Mali

Tuesday 1/6/2009 - Second day in Kori-Maounde and Teaching English in Bandiagara

We woke up at 6 o'clock and had to pack up. The hotel was full tonight, so we needed to move to the nearby Hotel Kambary. We were happy that we only had a carry-on bag apiece, so packing everything up for the move only took a few minutes. We went down to breakfast in the courtyard and learned that Tina was sick today and wouldn't be able to join us. This saddened us, because she had set up the entire project with Anna and desperately wanted to go. But we promised to document the day's activities. On the bright side, Susan was feeling a bit better and was going to go with us today, though she planned to take it easy and not over-exert herself. We had our breakfast of Nescafe, bread, cheese, and some deliciously luscious bisap (hibiscus) juice. Anna met us at the hotel and after making sure that Tina had the food and drink that she needed, and we headed off to Kori-Maounde at 8:15. We left our bags in the lobby, and Bahini said that he would take them to the new hotel later on during the day when he brought Tina there to check in.

As we approached the village in the car, kids along the route recognized us and waved. When we got out of the car, we had a welcoming committee. Children came over to us, arms folded, and greeted us. "Bonjour Madame. Bonjour Monsieur." Now that it was our second day here, they were getting more accustomed to our presence. We shook all of their hands and said Bonjour. Daniel was so happy with all of the work that had been accomplished yesterday that he and a villager named Barnhima Degoga wanted to "pay us back" by taking us to visit some culturally and historically significant Dogon sites nearby. As this was going to involve some mild hiking, we all thought it was best for Susan to stay behind in the village and rest. She did not have her strength back yet and really wasn't up for a hike on rocky terrain. Daniel sent his daughter to lead Susan to their house to rest.

The rest of us got into the car and Bouba drove us out to the main road. We crossed the main road and then continued along on the other side. Bouba was really taking advantage of the off-road capabilities of the 4x4, as we drove over rocks and skirted scrub brush and small trees. Then Bouba parked the car and we continued on foot. We climbed some rocks and then crossed a flat piece of land which was criss-crossed by footpaths. The landscape had once been an ocean floor, and resembled the geologically-similar Monument Valley in the southwest USA.

We climbed another set of rocks and got to a spot where we had a gorgeous 360 degree view of the surrounding countryside. It was completely deserted. We could see the roads to Mopti and Bandiagara. Daniel explained that this was where the sentinels had stood guard and could see people coming from any direction. This was especially important when the tribes had to hide from slave-raiders. I was struck by the stillness of the place. There was virtually no sound.

We then walked to a place called Ambara Kumbu where the Degoga people (a tribe of hunters) used to hide in cave dwellings in the 1700's. The man accompanying us (Barnhima Degoga) was descended from them. We looked into the sandstone caves, some of which had separate areas walled off with stone and mud walls. The sentinels would watch for slave-traders and enemies from the lookout point we had seen, and the families would hide in these caves. It was the perfect hiding spot, and they were never discovered. We felt very touched that Daniel and the elders of Kori-Maounde had trusted us enough to show us this spot (we were arguably the first westerners to have visited it). Obviously the Dogon feel much safer in this day and age, so much so that they would divulge their generations-old secret hiding place.

Barnhima Degoga then told us the history of his family and how they came to live in Kori-Maounde. Kori-Maounde had been a Dogon village, and one day one of the Degoga ran into the Dogon, who were having problems with an elephant who was ravaging their farmland. The Degoga hunter said that he could kill the elephant for them, and the Dogon told him that if he did, he would be welcome to live in the village with them. He did, and his descendants, like Barnhima, still live there today. The Kori-Maounde of today is made up on two main family clans: the Degoga (Barnhima's clan) and the Napo (the clan of the village chief).

They then told us the strange tale of a human-like burrowing animal they know as the "taup" which supposedly roams this area. The Dogon hunt this elusive creature for food. Very few people have actually seen one, but Daniel and Barnhima claim to have eaten its meat, which, surprisngly, tastes like pork (Mythbusters, are you listening?) Young men are not allowed to hunt taup. Supposedly, the female taup have breasts. If a young man sees the taup and gets an erection, he will become sterile. So only old men (who, the thought is, would not get an erection anyway) are allowed to hunt taup. Uh-huh. Seems more likely it is a nice excuse for the older men to take a camping trip away from the village (women, children, and even boys are not allowed to come along), but you never know.

We walked back to the car. As we approached, we could see Bouba on his prayer mat, facing toward Mecca. We told Daniel and Barnhima how much we enjoyed learning about the Dogon and their beliefs and history. They decided that since we had found this interesting, they wanted to take us to see a Dogon iron forge, located in a nearby village, as well. Bouba drove us the short distance to the village of Kema. The town was covered in small, oblong coconuts which had falled off the surrounding trees. We stopped in the village to ask the chief for permission to see the forge. He granted us permission,and said that he would meet us there. Bouba drove us, and the chief took a shortcut so that he arrived on foot before we did in the car. We studied the forge - an oval structure made of stacked stones, some of which had holes drilled into them. The Dogon would heat rock in the forge, and the holes in the stones would allow air to get at the fire. The iron would melt and would flow out of the forge to be collected.

