A Day in Djenne

What on earth can you do on a day in Djenne -- PLENTY!

Started with breakfast. Although I'm not a breakfast eater, I did enjoy a glass of bissop juice. They say it's made from hibiscus blossoms. Whatever it is, it's refreshing. Also had a ginger juice which I REALLY liked. Then we headed over the river from the hotel into the city proper. First stop was a family house/business that does mudcloths. We headed up to their roof to make our own. They demonstrated how they first dye the plain cotton cloth with either some leaves (beige) or bark (tan) colors. Then you paint on the cloth (with toothbrushes!) with a mud mixture. Some interesting chemical reaction occurs and you simply rinse it in water and your design is in black. We watched the women removing sees from the cotton and carding and spinning thread (got to try our hands at it). Weaving is a "mens" job. The fabric is woven into about 6 inch wide strips then sewn together to form wider cloths. The house we were at has as its matriarch Pama Sinatoa who is "famous" as a traditional artist -- featured in a book called "Africa Through the Eyes of Women Artists" by Bettie LaDuke.



We next visited the jeweler -- he recognized my dad from last year. AMAZING the handwork they do! We saw his sons melting silver and working it, then went into his shop. Some haggling for many of us before making our purchases (rings for my girls). Lunch followed -- chicken with plantains, a local pineapple soda, and trying out Mali tea (VERY sweet, strong, and minty).

We also got to see a local potter (making "chimneys" for the mosque) and a man making nails from scrap metal. The toilets across the way from the restaurant we also interesting -- more like sinks on the ground with an above-the-head flusher. Among other similar varieties. Squat, do your business, flush. Hee hee!


After lunch we took a walking tour. We were able to walk around the most famous site in Djenne -- the world's largest mud mosque -- yes, an entire HUGE building make of mud. Every rainy season much of the mud gets washed away, every non-rainy season men work to restore it. And AMAZING building.



Next to the mosque is a records building full of historic (hundreds of years old) documents. Unlike here, these are not in climate controlled conditions -- yes, it is extremely dry, but it's also extremely HOT!

In the building there is also a model of the mosque. To me, one of the most interesting features is the air vents in the ceilings. As mentioned earlier, these are capped off by pottery "chimneys" that we saw being made by a potter. Used for ventilation, they are all over the roof of the building.

On an interesting note (coincidence) -- out of the 11 people in our group, not only were 3 born in 1994, but all three of them were married (to different people!) on the exact same date -- 17 June, 1967. My dad's one of these. Who would have figured?

Observations from my journal about the day:

This is so fascinating -- I was, and continue to feel quite blessed for this opportunity. WOW!

Children are adorable -- it's a bit disconcerting seeing them asking from "cadeaus" (presents) -- seems a bit like begging. Unfortunate this bit of western "gifting" has resulted in children asking for presents.

My new method for washing my clothes -- take off belt, empty pockets. Enter shower with clothes on. Soap up outer layer, remove and rinse. Repeat until you have no clothes on. Dry off body, wring out clothes, hang over mosquito net to dry overnight (did I mention how dry the air is?)......

Fascinating to see the bellows used by the jewelers to heat the fires for melting metal -- hand operated.......


More later!!!!!

Back to Africa -- observations from the road

Before I get to the details of the day we spent touring Djenne, I'll detail some of the notes I took in my journal. First, regarding the drive and what we saw along the way:

We later learned that these were fire berries (or something like that) -- really pretty trees that looked like crape myrtles in the winter (bare, no barked branches) but with bright orange flowers

While most women were dressed in bright patterned skirts and tops, we did see one woman in skinny jeans with a silky blouse on the side of the road -- western hair and cell phone included. Looked very out of place!

Lots of donkey and horse carts

One man riding a camel (only camel we'd see)

Lots of small villages along the roads.

The Baobob tree was introduced -- it looks either like an upside-down tree (roots on the top as the branches are pretty bare) or the Keebler elf tree. They use the bark as fiber for weaving ropes and in costumes for masked dances, and eat the insides of the fruit (tastes like popcorn and similar texture). Or they dry the fruit and use it as marakas

The "tack tree" -- if you are upset with a person, you write it on a piece of paper and tack it to a tree -- then you let go of it.

