Antics in the States

I came back to Tennesse on February 22nd, thinking I’d be home for two weeks to see my Mom and take care of her after Ed’s sudden death. It’s now April 10th and I’m still here!!! Never thought that would happen. Even though I’m working on getting back to Mali, it’s a slow process. Here’s an idea of what I’ve been up to…

I took my Mom to see Alan Jackson (the other love of her life) at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and then we went to the Melting Pot and had chocolate fondue.

Mom standing with an Alan Jackson cardboard cutout.

Mom and I standing infront of the Grand Ole Opry House.

Alan Jackson's live performance. He sang our favorite song, "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere."

After the Opry I introduced my Mom to the amazingness that is the Melting Pot. Chocolate fondue never tasted so good.

Then, Jose invited me to Tampa, FL to visit him and see his home. It just happened to be a birthday gift. Oh, and did I mention he took me to DISNEY WORLD??? We had a blast!

Mickey Mouse! Alright, true, I am 23. But it was my first time seeing him!

Pooh, Jose, Eeyore, Me, and Tigger. Come on, how cute are we?

If you don't know my addiction to these penny machine, come on vacation with me! I was thrilled when I saw them. This was in Morocco at Epcot.

Jose and I at the end of the day at Epcot. We were waiting for the fireworks show.

Good ole' American food at Magic Kingdom. Ever eat a turkey leg? It was tasty.

Amazing fireworks show at Magic Kingdom. This picture couldn't have come out better. I can't wait to go back!

And then my sister came home for a week on vacation just to chill and hang out.

Me, Mom and Beth.

Beth, aka Dr. Dolittle, calling all the dogs and giving them treats.

Moose thinking it's a good idea to bite Mom's hand off. Just joking, she was acting!

What’s next to come? Hopefully a return to Mali before I eat any more bad-for-me American food!

Tribute to a Great Man

Ed driving the boat we rented on Tim's Ford Lake, near our home in Tennessee.

On February 11, 2007 – while Jose and I were vacationing in Timbuktu – my Mom called me with tragic news that Ed, her fiancé and the love of her life, was killed in an accident. I was so far away and felt terrible that I wasn’t there to console her. Ed had just taken a job with a company where he was on the road driving a truck/tractor trailer across the country. He was on his way home for a Valentine’s Day surprise when the accident occurred in West Virginia.

Even though I wasn’t home to console my Mom, my brother and sister and other friends and family were able to pick up where I couldn’t, and see my Mom through this tough time. They were fabulous. Flowers and cards were sent, everyone who could come did, and despite the circumstances, everything was under control. Thanks to all of you who were there and who sent your condolences.

I just want everyone to know how important Ed was, not only for my Mom, but for me and our family. We had some really great times with him and he was a very supportive father for me. He supported me in DC at school and in my decisions to move across the world to help others. Most importantly, he loved and cared about us.

Here’s just a small tribute to you, Ed. We miss you and love you.

Ed and Mom at her 50th birthday party.

Me, Mom, Ed and our waiter on our Carribbean cruise.

The funeral was held in Tennessee on February 16, 2007. May you rest in peace.

Gorgeous floral heart from my brother, sister and I. Included is a photo of my Mom and Ed from one of their cruises together.

Mali Country Tour Begins - First Stop: Sikasso

As we know, Mali is a pretty big country. The CIA World Factbook puts it at 1.24 million square kilometers. Just to compare that, we're looking at a little bit less than 2 Texas'. So, it's a pretty big area. Only about 2/3 of it is actually travelable because of all north of Timbuktu and Kidal regions being desert. So, when I came to find out that within the span of a month and a half, I'd be able to see just about all of that 2/3s, I was exstatic.

It all started out in Bamako for IST. I still haven't taken any pictures of Bamako, but maybe sometime in the distant future I will. But after IST, my sector mates and I took a fieldtrip down to Sikasso region - on the border with Burkina Faso and Cote d'Ivoire - to visit some tourist sites and see how they run their operations down there. It was pretty cool, I've got to say. Here are a couple highlights.

Map of Mali - The red represents the region of Sikasso.

The Waterfalls at Woroni - Woroni is a really small Senefo village but because of the beautiful waterfalls there, Peace Corps helped to get funding to build a small campement (motel type establishment) for tourists and to help Woroni generate some income for the community. I'm planning on celebrating my first birthday in Mali here.

