5/19/11: So yesterday, this woman came to the CSCOM, who my docs told me was named Kadja as well. She's your togoma! Your 'namesake,' they said. You have to go visit her in Mah. You're going to go. When? Tomorrow? 8am. Her husband, Madu, will come tomorrow morning to your house to get you on his bike and you two will bike back to Mah together. You'll do an animation with the women in the village. You'll cook lunch w/ Kadja. So, it's settled. Tomorrow. 8am.
...Really? Yes. Just like that? Yes. And so, in a matter of minutes, I had an obligation that I didn't sign up for. When an opportunity arises, I guess...
And so it was written, so it was done. Madu showed up at my house just after 8am; I, of course, was running late. We took off for Mah together, me, on my Trek 10-speed, him, on his rinkety Malian bike 1-speed: pedal hard. We took the dirt road that first passed by the CSCOM. He had a cigarette, while I said my "Good Morning"s and "How did you sleep?"s to my coworkers. Taking the last few drags on his cigarette as we rode out of town, Madu proceeded to make conversation as we, one behind the other, made our way to Mah. Being in the rear, I was hit in the face with Madu's intense B.O., which was only intensified by the wind blowing in my direction. We had to get off and walk a few times because the road was, at parts, more or less a dried-up river bed. Mah is only 6k (on paper) away, but the trip wasn't easy due to the terrain. Upon arrival, I was greeted by Kadja and her neighbors, who were preparing lunch, naturally, as it was already 9am. Mah is a village of only a couple hundred people, so word had spread that the white girl was coming to town. Kadja had me peel potatoes (everyone stared) and served me warm cow's milk (I thought I was going to get sick, since I have only had pasteurized milk, but I didn't. Score!) The animation went well, though I was tired after a long day of greeting people around the village. I found a carpenter who is going to make me a lounge chair out of bamboo for really cheap. Hopefully it'll be done soon, but probably not; it's Mali, afterall. Madu had to translate what I was saying so that the women would understand my Bambara. (I found out he's a health relay in the community, proud certificate bearer and all.) I would pause every paragraph or so, so that he could literally repeat what I had just said in more colloquial and decipherable Bambara. Baby steps, I guess. And so, I'll be back next week for another round of cooking demonstrations and a health talk on diarrhea & Oral Rehydration Solution, complete with a 'how-to' to prepare it when someone gets dehydrated. GET EXCITED!
So I've been back to Mah 2 more times since this innitial trip to do different animations and to eat lunch with Kadja, Madu, and the clan. They're extremely nice and I'm so grateful for them for letting me come be a surrogate volunteer in their village. I have an open-ended weekly reservation in Mah. See pictures in my most recent Facebook album for pictures of Mah.
I'm currently in Bamako, where I've been since last Friday, when i came in with a positive test for Malaria. Don't worry, I'm all better. I started taking the anti-malarial meds immediately after the rapid malaria test came up positive when I was in my village on Thursday, and by Sunday, my bloodwork came back negative for malaria. However, afterwards, I developed symptoms relating to malaria as well as some sort of a viral infection, and I've been fighting off pretty bad headaches that might have been migraines for about 5-6 days, so the worst is definitely over. Thanks for your concern, everyone. We have our training class' IST (In-Service Training) in Bamako starting Monday through the 25th of June, so I've just been hanging out in Bamako until we have to report on Sunday. The first week, we have sessions on continued language practice, but mainly, we're here to discuss ideas for projects after spending a bit of time in village, surveying the needs and resources available. The second week, our homologues come for what Malians call a "formation." It's basically a workshop or a seminar, except we pay them to come. Strange, right? After IST is over, the majority of our class is travelling up to Monatale for the 4th of July, where a bunch of Peace Corps Volunteers go every year for an Independence Day "Get-Together," if you will...
And I will.
