We greeted at Calita's village, and I again gave kola nuts to her chief. He wasn't nearly as friendly as the other chief. We then hung out at Calita's hut, and I saw so many women passing. Calita then explained to me that they were making rice sacrifices to the spirits. I wanted to see what that was about, so we followed the women. So many kids were running around, trying to get handfuls of rice (think healthier version of Halloween). The women carried bowls of rice on their head and then would give some to the kids. The place of rice giving was like a small tree stump that was covered in rice. The women would then give the rice to the spirits. Kids were surrounding the stump, hoping to get one last bite of rice before it hit the stump. After the rice lands on the ground, kids can't touch it because it now belongs to the spirits. That evening, we went to Calita's host family for dinner. After dinner, they brought a bed outside for us to rest. I took advantage of this and took a nap before the major dance party. Who kicked it off? None other than the Tubabs! It was a bit intimidating because all eyes were on us. There was a kid that was standing beside me and grew so tired, he layed down on rocks to sleep. He unfortunately picked a bad place because it was extremely dark (no lights), and some lady hit him to wake up and move.
The next day, we thought people would come over at 9 am and some did. But not everybody. So, we waited. I took a nap. We ate lunch, and then all at once at about noon, Calita's concession ( yard?) was flooded with people! It was crazy! All the adults walked in a line to the fete. Kids would walk beside us, and not surprisingly, wanted to be near the Tubabs. The old lady in front of me kindly yelled at them and threaten them with a stick. When we got to the location, we were instructed to greet the elders of the village. I consider myself a feminist, and I would NEVER do this in other circumstances, but I had to be culturally pleasing and I kneeled down to like 10 men and raised their hands as a sign of respect. So glad we shake hands in America! We were then instructed to sit down. They set up a table for us...oh the comforts you get for being a guest. Then the dancing began. They moved our chairs and table (we were the only ones with a table) closer to the dance ground. Later Jessie, Calita, and I danced. All eyes on us. Everybody clapped and laughed and cheered. It was fun. We left shortly before dusk, and I took a bucket bath. How refreshing! I love bathing outside! That evening, we went back over to her host family, and Calita made tea.
On Saturday, I went home in an 18 wheeler. I was chatting away. We got to a stop point, and then Daoh (sp?) the driver said something along the lines of night visit 30 minutes. I said, 30 minutes? Then he said 15 minutes...umm I don't like the sound of that....I ended up getting his number but I didn't give him mine. When I was dismounting from the truck, he was like, wait I don't have your number! I told him it was okay because I have his.
The new volunteer is coming today:) The volunteers from Madagascar were evacuated, so PC Mali got 5 new volunteers. It's always exciting welcoming new people!
There was a little girl (about 5 years old) who had this baby on her back. I let her be a kid for a bit and held the baby while she played with the other kids.
During fetes, Malians from the same concessions (umm i'll use the word cul-de-sac real loosely) wear the same fabric.
All smiles!
Everybody leaving Calita's concession
The line to the party
kids hanging around our Tubab table
Calita and her homologue at the table
Let the dancing begin!
I'll try to upload videos later. Videos are really slow!!!
1 comment:
Love all the pics! No more rides in 18 wheelers--PLEASE!
Love,
your anxious American mother
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