The Doors to the Sudan - Situated on the old road that connected Cote d'Ivoire to Mali and to the Sudan (not the country), these rock formations are called the Doors to the Sudan. They almost arc over the road and are pretty impressive.

After Sikasso I headed up to Koutiala for a couple of days to visit Andreea, Merv and Greg. Admittedly, there's not that much going on in Koutiala to take photos of. However, I will be returning and will most definitely find something to prove I was there. Koutiala is the cotton capital of Mali and it's a pretty big city with over 100,000 people. Other than waiting at the bus stop for 7 hours, I was pleased with my stay there and even more pleased with the hospitality of my friends.

Next Adventure - Jose's vacation in Mali - Stops to include Timbuktu, Gourma Elephant Reserve, Dogon Country, Mopti and Djenne. Stay tuned for more from Sara's Malian Tour.

IST and Mud Wrestling

I’ve finally returned from Bamako and In Service Training. It was a really great time! Not only seeing friends and reconnecting and learning a lot of stuff, it was nice to get away from Mali and get back to Americaland – which is what we call our training center. I weighed myself at the medical office the first day I was in town and was pleasantly surprised to see that I lost 30 lbs. I didn’t think it was that much, but it was. However, after eating two full and hearty meals a day, I gained probably 7 of it back. Not to worry, hot season is rapidly approaching and I have a feeling I’ll lose another 20, at least.

Anyway, in addition to learning lots, my friends Josh and Cara thought it would be a good idea to build a mud wrestling pit. We needed an excuse to bond more and this certainly turned out to be a good one. I don’t even need to say how awesome it was because the pictures included will prove it.

Action shot of Greg taking Aaron down. The mud splatter on the crowd was awesome!

Me and Merv, my first competitor. Yeah, I took her down pretty quickly as she screamed, "Damn, you're strong!"

Me, pretty pleased with my work thus far. This is Kyle next to me who wrestled in college. Yeah, he was hardcore all day long.

Group shot with everyone super muddy. Merv and I apparently hadn't had enough because we started fighting again.

But here's a real group shot where we all managed to look "normal." Don't worry, the wrestling continued after this too. It's never over with us Beluschi's!

There's talk about a gravy wrestling tournament coming up using all the gravy packets that come in care packages. I never thought I'd say this, but I really hope I'm around for it.

My Thoughts of the Eve of the New Year

Well, it’s New Year’s Eve and even though this will get posted after that, I thought it was important to share my thoughts on how I’m feeling tonight. I’m 22 years old, and I’ve been in Africa doing volunteer work for 5 months now. In the past 8 months, I’ve graduated from a great University, taken two amazing vacations, had my wisdom teeth pulled out, and been invited to join the Peace Corps in Mali. Needless to say, I have a lot to be thankful for today. Pretty much everyday that I’m here I wonder if it’s the right thing to be doing. In my heart I know it is, but on the surface, things look so different. I could be in Washington D.C. or some other American city pursuing my Graduate Degree and partying every weekend and experiencing my 20’s “like they should be,” but instead I’m here. I’m jealous of all of my college friends doing the former – but let’s face it, I’ve never been one for doing things the easy way and I’m certainly not going to try to take the easy road in life.

That said, I have to wonder what sort of resolutions I can have on a night that I’m passing in rural Africa. I’ve already given up everything familiar to me by coming here, and it’s been a great experience so far, so I guess I can only look toward things to enhance my life while I’m here. Here’s a list, albeit short, of my 2007 New Year’s Resolutions:

-Study more Fulfulde and actually learn the language – this includes spending more time practicing with people instead of sitting in my room reading.
-Read 1 book every 2 weeks – at least.
-Think less about American “artificial” food.
-Explore Douentza and the Falaise more – do more hiking.

A Bad Day to be a Sheep

Sweet and happy sheep, before 9 AM. We didn't kill them all, don't worry!

***Warning: Photos for Tabaski are BLOODY. Don't say I didn't warn you***

Tabaski has finally arrived. As part of my countdown until I get to Bamako, I'm really excited! Tabaski, which takes place 70 days after the Ramadan fete in the Muslim religion is celebrated here on December 30th, or 31st, depending on where you live. The reason for this is that when the moon was seen in Bamako for Ramadan, some of the people living in brussey villages didn’t believe the religious authorities and waited to either see it themselves or for another brussey village to see it. Therefore, the bigger towns/cities celebrate when Bamako celebrates, and the brussey villages celebrate together. This year, Bamako – and Douentza – celebrated December 30th. Basically, it’s the day to slaughter lots of sheep and feast – at least that’s what it is here in a “Muslim lite” country.

