fait du bruit!

bambara is the language spoken by the majority of malians. those who have gone to school speak french, and occasionally i run into someone studying english. our sit bambara teacher also manages a hiphop group called need one - youtube them - and last weekend all the students went to a hiphop concert that need one headlined but which included tons of other artists. apparently it is difficult here to get only instrumentals of songs so since the music included the artists rapping or singing, on stage most of hte performers just lip synced which was kind of strange. but the concert was still fun and the music was great. there was also a dance battle fusing american hiphop and west african music dance and style.

in general, there is a noticable american influence in mali -- not english speaking malians, but used american toys and clothes and other items sold in the markets, english grafiti and other hiphop influenced things like tshirts with rapper's faces and murals of 50 cent and the michelin man (not together). the house before mine says "black mafia" in spray paint on the side, mine says "black men", another students says "ghetto" and we pick her up to go to school in the morning by a bridge that says "gueto boy" on it. the pics here are from a village in siby ; "black panthers" is another tag i,ve seen a few times.

white people are an oddity here. we are all over television -- most of the basic channels are french though there is at least one african channel that ive seen shwing music videos, political meeting coverage and "sensibilisation" shows -- sensibilisation is like education/awareness raising campaigns often targetted at malians in the village where traditional culture is more dominant and the politics arez not so 'progressive' due to a lack of education. this is the perspective of course of malians in the cities -- i dont mean to sound elitest or impose a western set of values... next month our group is doing a one week homestay in sanankoroba which is a rural village so after that i will be able to speak first hand about it.

white people besides on tv are an oddity. kids and sometimes adults yell "toubabou" at us all the time - that is bambara for "white person". i can deal, but also it gets tiring. its like the most blunt way to experience what it means to be objectified and othered because of ones race -- i am not calling 'reverse anything', i.m just saying, it lends some perspective. some students in our group get a kick out of it and yell it at other white people that we see in passing. i dont really think its all that fun but its also not hte end of my world. within my fam i've also been called nene blanche/ nene white, had my hair pulled played with and discussed as spectacle in bambara and had my skin compared alongside black skin. this stuff seems ridic to me and just weird... but i know that some of this is not far off from the way white americans still exotify black americans and other people of color. and we have much more exposure and access to information than do most malians.

another interesting thing i.ve been noticing is the treatment of resources and waste. there is def less of the latter -- when you buy a drink in a glass bottle you are usually expected to drink it on the spot and return it for reuse. plastic soda and water bottles are alqso reused. instead of paper to dry your hands off in restaurants there is cloth and most bzthrooms and malian households use a water kettle method instead of toilet paper for going to the bathroom. however when there is trash, you are expected to just discard it on the side of hte road literally. households can pay for trash pick up but many do not. trash pick up entails pick up and transport of trash to big fields where is just sits there and kids come to pick through it looking for anything salvageable. i am having a pretty hard time accepting hte fact that i am just supposed to discard my trash whereever -- and knoaing that for the most part there is no recycling...

more reflections later. we now have wednesdays off from school do do independent work or other things so thats why i have had time for this long update. yesterday our group visited the assosciation for the progress and defense of of the rights of woemen (apdf) and i went back there today before coming to this cyber cafe. i interviewed a women there to find out more about the org and the subject of domestic violence in mali because i think i want to focus on this issue and maybe work with this org for my last month in mali when we do indepenedent study projects...

i am working on a photo album right now as well. upload is painfully slow. you can check out what little is up, by following hte link on the side bar for the photobucket page. right now the facebook one has some captions so check that out too http://conncoll.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026935&l=60aa4&id=14102319

in other news, i have been selected as a finalist for the truman scholarship and will be flying into boston next month to interview! crazy huh? here are some sample qs for the interview; please share your insight i welcole any and all suggetions!

----------------------------

Typically Truman Finalists are asked one or more broad questions with follow-up questions for clarification and to see how the candidate's mind works to help panelists assess the candidate's:
-general awareness, reasoning abilities and analytic processes

-understanding concerning some of the complex issues facing society
-thoughts on government approaches to address or ameliorate these issues
-communication skills, passions and potential for public service leadership, and broader interests

The following types of questions should help candidates prepare for Truman interviews:
What are the most legitimate objections to your policy proposal?
-If you could have taken part in any social movement of the 20th century, what would it have been? What would you probably have learned?
-Name two or three prominent public figures whom you admire or who inspires you.
-What conditions in society, other than the one you have addressed in your policy proposal, tick you off?
-What do you think are the 2-3 most pressing problems facing America today?
-If you could spend two minutes with President Bush, what would you encourage him to do to address these problems?
-What is your definition of leadership? What public figure with whom the panel is likely to be familiar best exemplifies this type of leadership?

