Busy Week!

There are about 70 people in The Breakfast Club, and there are about 7 Katies/Kates. I asked how they differentiated me and I’m “Southern Katie.” I found that really funny.
On Sunday, we went back to Sikasso. It was wonderful to be back home! I went to sleep at 8 pm!
On Monday, we went to my work, and some other bureaus. I was surprised to see the Malian Flag everywhere: on motos, on people, decorating businesses. It turns out that Mali was playing football that evening. After Mexican Night at Trinh’s place, (We pride ourselves on year round avocadoes), I stopped at a beauty shop to watch Mali play Camaroon. It was so exciting! When the game was over, I was (as well as every other Malian) proud. There was a leader running blowing a whistle 3 times, and all these people following him would shout “MALI!” It was a lot of fun (except I almost got hit by a moto, even though I wasn’t on the road, but that’s another story). When I went home, the water was off. I was thinking it’s just Mali, but the next morning, it was still off and the water outside was off too. I talked to a guy downstairs, and he said that the bill wasn’t paid. Great. How come I’ve never seen the bill?
On Tuesday, we visited every touristy site in Sikasso. We went to the Waterfalls at Waroni. It was a lot of fun, except I met the village chief, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. There are still some issues, and I may go to the village and live there for 2 weeks or so. I”ll let you know. We then went to the Doors to Sudan. It was so interesting because the road to get there was formerly the road to Ivory Coast. I’m sure glad they built a new road! We then went to the Mamalon, Tata, and the Caves of Missiroro. I found the caves very cool because some people still live in the caves! I felt like I was intruding just a bit. I’m glad nobody can wonder around my living room! There were 2 separate caves for Animists and Muslims. The Animist side had lots of feathers and animal skulls (for sacrifices).
Wednesday morning, we left for Segou. I was a little panicky (I don’t know why…it is Mali) because I thought I was going to miss my bus. I made it in plenty of time (we were 30 minutes late leaving). The bus was trying to charge us money to put our bags underneath the bus. I think most PCV would agree with me that we don’t mind paying for a service, as long as everybody is paying for the service too. We spoke with some other Malians, and they had to pay also. So many times people see the color of our skin and the price doubles.
So many people sell things at the bus station, and I regret not buying this really cute Malian belt. Surly they have to sell it in the market?
The road from Sikasso to Segou is so wonderful! It’s paved the whole way with practically no pot holes!! It was such a pleasant ride! When we got there, we went to a volunteer’s house. It was unreal! It overlooks the Niger and is just lovely. I can’t remember what we did that afternoon, but for dinner, we went to a really nice restaurant and I got lasagna! It’s not Gramma’s or Mom’s or even Stoueffer’s lasagna, but it was delicious!! The restaurant also overlooked the Niger River, and we were able to see the sunset. It was weird to me to see other Tubabs. I didn’t realize that Segou had so many tourists! (The Segou music festival is this weekend, so I would imagine some people came early.)
On Thursday, I felt like a real jerk. I saw another volunteer eating Vascuri (cheeselike spread), so I thought, well, I better go get something to eat. I went and got bread and eggs and brought them back to cook. Only I was the only one. Oh, well. I thought it was every person for his/herself. We were running late, but I managed to cook breakfast, eat breakfast, and still wait on some people. We went to a tailor school where a Segou volunteer did some work. Then, we went to the tourism place. After that, we went to the guide center. Lunch was okay. Because I went big the night before, I got….rice. That afternoon, we went to a Bogolan place, and it was my favorite part of field trip. There were so many people dyeing so many different items! Part of the tour, we each got a piece of cloth and painted it. I once again remember why I got a C in art class. On the taxi ride home, I saw a completely naked man on the side of the road. Things you don’t see everyday.
I do know if you realize how big of a deal this is, but I ate a HAM SANDWICH for dinner!! I was craving one a week ago, and it’s so satisfying when you get to quench the desire. It was one of the best sandwiches I’ve had in my life! Hurray for tourism and animists!!
Friday morning, I caught what I thought would be a quick bus (it was loading 30 minutes before “departure time”). While we were off to a quick start, beginnings can be deceiving. Our first stop was so a guy could get some hot coals to start a fire to make tea on the bus. I think I was the only one of the bus that laughed out loud, but after a stop every 30 minutes for more tea, cigarettes, yeagen breaks, I was irritated. I finally made it back home! I was happy to see the guy who works in the apartment below me was in. I asked to see the bill (no water…surprise). Apparently, in 5 months, nobody paid the bill. It was about 72,000 CFA (about 150 USD). He told me my part was 52,000 CFA. I was so frustrated and wanted to cry because 6 people are on the same bill! I ended up calling Echin to come and mediate. Malians write there 1s weird, and I thought the one was a scribble, so my part ended up being 15,200. The guy had this crazy calculation thing going on (neither Echin nor I could understand), but he figures out how much people owe by the amount of hours they stay. Because I live there, my portion would be higher than the companies that are occupied for 8 hours a few days a week, which makes complete sense to me. I just really wanted to understand where he was getting these numbers from. I ended up paying my part, and am hoping that the water will be turned on tomorrow. I would imagine that even in the ghettos of America, the water is separate for each dwelling. This is another example of some of the luxuries Americans have without even thinking about it. So, I’m sure some people are wondering how I’m getting water. Currently, every morning, I go to my neighbors’ house, pull my water from a well, and carry it to my apartment, which includes a flight of stairs. This experience reaffirms my decision that if I had to choose between running water and electricity, I would go water all the way!