More history:

Mali was a colony of France that gained its independence in 1960 (unlike in the US where the "native" population was essentially run out, Mali is mostly populated by "native" people). It was part of the salt trade and caravan routes before that. The kingdom of Mali was quite wealthy, though the "common" people really weren't (and still are not). It was called "French West Africa" and was joined with Senegal. When the two countries split (after independence), Senegal got the entire coastline and Mali became a land-locked nation. There is some gold found in the country and shallow mines exist. According to the UN, Mali is the 4th poorest nation in the world, though as much of the economy is barter, this is difficult to truly measure. The country used to be well-forested but human activity has changed this. People were in the area up to 200,000 years ago.

The city of Djenne (where we'll visit) was established in 300BC. There was early work in iron and early use of tools. The salt trade helped lead to the sharing of ideas, most notably Islam. By 1200, Timbuktu was a bustling city. The Dogon people fled the Islamists and arrived in Mali to displace the Tellim people (some believe the Tellim fled to central Africa and are the origin of today's pygmy race, but this is not proven). In the 1500s, sailing and exploration from the west brought in big new ideas. One of these was the slave trade -- people were traded for products. Slavery was also within Africa -- prisoners of war were made slaves, the poor would sometimes sell their children, raiders would kidnap people and make them slaves. However, African slavery was different in that a slave might marry into the owner's family, they could buy their own freedom, and they weren't treated as chattle. Slavery still exists in Mauritania. It was in the 1880s that European countries made a scramble for African land which was the beginning of the colonial period. "Civilizing" missions took place to teach the Africans western was and expected that they'd just do as told. The whites starting living there, in large homes as they would in their "home" countries and the Africans saw this. During WWII, African conscripts fought for other country's freedoms, which led to their own revolutions. Additionally, during the 1960s when the Civil Rights movement was occurring here, the Africans were also learning this and seeking their own freedoms. Additionally, the Cold War was going on -- the question of communism or not -- Mali chose communism (though this is no longer in practice). While the country was granted freedom in 1960 (and was communist), in 1990 the Toureg Rebellion happened. Nomads from the Saharan region staged an attack which resulted in a military coup. The military leader said he'd stay in power for 1 year and then step down for a democratic election -- AND HE DID!!!!! Women have the vote, but often don't execute it -- less from being "forbidden" and more from not having access -- they don't tend to leave their villages, and I believe that they'd have to go to a larger town to vote.

And for a last definition -- cousinage. There are still tribes in Mali, identified by their families. Many tribes are "cousins" of one another. This allows them the freedom to insult one another without it being taken seriously -- sort of like we do within our families when we joke about how grammy always overcooked the vegetables.....

Next post will be about our day in Djenne (unless something truly exciting happens!)

another detour from Africa

I do promise to finish describing in boring detail my trip to Mali! But first -- here is "how we spent our Mardi Gras Holiday":

The girls got out of school at 12 on Friday, the 12th. I picked them up along with a friend each and we headed to the mall for some lunch and a movie (Valentine's Day). Home for some fun, pizza, sleepover. The rest of Saturday was spent with piano lessons and miscellaneous.

Sunday the 14th was our 13th anniversary -- can you believe? Besides celebrating (chocolate!), I did laundry and we packed for our trip.

Monday rolled around and we headed for the train station for our trip. AMTRAK again, though this time the cars were smaller (no toilet and sink in the sleepers -- they were down the hall) and no baggage service (as we were getting off at an un-staffed station). But we still had 2 sleepers and were able to manage. The thing I personally didn't like as much about this train was that the long layovers (Houston and San Antonio) occurred during the late evening/night when I like to sleep. I prefer the motion of the train when sleeping to sitting still. In any event, we arrived in Alpine, TX early, met up with the rental car guy to get the keys to a Suburban, and headed for Big Bend National Park -- perhaps Tom's favorite place on earth. We had 4 nights at the lodge (I am NOT a camper despite my recent excursion to Mali!). We got there about 4pm and took a brief walk on one of the 1/2 mile tracks then went to dinner. Great food at the lodge and a wide variety - nice considering that's the only place to eat and you'd get really tired eating the same thing all the time!

