almost every child, and sometimes adult, that I pass by as they sing a chorus of give me this or give me that. I have been so frustrated by these interactions that I apparently reached a boiling point and could no longer contain my aggravation and disappointment in the Malian children. I understand that there is a sense of wonder in the unknown, and that for these children the only real life interaction they have had with a white person has probably been brief and with a tourist. In these interactions the tourist has probably given the child candy or a pen, or another type of gift and thought that they were a better person for doing so. There seems to be an overwhelming sense of regret and guilt hanging over European descendents toward the African community as a whole because of racial tensions in the past, and the present for that matter. (I am also not meaning to belittle how horrible racism was and currently is around the world, I simply mention it to make my point). However the children her in Mali, and Djenne especially have been taught that it is okay to rely on the tourists to obtain pretty much whatever it is that they want. But then the child also learns that they do not have to do anything for themselves, that foreigner’s equal money, and that the ideas of foreign aid are simply that of donation. This is then reaffirmed to them when their parents do not reprimand them for their rudeness. This makes it ridiculously clear that my development work is going to be much more difficult than I originally thought, and that I am going to need to focus on other goals than I had in mind. I find it truly upsetting that tourism in Djenne, one of the few services that brings revenue to the city, is slowly diminishing the beauty and kindliness of the Djennian culture. Djenne should be a place where people want to visit, see the amazing Grande Mosque, the Marchee, and the archeological dig sites and hear a linguistically rich city where there is no one language, but more than 5 influenced by the surrounding communities, but rather it is slowly driving people away and taking a step backward.
I would like to amend all of this by saying that not all of the children and people in Djenne are this way, as proven by my recounts above with my Malian friends, but I have to mention it, because the whole situation has taken me a back and forced me to reflect on what I am doing here and what I need to be doing.
Happily there are five young people in my concession, who are the complete opposite of the hostile brood who throw rocks and beg for gifts. These five young souls, ranging in age from eighteen months to eleven years old brighten everyday I have in Djenne with their laughter, kindness, generosity and quirky behavior. I have to simply thank God for bringing Bah, Moussa, Mamushka, Sahli, and Agishatu into my life as they have accepted me, as only an innocent child can do, with nonjudgmental open arms.
On the whole I feel better about my service and choice to be here each day. There are some days where I feel like my life is completely out of my hands and all I can think to do is shut my self in my house and cry. But then there other days when I see why I have come to this strange land and what it is I should be doing. Don’t they say you have to take the good with the bad………well here goes, and I know that in the end the good will out weight the bad by far.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Its 96 degrees at 7pm in Mali
So like I said its 96 degrees in Sevare, Mali at 7 o'clock in the evening. The funny thing is I would have thought it was probably only around 80. My body has grown used to the heat and now even at almost 100 degree temperatures I can be comfortable. Unfortunately these high temps also mean two things: I have prickly heat and I am sweating in places I did not think could sweat. Now you are probably thinking to your self what is prickly heat? And you know what? It’s awful. Its caused when your pours are clogged by the heat but your body is still trying to sweat making it feel like someone is poking you with needles all over your body. But the sweating thing....... Now about 4 years ago a friend of mine, who we affectionately refer to as Balls, introduced me to the joys of sweating from the knee caps. At the time, being in Japan on Asian Term and in ridiculous heat and humidity I thought that this was the strangest place I had ever seen sweat pour from, but I thought okay this could happen. Now this month in Mali I have noticed that not only do I sweat on my knee caps and my elbows and other odd areas constantly, but I am so unbelievably hot that my thumbs are sweating. There are literally beads of sweat sitting on my knuckles. But like I said I am actually getting used to it, and fortunately cool season is coming where apparently we could have temperatures in the 50s. I actually am having my mom send warmer clothes because apparently previous volunteers have slept in sweatshirts then have been so cold at night. To be honest, I cannot wait for that. I am really missing the fall in Chicago and would love to wear a pair of pants and a scarf.
