Holiday Season One Year Later

With Aunt Pam and Mom in front of the Sacre Coeur Basilica

On this day last year, I sat in a Baptist Missionary guesthouse in Bamako listening to Christmas music, reflecting, and writing a blog entry about the past month full of holidays.  One year later, the setting is different (I’m cuddling on the couch in Indiana with our puppy, Echo), the subject matter has evolved to an extent, but the soundtrack is the same!  Much has changed in the past year, and I am thankful for all of the experiences I’ve had and the many interesting people who have come into my life in Mali, the US, and in between!

After a great week in Paris with my mom and my aunt, I have finally reached Indiana, where I will stay for the upcoming holidays.  The 8 hour flight from Paris to New York seemed like a breeze compared to the “hop” from NYC to Indy- a two hour flight in a small plane that seemed like it took an eternity!  Return greetings were sweet- from my dad, my visiting brother, Abe, a younger brother, Griffin, and the 1 year old puppy I got to meet for the first time!  Dinner at Chief’s was delicious, as always, and it felt great to be home!  The rest of the night was a blur of fun as friends came out to “my” bar (it’s called “Moore’s Bar”) with a banner and a lot of energy to welcome me back. 

Kendi and Anna made me a banner!  So sweet!

The whole week was a busy one- visiting with all 3 brothers who came home for Thanksgiving, seeing my grandmother and other family, running around in Greencastle and Indianapolis, seeing loads of friends that I haven’t seen in ages, and just roaming around Greencastle to take in the changes (certainly no huge ones) that have taken place in the past 14 months.  I really enjoyed all of the reunions and activity that took place last week, but it is nice to settle down a little now and take care of “business.”  This week means 4 doctor’s appointments in 5 days.  It means lots of bonding time at home with Echo, and lots of time to spend organizing my room… though that is taking place little by little.  If you’re around Indiana this week or in the coming weeks, please drop me a line- I’d love to get coffee or visit with you!

Happy to be reunited with 2 of my bros- Griffin and Abe

Of course, Mali is never far from my mind as I consider the things I’m thankful for.  Just this morning I got a sweet e-mail from my good friend, Yaya.  I also was sure to facebook stalk all of the Thanksgiving photos from Bamako and sad to miss the birthday of a fabulous Brazilian friend!  Aside from celebrations in Bamako, the past week has been eventful in Mali in another way.  Last week, in two separate acts, 5 expatriates from Europe were taken hostage in the north of Mali, and a German man was killed as he resisted attackers.  I am including several articles explaining things further, but at this point, there are still many questions.  My reactions are as follows:  1- I am thankful that all of my friends and 'connaissances' in Mali are safe.  Those in Bamako report few changes, and that is a good thing.  2- My thoughts go out to the relatives of the tourists from Timbuktu.  3- I realize how little I know about things going on in Northern Mali and about the politics between Mali and France.  The 4th link at the bottom of this post gets into these issues… with so many actors and so many shifting allegiances, it is hard for me to keep things straight.  4- I feel for the country of Mali and for Peace Corps Mali, more specifically.  I know that in light of recent events, already low tourism levels will sag even further, straining the livelihoods of many artists, guides, etc.  And, I worry about the fate of Peace Corps Mali- already restricted to a small part of the country, but still one of the largest groups of volunteers in West Africa.  This program has introduced me to a lot of great people in Mali, and I know that the last thing these volunteers want is to see Mali closed to such a program.  

Articles:

1- http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/officials-witnesses-german-tourist-killed-dutch-safrican-swede-taken-hostage-in-mali/2011/11/26/gIQAC37myN_story.html

2- http://www.expatica.com/nl/news/dutch-news/tourists-evacuated-from-timbuktu-after-mali-kidnappings_191324.html

3- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15877709

4- http://thewasat.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/kidnapped-europeans-aqim-and-shady-dealings-in-northern-mali/

I encourage you all to read the articles above, but also to consult the map of Mali in the picture I’ve included.  Please notice that Timbuktu and Hombori are both far from where I live in Bamako.  Similar events are not likely to take place where I live.  My aim is not to alarm friends and family, but rather to share this information and draw attention to how complicated things have become in Northern Mali.  This is another reminder of how thankful I should be about my safety abroad and the lifestyle I am able to lead- both in Bamako and in Indiana. 

