'There's No Place Like Home' or 'Change is Good'

It has been so long since I offered an update on things here in Bamako.  Honestly, the time seems to have flown and crept by at the same time!  It is hard to believe that I am 4 ½ months through a 10 month grant!  A lot has happened since I last posted, and I feel as though I find myself now in a period of change.  I hope this post will give a bit of an overall update on the months that have passed since I last blogged. 

Happy New Year from Siby! Love, Ryan, Sonja, Gaelle, Bodil,
Zak, Alys, and George

Many changes have taken place since Decemeber… first and foremost: I have a new home!  As some of you know, after a long and arduous search, I found a lovely little apartment right at the end of 2010.  I have been waiting to write a blog post about the apartment hunt until I had a positive outcome, and now I do!!  The road was long—I saw places that were missing toilets, that involved entrances of rickety stairs leading to the street, that were furnished with plastic chairs and tables yet twice my budget!  Despite precise descriptions of preferred locations and neighborhoods, I saw places in probably a 20 mile radius.  I made a list of agents I used during my search and came up with no less than nine numbers saved in my phone.  And those are just the guys I called!  But after many disappointments (and photos to prove it), I found set of brand new buildings with 16 plausible apartments to choose from. 

A view of the salon in my new home!

My favorite and most receptive agent, Keita, found the place with the help of a friend, and it responded to all my criteria- 1-2 bedrooms, living room, bathroom, kitchen (i.e. a room with a  sink), and it even had extras- a patio, potentially a balcony, and a spacious kitchen (with a satisfactory sink).  I grew excited and realized that the most difficult part of the decision might just be choosing which unit I preferred!  I returned a day later with Bodil for a second opinion, and chose one of the corner apartments with spacious rooms.  The next day I discovered that the price I had been quoted did not match the current asking price.  Following a brief meeting with the building owner, the price had almost doubled overnight!  I was outraged and convinced that he had taken one look at me and decided I could pay more than the 60,000/month (About $130) he was asking.  I decided that the apartment wasn’t even totally finished, this guy must be a jerk, and I would look elsewhere—on principle.  But, after another fruitless week, some seriously whiney frustrated phone calls to my agent, two more visits to the same apartment building with different agents, and a nice conversation with the wife of a fellow Fulbrighter, I decided to take the place.

At my housewarming party with my Malian parents
and sister Bibi

The apartment I had originally “picked” had by this time been reserved by a French man, so I ‘settled’ for my second choice… though in retrospect, I feel I really got the better deal.  I now have a delightful little place with a terrace and balcony, cheery yellow walls, and a slowly developing interior ‘design’ scheme.  After installing most of the furniture, getting cushions made for my couch, and having curtains hung on my doors and windows, I eagerly invited friends and family to show the place off.  The housewarming party was a big hit, and I packed more people on the terrace than a firemarshal would have liked.  Even my Malian parents made an appearance at the soirée!!  Mali has always felt enough like home to me.  I am comfortable here, though sometimes it is a shock to remember that I actually live here- it’s not just that I’m on vacation or visiting friends.  This apartment has helped me remember that over and over again- as I wait for internet installation, or curtain hangers, or look for refrigerators, or try to furnish a seldom used second bedroom (hint hint—I love guests!!)- I really am “home.”

The change in location has been a big one for me, even though I didn’t move too far from my old stomping grounds.  Along with the change in scenery, I have felt like January into February have been major times of change for me in Mali.  The end of the string of holidays has meant I have not been quite as constantly social with other ex-pat friends, and the reality of life is sinking in even more acutely.  Things are “back to normal,” if you will, though for me, trying to describe a “normal” day is difficult.

I think this new year is going to bring with it plenty of new experiences, and I am trying to open myself to all of these- positive and negative.  I have already been getting out of Bamako a bit by ringing in 2011with friends on a mountain in Siby, going to a world class music festival in Segou, and spending more and more time in Banankoro.  I am looking forward to a potential trip to Burkina Faso, some trips around Mali, and maybe a vacation trip or visit from loved ones in the coming months.

