And Hot Season Begins...

My mother pointed out that it has been over a month since I last wrote on here, and I’m sorry. Sometimes I don’t know what to write about, what will be interesting or what cultural norms people are interested in. And I have been traveling about the countryside a bit the past month, which has been nice. Like I said, I did some visiting after the January training: I went to Manantali (again) with some girlfriends, and saw my significant other, all of which was great. Unfortunately, the rest of my travel plans had to be cancelled because something came up, so I didn’t get to go to the rest of the places I was planning to. But Manantali is always very relaxing (even if the hippos still refuse to show up) and I spent a week doing nothing but reading and relaxing. And then it was back to site; everyone was very happy to see me and thought I’d been gone for a very long time. I’m slowly starting to get things I want to get started done, although like everything in Mali, its slow-going. But that’s how it is here. Which brings me to hot season… because if there wasn’t much happening before, there is even less now. There is no farming going on, and all the harvesting is done. Mostly women still carry out their day to day chores, like cooking, washing, etc. and tend to small garden plots on the side. Many also try to do some small income generating activities, like selling vegetables. The men still kinda do what they always do: make tea and chat, a lot. This is also the season of making the mud bricks they use to build houses, and of fixing the thatch roofs and fences that are everywhere. But there is definitely a lot more sitting around and chatting than before. Which works well for me a lot, because I don’t like the heat so much. Its not so bad yet, but will be soon. I’m not sure the actual temperatures; I think right now daytime temperatures outside reach to well over 100o. It’s a little cooler in my thatch hut, but only by about 10 or 15 degrees. The mud huts here are very nice because they stay relatively cool during the day, but at night its pretty unbearable. Most people tend to sleep outdoors, which I have been doing. At first it was relatively frightening, sleeping on my little mattress in the middle of my compound by myself, but after living in Mexico City and Los Angeles, I think my village is pretty darn safe. For some reason I have also taken to sleeping more now, probably because of the heat. I know its always gotten very hot in California, but without so much as an electric fan or cold water anywhere, there is not much to do to cool off. What makes it a little more unbearable is that it is also terribly dusty; the harmattan winds coming off the Sahara blow dust and dirt everywhere and anywhere, so not only am I sweaty, but I am also very dirty. Its an interesting state to be in, to be honest. I’m glad I will be spending a few weeks of it on vacation in Parisnext month with my family, because its going to be hard to be that sweaty for the next several months. There is one other topic I wanted to mention, since I think there are probably some misconceptions about it, and that is modesty in Mali. Surprisingly, for a Muslim country, Mali is pretty lax. Part of it is just cultural, part just common sense. Not that Malians don’t care a great deal about their appearance and show as much skin as Americans do, but women aren’t required to cover their heads or worry about showing off parts of their body. For some reason, which I guess has something to do with men thinking naughty thoughts, women do not show their legs, or at least anything above their knees (unless they are working). Women don’t wear pants ever in my village, but wrap a 2 meter length of cloth around as a skirt, called a pagne. Its surprisingly comfortable and once you figure out how to wrap it, pretty secure. Actually, the top half of a woman’s body is pretty laissez-faire, because odds are that they have a small baby that needs to be fed constantly. So I (and this includes all volunteers, even males) have seen a fair amount of breasts here. Probably more than I will ever want to see, ever again. And, although I have never said this before, I am now pretty thankful for bras. Because you can imagine what a lifetime of feeding numerous babies and wearing loose shirts with no support does for your chest. Women in my village are actually fairly jealous of my bras, and ask constantly if they can have them (maybe when I leave). So its not as modest as one might think. If they are working, women generally wear a pagne and a t-shirt; if they are going out or it’s a holiday, they wear a complet (notice my photos from swear-in). Men do not show much skin either; men never wear shorts and always have a shirt on. A lot of men, especially the younger set, wear Western style clothing for working in the fields or just being around village, but during holidays will wear Malian outfits. The typical Malian male outfit is called a bubu, and consists of pajama-like pants, and a long, flowy, loose tunic with big sleeves that extends down to the men’s knees. These are made from several different types of fabric, regardless of color or brightness (and believe me, neon pink is not a problem here). Malians do like to be put together and presentable when they are out in public, and will go to great lengths to do so. Personally, I still have problems comprehending how anyone stays clean here, but I try my best to keep up.