In preparation for the fete, my djatigi’s family bought and fattened up 7 sheep. All of the men went to the mosque this morning at 9 and promptly came home to slaughter the mutton. I missed the first one because I wasn’t paying attention, but lined up in time to get the whole thing on film. Yeah, a little gross I know, but I’m integrating into the culture here and I needed proof of my integration! It was pretty sad and the first time I’ve ever seen anything killed like that. I won’t go into details, and if you want the video, just ask. So, we decided to slaughter 4 today and then have a repeat tomorrow and do the other 3.

The process of killing the sheep is to cut its throat and let all the blood run. This was sheep #1.

Unfortunate sheep #2.

So, after they were all killed, the skinning started. That was odd just because I’ve never seen it before. They’ll use the skins after they’re dried and cleaned for prayer mats.

The skinning process of one of the four sheeps. It takes awhile, but the kids are eager to help out. Unfortunately, I don't think they washed their hands before eating.

Then came time for gutting them, which was pretty gross. I got to see everything that a mammal is made of – the stomach, intestines, kidneys, liver, etc. – and hoped that one of those pieces wouldn’t be put on my plate later.

Thanks to Adama for posing and holding the sheep open while it's insides are removed. This photo is the reason that people are vegetarian.

I didn’t know how much 4 sheep would yield, but good God there was a lot of meat. Then a grill area was built and the grilling began, while the women added some of the meat to the lunchtime meal. It’ll take all day for the meat to grill and so I assume tonight it will eaten by someone. The nice thing about the communal style of living is that we’re not going to eat it all today. The family will portion it off and deliver it to less fortunate family members, acquaintances and friends. So, it’s a pretty good system.

So, like on Ramadan the afternoon and evening and the next two days will bring little kids dressed in the best, new and clean outfits coming around to all the concessions and singing or dancing a little bit in hopes of getting some candy or small coins. I played into this on Ramadan, but for each kid that calls me a Toubab, I’m actually going to take money from them. We’ll see how that works.

Happy New Year!

A Very Dogon Christmas

4 days of happiness and fun leads to a long entry – be prepared!

Christmas in Sangha – Well, let’s just say that Christmas in Sangha was perhaps the most necessary and amazing thing that has happened in months. I knew I was getting giddy before we even left, but I didn’t know how great it would be to meet other volunteers and party our asses off together. Lots of people came from all around the country and the group was just the right size. We squeezed 22 into the bachee which was crazy and scary and made our way on the journey. The road from Sevare to Bandiagarra wasn’t bad, but then from Bandiagarra to Sangha was long, bumpy, motion sickness filled and I probably could have done without it. But, finally after a slow 40 km, we finally arrived in Sangha to see all the Dogon’s in their Dogon greatness.

The first day there we got settled into the Mission Houses – basically, Sangha has been a Protestant mission settlement for awhile and there have been missionaries living there forever. So, the houses are pretty nice. We ate some lunch and chilled but got ready to go on our first walk. Now, I don’t remember the names of the villages we visited, but it was a pretty low key walk. Nothing too strenuous and it was nice. It was a preview of Dogon Country and it was great to see a little of the culture there. We saw the bright green onion fields and then the hard rock of the Falaise along with the Hogon’s house, sacred alters for sacrifices, little kids that were nuts and much, much more.

The first night not too much happened. A lot of us were tired and plus there was a 4 hour hike the next day at 7 AM which was pretty intimidating. So, most of us went to bed pretty early. The next morning we all got up and got ready for the hike. We went with Amadou, Cristina’s friend, but unofficial guide, and it was awesome. I didn’t know if I could make it all because we walked all the way down the cliff which didn’t seem possible, but we did. We passed all sorts of crazy rock formations and Tellem Caves and other burial sites, but what was by far the best and most interesting thing was seeing the women walking up the cliff. They walk on the same paths that we and other tourists walk on, but they have 50 kg sacks of rice, huge buckets of water, cases of soda and beer, and other assorted, really heavy things on their heads. The amusing this is that while I’m holding on for dear life in order not to fall up or down, they’re not holding onto anything except the goods on their heads, and then sometimes not even that. The problem with living on a cliff, you can imagine, is the lack of water. It’s so dry there, and the only water is on the plateau beneath all of the villages. So, women descend the falaise in the morning with their bucket and then hike back up. Sometimes it can talk 4 hours just to fetch one bucket of water. As far as the soda and beer go, Sangha is really touristy, so they have to keep the tourists happen. The women are paid 500 CFA, about $1 to carry up a case of drinks. It’s just really crazy. I know it sounds crazy, but seeing it is something else entirely. I would love to include a photo of it here, but the funny thing about touristy places is that people demand money if you take pictures of them (it’s the same in Peru, South America) and I didn’t carry any to pay the women. So, maybe later. I can’t say I paid all that much attention to the explanations of certain things. I was just having a good time with the other PCVs and I didn’t feel like paying attention in French. Here are some great pictures of the rocks and Dogon villages along the way.