pix!!!

a quick photo update -- when i have time i will compile an actual album. below from left to right: papi (brother 21), sidi and bua (5 and 2), bua and blake the dog, sidi bua and mele, mama (sister 23) and ana, servant jenaba and daughter, tanti

quick update

no time for a real update -- soon though, i promise.

i do have a cell phone here: my number is 4729815 country code to start with is 011223 i think. i know the 223 is correct but the numbers before that may vary based on where u are calling from. i would love to hear from you sometime! keep in mind that i am five hours ahead of est time. i get out of class at 3 or 5 pm my time depending on the day and go to bed before 11 to wake up at 6.

i am enjoying the food here and helping my fam cook dinner (!) thus am already plenty busy with cooking to even consider making pancakes. thanks anyway mom...

love love
me

brief update and answering questions

hi again!

to answer qs: a doctor at a local clinic diagnosed me with the m and d and i dont know the accuracy of hte diagnosis but the meds i took fixed me up in three days as predicted and since then i have felt great

unlce herbie i am glad you are enjoying my updates i wish i could wriet more but hopefully this suffices and gives you a sneak peak of what my exxperiences in mali are like

frannie! great to hear from you! i am picked up first in the am and second, just around a couple corners is claire or bintou traore -- she is great, sweet and really enthusiastic about everything. the convo that you and i had before i left has been really helpful and i think of you often. thanks for all your help and i will pass on the hellos. also i think the little oy you are thinking of is bua and yes! he is wonderful. i never pick favorite kids but if i did, im saying...


okay and now to all:


i am happy. content, truly happy. mali is like rowe in many ways or at least i am finding my expertience to be similar. the other students are eclectic, diversly intelligent, caring; funny, interesting. icould not have asked for better. my family is prob the biggest at 48 and i like it that way. of course i am still getting to know who is who. i gave out tons of paper hearts for valentines day.

things i have not mentioned yet i dont think are trips we took as a group out of the capital of bamako to siby the first weekend and sikasso the second. siby is a place of much malian history - look up the story of sundiata . we hiked to caves where ancinet malian history took place and tho i only get a fraction of the info via french explanation, it is all very intersting and powerful to be in these places. siby is the africa you might think of when you think of africa intitially -- lots of huts and small houses and no internet for miles. it is really peaceful. sikasso is much more of a city and is also is of historical significance -- there is a nationally recongized historical site there; the "tata wall" where colonial battles took place. we also learned about animiste tradition and hiked through more amazing caves. most of mali is red dust desert but sikasso is ,ore lush with trees and tropical like foliage and a really peaceful moving waterfall. also during the week we visited thenational museum which had breathtakingly beautiful art and then some of us returned later that week for a drum and rhythm concert which was great. fantastic music and people of all ages jumping in the center of the circle to dance.

school is okay. lots of lectures, french class, bambara class and we are beginning the field study class which will prep us for the last month of the program which is fully indepenednet study.

got to go but more later, whenever later is. forgive again the lack of spellchck


wish me continued health and happiness, both are pretty awsome right now. i wish you the same ~

the malaria story

sorry to drop the m-bomb zith no explanation. and again i fnid myself with only five minutes before i have to go learn how to make plantains. but, long story short

i had rice n fish with host fam on friday and shortly after began vomiting. and after that, everything gross that you could imagine. went to the doctor in the evening got blood drawn (new needle) and was diagnosed with the m and also disentary. i had taken every malaria precaution u could imagine but who knows what happened. i do not know how accurate the tests are, but the meds they gave me did work and as of today i really aml all better. my fam says malaria is like chicken pox so once and i am good to go. i sure hope.

gotta run

sorry


everything else is cool. really. there is lots of music and dancing. i am learning bambara litttle by little. i went to the national museum today and saw all kinds of mindblowingly beautiful art. i really like the other students in the group. food besides that first meal is not bad at all. i dont have modern toilet shower or faucet. i share a small room with my sis. the little kids are just great.

mmmmmuah

me

quick semi update

hi all! i dont think i have time for a full update now but here are some responses to the comments on my last post -- mom, i will blog answers to the qs you sent me when i get a chance.

1 it is pronounced nay nay, last name like doom bee ah. no one here can pronounce heather
2 i miss check in too. rowe is also the best prep for africa living. will read your email in a minute kathleen

3 i live with an imediate fam of five but our house is only a living room and two bedrooms - about nine more of these are grouped together around a central courtyard, housing more than 30 family members. i dont know where the number 14 came from. there are lots of kids and they are great.