The next morning we slept in a bit and Tom set a challenging goal -- 6.8 mile hike rising 2000 ft in elevation to the South Rim. That turns into a 13.4 mile round trip. With backpacks and water (total of about 2 gallons). WOW! I really didn't think the girls would make it, but they did! And so did I.....Needless to say, we were tired and hungry when we made it back down! The next day we headed for an "easy" 2 mile hike and then did another un-marked hike to the waterfall that supplies the area with water. Really beautiful. Friday we did a 4.8 mile 1000 ft elevation change hike to another beautiful view. New appreciation for hiking boots (though Maggie still finds hers to be hideous). Only one trip and fall on the trip (me, immediately after Tom gave the girls the speech on how to correctly fall when you are going downhill -- and I trip and fall forwards instead of onto my bottom). Only one encounter with a cactus (me, with one of those prickly pears that has the teeny tiny stickers -- I pulled out about 200 of them -- didn't hurt, but were aggravating). And the loss of one water bottle (one I'd taken to Mali that ended up with a crack when I fell). Big Bend IS truly beautiful and there is such variety -- one hike had us in sand and then rock-climbing, one had us on rocks, gravel, dirt, volcanic ash, AND sand. Variety in terms of plants depending on elevation and which side of the mountain you're on (rainy or dry). Amazing!

Saturday we drove back to Alpine, had an awful Chinese lunch and walked around the town. There isn't much to do there! Sul Ross State University is there -- curious what the students do for fun.....Back on the train for the trip home. Got home about an hour and a half early which was nice as I had 4 loads of laundry from the trip to do. But it is certainly good to be back home!

Back to Mali -- prepping for Djenne

Before I forget -- I did manage to get my photos onto KodakGallery: http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=552047358805%3A1400588475&cm_mmc=site_email-_-new_site_share-_-core-_-View_photos_button

On our second full day in Mali we were heading to Djenne which was an 8-9 hour ride, mostly on paved roads to Djenne. Quite an experience! It took FOREVER to get out of Bamako. Stopped for gas first which is an experience in and of itself. Not only are there millions of people "working" to pump your gas, but there are also (in the city) people asking for money everywhere. Sad. Many were women with young children (babies). Apparently, genital mutilation is still rampant in the country. For many women, that, coupled with multiple children in short time periods leads to fistulas which create problems of leaking urine which causes the women to smell all the time. Cleanliness is VERY important to Malians, so this is NOT a good thing and the men will sometimes kick the women out of the homes, with the young children. They are then forced to beg. I hadn't realized that the custom is for the older women to do the mutilation -- how horrible and sad. Up to 80% of women in the country have had this done to them. I just cannot imagine.

It took us about an hour to get out of the city. The trip was quite dusty (riding with windows open) and hot (90+ out). Passed through many villages, many with various toll "gates" -- picture either oil drums strung across the road and/or manually operated "gates". I was riding in the lead car (of 3) and at one point we lost the others -- headed back to find one car with a flat tire. Its spare was rather bald, so they took the spare from our car to use. This was done quite quickly and we were on our way. Drivers were chewing on kola nuts and our allowed us a taste -- quite bitter, but not bad.

The most interesting aspect of the trip (for me) was the ferry ride. Not exactly what we experience here. Not only are there no "docks", but you drive your vehicle through up to a foot of water onto the ferry. And then the people asking for "cadeaus" (gifts) and selling things. A bit much for me.





Then we made it (FINALLY) -- 8 hours is a LONG time in a vehicle.

Our hotel in Djenne was run by a Dutch women -- the Dutch are known for their gardens and the gardens were lovely despite being in a desert.



The people in Mali are quite interested in international politics and taken with our current president. His image is everywhere -- from clothing to playing cards. At the lounge/restaurant in our hotel, the following chair was available:



We enjoyed dinner at the hotel and settled in for the night after getting some information on how to bargain and the program for the following day when we'd tour Djenne.........

(almost) back to Mali

Another short detour:

MAGGIE GOT INTO THE HIGH SCHOOL OF HER CHOICE!!!!!

