Hot Season
Imagine waking up at 6AM every day because there is sweat permanently dripping off of your nose and down your face. It is already 80 degrees. Imagine putting on as little clothes as you possibly can, while still covering your knees, of course, and sweating out a liter of water on your 5 minute walk to the CSCOM because the heat is so intense. Imagine sitting under the mango tree around noon and not feeling refreshed by the "cool", 90 degree breeze that hits you like a blowdryer blast straight to the face. Imagine not leaving the shade of the mango tree until after the 100 degree afternoon heat wave is over and you can take your 5PM bucket bath in the cool sunset temperature of 90. Then, imagine cooking dinner in your mud hut/oven with the black plastic lined the thatch roof and sweating into all of your food. Finally, imagine sleeping outside in your bug hut because it is too sweltering inside, only to have to move inside around 3AM when the insane dust and sprinkle of rain storm comes. Imagine this is your daily life with no air conditioning, no fans, no electricity, no ice, and therefore, no cold beverages. Welcome to hot season in Mali - this is my life for the next 3 months.
Wedding Season
Despite the crazy heat, it is also wedding season here in Mali. A typical wedding day includes waking up at the first call to prayer to get the bride ready for "her day" - this includes slathering her face with makeup and jewels, slicking her hair back with gel, and trying to keep her white dress clean among all of the dust and dirt that flies around every minute. After drinking tea and talking all morning with the hundreds, literally hundreds of guests who have come in for the occasion, the bride and groom are then shuffled to the sweltering Mayor's office. There, they, along with their two witnesses, sign papers to make their marriage official, and are read their marital rights (such as the man's ability to take up to four wives and the woman's duty to basically serve her husband daily). Then, it is lunch time, and everyone sits on the ground, does not wash their hands with soap, and eats with their hands out of the communal bowl. After, the bride and groom are paraded around the village to take pictures with everyone, and as the sun goes down, the djembe band starts and does not stop until around 4AM. Weddings happen every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and they do not stop for temperatures that exceed 100 degrees. They can be really exciting, but when there are 10 weddings in just my village in one day, they can be a little overwhelming.
Senegal
Imagine coming back to this wedding filled, dust filled, landlocked, Sahelian country after vacationing on the BEACH in a magical land called Dakar. I lounged by a pool, went to the beach, ate PIZZA and GOOD VEGGIES, and drank tequila sunrises in the mornings. None of the these things are available in Mali, and it was a hard adjustment back to my Peace Corps, not Beach Corps, reality. It was a much needed vacation, and even though Mali is not in it's finest season right now, it is still nice to be back because...
Projects are starting!
My grant money came through, and we will be beginning the construction of my vaccination hangar on Monday! Because of the political struggle in the Ivory Coast right now, the prices of materials increased and we had to downsize our project at the last minute - but, the builders still gave us a good price, and the project should begin and finish ideally in the next 3 weeks! After the hangar is built, we will have our own separate building to give vaccinations in, instead of crowding in front of the pharmacy and making women and babies sit on the ground before they receive their shots. We will also start weighing babies and giving talks on healthy lifestyle habits, which my homologue is very motivated about. (She loves to talk about hand washing with soap and water! She is amazing). I feel fortunate that my village is so motivated to develop more! And, now that my language is finally at an advanced level, I can sit down and really talk to people for hours and hours - they can voice their concerns and goals, and I can actually understand them. It makes the hot, dusty days pass by that much faster!
And, I am turning 25!
How will I be celebrating? Well, my Chef de Poste (who is now actually a friend, not a problem!) helped me plan out my birthday party itinerary with a pricing guide. That's right - for my 25th birthday, I am staying in village and throwing myself a village-wide party. In the morning, we will drink tea and talk. Then, my friend is selling me his sheep and I will kill it! I will then give the knife to the men to do the skinning and meat cutting, and my homologue will take the meat back to her women's group so that they can cook us my favorite Malian meal for lunch - tige dega na. (It is rice with peanut butter sauce, and it is SO GOOD). Finally, in the afternoon, the village band comes and we will dance until someone brings us dinner! Everyone is really excited, and my homologue even bought us matching fabric for the occasion.
Despite the heat, dust, and constant carb load of foods, I could not be more satisfied with my life right now. I finally feel at home here, and I am so happy to be spending my birthday with the 8,000 people in the country who care about me the most. Even though the days make me miserable because of the dust and heat, I am still the most satisfied that I have ever been, this close to my birthday. There will be no quarter-life crisis for me this year!
