a day in the life...

I begin this post with a disclaimer because there really isn’t a typical day.  There are so many things going on and things change really quickly, so I never know what’s going to happen when I wake up in the morning, but I’ve tried to put together an average day so you know at least kind of what I’m doing on a day-to-day basis.

7:00 (give or take a half hour) – wake up to the sound of  others moving around the house (and roosters outside and even a few goats sometimes).  Crawl out of my bug tent and open the shutters to let in the cool and refreshing morning air.  Use the bathroom, get dressed, brush my teeth, fold up my tent, make sure I’ve got my meds, make some Gatorade or other re-hydration- type drink to during the day if I need it.  Kill a few spiders and mosquitoes in the process, and make sure I have everything else ready for the day with me in my bag. 

8:00 – be ready to go.  Although we normally don’t leave till 8:20 or 8:30, I still try to be ready early because even though my host dad wears a big fancy watch, it doesn’t work, plus, it’s Africa and things are never on time. 

8:30 – finally leave for the restaurant.  This is after starting the car (which the past few days has taken pushing it across the yard a few times before it starts) and saying hellos to the extended family living around the corner. 

8:45 – breakfast!  It’s called lafidi, and it’s a type of rice and sauce.  It’s delicious, even though it’s heavy on the stomach early in the morning.  If I hear it in time, I refuse the soda they try to give me, and hope they don’t bring out a whole fish to put on top of it (fish have teeth.  I spent all breakfast looking at them.  Just to give you an idea).  If I’m feeling brave, I “remember” my manners and say the proper blessing at the end of the meal, and then just sit there awkwardly until my host dad says it’s time to go and finds someone to take me to work on a moto.  Yes, on the back of a small motorcycle. It's womderful (and safe, mom, everyone here does it and there aren't serious accidents because with the road conditions you can't go above 30mph).

9:30 (or so…) – arrive at the CAFF (it’s name means something about the center for the advancement of women), and greet everyone there.  There’s a lot of people there, but it makes me feel good about myself because I’m really good at greeting people in Maninkakan.  After that, I set up the loom outside and start weaving!  Things are interesting because I sit in the front yard of the center and just hang out with my mentor and lots of other people who stop by to stare at the “tu ba boo” (foreigner/ white person) sitting outside doing a traditional craft.  It’s a lot of fun.  Aside from getting to create some really awesome weaving (I’m improving and my mentor even said I was learning really quickly), I just sit there and observe life; I watch the kids and women selling cassava and water and peanuts and oranges from buckets on the top of their heads, and the loading and unloading of taxis that happens right outside the front gate of the center.  The guys hanging out at the restaurant next door will occasionally wonder over and say hello or try to have longer conversations, some of which I can begin to understand and others of which I just sit there and pretend to understand. 

1:30 (or 2:00, or 2:30, or 3:00) – Lunch!  Normally it’s rice and sauce and fish balls, but I’ve had couscous once and toh once.  I head inside to where the women are sewing, and I sit and eat lunch and watch them sew while they try to sometimes talk to me and most times just talk amongst themselves in a language that’s beautiful, but too fast for me to follow. 

After – I head back to the loom to work some more.  Work and watch and learn.

3:30 or 4:00 – finish what I’m working on for the day and take down/ put away my work for the night.  When I’m done, I say good-bye to my mentor, and then wait until someone can take me home for the day.  Or go somewhere else, which is most normally the case.  Sometimes it’s to the internet place, other times it’s to the bakery to meet friends for some much needed English conversation and debrief of the week; once a week we have language class.  This week, Wednesday through Saturday, we have Bogolan workshops at the center, so at 4:00, everyone comes to me, and we hang out with this fantastic artist from Bamako and do some Bogolan paintings and learn about the art of Bogolan.  I don’t have time now to do the art justice, but it’s super cool if you want to look it up. 

6:30 (or so…) – get back to my compound.  Remember to greet the neighbors as I walk by, and to try not to look too drained as I greet my host family in my own compound.  Normally I take time to “wash” when I get home, and what that means is I go into my room and crash on my bed and sometimes cry and sometimes eat jam with bread, and sometimes just lay in bed and look at the ceiling congratulating myself on (almost) making it through another day.  I do end up “washing” which is in quotations because really I’m just dumping water on myself and scrubbing vigorously.  It’s really great and really refreshing because the water is cold and feels really cleansing, taking off layers of sweat and grime that have built up over the course of the day’s events. 

After – head back to the main house and sit on the couch awkwardly for the next few hours with the family watching TV.  Eat dinner, which has been “salad” and some more rice and sauce (though once it was plantains!)  When I gain the courage to say something, I declare that I’m tired and am going to bed.  Sometimes this happens as early as 8:30, and other times I can make it to 9:30 or so.  And one night I stayed up with the women sitting outside talking until 10:20.  That’s really late for me. 

When I get back to my room I crash.  I set up my mosquito tent, sometimes if there’s electricity I’ll fold clothes and try to get some work done on my computer, but mostly I just go to sleep.  The days are really long and exhausting and draining, but they’re also going by really really fast and they’re so much going on and I love it here, I really do.