Reasons to Give Thanks

1. My bed- I had forgotten, in my absence, how comfortable my mattress is!  I have never been cozier than under my quilts in bed these past few nights.  I’m also pretty lucky that this nice mattress is in a warm, happy house! 
2. Movie stores- since I am pretty incapable of negotiating downloading sites, streaming video, or figuring out IP addresses, I love a good movie rental.  I am catching up on all of the “new” to me titles now that I’m back home near a Family Video.
3. SunKing Brewery- I know it is a little silly to be thankful for beer… but I am!  After a year of struggling to choose between Castel, Flag, and Beaufort, it’s great to be back in the land of plenty when it comes to brew varieties.  Last week, I got to go to a tasting at an Indianapolis brewery that is seriously on fire now!  The young business started by a couple of Abe’s brewing friends won 8 awards at the Great American Beer Festival and is quickly picking up followers in the Midwest and beyond (the alehouse in Denver where Abe works really wants their beer!).  Now it actually is hard to choose what to have when I’m in the store…  
4. The nice surveyors I met this morning on my dog walk- they didn’t mind when Echo bounded up and nearly knocked them over… all for a belly rub and some slobbery kisses.  I appreciate the general friendliness I often find around town.  I realized that in a big city I’d never be able to walk a rambunctious puppy on the street the way that I walked with Echo today.  Wide open spaces and minimal traffic aren’t always exciting, but they sure are nice to have when you’ve got a black furball straining at the other end of your leash…
5.  Welcome home banners- or dinners, or drinks, or hugs.  Whatever it is, the welcoming responses I’ve had over the past week have been really encouraging and made me feel good to be back in town.  After being a little apprehensive about what my return would really be like, I am more at ease knowing that people are pleased to see me.  It really doesn’t feel like I’ve even been gone!

Mali on the Move...

I am writing this post from somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.  Right now, all I can see out the window is a mattress of cotton-like clouds, but a few minutes ago, I think I saw a very frigid looking, ice crusted ocean.  To be honest, I haven’t been making much use of my window seat because it’s too bright outside and up until this point, I’ve really only been concerned with sleeping (and eating, of course).  I cannot believe that within a few hours I will be back in Indiana and ready to eat dinner at Chief’s with my family and friends!  A quick aside to just say that travel capabilities these days are pretty crazy!  For example, former president, Bill Clinton, recently visited my hometown, and the local newspaper reported that he had started his day in New York but was flying in from Chicago for the engagement.  I’m not sure where he was headed afterwards, but I have a feeling he wasn’t spending his Friday night in Greencastle… so that means he made it to a fourth city across the country somewhere- all in one day!  The fact that this is possible… or that I can go from Mali to France to Greencastle in a matter of hours is pretty insane.  While the physical change in location is quick and easy, it’s the mental change of place that is a little harder….

Dogon masks and art at Musee du Quai Branly

When I arrived in France a couple weeks ago, I was sad to have left Mali, but ready to be in a place where I didn’t have to show the tailor how to measure the curtains I wanted, only to have to have them re-made because he didn’t follow the measurements we’d hashed out together (for example).  But the grass always seems to be greener on the other side, right?  The same expression exists in France- it’s always greener in the neighbor’s lawn!  So, as I arrived in Paris, excited to see my friend, Elise, and enjoy small luxuries like sushi, reliable public transportation, and real shopping, I was also already missing Mali a bit.  I missed the fact that there, when you enter a room or even a bus, everyone greets you.  I missed practicing my Bambara and laughing with people in the market and was really dismayed by a frigid salesgirl at H&M.  And believe it or not, I even missed rice and sauce… but maybe that was just early nostalgia or something.  I think the biggest issue was that I didn’t feel at home in Paris the way I feel now in Mali (duh!), so when I found little tastes of West Africa tucked into the folds of the city, I considered them bright points in the day. 

For example, I spent a couple of afternoons looking at African Art in a museum setting.  The Musée Dapper has a great collection of Bambara and Dogon masks that I got to see in an exhibit celebrating Masquerades and Carnivals.  I found more Dogon works at the Musée du Quai Branly (as well as some interesting stuff from other parts of the continent, and a cool exhibit on Maori art and culture).  But, these wooden works just weren’t enough, so I set off to look for African cuisine in the 18^th arrondissement.  After walking around for quite a while, poking my head into a few wax print fabric shops (people- they had pagne selling for 80 euro!??!) and not really feeling especially excited about the excursion, I went into a supermarket in search of some water and peanuts to snack on.  There I met one Mr. Keita, a terice from the Korofina neighborhood of Bamako!  While looking sharp in a suit and preventing theft in the store, Mr. Keita seemed to be speaking Bambara, so as I passed through the check-out line with my snacks, I strained my ears for confirmation or what I hoped I was hearing.  “Haketo,” I ventured, “I be bamanankan fo?” (Excuse me—do you speak Bambara?).  “Eih!”  Was all the confirmation I needed to know that I had gotten it right!  We had a really pleasant chat and I left with a smile on my face and a restaurant destination in mind.