Despite the heat, I have begun running every morning on the red dirt road outside Djenne. I wake up to my internal alarm every morning between 5:45 and 6 am and take an hour long run about 6 kilometers to the south of Djenne. It sounds incredibly early however its far cooler at that hour of the morning, and it’s so tranquil that I cannot pass up the opportunity. It’s the only part of the day where I can guarantee that I can be myself, by my self, not have to deal with people yelling at me (I wear my head phones) and enjoy the peaceful and simplistic beauty of Africa. Also running is giving me an outlet for all of my aggression and the ability to not gain too much weight with the carbohydrate-glucose diet I have been forced to embark upon. Usually at the end of my run I sit down on the side of the road, overlooking the Niger River, and look at the sunrise sparkling over the water as I pray. Where else can you feel Gods immaculate presence than sweaty, smelly and dirtily looking at the brown Niger River while being attacked by flies? But truthfully both the daily running and prayer have helped me to stay calm and dedicated to being here and I hope that they are both habits which will stick with me for the years to come.
In addition being here has given me not only more time to exercise my body and spirit (shut up I do not sound stupid, okay maybe I do but I live in Africa and things are different here and I needed a good transition into this topic!) but also I have been reading a great deal as well as contemplating where I want to go after Peace Corps. I know that it’s a bit early to be thinking about graduate school, but I seem to have found something I am interested in. I am planning on studying in the upcoming year so that I can take the GRE next October here in country and then begin applications. I do not even know where to begin studing, and since I feel like I am losing all English vocabulary I previously had, I think my work is cut out for me. I would be applying to begin school the following September after I get back to the states (Probably in 2011). It’s funny that it took me thousands of miles and a little push in the right direction but I cannot wait to see what happens, because the more I research the more excited I get. And who knows two years from now I may have changed my mind, but as of now I am just glad I have the oppurtunity to roll all my ideas over in my head. And I plan on giving myself a year at homebefore going back to school so that I know that is what I want.
One of the factors that pushed me in the right direction was actually talking with a former Burkina Faso volunteer who had COSed and was traveling with her friend in Mali. Simply talking with them about there lives, and seeing the opportunities we all have, not only to meet new people and be changed by them everyday, but the ability to take life into our own hands and live it as we wish. I greatly admire all those volunteers who have successfully completed their service, Brandi in this case, and her friend Peter who showed me that it’s completely fine to pick up and move, travel the world, and simply want to learn from other cultures and people. I have spent too much of my time worrying about who will be there for me when I get back and what they will think. I realize now that the people who I am truly important to will always be there for me and that the only person I need to consult when making a decision is myself.
As I said in a previous update I now have a roommate who will live in the same 3 room one bath home with me for the next 2 years. We have one room dedicated to our beds, which looks pretty much like a dorm room, our living room slash kitchen with two tables, three chairs, a book shelf, and a gas camping stove; and of course lastly our crap room. There is a small room in front of our indoor outhouse where we keep all of our luggage, baskets with clothes, trunks, and sealed food. Its an interesting set up, but it works for us and is complimented well by our breezy veranda where we have a tent for sleeping on hot nights, our brand new bikes and of course some lovely chairs made from brusse wood and animal skin. Last week my Stacy and I celebrated our one month anniversary of becoming Peace Corps Volunteers. We went out to dinner at the nicest restaurant in Djenne and had drinks with our friends as congratulations on not high tailing it out of country! Also, we received some lovely new gifts from Peace Corps this week in the form of two brand new pretty pink and white Trek bikes. They are completely impractically colored for the dusty African roads, like a Barbie bike if you will, but they work great and it felt like Christmas getting to put everything together and ride them around the city.
