Once, again I don’t know where to begin. Everyday is a new adventure and I learn something new, meet different people and see things I have never seen before. It is beautiful. Although there are also some not so pretty things, the trash, sick kids and people who are hungry….I just read I book (Confessions of An Economic Hit Man), which I read lots of book now and found there are 24,000 people who die each day in this world due to lack of food and nutrition, and that doesn’t even include the thousands who die from diseases. While I say all of this, I think about here in Mali but in just America there are 12 million people who don’t know whether they will get their next meal…. About two-thirds of the world lives like I do here as the other third have the luxuries as those in the U.S.

I just recently found out that my village doesn’t have enough food for the next year. With the change in weather patterns, the rains came too late and when they came they came too much and flooded the crops. So as part of my work I will find them and myself food. I’m planning on eventually starting a cereal bank where food can be stored to prevent future problems like this.

As I said, everyday is different but I have adapted somewhat of a daily routine. And it goes something like this….

6:30-8:00am rise and shine

(Tracy Chapman blaring out side, and yes I just went out and rocked out to Fast Car. I was really excited coming here for a musical experience, and as much as I don’t want to admit and realize its going to be one with Celion Dion, Mariah Carrey, Michael Jackson (Just heard Heal the World during lunch), Phil Collins, and other randoms that bring your back to the 5th grade and Middle School dances. The Malian music that is played isn’t the best, although on a good day there might be some decent reggae which I don’t think is even Malian. )

Mornings are nice, I have yet to have to wake with an alarm, one day however, my mom came… “Aminata Aminata Aminata Wuli, wuli, wuli…!!! (amy…get up) I got up thinking what on earth is going on. She never comes to get be in the morning. I put on a skirt and go out side. My eyes barely open and filled with eye bugers (not exactly in the best mood, because I am not a morning person and I don’t like being woken up). I go to see what’s going on. It was a blast from the past of every morning when my mom got me up for elementary school. There were about 10 women standing outside, ready for a women’s meeting. At 6:53, they come to my house for a women’s meeting. So I greet them, put down the mats on my porch, and we have a meeting. I will tell you more about this meeting later.

Anyway, what time I wake up depends on how loud it is. There are the donkies, which I don’t know if any of you know what they sounds like, I cant even describe it but perhaps like a blind man being raped, we have women pounding millet (no susu), there are babies screaming, children running around, the prayer call, cows, goats, chickens, birds….. and an occasional moto (motorcycles, I don’t think there is even a single car in my village) in the distance.

At some point in the hour after I wake I go and get water from the well for my bath. Lately, it has been getting later and later each day because it is cooling off at night and I don’t wake drenched in sweat and I’m actually a bit chilly and sometimes put on a long sleeved t-shirt. It’s nice. And then I read. My breakfast is brought to me and its moni, everyday. Which is ground milled formed into little balls, with water, and some citrus-ish fruit juice.( I climbed at tree one day during home stay to collect it.) It looks like pea pods and somewhat tastes like apple juice. Later I make tea or coffee.

Between 9-12 am, I do household chores, like cleaning my house, sweeping the floors, washing clothes, washing dishes. It’s a lot of work to keep a mud house clean. Once a week I do an intense cleaning and get down the spider webs, knock down the termite mounds and make sure there are no scorpions inside (they are scary looking) and I found some under my mattress once. Just about gave me a heart attack.

Lunch comes during this time, and its to and na, which is to (more millet and sauce). I don’t eat the sauce, there are usually fish in it and they put this green dried leaf in it that makes it slimey.

Afternoons, I yalayala, which is “wondering” in Bambera, and it’s my favorite word. I
Walk or bike around the village and chat, sometime drinking tea and eating peanuts. Usually I chat with the men and they usually want me to marry them. So it’s interesting, usually just tell the men I don’t cook or clean and that usually works. One day I cut millet, another day I picked peanuts with a crazy woman. Everyday there is something different.

One of the craziest things are the massive amounts of animals. Every time I got for a bike ride i get stopped..... and usually count them (and lose count)