  

Peanut sauce- yum!

Serving up some Tiga Dege

Like most African restaurants, the place I found just around the corner using Mr. Keita’s directions didn’t have a single thing listed on the menu in the window, and the only option at the moment was thiebou djenne, the Senegalese version of fried rice that Malians call Zamé.  I took a pass and shared some peanuts with one of the cooks outside.  Then I stuck to the side streets and managed to find a little market section of the neighborhood.  I was really craving tiga dege (peanut sauce), so I decided I’d look for the ingredients and cook it myself.   I knew I was on the right track when I started to see women on the sidewalks selling veggies… Without the haggling excitement, interesting smells, or mud puddles of a Malian market, I found all of the ingredients I needed, and managed to purchase them from a Malian store owner.  Even in France, the African market seemed dominated by Chinese goods.  Chinese shopowners are well established (more so than in Mali, even), and most of the boutiques selling Maggi, yams, aubergines, dried okra, and the like were Chinese owned.  I think Chinese influence in Africa (and elsewhere) is a topic for another time… but here it’s enough to say that I was happy to find a Malian salesguy to sell me my cabbage and interested to note the Chinese presence in Africa away even from Africa…

I took my ingredients home to Elise’s and made a big pot full of tiga dege.  In an effort to spice things up a bit, I got a little eager with the foronton pepper, and made the sauce much spicier than Malian taste would allow… aside from that little kick, I felt quite proud of my cooking and sharing skills.  My sauce was better than the Ivorien mafé version I tasted later in my stay… but more on that later.  

Enjoying polser sausages with Cecilia

Dressed as Jewel and Velvet for "Bad Taste" party

Following my cooking experiment, I hopped a plane to Denmark to see my friend, Cecilia!  We met last spring in Bamako and now she’s sporting her chic wax print dresses back in Denmark where she is working on her master’s degree at the Copenhagen Business School.  It was so wonderful to see her and to get to learn about her city and her life away from Mali.  So often, I feel like people get to know one half of my life when I’m in Bamako (and vice versa), but without seeing them in “the real world” I feel like I miss out on other important and exciting things, so it was really cool to meet Cecilia’s friends and sister and to see her school, etc.  Though Denmark was cold, the bike rides, hot polser (sausages), and company made the trip more than worth it!  Though I didn’t see much African influence in Denmark (too cold for even a non- Nordic person, if you ask me!), I did get to have a great discussion about Africa, birth control, immigration, and more with Cecilia’s roommate, who is an old friend from school in Benin, where Cecilia lived during grade school.  Maybe the camaraderie and sense of community that I love so much in Mali manages to rub off on us expats who live there for a while and even survives a return to our home countries…

After sending Cecilia’s sister off to Bamako (with appropriately long skirts) and enjoying a taste of life in Copenhagen, I got back on a plane and returned to Paris.  I found my mom and my aunt in the airport, and we set out to take Paris by storm… after spending most of that Sunday catching up on sleep… In typical fashion, by the time we managed to get ourselves out of bed and ready to face the day, it was no longer day!  We found ourselves hungry and bored on a Sunday evening, which doesn’t leave you with a lot of options in Paris (where most everything is closed all day on Sunday).  We wandered several blocks south of our apartment and every possible food option in sight was closed.  Even one restaurant with a neon light flashing out front only served to trick us and get our hopes up.  Just as we were about to jump ship, turn around, and look for another street with possible dining options, we ran across a lively restaurant packed with diners.  And what do you know… it was West African!

With Elise getting excited to see Vieux!

After a look at the menu in the window (I know… risky), we decided it was our best option and found a free spot at the end of the only somewhat empty table.  We shared with a French guy and his beer, and managed to find out that there was yassa poulet, mafe poulet, capitaine, chicken wings, or lamb available for the evening.  I suggested the yassa (a sweeter onion/veggie filled sauce usually with a bit of lemon juice and mustard) or mafe (peanut sauce, with a different name) because I love both sauces and think they’re pretty universally appealing (no snotty okra sauce or fakouhy).  I ordered capitaine and aloko (fish and fried plantains) for myself, and we settled in to talk and enjoy the “ambiance.”  During the hour and a half we waited for our food (it was an African place after all- Ivorien to be exact), we made friends with some neighbors (photographers from Congo) and witnessed a failed little barroom brawl… and we got tired and grumpy and HUNGRY.  I’m sad to report that this was the one real fail of my African encounters in Europe… we finally got our food hours later, and it was bad.  Not just –ehh- it was BAD.  I could have made better mafe, yassa, and capitaine.  A sad foray into African food for my mom and aunt, I must say.  But they were good sports about the whole thing and we eventually ate something.  And hey- the aloko was great!