As we admired the technology of the Dogon, the chief of Kema stood on a hill overlooking us. As we prepared to leave, we learned that he had a badly infected cut between his toes, and was hoping that we had some medicine we could give him. He was barefoot, and had a piece of a leaf covering the wound like a band-aid. We met him back at his home in the village. Anna gave him a packet of ointment and a band-aid. I found a small ziplock bag in my pocketbook and Craig squeezed some Neosporin inside. Anna gave the chief instructions on how to wash the wound and then dress it. The chief followed us back to the car and was very appreciative. Bahini got his own pair of flip flops out of the car and gave them to the chief, so that he would no longer have to go shoeless and his wound would likely stay cleaner. We were happy to be able to help, especially since we had felt bad that we hadn't been able to help the boy with the leg wound in Segou-koro.

We returned to Kori-Maounde at 12:30. We hoped that Susan was alright; we hadn't known we would be gone this long when we left her. We found her resting at Daniel's house. Apparently, she had first been taken to the female teacher's house, and then had been moved to Daniel's. Luckily, Susan speaks a bit of French, so she probably did better in the situation than any of the rest of us would have. We settled into the hangar of Daniel and Marie's house, being familiar with the lunchtime routine of ablutions, food, and tea.

Marie had prepared rice and chicken in a peppery sauce which was delicious. She also made a pitcher of delightfully sweet bisap juice. Fonssenyi Sanago, a student teacher, had just arrived from Bamako. We were introduced and he joined us. Bahini wore Craig's bandana as a headband and said that his nickname was Tupac. We could tell it was nearing 1:30 as the female teacher (Djeneba Perou) arrived and all of the women and kids congregated inside the house for the daily Brazilian soap opera installment.

After lunch, Susan broke out the small container of soap bubbles that she had brought with her. We went outside and she blew bubbles at Daniel's son and daughter, and two of their friends. The reaction was quite funny. The kids stood there frozen, just looking at the bubbles, not at all sure what to make of it. We demonstrated popping the bubbles and trying to catch them, and we could see comprehension cross their faces as they broke into big smiles. One little boy in a yellow, red, and green shirt looked incredibly serious. Pam took over as the bubble blower and she let him blow on the wand, and he did so with such concentration. But soon all of the kids were giggling and running around after the bubbles. It was very cute. The little boy was sitting with Daniel's young son on a rock. Both looked super serious as I snapped a photo. Neither of them would come over to me to see it, and as I approached them with the camera, they continued looking sternly at me. But they couldn't help but crack a smile as they saw themselves on the screen.

The student teacher took on tea duties and made Malian tea for us. Again, two glasses on a tray, and we were served two people at a time. He put even more sugar in it than Bahini had yesterday, and I liked it even more.

At 3:15, we walked back to the school. Along the way, we met a nurse who works in the nearby health center. As we walked toward the garden, kids approached us in groups, greeting us with the formally folded arms and a "Bonsoir, Madame, bonsoir Monsieur" They seemed very excited to have us back again after our morning's absence, and we were happy to see them all again as well. We headed over to the water basin and were amazed to see that it was completely done except for a skim coat of cement. The pipe was in place, and they had broken a hole in the side of the basin for the pipe to enter.

They were ready to test the system. They had kids pump water from the well, and tried to get it to run from the first basin through the pipe into the second. We could hear the water in the pipe, and I stood above the new basin with my camera poised to catch the exciting moment when the water first flowed in. But something wasn't quite right. They needed to try to fix the gradient.

Kids formed a bucket brigade to bring sand to the site. Bouba was going to pick us up today at 4:30, and I thought for sure we would leave before the water began to flow. This was disappointing, as everyone had worked so hard for the past two days. We were talking to some of the kids when I heard Daniel call "Stephanie!" I hurried over to the basin to find him standing ankle deep in running water. He knew I wanted to get a photo of the first water through the pipe, so he had excitedly called me. It was a joyful moment to capture in a photo. I couldn't believe that we had water running to the new basin and it was only day 2 of the 3-day project!

The kids watered the tree holes as we said our goodbyes. Two girls were eyeing our empty plastic water bottles. They were there first and grabbed them when we left, but someone stole one of them right out of one of the girls' hands. Once again I had a spare empty bottle in my backpack, and I gave it to the girl who had been robbed.

Bouba drove us back to the new hotel, Hotel Kambary. The lobby was igloo-shaped, made of mud bricks with an open-to-the-sky circle at the top. We were assigned Room 11, and we followed the meandering stone paths to our own little dome-shaped residence. It was the coolest room! The bed consisted of two side-by-side mattresses on a stone platform. There were little screened portholes in the walls, and there was a little wooden plug hanging next to each with which you could cover your porthole for privacy. There was a stone arch leading to the bathroom. As we got ready for the night's English class, I noticed that if you stood in the right spot, you could get perfect acoustics. Craig was digging through his bag across the room and I could hear it probably better than he could. It was kind of creepy.