Observing at a prenatal care day in Banankoro with
Salif (a community health worker), Doumbia- the head nurse,
and Bintou, a nurse's aide 

One of the biggest recent changes involves my work.  I have spent the last four+ months meeting with my advisor, working on creating a study protocol in English and in French, meeting with different experts in the fields of public health and development, and inquisitively observing in Banankoro once a week or so.  Though this is not particularly taxing (trust me… I have fallen quickly and easily into a routine that would shock most of you.  I am pretty good at doing nothing most of the time…. ), I have not been satisfied with the way my scholarly efforts here have unfolded.  I have done some goal adjustment and tried to remind myself that we constantly have to redefine our objectives, especially when it comes to field studies.  I have also tried to convince myself that I am learning every day whether it happens formally or not, and maybe learning how to pay my electric bill in Africa is an important part of this stage in my life… but I can’t convince myself that the Fulbright committee would see it that way.  To put it simply, I have been a combination of lazy and frustrated about the fact that I am not doing what I came here to do!  And in fact, as I wait and the time drags on, I have come to doubt the very goals that I arrived with so enthusiastically several months ago.

However, some of these things are beginning to change.  Frustrations about not being able to conduct interviews turned last week to frustration with the sheer volume of interviews I tried to conduct in one day!  I have finally turned a corner by really starting my project!  In the past 2 months since the new year, I have been doing more of the waiting game, but this time with some permission to start preliminary interviews.  I found a fabulous research assistant, thanks to the suggestion of a fellow Fulbrighter and friend.  Binta is a young wife and mother trained in Socy/Anth who has more experience conducting field studies and interviews than I do!  She has worked on anti-excision campaigns, and other projects evaluating women’s group projects and health initiatives in Mali!  Last week, we traveled together to Banankoro first for introductions and later to begin work!        

The stage on the river at the music festival in Segou

So to date, I have conducted 6 interviews in 2 days!  Given the way my research crept along the first time I was here in 2009, I was pretty psyched about getting 5 interviews on day one!  I think that there will only be more discussions to come, and already my appetite is whetted by some of the first responses I got from women who have participated in the prenatal education program and are expecting or celebrating the births of children.  A goal for today is revising questionnaires to include even juicier questions about pregnancy and preparation for child birth here in Mali.  These changes certainly will be good ones!

Bumper cars on Valentine's Day

Honestly, many lovely moments have passed since I last wrote an update in December.  I have enjoyed many memorable and delicious meals with friends, heard beautiful music along the riverside in Segou, enjoyed the moonlight on a clear night in Bamako, reveled in a view of the city from the university perched on top of a hill near my house, sweated and smiled in an African dance class, been the first to hold two new babies that I helped deliver, gone on my first Valentine’s Day date, and enjoyed the atmosphere from the balcony of my new home with a book and a beer.  Despite the difficulty that I am having making a big change and getting back into the swing of doing work, I am reminded that all of these lovely moments have come about through moments of change: celebrating the arrival or departure of a friend, taking a trip and changing the scenery, joining a new class and trying a new activity, deepening a relationship- small or large, they all mark moments of transition.

Proudly holding a healthy baby boy that I helped deliver!

To get even more introspective, I could share with you that I am also sensing and anticipating the change that is taking place more generally in my life during these months that I spend in Mali.  I am beginning to ask myself (for better or for worse… ) what comes next.  When I start to really completely freak myself out by wondering where I’ll be in a year or even in 6 months, I try my best to remind myself (and often to convince myself)… Change is good!  My dear friend, Bodil, left Mali at the first of February to return to her home and teaching commitments in Europe.  We spent a lot of time the day of her departure discussing the changes she was going to have to make in her lifestyle in order to return to a routine back at home.  At that moment, it took a little convincing, but we decided that many of the changes would be good ones- regular hot showers, the availability of sushi, the ease of doing things like grocery shopping, the proximity to family, etc.  When I dropped Bodil off at the airport, I gave her a card that said on the front, “There’s no place like home.”  (Yes, I still love the Wizard of Oz… ).  I think that Bodil (and maybe even me at this point) has found a second home here in Mali.  No matter what changes she makes in her location, Mali will always be with her because she is home when she is here.  Maybe just changing the way we think about home is important and really ties these two thoughts together for me.   

I really began to feel the winds of change the night that Bodil left, and I think her departure really impressed upon me the fact that change is good.  And even if not, it’s not irreversible… she’ll  be back in June!  J   


*To see more recent photos, visit https://picasaweb.google.com/alysmmoore