It is still surreal to me that I am here, it is almost November and I still feel like I have not accomplished all that much. I know that my work is not yet supposed to begin but really I am sitting on my duff half the time trying to figure out what to do, because Lord knows I have the time to do it. This week I actually feel as though I have gotten the ball rolling because I began meeting with both of my services and began language tutoring so that come November I will be working a great deal more. A tutor, Oscar, came in specifically to help Stacy learn French. He stayed in Djenne for the entire week and was gracious enough not only to help our local tutor learn American teaching styles, but also he helped me spruce up my French a bit also with individual help. Although I am still intimidated to use my French on a daily basis and especially in the work place, I feel like after this week I have a more firm grasp on the language and my skills. My mom keeps telling me that when I return I will speak better than her, but I assured her that I am speaking African French and it sounds ridiculous to the native Frenchman.
So this week I attended my first real Malian wedding. I had attempted to go to one during homestay but by the time we got there at 4 in the afternoon everything was done. Anyway I went to the wedding of the man I work with and his not so enthused bride. It was a somewhat strange ordeal with the bride and groom sitting in different houses; the groom surrounded by his friends listening to music and chatting, and his bride sitting in a room by her self chewing gum and watching television in her fluffy white dress. We only stopped by the wedding because we knew the groom and did not want to sit around with a large group of Malian men with whom we could vaguely communicate with. The good part about the wedding is that it is now over with and my homologue will now be available to work during the week. I want to get as much began as I can so that hopefully be next tourist season, winter 2009, there will be a better understanding on the part of both Malians and tourists as to the expectations of their actions while in Djenne. Unfortunately the tourists here in Djenne have spoiled the children of Djenne by constantly taking their photos, giving them whatever they ask for, and enforcing their negative behaviors. On top of that the parents and older people in the community do not enforce rules on the children for being impolite and harassing any foreigners and they are actually quite rude on their own. This is surprising because the majority of Malians are friendly and welcoming and the population of Djenne unfortunately does not reflect those characteristics on the whole. I will be spending the next two years trying to combat these negative characteristics in order to keep tourists coming to Djenne since the majority of Djenne’s economy is based on tourism.
Well since this has possibly been the longest blog entry ever, I am going to leave my update at that. I hope that all is well back home and that you are enjoying the glimpses of my life here in Mali that I am able to share with you. I love and miss you all.
~Elizabeth
Despite the heat, I have begun running every morning on the red dirt road outside Djenne. I wake up to my internal alarm every morning between 5:45 and 6 am and take an hour long run about 6 kilometers to the south of Djenne. It sounds incredibly early however its far cooler at that hour of the morning, and it’s so tranquil that I cannot pass up the opportunity. It’s the only part of the day where I can guarantee that I can be myself, by my self, not have to deal with people yelling at me (I wear my head phones) and enjoy the peaceful and simplistic beauty of Africa. Also running is giving me an outlet for all of my aggression and the ability to not gain too much weight with the carbohydrate-glucose diet I have been forced to embark upon. Usually at the end of my run I sit down on the side of the road, overlooking the Niger River, and look at the sunrise sparkling over the water as I pray. Where else can you feel Gods immaculate presence than sweaty, smelly and dirtily looking at the brown Niger River while being attacked by flies? But truthfully both the daily running and prayer have helped me to stay calm and dedicated to being here and I hope that they are both habits which will stick with me for the years to come.
In addition being here has given me not only more time to exercise my body and spirit (shut up I do not sound stupid, okay maybe I do but I live in Africa and things are different here and I needed a good transition into this topic!) but also I have been reading a great deal as well as contemplating where I want to go after Peace Corps. I know that it’s a bit early to be thinking about graduate school, but I seem to have found something I am interested in. I am planning on studying in the upcoming year so that I can take the GRE next October here in country and then begin applications. I do not even know where to begin studing, and since I feel like I am losing all English vocabulary I previously had, I think my work is cut out for me. I would be applying to begin school the following September after I get back to the states (Probably in 2011). It’s funny that it took me thousands of miles and a little push in the right direction but I cannot wait to see what happens, because the more I research the more excited I get. And who knows two years from now I may have changed my mind, but as of now I am just glad I have the oppurtunity to roll all my ideas over in my head. And I plan on giving myself a year at homebefore going back to school so that I know that is what I want.
One of the factors that pushed me in the right direction was actually talking with a former Burkina Faso volunteer who had COSed and was traveling with her friend in Mali. Simply talking with them about there lives, and seeing the opportunities we all have, not only to meet new people and be changed by them everyday, but the ability to take life into our own hands and live it as we wish. I greatly admire all those volunteers who have successfully completed their service, Brandi in this case, and her friend Peter who showed me that it’s completely fine to pick up and move, travel the world, and simply want to learn from other cultures and people. I have spent too much of my time worrying about who will be there for me when I get back and what they will think. I realize now that the people who I am truly important to will always be there for me and that the only person I need to consult when making a decision is myself.
As I said in a previous update I now have a roommate who will live in the same 3 room one bath home with me for the next 2 years. We have one room dedicated to our beds, which looks pretty much like a dorm room, our living room slash kitchen with two tables, three chairs, a book shelf, and a gas camping stove; and of course lastly our crap room. There is a small room in front of our indoor outhouse where we keep all of our luggage, baskets with clothes, trunks, and sealed food. Its an interesting set up, but it works for us and is complimented well by our breezy veranda where we have a tent for sleeping on hot nights, our brand new bikes and of course some lovely chairs made from brusse wood and animal skin. Last week my Stacy and I celebrated our one month anniversary of becoming Peace Corps Volunteers. We went out to dinner at the nicest restaurant in Djenne and had drinks with our friends as congratulations on not high tailing it out of country! Also, we received some lovely new gifts from Peace Corps this week in the form of two brand new pretty pink and white Trek bikes. They are completely impractically colored for the dusty African roads, like a Barbie bike if you will, but they work great and it felt like Christmas getting to put everything together and ride them around the city.
It is still surreal to me that I am here, it is almost November and I still feel like I have not accomplished all that much. I know that my work is not yet supposed to begin but really I am sitting on my duff half the time trying to figure out what to do, because Lord knows I have the time to do it. This week I actually feel as though I have gotten the ball rolling because I began meeting with both of my services and began language tutoring so that come November I will be working a great deal more. A tutor, Oscar, came in specifically to help Stacy learn French. He stayed in Djenne for the entire week and was gracious enough not only to help our local tutor learn American teaching styles, but also he helped me spruce up my French a bit also with individual help. Although I am still intimidated to use my French on a daily basis and especially in the work place, I feel like after this week I have a more firm grasp on the language and my skills. My mom keeps telling me that when I return I will speak better than her, but I assured her that I am speaking African French and it sounds ridiculous to the native Frenchman.
So this week I attended my first real Malian wedding. I had attempted to go to one during homestay but by the time we got there at 4 in the afternoon everything was done. Anyway I went to the wedding of the man I work with and his not so enthused bride. It was a somewhat strange ordeal with the bride and groom sitting in different houses; the groom surrounded by his friends listening to music and chatting, and his bride sitting in a room by her self chewing gum and watching television in her fluffy white dress. We only stopped by the wedding because we knew the groom and did not want to sit around with a large group of Malian men with whom we could vaguely communicate with. The good part about the wedding is that it is now over with and my homologue will now be available to work during the week. I want to get as much began as I can so that hopefully be next tourist season, winter 2009, there will be a better understanding on the part of both Malians and tourists as to the expectations of their actions while in Djenne. Unfortunately the tourists here in Djenne have spoiled the children of Djenne by constantly taking their photos, giving them whatever they ask for, and enforcing their negative behaviors. On top of that the parents and older people in the community do not enforce rules on the children for being impolite and harassing any foreigners and they are actually quite rude on their own. This is surprising because the majority of Malians are friendly and welcoming and the population of Djenne unfortunately does not reflect those characteristics on the whole. I will be spending the next two years trying to combat these negative characteristics in order to keep tourists coming to Djenne since the majority of Djenne’s economy is based on tourism.