Dogon Village houses and graneries, overlooking the Plateau.
Dogon Village embedded into the cliff.
Amadou, Emily, Jackie and Beth - hiking down the Falaise, overlooking the Plateau.

So, I’m going back in about a month and a half, so I’ll listen better then. Later the night, we went to Cristina’s house. We all climbed on her roof using a traditional Dogon ladder which is basically a tree limb with notches carved in it – scary! We all chilled up there with 20 litres of beer and it was great. At first we were drinking of a couple of shared cups and calabashes, but toward the end, we started drinking out of the bucket! Check back soon for that photo! I think it tastes good – a lot like a light Belgian beer, and could even be made with guavas or mangoes for some flavor. It’s not very alcoholic though, so no one got drunk which was good because we had to descend that tree limb too! We went back to the Mission Houses and got ready because we were having a pig BBQ. Before dinner though, we all started singing Christmas carols and it was awesome. Someone busted out a hymn book and so we even had the words! One of the guardians watching over the house plays a major role at the nearby church and invited us to sing the next morning, and we accepted.

Christmas morning we arrived at church a little after 10 and stayed there until 12:30! Not a Catholic church, but Protestant, though in French/Dogon, I couldn’t really tell the difference. It was awesome though. Almost all the women bought the same Malian material for their outfits and were all matching, and it was churchy mixed with African. We sang songs like, “Angels on High” in French, but with African drums in the background and kids dancing and swaying their hands. It made me smile. It was a long service and most of us were getting antsy but we finally got up to sing and sang “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “Joy to the World” – serious and fun. Now, I know Malians are poor, but some of these people had digital cameras/phones and promptly got up to take our picture. A little embarrassing, but whatever! Shortly after our singing, we all snuck out of the church to go to lunch at the Femme Dogon. After a couple of us headed out for cell service which was sketchy at best and then headed over to the Auberge Castor for the Dogon Masked Dance. We missed the beginning, but it was really cool. I was afraid my photos wouldn’t turn out too well because we were kind of far away, but we were invited up after to get closer and take photos and get an explanation of each mask. I can’t remember them all, but this one is a representation of the most important woman who has to be present at every Dogon gathering. Again, I look forward to paying more attention next time!




Probably the best thing about Christmas this year was that a lot of volunteer’s families came to Mali to spend the fete and we all met them in Dogon Country. So, they were all decked out in their Malian complets/boubous and they just looked so great. They were even nice enough to bring things like crackers and salmon from Duty Free and M&Ms and Chips Ahoy – always welcomed to PCVs. So, we hung out with everyone for awhile and drank some more millet beer and waited for dinner. We killed a sheep to splurge on with everyone and it was pretty good. Even though we waited awhile for dinner, it was good to build up our appetites. After we ate, the Auberge Castor was kind enough to let us stay there until 2 AM for a crazy PCV dance party. Now, being my first PC dance party, I was pretty excited. Unfortunately, the DJing was terrible and we spent more time waiting than actually dancing. Oh well! I still managed to have a great time with the other PCVs dancing the night away. It got really cold and the wind was blowing and the party was dying, so some of us headed back to the houses. I thought we were going to go to a different establishment and continue the fun, but it was closed. Instead, we went back and decided to set some fireworks off. Never let 20something men play with fireworks after beer. No one got hurt, but there were some close calls. Hearing things like, “Oh shit, RUN!” from the window is always a bit alarming. We all stayed up late talking and getting to know one another.

The next morning we headed back to Sevare and to our respective areas of the country.
All in all, even though I couldn’t spend Christmas – perhaps the most family oriented holiday – with my friends and family in the states, I was able to spend it with my friends and PC family here in Mali. It was absolutely wonderful and I can’t wait for more PC parties!