  

Jamming!

Sparkling smile

I think our next encounter with West Africa redeemed the sad food experience… On Monday night, we set out for a little local music venue to see none other than Vieux Farka Touré, Malian guitarist extraordinaire!  Son of deceased musician and Grammy winner, Ali Farka Touré, Vieux has really hit the big time recently and has recently collaborated with Dave Matthews on his new album.  Always one of my favorite artists to see in concert, Vieux did not disappoint his Monday night crowd!  The concert was amazing and even Mom and Aunt Pam were rocking towards the end.  We got the pleasure of hearing a couple of guest artists who jammed with Vieux for a song or two and really got a treat seeing him so up close and personal pretty far away from Mali!

African recycled art at Centre Georges Pompidou

During the rest of the week, we entered full tourism mode, and I was enjoying the Parisian side of Paris with my family.  However, that didn’t keep me from noticing little things that reminded me of Mali.  While visiting shops along the Champs Elysees on a Saturday afternoon, a wedding procession passed us- horns blaring, lights flashing, and camera man hanging out the window to capture it all.  What could be more reminiscent of a “Dimanche à Bamako?”  Perhaps the happy couple posing for photos in front of the obelesque monument at the Place de la Concorde?  J  Even the grocery by our apartment and the metro running closest to our house brought us into contact with Africans living in Paris.  I had a wonderful conversation with 2 former Bamakois on the Line 7 about malaria, research, and my Bambara skills (or lack thereof).  There’s just something nice about exchanging blessings and having a friendly conversation on public transport that made me feel more at home and more comfortable in Paris. 

I came home with a suitcase that looked suspiciously like these

As we approach New York City and my return to US soil for the first time in almost 14 months, I am filled with excitement and anxiety about my return home.  I can’t wait to see my dad and brother(s) at the airport, I have been mentally planning my dinner at Chief’s for the past several days, and I don’t care how long I’ve been up, I plan to drink some real American beer tonight with some of my best friends that I haven’t seen in ages!  But, I know that it will be harder for me to find those little slivers of Mali and Africa in Greencastle that I enjoy so much.  I know I won’t have Cecilia or another friend from Mali to reminisce with.  And I feel like this other very important half of my life might be hard to integrate with my “other life” in Mali.  I am lucky that I will have many great friends to welcome me home and keep me busy over the next month or two and that I am coming home to a small community where there is a sense of neighborliness and friendliness (mostly).  Plus, I only have to hold out for so long for another real taste of Mali, with my return to Bamako tentatively planned for January.  However, I apologize in advance for the amount of talking, reminiscing, and comparing I will almost certainly do when it comes to Mali.  I look forward to catching up with everyone I’ve missed, but I know I’ll also be trying to meld my Mali experiences with my Indiana life and I’ll always be on the lookout for any of those characteristics or traits that make me feel more at “home,” even in my own hometown.  

La Vie à Paris

Life in Paris…. Is quite different from life in Bamako !  I arrived in Paris one week ago today, and I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on some of the things I am still getting used to… in list form:

Evening snack and drink on the river with Elise

1.  Public transportation: A bit of a stranger to public transport as it is (it doesn’t exist in Greencastle, or really in Indiana for that matter), it always takes me a while to get used to taking the metro or bus around town in a new city.  There is something about taking the metro that makes me feel special and fancy- quite important, even.  This past week on the metro, I have done a lot of people watching.  I’ve seen children traveling alone or with parents or babysitters, people with dogs, people with strollers and suitcases, fancy Parisian women and hipster teenagers.  When you think about it, it’s not so different from taking  a Sotrama in Bamako… full of people, sometimes with animals, often with children and things to carry…. But I guess the similarities kind of end there….
2. Being anonymous: This was something I was really looking forward to by the time I left Mali.  I was excited about the idea of walking into a café and getting a coffee without being stared at or approached.  Of course, sometimes it’s fun and to my benefit to receive special attention in Bamako, but sometimes it’s nice to feel like I’m just one of the crowd and to be able to blend in and relax in a public place. 
3. The cold:  It’s November in Paris… need I say more?  I have a lightweight jacket that I bought in Bamako (for 1,000cfa or about $2) and a couple pairs of tennis shoes, but I am really helplessly underprepared for the weather here.  I feel like a frumpy American in my Chuck Taylors and wish I had found more sweaters and pants at the American garage sale (where I bought almost all of the clothes I brought here with me)
4. Prices: I am really suffering from sticker shock here.  I think this is understandable for most travelers to Paris, since it is a big city and one of the most expensive in Europe.  However, coming from a place where I pay 50cents for a meal and $2 for a coat, it’s hard to get used to the idea of spending 4euro for a coffee or 10-15 euro for a cheap t-shirt.  I’m sure this will get easier with time, but it’s an adjustment for sure. 

