There is nothing like living by yourself in a village in the middle of nowhere to give you time to pose a couple questions. Before moving to Namposella, I spent 2 months in Bamako training to prepare for this life. We had endless meetings about cultural sensitivity, language training and to what I found most overwhelming, health and safety tips. So naturally, when arriving in my village, most volunteers start off extremely cautious of daily life. I believe I am still at that point, but would like to give you a sample of the daily questions I ask myself each day while in village.
- Have I taken my Malaria medication yet today?
- Is my phone positioned just the right way that in case someone did try to text me, I would be able to receive it?
- Have I taken a multi-vitamin today? If so, did I take it at least 2 hours after taking my Malaria medication?
- Do I have enough water from the pump to bathe, drink and water my papaya trees for the day?
- Do I have enough sugar to add to my porridge to make it edible?
- Have I bleached my water yet today?
- Did I cover the hole of my nyegen after using it last night? If not, what kind of bugs am I likely to find when I use the hole next?
- I wonder how many people think I'm crazy for doing this..
- Have I greeted everyone in my family?
- Do these Malians realize I'm reading a trashy gossip magazine and not doing real work? No? Okay.
- Are my solar lamps charged?
- Why is my poop that color?
- Do I have enough battery on my kindle to get through the book I'm reading?
- Have I spoken English today? (to myself counts as a yes)
- Did I put enough bleach in my water today? (At least 3 droplets per liter!)
- Did I remember to turn off the gas after boiling some water?
- Did I put on sunscreen today? At least 3 times?
- Can I wear this in front of Malians?
- Did I tuck in my mosquito net tight enough?
- Is that poop from lizards or mice?
- Did the salad lady come yet today to sell me some lettuce?
- Do I have any money? (If not, it's not actually a huge problem, I went 4 days last week spending only 40 cents...total)
- When is the next time I am going to talk to my family?
- Am I sure I turned the gas off?
- How many times will it take for me to walk from my house to the bathroom before someone asks if something is wrong with me?
- What's the rule on eating peanut butter straight from the jar?
- Is that child's rash contagious?
- What in the hell am I doing here?
- Is that mold I can pick off and keep eating, or do I have to throw the entire mango away?
- Oh no, the wind just blew, do I need to readjust my phone location?
- I wonder what BBC is really saying, I think I just heard that the Syrian leader doesn't like to eat with a fork and says hi to my grandma..that can't be right. Damn shortwave radio with no signal.
- Seriously, what on Earth am I doing here?
I ask a lot of questions here. My mind, while bored, is always running.
Additionally, here are a couple funny things Malian children do that even though now I have grown accustomed to, are found to be pretty funny to someone who doesn't live here.
1. At least once a day, a child tries to scratch off my freckles. It hurts. They think I am dirty. Go figure.
2. My host mother is convinced the Malaria Prophylaxis I take each morning is actually hair growth medicine. She doesn't understand how someone can have such long hair naturally.
3. When children see my watch tan line, they tell me than soon, I'll be African. They cannot wait for next year.
4. (Story from a friend) A small child came to her house everyday for a week asking if there is a car in her house. Her house is a 5 x 5 ft house.
5. My host children ask to see my photo album everyday. And everyday, I give them the same 20 photos I brought with me and for EVERY picture, they point at me and ask "Is this you?" Which was cute, until they started pointing at my blonde friends, my mother and my grandma and asking the same question...
Back to village tomorrow..
- Have I taken my Malaria medication yet today?
- Is my phone positioned just the right way that in case someone did try to text me, I would be able to receive it?
- Have I taken a multi-vitamin today? If so, did I take it at least 2 hours after taking my Malaria medication?
- Do I have enough water from the pump to bathe, drink and water my papaya trees for the day?
- Do I have enough sugar to add to my porridge to make it edible?
- Have I bleached my water yet today?
- Did I cover the hole of my nyegen after using it last night? If not, what kind of bugs am I likely to find when I use the hole next?
- I wonder how many people think I'm crazy for doing this..
- Have I greeted everyone in my family?
- Do these Malians realize I'm reading a trashy gossip magazine and not doing real work? No? Okay.
- Are my solar lamps charged?
- Why is my poop that color?
- Do I have enough battery on my kindle to get through the book I'm reading?
- Have I spoken English today? (to myself counts as a yes)
- Did I put enough bleach in my water today? (At least 3 droplets per liter!)
- Did I remember to turn off the gas after boiling some water?
- Did I put on sunscreen today? At least 3 times?
- Can I wear this in front of Malians?
- Did I tuck in my mosquito net tight enough?
- Is that poop from lizards or mice?
- Did the salad lady come yet today to sell me some lettuce?
- Do I have any money? (If not, it's not actually a huge problem, I went 4 days last week spending only 40 cents...total)
- When is the next time I am going to talk to my family?
- Am I sure I turned the gas off?
- How many times will it take for me to walk from my house to the bathroom before someone asks if something is wrong with me?
- What's the rule on eating peanut butter straight from the jar?
- Is that child's rash contagious?
- What in the hell am I doing here?
- Is that mold I can pick off and keep eating, or do I have to throw the entire mango away?
- Oh no, the wind just blew, do I need to readjust my phone location?
- I wonder what BBC is really saying, I think I just heard that the Syrian leader doesn't like to eat with a fork and says hi to my grandma..that can't be right. Damn shortwave radio with no signal.
- Seriously, what on Earth am I doing here?
I ask a lot of questions here. My mind, while bored, is always running.
Additionally, here are a couple funny things Malian children do that even though now I have grown accustomed to, are found to be pretty funny to someone who doesn't live here.
1. At least once a day, a child tries to scratch off my freckles. It hurts. They think I am dirty. Go figure.
2. My host mother is convinced the Malaria Prophylaxis I take each morning is actually hair growth medicine. She doesn't understand how someone can have such long hair naturally.
3. When children see my watch tan line, they tell me than soon, I'll be African. They cannot wait for next year.
4. (Story from a friend) A small child came to her house everyday for a week asking if there is a car in her house. Her house is a 5 x 5 ft house.
5. My host children ask to see my photo album everyday. And everyday, I give them the same 20 photos I brought with me and for EVERY picture, they point at me and ask "Is this you?" Which was cute, until they started pointing at my blonde friends, my mother and my grandma and asking the same question...
Back to village tomorrow..
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