4 i do not know kung fu. nor have i seen any fast food. i have malaria so i do not want to do anything as physical or eat anything as greazy as the latter right about now. also, malaria only lasts three days and this is day three. i am okay. dont freak out mom. the men in my fam are really nice and caring. the women are kind of intimidating.

5. no phone yet. maybe skype some day soon. forgive me for not spellchecking. if anything sounds crazy just take it as the french keyboard or the malaria talking :)

love love loveme

ne togo néné ...

i wont always be online daily -- orientation is this week and we have had ample free time in the evenings. i am at an internet cafe now. today some other students and i walked around the neighborhood surrounding our school and utilised the three or four bambara words\phrases we learned in the am; malians get a kick out of hearing us speak bambara; i am looking fwd to learning more. today i also met my host family whom i will move in with friday. it is a family of 14. i dont really know what that means _ they are not all direct fam; not sure how many i will actually live with. my 'mom' and 'dad' came with two adorable little kids. all are very welcoming and forgiving of my lacking french skills. my new name is néné (sp) doumbia... so, i guess you can call me that from now on

bonjour!

still adjusting to french keyboards... on a public comp at the hotel we are staying at till wed morn. the rooms are named after musical artists - mine is sali sidibe. tomorrow we meet our host families, they give us a choice of three malian first names to take and we pick one to go by for the rest of the semester. we begin living with the families friday.

today was the first day of orientation and our first chance to see bamako since we got in around 11 last night. bamako is red dusty streets, some paved, others not. there are cars and motorcycles, sutramas (public transport buses) and taxis everywhere. it is not the pedestrian right of way that is northampton at all. i was prepared for deathly heat but it has been just really nice out.

there are many children around teh area of our school building _ tomorrow we begin learning bambara so i`ll be able to speak to those kids and many other malians that do not speak french.

everyone is very friendly - in our group and in mali _ often though malians are helpful and then surprise you by expecting a tip - for help you already got talked into and enjoyed. awk.

we did what sit calls a 'drop off ' today which is kind of like a short scavenger hunt that we qre dropped off to do in pairs in the city just to find our way around and then back to the hotel. this was an experience. i definitely need to work on my french and on my math for money conversion. i did manage to buy a malian rap cd.

i have not had much time to reflect, we just got right into things and will be kept pretty busy during the days. there is a voix du mali arts n music festival starting tomorrow with a hiphop concert that u know i'll be at :)

the foods not bad so far. and am drinking lots of water. and enjoying that winter is all of a sudden over :)


the end for now~

I am here safe!

and very slowly learning to type on a french keyboard. the travel was something like 29 hours including paris layover. all was safe. we are 5 hours ahead now and it is bedtime for sure.

much more soon~

love to you all

Today's Itinerary

Last night I stayed up till 6 am packing, then read a little of Mon Premier Dictionnaire, which is quite good. I felt like a white, french, 7 year old version of Malcolm X. Not that there is much comparison there, except he is the only example I have of reading a dictionary. Spike Lee's film version, that is. Anyways, I recommend it. And find a picture version like I did. And start further in advance like I didn't.

I am almost done burning cds for my family. It is part of my homestay gift. I hear they love American rap. Meeee toooo. Local music is supposed to be pretty great too and I'll be on the lookout for African hip-hop of course. With what albums am I representing myself and America?

• The Look of Love (Hip-Hop Is Alive) a Dedication to Dilla -- my fav hip-hop mixtape
• Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star -- my fav hip-hop album
• The Roots: Do This Well, Disc 1
• Common: Now It All Makes Sense, greatest hits mixtape
• Lupe Fiasco: Food & Liquor
• and
• a Jay-Z greatest hits mixtape (i can't yet recommend American Gangster, sorry)
• a Notorious BIG greatest hits mixtape
• DJ Slikk RNB Volume 8 (that hot radio stuff - rap n r&b)
• Tapes Top 20 Vol 20 (that hot radio stuff - rap)

fun.

Next, I have to finish packing, shower, and vote. Then leave.


The trip:

Leave Williamsburg MA 1ish for Stamford then Grand Central then finally JFK Airport.
11 pm Flight to Paris (almost 7 hours)
Almost 5 hour layover in Paris then a 5.5 hour flight to Bamako I think. It is complicated to figure out flight lengths because of the time differences and because of my lacking math skills

11 pm JKF - Paris for 11:50 am
4:40 pm Paris - Bamako for 9:20 pm.

Long couple of days. Next time I check in, things will be veeeery different :)

xo,
Heather