sarah in bamako

I am nowhere near fluent in French, but I can successfully do the following things: get and give directions, go on dates, conduct interviews for research, take classes, talk about people with my sisters, forge close friendships, and discuss politics.

I also met a lot of really amazing people, and became incorporated into a beautiful and loving family.

The worst illness I contracted was a cold, and I didn’t get anything stolen or broken.

I would say that it was a successful semester abroad.

Welcome “home,” Rokia.

(This is from December 13, 2009)

The last twenty-four hours may have been the best ones so far for me in Mali.

Yesterday was Fatim’s birthday. In the morning, I took the Sotrama to Artisanat, which is the artist’s market downtown. I had a friend meet me there, because he is pretty well connected and I didn’t feel like being harassed or bartering in Bambara. We walked into the market together, and he immediately ran into a bunch of his friends (he calls them his brothers but who really knows). We all sat in the center of the market discussing violence against women among other topics, and my friend told someone what I wanted. The guy brought it to me, I bought it, and it was over. Then we went out for coffee, which felt strangely familiar. By the way, what I bought was a really beautiful picture frame for Fatim. I put a photo of the two of us inside.

When I got home, I met up with Amanda and we went to drop off her ISP at my professor’s house. He was wonderful as always, and we hung out with his family for a little while. They are equally as wonderful. We also made plans to eat dinner at his house next week. Then, Amanda and I went back to my house to get ready for Fatim’s birthday celebration. A bunch of my and Fatim’s mutual friends came over, and we ate cake on the roof. I gave her the present, and she almost cried she was so happy. We hugged a lot.

Last night, Fatim and I went out dancing with five of our guy friends and the music was all Malian and so good. My friend Bebe gave the DJ all of our names, and so all night he was saying happy birthday to Fatim and saying, “La Rose!” It was cute.

This morning, I woke up super late with Fatim still snoozing beside me. I took a shower outside and then hung out with my sisters. Then I read some of my book (Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat) and discussed with Fatim how we are going to get her to the states. I think we have a good plan. I am sad to leave so soon, but I am beginning to be so sure that I’ll be back here that it’s not as big of a deal. It is more of a “see you later,” than a “goodbye.”

My friend Laura is really good at uploading photos and I clearly am not, so visit her picasa site to get an idea of the things I have been seeing and experiencing while in Mali:

http://picasaweb.google.com/laura.anne.paul/

Today is the last of three days at a hotel in downtown Bamako. While I will miss the central location, I can’t wait to get back to my family. I was home for a short while yesterday, and spending some quality time with four of my sisters caused me the desire to be at “home” with them. One of the things I know I am going to miss the most about my life in Mali is having lots of sisters.

Someone asked me yesterday what I thought my country (America) can do for his country (Mali), which was not the first time I’ve been asked this question. My answer was basically this: it is not the role of Westerners to dictate the activities and development goals of Mali. However, it is the responsibility of countries such as the U.S. and it is undoubtedly benficial for the U.S. to provide some of the resources, including but not limited to financial resources, to organizations and entrepeneurs in Mali who have ideas for projects that would meet the needs of communities but who don’t have the means to follow through with these projects.

Another thing that I have been thinking and talking a lot about is the idea of values, and how to be somewhat culturally relativist while also adhering to one’s values which are of course a product of one’s culture. I don’t know exactly how I feel about this, but I have an example that I think reveals some of my opinions on the subject. I was talking to a few other American students about excision (female circumcision), which is a really tricky issue here in terms of Western aid organizations. Someone was arguing that we can’t apply our Western values to say that women have the right to enjoy sex, because that is only what we think in terms of our culture. I think that we can’t say that excision should be stopped, because there are myriad implications for ending the practice and more harm can come than good if a group of people is forced to stop something that they don’t want to stop. However, I think it is appropriate to adhere to my values in remaining supportive of Malian organizations who work, through culturally sensitive means, to end excision. I also do not think that any harm comes from women enjoying sex, so I feel comfortable supporting that too. However, I don’t feel comfortable pressuring Malian women’s organizations to prioritize excision over other issues, because that is not necessarily the most pressing women’s issue in the country. Like, for example, feeding one’s children.

My computer is low on battery, more later.

Ciao.

Edit: for Tabaski, they kill sheep not goats. Sheep.

I am done. (A bana in Bambara). My ISP is finished, bound and laminated. My presentation went pretty well, and now the semester is basically over. Today and tomorrow, most of the people in the group are leaving to go back to the U.S., and my friend Amanda and I will be pretty much the only ones left in Bamako.