Well since this has possibly been the longest blog entry ever, I am going to leave my update at that. I hope that all is well back home and that you are enjoying the glimpses of my life here in Mali that I am able to share with you. I love and miss you all.
~Elizabeth
Monday, October 6, 2008
Visiting Home
Briefly I just wanted to let you all know that I will be coming home to visit and be in a good friends wedding June of 2009!The date is undecided as of yet but I will definitely be home for 2 or 3 weeks! I am so excited, please make sure to be around even for just one day!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Three months in Country
Happy 3 months in Mali to me ! We began in Philly almost 3 months ago to the day and now 92 days later and with the loss of 5 other PCVs I think the majority of us are beginning to get used to Mali. I have now been living in the city of Djenné for about 3 weeks and have probably put in about 4 days of real work. The idea of a 9 to 5 here is a bit different, meaning nearly nonexistent, and I have only been going into work most mornings. In these first three months our assignments are to become acquainted with the area, language, culture, and formulate a plan and feasibility study for our desired work. So for now I am actually mostly on track, and will probably beginning to work on an actual project in the next few weeks. I need to wait to begin till after my counterpart gets married next week, seeing as he can think of and concentrate on nothing else till after that day….. He seems to be a fairly driven and dedicated man so I believe once all this wedding hullabaloo is over he will be a great resource for my work. Also, some truly exciting new is that the U.S. Embassy has donated a large amount of money to the cities of Djenné and Bangiagara, both in the Mopti region in Mali, to help restore and preserve these two unique Africa cities. Over the past decades there have been a great deal of problems dealing with the pillaging of historical artifacts in the area. This generous donation and the Mission Cultural, centred here in Djenné, with the help of the U.S. Embassy and us PCVs will be dedicating ourselves to a very intense and thorough reform of cultural education in Djenné, preservation of the culture, and creation of a website encompassing all details. My main project for the next year will be said website as well as the education of those people who work in a tourism sector in Djenné. Along with my teammates, Kate and Stacy, we will be working not only in tourism but in the education of children in the area and the creation of a radio show to broadcast the importance of recording history, that Djenné is a World Heritage Site, and what that means to them and to the people who visit their home.
The more that I am here in country the more comfortable I am becoming with life here, and the happier I become with those people around me and my assignment. That is not to say there are not difficult days. I will assure you that there are a great many mistakes and problems that I have had….. this morning I had a run in with a man in the butiki who I thought was being extremely rude but was just being Malian. Oh well I will get over it, and I expect in the months and years to come they will grow accustomed to me as well.
Some exciting news is that I will be getting a roommate this week. There was another PCV placed about 20 kilometers from me, but because of some unforeseen circumstances she will be now working and living here in Djenné for the most part instead of the neighbouring village. I am thrilled just because I live in a somewhat difficult city, full of tourists and people begging me for money and food hundreds of times per day; having a roommate I think, will allow me to have someone to relate to and have as a partner so that I do not have feel uncomfortable in most situations. Also, we are hoping that my roommate, Stacy, will be able to head up a great deal of the work with the Mission Cultural as well as the schools and HIV/AIDs Center here in Djenné. As you might be able to tell we have our work cut out for us, but I think the more the better. We all know that I do not do well just sitting around, and for a great deal of PCVs they will have not done in 2 years what we hope to do in one. (In no way do I mean to demean the efforts of other volunteers with the previous sentence).
Other random information that does not include great detail but is fun to know:
*I saw a rabid donkey….. funniest thing ever
* I have already destroyed one pair of sandals…….
*I rode my bike over 40 miles this week.
*Its hotter than 90° here everyday and I am actually getting used to it.
*I actually liked my awkward dinner of to (millet paste you could feed to a bird) last night; probably only because I had the most amazing watermelon for desert.
