Welcome to Bamako
We spent our first night at Jean-Luc and Vero’s apartment. They are a cute EWB couple and they have been in Bamako since February. They are called Long Term Overseas Volunteers (LTOV) in EWB jargon, simply because they are part of the crew that stays overseas for a year rather than four months. Jean-Luc and Vero are both working on different development projects. They are pretty well integrated already and know of good places to eat, to hang out and have fun. They know the markets, the main roads and neighborhoods. And best of all, they totally understand how we feel because they went through what we are going through just a few months ago.
When we arrived at their place, we met with Tom and Eli, two LTOVs who were just finishing up their placements. They made a quick stop in Bamako to pick up some essential eletronics we brought for them from Canada, before heading off on a crazy biking/rafting adventure down the Niger River. Don’t quote me on this, but you should be able to follow their adventures through http://www.nigercurrents.ca/. The website wasn’t yet set up when they told me this, but it was the plan at the time. Brave, brave young men, I tell you.
Vero had made us some fonio, a type of grain mixed with peanuts, with some kind of meat sauce. She said fonio is a relatively new, healthier alternative to traditional grains used in the area. We enjoyed the meal eating with our fingers the Malian way, and it was quite tasty. As I was eating I felt something land on my arm. I looked over quickly, prepared for the worst, but found the cutest baby lizard, about 3 cm long, staring at me. It is still a mystery to me how this little guy fell from the sky. I am pretty sure that lizards don’t jump, but I could be mistaken.
We tried setting up some mosquito nets and had little success, so we slathered on some 30% DEET repellent and hoped for the best. We felt like such rebels after Dr. Wise’s warnings in Toronto… It was not long before we each found a spot on the floor of the main room and went to sleep. The heat was incredible, and most of us ended up sleeping in nothing but our underwear.
We woke up with humid, sticky skin and took turns to have a shower. Jean-Luc and Vero have a very nice place with a full luxurious washroom: a toilet and a shower, nothing too rustic except for more friendly lizards. We then did our laundry by hand on the scrubbing board, after applying some SPF 55 sunscreen. I watched the neighbors and try to take hints on proper laundry washing techniques. The women here do it so gracefully. Some of them are incredibly lean and flexible, so they keep their legs straight and bend at the waist, with their rear end in the air, while they scrub the clothes on the board for long periods of time. I could definitely feel the stretch as I attempted to copy their smooth moves. Little did I know, I was overdoing it and a simple task like walking turned out to be terribly painful the next day…
In the afternoon we had our first market experience. The Bamako Medine market is absolutely huge, according to Jean-Luc and Vero. I couldn’t say because they are convinced I didn’t see a tenth of it during the hour when they let us loose. It would have felt a bit awkward for 10 foreigners to scan the market together, so the LTOVs had planned a kind of treasure hunt to get us exploring. You can find everything from fruits and vegetables to a mattress in the market. The locals try to get our attention to their booths by calling out “Toubabou! Toubabou!”, which means “white person”. Resident expert Levi, who had spent a year in Mali, told us during training week that he would reply with a simple “Farafi”, which means “black person”. He said that it would generally amuse them, and though I find it absolutely hilarious as well, I am not quite comfortable using it yet.
I bought some local fabric with the intention of getting a traditional suit made. People here give a lot of importance to clothing, and they get their outfits custom made in beautiful, brightly colored fabrics that don’t necessarily match but make for such a lively scene. There are bright colors everywhere, and walking around the market I couldn’t help but think about how conservative we are at home with our boring choice of colors. Of course, this is coming from the girl who only wears strictly brown, green or neutral colours. But my point was that I like the market, I like it a lot…
We spent our first night at Jean-Luc and Vero’s apartment. They are a cute EWB couple and they have been in Bamako since February. They are called Long Term Overseas Volunteers (LTOV) in EWB jargon, simply because they are part of the crew that stays overseas for a year rather than four months. Jean-Luc and Vero are both working on different development projects. They are pretty well integrated already and know of good places to eat, to hang out and have fun. They know the markets, the main roads and neighborhoods. And best of all, they totally understand how we feel because they went through what we are going through just a few months ago.
When we arrived at their place, we met with Tom and Eli, two LTOVs who were just finishing up their placements. They made a quick stop in Bamako to pick up some essential eletronics we brought for them from Canada, before heading off on a crazy biking/rafting adventure down the Niger River. Don’t quote me on this, but you should be able to follow their adventures through http://www.nigercurrents.ca/. The website wasn’t yet set up when they told me this, but it was the plan at the time. Brave, brave young men, I tell you.
Vero had made us some fonio, a type of grain mixed with peanuts, with some kind of meat sauce. She said fonio is a relatively new, healthier alternative to traditional grains used in the area. We enjoyed the meal eating with our fingers the Malian way, and it was quite tasty. As I was eating I felt something land on my arm. I looked over quickly, prepared for the worst, but found the cutest baby lizard, about 3 cm long, staring at me. It is still a mystery to me how this little guy fell from the sky. I am pretty sure that lizards don’t jump, but I could be mistaken.
We tried setting up some mosquito nets and had little success, so we slathered on some 30% DEET repellent and hoped for the best. We felt like such rebels after Dr. Wise’s warnings in Toronto… It was not long before we each found a spot on the floor of the main room and went to sleep. The heat was incredible, and most of us ended up sleeping in nothing but our underwear.
We woke up with humid, sticky skin and took turns to have a shower. Jean-Luc and Vero have a very nice place with a full luxurious washroom: a toilet and a shower, nothing too rustic except for more friendly lizards. We then did our laundry by hand on the scrubbing board, after applying some SPF 55 sunscreen. I watched the neighbors and try to take hints on proper laundry washing techniques. The women here do it so gracefully. Some of them are incredibly lean and flexible, so they keep their legs straight and bend at the waist, with their rear end in the air, while they scrub the clothes on the board for long periods of time. I could definitely feel the stretch as I attempted to copy their smooth moves. Little did I know, I was overdoing it and a simple task like walking turned out to be terribly painful the next day…
In the afternoon we had our first market experience. The Bamako Medine market is absolutely huge, according to Jean-Luc and Vero. I couldn’t say because they are convinced I didn’t see a tenth of it during the hour when they let us loose. It would have felt a bit awkward for 10 foreigners to scan the market together, so the LTOVs had planned a kind of treasure hunt to get us exploring. You can find everything from fruits and vegetables to a mattress in the market. The locals try to get our attention to their booths by calling out “Toubabou! Toubabou!”, which means “white person”. Resident expert Levi, who had spent a year in Mali, told us during training week that he would reply with a simple “Farafi”, which means “black person”. He said that it would generally amuse them, and though I find it absolutely hilarious as well, I am not quite comfortable using it yet.
I bought some local fabric with the intention of getting a traditional suit made. People here give a lot of importance to clothing, and they get their outfits custom made in beautiful, brightly colored fabrics that don’t necessarily match but make for such a lively scene. There are bright colors everywhere, and walking around the market I couldn’t help but think about how conservative we are at home with our boring choice of colors. Of course, this is coming from the girl who only wears strictly brown, green or neutral colours. But my point was that I like the market, I like it a lot…
posted by Cat Denis @ 10:44 AM
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