Today is the festival you've all been waiting for. if you're Muslim. Today is the festival for the end of Ramadan- for the past month, most people in Mali have not been eating from sunrise to sunset, and today is the end of that so they are all excited, and Malians love to have fetes! I'll hopefully get to experience all the ins and outs of it with my family, for the next three days.
Since my program is about having the real Mali experience, I live with a real Malian family in the Garantigibougou neighborhood of Bamako, south of the Niger. My host sister gave me my Malian name, Kadidia Bouaré, when we first met, since apparently they can't say most American names. But other Malians are rather incredulous when I say I am from America and my name is Kadidia. I like it:)
I live with my mom, dad, and six sisters, in a beautiful little compound. Six sisters is a lot, to say the least, especially when most of them are younger than me, and I'm used to being the youngest child. The oldest is Dadi, who is 23 and almost done with medical school. Next, there is Bintou, who is my primary host and caretaker. She is 20, studying english at 2 universities, and has many random male friends from school that I have met, plus the boyfriend that she can't see until Ramadan is over. But she is a great sister and takes me all kinds of places, including on a rendezvous she snuck out for while her dad was sleeping. Next, there is Tabara, who I share a room with...she hasn't really opened up to me yet, but there is still time. Then, Aissata is 14 and sometimes a bully to her younger sisters and other times their best friend. Awa is next, and finally, the youngest is Nana. She has quite the attitude, being the youngest, but she is fun to talk to, or watch dance. All of my sisters are fluent in franbara (french and bambara spoken together at an alarmingly fast speed), but will speak to me just in french. Since my family obviously has more money than the average Malian, they are pretty well educated.
Right now, however, there is no school, so they hang around the house. When not doing chores, there favorite activity is watching tv...I have had a hard time reconciling myself with that, since I have already probably watched more tv in two and a half weeks with them than I do in a normal year, but I have started to do homework or read a book in the same room as them instead of just watching it. They have a wide variety, including hours of music videos, Spongebob, Maria de la Barrio (a bad soap), Survivor, Secret Story, african dancers, CSI, and Desperate Housewives. My favorite was grey's anatomy a couple nights ago.
My father is a biologist at the University of Bamako- the first molecular biologist in West Africa to learn to separate and recombine DNA (He studied at the NIH for 6 months in 1992). He is doing some interesting research with the genetic modification of mosquitoes and other vectors so they cannot carry infectious diseases, like malaria. My mother stays at home most of the time and cooks and makes sure her daughters and maid are in line. Having a maid living in the compound is pretty typical here, and and my family treats her really well.
I believe it is time to get dressed up for the day. I am borrowing one of my sister's old complets so I will fit right in...or not.
Courtney, I'm really enjoying your blog and the pics you posted. My knowledge of Mali before: 0. Hope you continue to have a great experience. What is your "mom" like?
ReplyDeletei guess i was in such a hurry that i forgot my mom! she is a very nice lady, even though when she talks, it usually seems like she is shouting. she usually is around the house, cooking, cleaning, or napping. she is concerned about what i eat and my health, like any good mother!
ReplyDeletei hope i can get your knowledge of Mali to at least a 10!