Holidays and Projects

It’s another sunny, blazing hot day during “cold season”. It’s Sunday, which means the men have all put down their daily work in the fields to work on the latrine project. Four of the eight women have also set down their work to undertake the daunting task of feeding 35 very hungry men. If God is willing, this will be their last day digging the latrine holes. They have been working hard each Sunday for the past five weeks. The next step in the process will be to gather sand and gravel for the concrete bricks for the walls and slabs to cover the latrine holes, and digging up boulders to fill the covered waste water areas, aka “soak pits”. At this point in the harvest season, the corn has already been shucked, peanuts dried, and the oranges and guavas are gone. Right now, my friends are off cutting and beating their rice; cutting and beating nawelena, a red seed found in a spiny brown pod that is sold for a good price and turned into oil; digging out their sweet potatoes and slicing them to lay in the sun, amongst other daily chores.

On Monday, December 8^th, the big Muslim holiday, Tabaski, which marks the pilgrimage to Mecca and the day when Abraham’s sacrificial child was switched with a sheep. Everyone who can afford to buy a sheep to sacrifice did so, and the sheep market was especially CRAZY in Bamako, where sheep can go for $100 each. Those who can’t afford sheep will get goats instead, and those unable to afford either will get chickens. I ate my full of meat, and didn’t discriminate this year on parts. I ate everything but the bone, including bone marrow, fat, and I even added stomach and heart (yum!) to my list of strange meat eaten while in Mali. Most of the adults bought new outfits for their children and some for themselves. I put on my nice, new, stiff bazin outfit and joined them at their makeshift mosque at 9 am for the prayer. This year’s fete was a little bittersweet for me. I remember last year’s Seliba Tahiru’s mother came and got me and made sure I was dressed appropriately. Since the death of her son, she hasn’t been the same, and our relationship doesn’t go beyond greetings. I remember it as being a time of happiness and excitement. I was new to the village and it was my first big holiday. It fell close to Christmas, so I could feel the holiday cheer. I also spent most of the day with Tahiru and threw a party at my house where my friends came and played cards and I gave the children gifts. This didn’t happen this year, and not having Tahiru around to celebrate with was a heavy place in my heart. Instead of an exciting day in anticipation of the next year to come, it was a look back at the past year, in which much tragedy has struck my life, and realizing my time in Mali is more than halfway over. The blessing you say this day is “May God show us another year”, and it was always followed by the person noting that I wouldn’t be here next year to celebrate with them. Life moves in mysterious ways.

So I have to apologize for not writing more often, but I realized that if you guys are going to be donating to my projects I owe it to you to let you live vicariously through me. I wanted to write about the other big holiday this year, which had much more significance to me. It was the day that marked the end of Ramadan, the holy fasting month, which fell on September 30^th this year. This holiday was more important to me because of the connection I felt to my village. During Ramadan, Muslims will fast for 30 days. Fasting means waking up at 5am (3am if you’re a woman and need to cook), and stuffing yourself with rice and sauce. Then you go back to sleep until normal waking time. During the day, which fell right in the middle of rainy season this year, you are not permitted to eat or drink anything until the sun sets at around 6:20. People work a bit less and sit around more, but no tea to go with the chatting. I was amazed at the number of people who would leave at the normal 7am and do grueling field work until 4 or 5pm with no water. They say it’s easier to fast when you have your mind off it. In the evening, people are tired and a bit cranky and eager to break fast. Fast is broken when the radio sounds the three bangs (gunshots?) and is followed by some singing. At this time, hot Malian “coffee”, which is extremely sweet chicory tea and bread are consumed. After a few minutes, you drink millet porridge. Most of the time I was full from this food and didn’t eat more, but some would eat corn tô or rice and sauce. Of the 30 days of Ramadan, I spent 17 of them in my village, waking up at 5 am to eat with my host family and breaking fast at sunset with them. The first few days were hardest, but when you put your mind to fasting, it’s really not that bad. By far the hardest part is trying to stay hydrated, as you can only drink water half the day, and those hours are spent sleeping or eating. The festival marking the end of Ramadan, Seliden, for me was a much more exciting time. I got new clothes made, participated in the prayer, and stuffed myself with meat and good food again. It was so great to see everyone’s spirits lifted now that they had gotten in good with God, and can go back to drinking tea and work full time again.

Between Seliden, and Seliba (Tabaski), I had my first visitors to Mali. They arrived in late November and spent two weeks with me. When they first arrived in my village, the WHOLE village came to greet them. I’ve never seen them all in one place at one time before! The next night, we had the first balafone (traditional instrument similar to a xylophone) party in my village since I got here. It was such a delight!! We danced until 2am, when the musicians got tired and had to make their way back home. It was such a beautiful experience to dance with the people of my village. The highlight of the night for me was when I realized none of the elders had danced, that it was all full of young men and women. I urged a few of them to dance, and one by one, they joined the group until finally all of the old men and women were dancing together, and boy can they MOVE! Malian dancing is all pretty similar without much variety but these old people sure put a spark in the night! That is a memory I will not soon forget. After a generous goodbye and giving of gifts, we sadly left my village to head into Sikasso to celebrate Thansgiving with the larger Peace Corps community, where the food and company were fantastic. We next made our way up to Mopti Region, where we drank beers and watched the boats come in and the sun set on the Niger River. The next morning we were off to Dogon Country, where we only had enough time, money, and energy to do a day hike. It was still amazing, and I think my family was able to see enough to get a feel for the life and culture. The next morning we made our way through Djenne, home of the biggest mud structure in the world. Unfortunately, because the mosque is still in use and there is so much tourism, the security was tight, Malian style, the market was full, and the number of people wanting to be our tour guides was overwhelming. We then passed through to Segou (one of my favorite cities) where we relaxed by the pool and watched the sun set over the Niger. We spent two nights in Segou before heading to Bamako where we took a nice boat ride on the river, ate some good western food, and heard some good music. We also took a stop by the museum, which is filled with old artifacts and a cool textile exhibit (although all in French).

Now, it’s Sunday, about a week and a half before Christmas and only a few weeks before my next visitor, a UVM college friend, Lauren, comes to visit. As of yet, I have no Christmas and New Year’s plans, but am not fretting, as I’ve come to understand even the best laid plans get foiled! As for the short term future, a few good friends of mine, and fellow PCVs will be getting married at the Hand of Fatima rock formation in northern Mali, where I plan to get some climbing in. This next 8-9 months or so I have left in country seem seriously packed, as I think I’m the only volunteer who hasn’t left country yet!! I have 48 vacation days to use and two projects to do! Thanks for reading, and thanks even more for your donations, keep them coming! I’ll try my hardest to keep you updated!