Things I want to do before I leave:

Learn to make tiga dege na (peanut sauce with vegetables)

See more music

Visit a women’s cooperative just outside the city that is supposed to be really cool

Visit my older sister in the Hippodrome, a neighborhood on the other side of the river

Bring my extra fabric to the tailor to get some more clothing made

Get tattouage, or henna, which is appropriate if you are about to travel

Sleep

How is it already Thanksgiving?

There is one week left to finish my research. As much as this freaks me out, I am trying to make peace with the idea of making do with what I have and just trying to crank out a solid paper. I fear that I may have forgotten how to write well. We’ll see.

It’s beautiful out! I mean, it’s still hot but there is a cool breeze and sometimes I even wear a long-sleeved shirt at night. The other night, I went to see a pretty well-known griotte named Saranba Kouate sing. She was so fabulous, and dressed in hot pink sequins from head to toe. Oumou Sangare has a concert today at the big stadium downtown, and my sisters and I are going to try to get tickets. Yesterday was another holiday-Tobaski, and in honor of the holiday every family slaughtered a sheep as a sacrifice. There were sheep everywhere. I think they knew their destiny, too, but my friend said that they are happy to be sacrificed because then Allah will look favorably upon them. Ok.

I’m  borrowed my older sister Fanta’s bazin, too! Did I already tell you about bazin? It’s this shiny, crisp material that everyone wears for special occasions. There are different levels of it, and the higher you go the more expensive it is. You can take it to a woman to have it dyed the color of your choice, and then to the tailor to have it crafted into a complet, or an outfit. If you think I’m making this sound more intense than it actually is, you’re wrong. People literally take days off from work to prepare their bazin. I originally thought it was pretty ugly but it has definitely grown on me, and I wanted to be a vrai Malienne (a real Malian).

I also want to tell you about rasta culture here because I think it’s so interesting. First of all, pretty much anyone with dreads is said to have “rasta hair,” and anyone considered to be a “rasta” is assumed to be a drug addict. So there are two different types of rastas, one generally comes from Senegal and is part of this weird cult and they wear really wacky multicolored clothing and walk up and down the street asking people for money all day and talking about how everyone should learn Wolof and join their cult and be saved. It’s so weird, apparently some guy in Senegal just started calling himself a Marabout (it’s kind of like a prophet) and people started following him. Like Jesus, I guess.

Then there are other rastas who ok yes, they smoke pot but they are more low-key and into music and sometimes sketchy but sometimes not. For example, my friend Yaya is a “rasta” but he’s super serious and not at all creepy, and he makes a living as a musician which is worth something considering the outrageous amount of unemployment in this country. Not to mention he has this one dread with three cowrie shells and one of those little silver pieces of metal. I mean, that’s not at all significant I just think it’s super cute.

Anyway, the point is that rastas are so stigmatized here! Also, I found this article on JSTOR but haven’t had a chance yet to read called “Rastafari in the Promised Land:  The Spread of a Jamaican Socioreligious Movement among the Youth of West Africa” and I am dying to read it. If anyone gets a chance to, take notes and send them to me!

I have a bad cold, but still no malaria. As a result, this is the exchange I have twenty times per day:

Allah ka nogoya ke.

Amiiiiiiina!

Winter is coming. It’s like 80 degrees today— brrr!

Research is going well, and as a result I’ve been exploring a different part of the city. There are a few neighborhoods clustered together where most of the cool places to see music are located, plus I’ve made a bunch of good friends who live around there. So between my interviews and hangin’ out, I’ve been spending a lot of time in Tomikorobougou, Lafiabougou, Badialan, etc. Oh and I met Toumani Diabate the other day, no big deal.

I’m still struggling with the idea of doing research for the sake of doing research, but I think I am slowly making peace with it. Somehow, my project turned out to be prettty feminist. During and after my interviews, I often detect a change in the women whom I am speaking with. I think that they feel really good to know that their experiences and opinions are legitimate enough to be included in a research study. Plus, they are super interested in the types of activism that I am involved in at home. It’s great.

Hm…what else is up? How about that health care bill? I read a really good editorial in the NYT that explained a few tweaks that would make the Senate version of the bill not at all too shabby. On va voire, (we’ll see).

Meryl I can’t believe you wouldn’t save me in a tumblr fire. ;)

Finals are over and I am in the middle of a tour of Mali. So far, the group has traveled to Segou (once a powerful Bambara kingdom), Djenne (contains the famous mud mosque), Dogon Country (with its cliff villages and magical traditions) and now we are in Mopti, a cosmopolitan city on the Niger River. The vacation has been really wonderful and relaxing, but I am ready to return to Baltimore and be finished with tourist traps and bumpy bus rides.