She'll be at Dominican High School starting in August for 8th grade. Additionally, she'll be taking some honors classes based on her placement testing. Trying out Algebra I, English, and Physical Science as honors classes. I'm so pleased for her! One of her friends' moms made all the girls signs for the front yard (foam-board). Unfortunately, in the cold rain and wind last night her's has gone missing (well, the stake in the ground is still there and 1/3 of the foam board is still around).

In other news, it continues to be COLD here. In the 30s this morning with freezing rain. The girls get out at 12 today (Mardi Gras holiday next week), and we're doing birthday parties today -- each one has a friend coming over, going to a movie, and sleeping over. I'm not a fan of big b-day parties, so this works out well!

In regards to Mali -- I've gone through the 700 or so photos I took and labeled them all with names and locations. Posting them on some web site and will let you know! Lots of repetition, but there are some fun ones -- me carrying water on my head, inside a mosquito tent, dad acting like a goat, all of us carrying rocks and/or planting trees. And the mud architecture is amazing. Especially with the satellite dishes and solar panels peeking out on some of the houses!

Living in a Super Bowl City

A short break from Mali given the mania that has overtaken this city. Never thought anything would be "more important" to the city that Mardi Gras! WOW! While we were in Mali mom sent me an e-mail stating that the Saints were in the Super Bowl -- WOW! So I told everyone in our group. Of course, they questioned who their opponent was and mom hadn't told me that piece of news! In any event, I did manage to figure that part out as well.....

In any event, we arrived home to find that about all the paper could talk about was the game, all people were talking about was the game -- who was going, who'd be watching where, where to get a t-shirt (and for those of you who were questioning the existence of "who dat" -- trust me, it's been around FOREVER -- so no, the NFL doesn't have the right to claim ownership of it!). Amazing!

So we get to game day. Maggie gets to go to a laser tag party after church, then is picked up by her friend's parents to spend the night there. Apparently, after the game they convinced the parents to take them to Academy to purchase Super Bowl shirts (my question is -- what do they do with all the shirts that were printed with the Colts winning?). Meanwhile, back at the house Tom and I watched the game (yes, Tom actually sat through a football game). Abby came in periodically to get score updates. Tom tried to call his brother after the interception/touchdown and "all circuits were busy".....Amazing!

Monday the schools were off (apparently, in Super Bowl cities it is somewhat customary to have the day after the game off). The paper was insane, my trip to the grocery was filled with people in black and gold. And the number of people who actually went to the airport to welcome the team back! I'm just amazed, but then, this IS a city that likes a party! This afternoon is the parade for the team. Ballet is cancelled so that people can attend (I'm taking a pass and may watch on TV). Not only does the city like to party, but the also like parades! Throw me something, mister!!!!!

In any event, it is exciting for the team and for the city. And I have been rooting on the home team since we moved here........Let the good times roll!

An Evening in Bamako

After our excursion to the museum in Bamako, we headed back to the hotel for a break, then met by the pool for money exchange, language lesson, and dinner. The money exchange was necessary as many of us had difficulty with the ATMs. Myself included. Sigh. I was able to change money with a human person. Dad had been able to use the ATM -- can't figure out my problem. We had troubles throughout the trip -- banks were closed (Army Day), ATMs didn't want to accept cards, etc. The one day when we did manage to visit a bank, I was able to exchange cash. What a hassle!

After the money exchange, we had a brief language overview/lesson. Given my lack of ability with languages, I wasn't surprised at my challenge! One peculiarity of Dogon is the greeting process. Hi, how are you, how are your family, then the other person repeats. The peculiarities stem from the fact that you 1. Greet EVERYONE this way, 2. Greet the same people numerous times throughout the day with the same greeting, and 3. Always answer that all is well, even if it isn't (any problems should come up later in conversation).

We also had a de-briefing on the museum visit. One explanation for why only men mask is that, in the past, women wore masks to scare men. They were so successful that the men forbade them to wear them anymore.

In villages, young people leave from November thru May to get work in the cities and return home for planting and harvest -- villages are no longer able to support the entire populations year-round.

Average age for death is 36.