*I miss you all desperately but appreciate all the people here.
*My boss left PC so they are looking for a new one……. Lord only knows what that means for us.
*I will be travelling within country here soon to attend a conference before Halloween and then to Bamako for a Junior Achievement Conference in November.
*I am beginning to actually be able to converse in French.
*I planted trees again yesterday.
*My ceiling on my porch may have partially caved in last night, I do not know what is up with that!
*I helped weight precious babies at the SESCom in Senosa on Friday.
*I really miss the fall in Chicago….. send me pictures please!
*I am livid about the Cubs performance in the first round and actually cried in the middle of the street when I found out they lost last night.
Other than that I am not sure there is anything else to know. Thank you so much for all the emails that have been coming in they truly help.
All my love, God Bless,
Elizabeth
The more that I am here in country the more comfortable I am becoming with life here, and the happier I become with those people around me and my assignment. That is not to say there are not difficult days. I will assure you that there are a great many mistakes and problems that I have had….. this morning I had a run in with a man in the butiki who I thought was being extremely rude but was just being Malian. Oh well I will get over it, and I expect in the months and years to come they will grow accustomed to me as well.
Some exciting news is that I will be getting a roommate this week. There was another PCV placed about 20 kilometers from me, but because of some unforeseen circumstances she will be now working and living here in Djenné for the most part instead of the neighbouring village. I am thrilled just because I live in a somewhat difficult city, full of tourists and people begging me for money and food hundreds of times per day; having a roommate I think, will allow me to have someone to relate to and have as a partner so that I do not have feel uncomfortable in most situations. Also, we are hoping that my roommate, Stacy, will be able to head up a great deal of the work with the Mission Cultural as well as the schools and HIV/AIDs Center here in Djenné. As you might be able to tell we have our work cut out for us, but I think the more the better. We all know that I do not do well just sitting around, and for a great deal of PCVs they will have not done in 2 years what we hope to do in one. (In no way do I mean to demean the efforts of other volunteers with the previous sentence).
Other random information that does not include great detail but is fun to know:
*I saw a rabid donkey….. funniest thing ever
* I have already destroyed one pair of sandals…….
*I rode my bike over 40 miles this week.
*Its hotter than 90° here everyday and I am actually getting used to it.
*I actually liked my awkward dinner of to (millet paste you could feed to a bird) last night; probably only because I had the most amazing watermelon for desert.
*I miss you all desperately but appreciate all the people here.
*My boss left PC so they are looking for a new one……. Lord only knows what that means for us.
*I will be travelling within country here soon to attend a conference before Halloween and then to Bamako for a Junior Achievement Conference in November.
*I am beginning to actually be able to converse in French.
*I planted trees again yesterday.
*My ceiling on my porch may have partially caved in last night, I do not know what is up with that!
*I helped weight precious babies at the SESCom in Senosa on Friday.
*I really miss the fall in Chicago….. send me pictures please!
*I am livid about the Cubs performance in the first round and actually cried in the middle of the street when I found out they lost last night.
Other than that I am not sure there is anything else to know. Thank you so much for all the emails that have been coming in they truly help.
All my love, God Bless,
Elizabeth
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Wish List
So the ladies of Djenné and I have decided to post a list on our blogs for those generous people we know who might want to send us some gifts. We understand that many of you are poor, as are we so even if it’s just a letter or card to say hello the mail is always appreciated. (EVEN EMAILS).We have little to no access to the items below, and we are all unable to eat a balanced diet because of the brusseiness (PC word meaning the middle of nowhere) of our sites. Below is the list of possible items we would love you to send. We appreciate any contact with home and ask that you not feel obligated to send anything. We love and miss you all dearly.