Meryl told me in an email that she wants to hear about my research, so this is a special request. After many changes in direction and changes of heart, I will be focusing on girls in youth movements in Mali. I have already conducted two interviews, one in Segou and one in Bamako, with girls who are active in youth associations. One is the president of the Parliament African des Jeunes and one is a member of the administration for the Association des Eleves et des Etudiants du Mali (AEEM). The AEEM played a major role in the military coup of 1991 that brought democracy to the country. Both of these interviews were super inspiring, and I have been getting a lot of encouragement from my classmates, professors and interviewees. I am getting the impression through reading scholarly literature and from my interviews that many people worldwide are paying attention to Malian youth as indicators of what the future will bring to the country’s social, economic and political future. It will be rewarding for me to document this phenomenon from the perspective of women, who currently play an important role in the development of Mali.

I just received a text message, but I haven’t yet quite cracked the text messaging code that young people use in Mali. During my voyage, I have been receiving phone calls and text messages from my family and friends in Bamako asking about my well-being and my activities. It’s pretty cute.

When we get back to Bamako, many of the other students will be leaving to conduct their research in other parts of the country. This includes two of my three closest friends on the trip; one is going to the Western region of Kayes near Senegal and one is going to a village about 50km from the city. C’est pas grave, though (No big deal). We will all reconvene at the end of the semester to present our findings to the rest of the group. Also, I feel as though I have a pretty solid social network and a supportive family to keep me occupied. 

I have extended my trip until the 22^nd of December. I am already trying to figure out a feasible way to come back to Mali.

I hope all is well in the U.S.

Biz! (kisses!)

Listening to: Leaving Home by The Mountain Goats

Listening to: A Different City by Modest Mouse

Listening to: Africa by Amadou and Mariam

Listening to: Massaké by Habib Koite

Listening to: [Everything] by Salif Keita

Listening to: Yere Uolo by Rokia Traore

Listening to: Bolon Jazz (myspace.com/bolonjazz)

Listening to: Live reggae music every Friday night at Djembe.

There is this symbol from the film Hedwig and the Angry Inch that has always held a lot of meaning for me. It looks like two halves of a circle, with two strange eyes. Whatever the specific reasons for my gravity toward this symbol and the concepts associated with it in the movie, the basic significance for me is the notion of being, or becoming, whole. I have been thinking about this a lot lately and especially since my arrival here in Mali. As a result of my trip thus far, I have noticed three major changes in my life. My language skills (French and Bambara) have flourished, I have adapted to a completely different culture, and I have grown emotionally. I think that in order to understand yourself, it is important to observe environments that you like and ones that you don’t. My immediate love for Mali has helped me to realize a lot about who I am and what makes me feel comfortable. Because of these realizations and the wonderful experiences I have been having here, I feel so much more whole. Not bad for a study abroad trip, huh? My journey has solidified a lot of my beliefs and parts of my identity. It has also opened up many new and important questions for me in terms of cross-cultural organizing, development, and geopolitical hegemony.

I just got back to Bamako from spending a week in a village called Sanankoroba. From what I understand, the village is much more typical of Malian life than Bamako and it was enlightening to see the stark contrast between the two regions. I was only thirty minutes outside of the city, and yet so much of what I have learned and read about Mali was astronomically more salient in Sanankoroba than it is in Bamako. The sense of community in village neighborhoods is stronger, and decisions are made by consensus among villagers. Most of the work is done in the fields, and gender roles seem more egalitarian. There is less to eat, yet people seem happier. The sky at night is so covered in stars that you barely need a flashlight to walk around. My friend and I lodged together with a family in Sanankoroba, and we spent a lot of time with our host brother. Each night, he took us to the spot where he and his peer group hang out and drink tea. We taught them some English, and they helped us with Bambara. We had discussions for hours about Malian politics, American rap stars, Barack Obama, war, and their past girlfriends. Our new family and friends welcomed us warmly, and after only one week we were heartbroken when we had to leave.

Oh, and I finally (finally!) have a topic for my ISP. It is almost ridiculously obvious: GIRLHOOD! I think that I am going to focus on girlhood in terms of youth organizing, or youth movements in Mali. I couldn’t be more excited about it. When I got home today, the little kids in my house came running toward me singing my name. My Tonton and two aunts complained about how much they missed me. Thinking about leaving this place is overwhelming.

Allah ka tile here caya. (Have a peaceful day.)