Islam is perceived by many as an "imposed" religion whereas Christianity is more recent in the county and seen as more of a "choice". There are also still some animists.

Millet is the main dietary staple.

Gifting -- gifting is a HUGE part of the culture. In some tourist areas, people blatantly ask for gifts (yelling "cadeau" which is French for gift -- I actually recognized this as the Dutch use the same word for gift). They do this because we are white as, apparently, many tourists just give them stuff. Tandana encourages gifting between people who have a relationship established, rather than random gifts which can tend to encourage begging. When a gift is given, it is customary to share it with all around to show the gift as well as acknowledge the friendship. This honors the one who has given the gift.

Village organization: The chief is an inherited position and he is advised by elders. Kansongo was founded by 2 brothers and the 2 families still exist.

Dinner was at the hotel. I went with the first thing on the menu that caught my eye and it was particularly yummy -- a buckwheat pancake folded around ratatouille and chicken. Onto bed soon afterward as the jet lag kicked in.........

How to spend a day in Bamako, Mali

After a few much needed hours of sleep, we awoke to join the group for breakfast and a "briefing" at 10am. Most had arrived on an 11:30pm flight, dad and I were the last in at 3:30. Typical European-style breakfast -- I had some coffee or tea or something like that (not much of a breakfast eater!). Met some of the others at the various tables set up by the pool. Don't picture a "typical" US hotel with pool -- while the pool/patio area was lovely and the rooms were nice, they also had mosquito nets. And tepid showers without a separate stall. But I digress.....

In any event, we had our 10am briefing where we got introduced to one another (11 people total including 2 leaders). Lots of relatives -- me and dad, mom and daughter, sisters, aunt and nephew. Most from Ohio, also Montana and Arkansas as well as dad and me. We got a "calendar" of where we would be each day and then had some brief history/information. From my journal, I note the following:

Dogon -- an ethnic group ("our" village is a Dogon village). There are about 20 sub-groups within this one, each with subtly different languages and customs.
Toubab -- a white person
fete -- party (French -- I did know this one ahead of time!)

Enjoyed some information on basic health and safety. Need to keep track of ourselves -- don't push too hard, make sure you stay hydrated, keep your hands clean, be careful what you eat, sterilize the water, keep track of your "stuff".

Culturally, we need to be aware of a different concept of time -- be flexible. And we want to keep an environment within the group where it's "safe" to talk to one another without any fear.

Onward to lunch at the Relax (which will feature more prominently at the end of the trip!). Apparently a "major" ex-pat hang-out with familiar food -- crepes, omelets, pizza, etc. Nice cheese omelet for me! Then we headed to the National Museum. There were a couple celebrations going on by the museum -- from what we saw, heard, and can figure out, there was a wedding (woman dressed in white) and a celebration for the 50th anniversary of independence. The museum included artifacts of early tools and ritual idols -- mainly for fertility and good crops, although there were also ones for protecting crops and for brides on their weddings. A long mask headpiece (like we'd see later) represents the 8 original Dogon tribes. We also saw a big exhibit on textiles showing the weaving, cotton processing, mud cloth, indigo, modern dying techniques, and an exhibit of fashions by a Maliian designer.

There are various techniques for dying cloth to create patterns -- tie-dying, stitching the cloth in patterns, and batik are all used.

Catch up the rest of the day later.........there's so much to say!

Miscellaneous thoughts from travel to Mali from my journal

Here are some random thoughts from my journal during our journey to Mali:

1. Lots of borrowed items -- I borrowed a bunch of my mom's clothes, wore one of Tom's fishing shirts (lots of pockets!), borrowed dad's sleeping bag, and used Abby's suitcase.
2. Not only was there no queueing at the Casablanca airport, there is a significant lack of signage. Hard to find anything!
3. My phone worked -- didn't expect it to, but in most of the towns (not the village), it worked so I was able to call and/or send e-mail.
4. Surprise at the transit hotel -- the music system played "Amazing Grace" two times -- first with a jazzy/bluesy vocal arrangement, then later with an instrumental arrangement. Didn't expect to hear that in Morocco!
5. Women pictured in billboard ads are in western dress, although more women are "covered" on the streets.
6. In Casablanca, the biggest homes are often right across from homes without power and laundry lines strewn over the yards -- interesting juxtaposition.....
7. Casablanca has at least KFC, McDonald's AND TGI Friday's if you get a craving.....
8. Quote from my book: "The token didn't go in the first time, and the smack (to the machine) does the trick. Percussive maintenance, the oldest and still most effective way to deal with recalcitrant machinery"

More to come!

