A Week in My World - Day 2

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Mornings have never been easy for me to accept, and getting out of bed is often quite the feat. Luckily I have a dog with a bladder smaller than mine (between the two of us we’re up at least once a night, plus out of bed fairly early in the morning) so I was out of bed a little after 7. It was a cold morning again, cloudy and dreary, so I grabbed my blanket and my Nook, wrapped up in my lounge chair, and spent a good hour reading and dozing. Eventually hunger won over my curiosity of how England’s Cousins’ War would end (not that I didn’t already know) and it was time to make oatmeal for breakfast.

I managed to keep the minions out till almost 9 but these days I’ve come to graciously accept when I’ve lost the battle and have to let them in. While opening my door I took the opportunity to go greet my family, then came back to finish morning chores: washing dishes, sweeping my yard and house, getting ready for the day. Normally that takes a few hours as it is, but after the ridiculous wind storms we’d had the past week during my absence, my house was filthy with everything covered in a more-than-fine layer of dust. Which meant I had to wash/sweep/shake out everything. Luckily I have a host of kids more than willing to help! They don’t actually go in my house but they do what they can to help me outside, in between playing with the balls, playing with Moose, and staring at me while I do fascinating things like wash my dishes (somehow it never gets old). 

Sidiki with his littlest sister, Mamine.

Alima even helped me repair a rip in one of my skirts by holding the fabric taut for me. It was a much more successful attempt than many months ago when her younger brother Yaya tried to help me do the same thing: with Alima I only sewed the skirt layers together once! Sidiki’s mom came over to tie her new baby (about a month old) onto Sidiki’s back: at 10 years old, he’s spent about half of his life old enough to carry around younger siblings (he has 5 younger siblings and many younger cousins). 

The morning came and went with chores, and I kicked the kids out for lunch and an hour and a half of rest. Alima had insisted that my floors needed scrubbing, and Allah forbid I defy her 12-year-old forcefulness, so I soon found myself on the floor with an old rag, scrubbing on my hands and knees. My Aunt Mel would be so proud! After the floor was finished we washed the doors, followed by the ɲεgεn floors and doors. Alima did at least twice as much work as I did, but I’m willing to bet my arms were at least twice as sore as hers. Luckily I have long since come to terms with being weaker than she is. By the time we finished we were out of water, so Alima took off on my bike to go to the pump so I could take a quick bath and make my way to the CSCOM to visit my people there before dark. The day went by so fast! Somehow that never fails to happen, despite the lack of meetings, deadlines, due dates, appointments, and cross-town errands. It’s awesome.

Neighbor kids playing.

My dad called me for his weekly hour-long chat, and as usual, Skype cut us off at the hour mark. Alima had sat and listened to about 45 minutes of our English conversation, and while I was waiting for him to call me back she was able to confirm with me that I’d told him about our cleaning adventure. I personally have to force myself to pay attention to other people’s Bambara conversations, a language I sort of understand, and here a 12-year old girl with absolutely no formal education (she’s never been to school) listened to almost an hour of a language she doesn’t know at all and picked up on a conversation tidbit. She is so smart! It kills me that she doesn’t go to school – not that the Malian education system has much to offer (I could rant about it for days, and I’m only marginally familiar with it), nor does her life path offer her many choices, but I feel like she at least deserves the opportunity. Life is so unfair sometimes.

Amadou and Sidiki

Surprisingly only a few kids came to my house tonight. I had extra cabbage stew so I let them all try some, and they all proclaimed its deliciousness. Normally I’d agree with them (it’s one thing I make that I really like!) but sadly this was not my best effort. Sigh. It was nice to hang out with just a few of my faves for the night, and before they left, I promised Sidiki and Amadou I would go to their house tomorrow morning to see a photo of their grandfather, also named Sidiki, who recently died.

After they left, I decided to enjoy the pleasant evening a bit longer and took my book outside to read. I was on my stomach on a mat when I finally registered that I was hearing a weird noise; after thinking about it for a moment, I decided it almost sounded like rain. But that wouldn’t make sense, rainy season ended in October. But wait – it WAS raining! Whoa! I haven’t felt rain in over 4 months!! It only lasted a few minutes, and was just a few sprinkles, but it was exciting. The mango rains are coming!!