I might be missing Mali already, but I found Mali in Paris at the
Branly museum!

Things I’ve been missing already:

1.  Malian hospitality:  When I arrived in Paris last Tuesday, I had 2 backpacks, a 50 pound plastic bag “suitcase,” a tote bag, and a painting to carry from the airport to my friend’s apartment on my own.  It took a couple hours, a train, and a few metro changes to get there.  By the end of the journey, my hands hurt from carrying the bags, I was sweating despite the autumn chill in the air, and I was ready to cry if I saw another set of stairs to conquer.  It was finally at this point that 2 girls my age took pity on me and carried my 50lb bag up a set of stairs and on and off a metro for me- between the two of them.  But… they were Spanish!  They sympathized with me because they, too, knew what it was like to move and to essentially carry a year of your life (or more) on your back.  I  was giving up hope entirely on finding any French hospitality when I found it at my last metro exchange… A young French guy getting off at my stop saw me struggling on the stairs- leaving one bag at the bottom while I carried others to the top and then came back for the rest.  He struggled with my Malian “suitcase” up the stairs and down the street while I searched for Elise’s apartment.  When he came back an hour later and found me sitting in a café because I couldn’t reach Elise, he gave me his phone number and told me to call if I didn’t have luck reaching my friend.  Thanks, Antony, for boosting my spirits and restoring my confidence in French hospitality.
2. The sun:  Though Paris is a beautiful city, it hasn’t been quite as lovely this past week because the sun has not been shining.  Maybe when my mom and aunt arrive, they will bring the sun with them. 
3. Rice and sauce:  Is it possible?  I never thought I would miss eating rice and sauce day in and day out, but I do miss a good tiga dege!  My mission today is to find a great place to get one in Paris…

Things I’m loving… not a comprehensive list, of course:

With Rajai in the main square of Le Mans

1. Seeing old friends- It has been wonderful to catch up with Elise, a friend from high school when she came to Greencastle as an exchange student.  She has offered me a place to stay, entertained me, taken me out with her friends, cooked me dinner, and organized a trip with her mother and friends to tour one of the biggest cathedrals in Europe!  What a wonderful hostess and a fun person to be with!  Rajai traveled to meet me, as well, and we spent a wonderful day together exploring Le Mans.  He surprised me by taking me to a Dogon art exhibit (they live in Northern/Eastern Mali) and we had a lot of fun catching up and wandering through the old part of town- a medieval section that actually appears in a lot of films!
2. Good coffee:  This one is pretty self explanatory.  It may be 4 euros a cup, but it’s warm and delicious… and not Nescafe! 
3. The park Buttes Chaumont:  The biggest park in Paris is just a few blocks from where I’m staying!  It is a gorgeous hilly park with a waterfall, a temple look out point with a great view, and lots of trees and fall colors (not like Indiana, but beautiful in its own right).  I have had the chance to run there a couple of mornings this past week and it is just great to see other joggers, couples walking, kids on field trips, and people with their dogs! 
4. Cheese: I looooove cheese, and it’s so much cheaper here than in Bamako!  I even ate some for breakfast this morning…
5. Late afternoon drinks:  Most days that I’ve been here, Elise and I have bought beers and peanuts around 4 or 5 and found a place to sit and have a drink outside for an hour or so.  It’s such a nice way to relax and do a little people watching and catch up after a long day.  While the pace of life is faster here than in Mali, I find that there are still nice periods of relaxation built into the day for most people!

I hope my lists don’t obscure the fact that I am really enjoying myself.  I have already visited a couple of places outside of Paris (Le Mans and the Chartres Cathedral) and made my way to several museums (Le Musée de quai Branly, Musée Dapper, and an outdoor photo exhibit) and relaxed with coffees and beers at cafés in the late afternoon.  I am having a great time visiting with my friend, Elise, and really appreciate all of her hospitality!  I’m looking forward to more new experiences as I visit Denmark and see my friend, Cecilia, for a couple of days and then as I share Paris with my mom and my aunt next week!  Look for more updates soon!

 

Inside the cathedral

Cathedral de Chartres

Find more photos from my trip here: https://picasaweb.google.com/104987570167325122204/November2011