· Luna bars or other protein bars
· Fiber one bars; preferably Oat and Peanut Butter
· Dried Fruit of any kind
· Cookies- Chocolate chip, butterscotch, Oreo, any Keebler products
· Cake or muffin mixes (funfetti with icing)
· Cheez-its
· Crackers
· Cheese Wiz
· Organic anything
· Sauce Packets
* Pie filling in cans
* Goldfish crackers
* Sweedish fish
* Pop Tarts
* pudding (snack packs)
· Soup Packets
· Instant potatoes-scalloped, mashed, flavoured etc
· Crunchy or smooth JIF or Skippy
· Peanut butter m&ms
* hair gel
· Mamba candies
· Gummy candies
· Lolli pops
· Crystal light; Gatorade; Propel; Koolaid; Country time lemonade drink mixes
· Spices of any kind
· Batteries mostly AA and AAA
· Cereal- any Special K; Granola; Any Cheerios; Raisin Bran
· Mac and Cheese –Annie’s, Kraft, or Velveeta****
· Chex Mix
· Face Wash- oil of olay cleanser or wipes
· Stridex Wipes
· CDs
· Cards or letters, or stationary
· Sturdy Underwear size 7
· Headbands, scarves, barrettes etc
· Nail files
· Venus Razors
· Pictures of you or home
* Any other food your little heart desires!
All items should be mailed PAR AVION (air mail) to:
Elizabeth Jaenicke, Stacy Walsh, and/or Kate Slavens
Peace Corps Volunteer
B.P. 28
Djenné, Mali
West Africa
Everything here in Djenné is going slow but well, in usual African fashion. We just celebrated the end of Ramadan here with our host families and are looking to the months ahead to begin our new projects and learn more about Malian Cultures. Stacy and I are excited to begin our work as official PCVs and will be teaming up with the Mission Cultural Office in Djenné to help preserve the city as a World Heritage site. We hope to include more details into our turbulent lives in the weeks ahead but due to lack of stable internet access and funds it will be donni donni (slowly but surely done)
Love thanks and cubs win
Elizabeth
· Luna bars or other protein bars
· Fiber one bars; preferably Oat and Peanut Butter
· Dried Fruit of any kind
· Cookies- Chocolate chip, butterscotch, Oreo, any Keebler products
· Cake or muffin mixes (funfetti with icing)
· Cheez-its
· Crackers
· Cheese Wiz
· Organic anything
· Sauce Packets
* Pie filling in cans
* Goldfish crackers
* Sweedish fish
* Pop Tarts
* pudding (snack packs)
· Soup Packets
· Instant potatoes-scalloped, mashed, flavoured etc
· Crunchy or smooth JIF or Skippy
· Peanut butter m&ms
* hair gel
· Mamba candies
· Gummy candies
· Lolli pops
· Crystal light; Gatorade; Propel; Koolaid; Country time lemonade drink mixes
· Spices of any kind
· Batteries mostly AA and AAA
· Cereal- any Special K; Granola; Any Cheerios; Raisin Bran
· Mac and Cheese –Annie’s, Kraft, or Velveeta****
· Chex Mix
· Face Wash- oil of olay cleanser or wipes
· Stridex Wipes
· CDs
· Cards or letters, or stationary
· Sturdy Underwear size 7
· Headbands, scarves, barrettes etc
· Nail files
· Venus Razors
· Pictures of you or home
* Any other food your little heart desires!
All items should be mailed PAR AVION (air mail) to:
Elizabeth Jaenicke, Stacy Walsh, and/or Kate Slavens
Peace Corps Volunteer
B.P. 28
Djenné, Mali
West Africa
Everything here in Djenné is going slow but well, in usual African fashion. We just celebrated the end of Ramadan here with our host families and are looking to the months ahead to begin our new projects and learn more about Malian Cultures. Stacy and I are excited to begin our work as official PCVs and will be teaming up with the Mission Cultural Office in Djenné to help preserve the city as a World Heritage site. We hope to include more details into our turbulent lives in the weeks ahead but due to lack of stable internet access and funds it will be donni donni (slowly but surely done)
Love thanks and cubs win
Elizabeth
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