How to Travel to Mali

Mali is by no means a tourist country. Bamako, the capital, has a small airport where only 9 flights come and go each day (9 come in, 9 go out). There is also a small airport in Mopti, which I understand also has limited flights. From the US, there are basically two options for the most "direct" means to travel to Bamako -- on Air France through Paris or on Royal Air Maroc through Casablanca. Dad and I took the Casablanca option.

Our travel day started with a 7am taxi drive to the airport. Jet Blue took us to New York -- not a horrible experience, but it is a long flight. Our flight to Casablanca left New York on time at 7pm, landing in Casablanca EARLY in the morning. The flight was rather empty and we were in the front of the plane, so it wasn't so bad. The Casablanca airport experience is interesting. There is no such thing as a queue. Every person for himself. No lines, no waiting, push, shove, make your way to the front. We had a dickens of a time finding out how to make the arrangements to go to the transit hotel (with a 14 hour layover we were entitled to a room at the hotel, lunch and dinner). Finally made it there, then stood outside waiting for the shuttle to the airport. By then I'd figured out the pushing maneuver well enough to get dad and I seats on the van. I think there were 25 people smooshed into the vehicle. Got to the hotel and the mad rush for check-in. Each person had to fill out forms, including the number stamped on your entry visa. For me, with my relatively new passport, this was easy -- the only stamp there. Dad, on the other hand, had a bit more of a challenge. We FINALLY found his stamp and made it to our room. Double bed -- hadn't slept with my dad in one bed since I was about Maggie's age! Didn't stop much and we both slept about 3 good hours. Up for lunch, then we took a taxi tour of Casablanca. There's a HUGE mosque there that dad and uncle Bill had visited last year. They'd also visited the souk (market). I was happy with the taxi tour, not yet having my travelling legs. At one point we did get out on the beach -- it really reminded me of Scheveningen in Holland -- restaurants and attractions set up right on the sand, so people could enjoy a meal/drink and the kids were entertained. Small world!

After dinner we headed back to the airport for our flight to Bamako (scheduled to leave at 11pm). Security was interesting -- didn't have to take off our shoes, but they did look into our bags. The plane to Bamako was PACKED. And the people (almost all male) not only took up lots of space but they also were LOUD, talking the entire 4 hour flight. Yikes! I'm thankful for the ear plugs and face mask in my carry-on! Got to Bamako, got through passport control (actually experienced lines this time), got our luggage and headed out. We were met by one of the gals and the driver, made it to the hotel and collapsed.

WHEW!!!!!! Thankful for no delays on the way there and a ready bed upon arrival after being greeted by a smiling face.........

geography lesson

I've spent the past 2+ weeks in Africa, touring and living in a village for 5 days where our group helped the villagers plant 273 fruit trees and build a 6-foot rock wall roughly 38 yards by 65 yards. This was done in the country of Mali, a land-locked nation in west Africa. Not Bali, Malti, Malawi, or Maui but MALI. It is a former French colony that was granted autonomy in 1960 (we were there to see some of the 50th anniversary celebrations). It is one of the poorest nations in the world, in terms of GNP. Few natural resources, although there is some gold-mining. The government holds democratic elections and is one of the more stable ones in Africa. The capital is Bamako, in the southern part of the country. One interesting fact is that the city of Timbuktu not only exists, but is in Mali.

The cities are typical of any large 3rd world cities, but the smaller towns and villages are filled with kind, generous souls who are amazing. I joined my dad on this trip -- he'd gone with the same group last year. That, too, was extremely special. Not too many adult children travel with a parent, no?

I'll be slowly but surely putting out my impressions on the trip, but thought I'd start with this one, so at least ya'll know where I was! Have a great day!