Neither Tina nor Susan were feeling up to going to the English class tonight. Bahini was nowhere to be found, and Bouba took a quick prayer break. While we were waiting, a young girl with a baby came up to me and asked me if I wanted to buy postcards. She worked at the little shop at the hotel (which had been closed up until now, so we hadn't even noticed it!) We had not seen postcards anywhere, so I was happy to buy some from her. When Bouba was done praying, he drove us to meet Anna at the dorm. Pam invited him to stay for the English class, and to our surprise and delight, he accepted.

The kids met us at the street and eagerly followed us into the courtyard. They said good evening to us in English and we shook their hands. Anna had come up with a funny dialogue for me and Craig to perform with the kids relating to food. Pam wrote it on the chalkboard:

Are you hungry?

Yes, I am hungry.

Would you like a mango or peanuts?

A mango, please.

Here you are.

Thank you. Do you have a knife?

No, I don't.

Do you have a spoon?

No, sorry, you will have to use your teeth.

Ok, thank you.

This seemed like a typical conversation a westerner might have with a Malian. We all laughed. Craig and I performed this dialogue several times. Then we chose students to read the parts aloud. Anna went over some vocabulary words with the students. Peanuts, spoon, knife, teeth. She asked for volunteers to draw each item on the chalkboard. Then she pointed at the drawings rapid-fire and had the kids recite the English names. She really made the lessons dynamic and fun. Bouba was sitting with Aminata (the woman who is in charge of the dorm) on a bench, and he was smiling from ear to ear. When the kids would repeat words back to Anna, Bouba would recite and practice the words as well. He seemed to be enjoying the class very much.

Then we did some more with numbers. Anna asked the kids to get up and form groups of certain numbers. "Get in groups of 5!" Kids would scatter around the small courtyard and embrace one another, trying to form a group of 5 people. Sometimes people would join a group and there would be too many people, so the kids would count and then kick other kids out. This resulted in amusing chaos and the kids really had a good time. Some came over and put their arms around Craig and myself, adding us to their group.

One girl came over to talk to me at the end of class. Her name was Oomsaga (not sure of the spelling). She was very sweet. The kids were asking about Tina, and seemed concerned when we told them that she wasn't feeling well. They made us promise to give her their best wishes. The same girl carried my bag and water at the end of the night who had done so last night. All of the kids shook our hands and said "Good night! See you tomorrow!" Bouba drove us back to the hotel. As we hopped out of the vehicle, he surprised us by saying (unprompted) "Good night. See you tomorrow!" and then he cracked into a huge smile.

We went back to our rooms and cleaned up. We took a walk around the grounds with Pam to get the lay of the land, and much to our surprise we found that there was a mini golf course and a stone pool. We made a mental note to check out that area in the daylight. we headed into the courtyard and sat at a table for dinner. Luckily, Tina was feeling better after a day of resting, and she joined us. The courtyard was very nice, and there were little half-domes surrounding it and an obvious stage for a band to play, but nobody was performing tonight. In fact, except for ourselves and a large table of UK tourists, the hotel seemed rather empty. Also in the half-domes there were some private tables and couches. But having noticed the acoustics in our domed room, we wondered whether conversations in these seemingly private nooks might be amplified.

Soon Bahini and Susan joined us as well. Craig had a Castel beer and brochettes de mouton au curry. I had a D'jino Pomme apple drink and beef brochette with French fries (after ordering three other things that they didn't have. At times like that I always just want to say "Well, bring me whatever you do have!") I was happy that I ended up with that meal, however, because it was delicious! The fries were actually more like oniony home fries. Two small orange cats circled our table. They were so cute. We chatted for a while, and once we were all done eating, the others all went to bed.

Now several dogs were circling the table, and one laid down under our table as I wrote in the journal. We ended up chatting with Chris and Ed from the UK, who had been sitting with their group of 16 at the nearby table. By now the rest of their party had gone to bed as well, but these two had stayed up to finish their drinks. Chris had been to the Festival au Desert several years ago, and had loved it. He was looking forward to going again this year. He told us that he was certain we would meet up there. We didn't know how we would ever manage to pull that off, but he knew the place better than we did, so we took his word fot it. We enjoyed chatting about our trips thus far, as well as other trips we had each taken. Chris was very well-traveled in Africa.

After a few minutes they took their leave, as they were heading to Timbuktu tomorrow and would be up at 4 am. The journey is a long one, and you need to take a car ferry across the Niger to enter Timbuktu. There can be backups there and we had heard that if you miss the last ferry of the day, you are pretty much out of luck with no place to stay on this side of the river. Craig and I stayed up a while longer; he finished his beer and I wrote in the journal at the table. We finally went to bed at 12:45. We were pretty punchy and overtired when we arrived back at the room. The keychain for our hotel key was a carved wooden horse head. We put it into our bed under the covers, and took a photo, Godfather style. Then we went to sleep.