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!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment