In the beginning....

We arrived to Kangaba around 1:30pm and had lunch. Kangaba's population is around 5,000 however it feels much smaller because at least half of the population are children. If all the village was lined up oldest to youngest, the medium age is 17. The women here get married young and have approx. 7 children each. The mortality rate here is pretty high also, approx. 1 in 7 children die. Malaria being the main cause of them dying. So basically, about every mother here has experienced a death of a child. I can't even imagine the pain they experience. After eating our lunch at the Curry house (it was SPAGHETTI!! Spaghetti in Africa...who would have thought :o)) we met Papa Camara-our host and the head religious leader here in Kangaba. He is called an Imam (E-Mom). He is a tall, skinny, elderly man, in his seventies. I took to him right away. One thing that is hard for us SMs to get used to is not looking the men in the eyes. We are constantly struggling with looking up and then around and then down and around again and it can be a challenge. But any ways, Papa Camara seemed happy to see us. He greeted us and smiled/chuckled often. We then moved into our mud huts. I am sharing a hut with Tennille, another SM. The other girl is staying close by in one of her own. In our hut we have a foam bed, a fan, and an armoire. Colors here are pretty bright and decorative. My mosquito net is hot pink, and my roommate's is florescent green LOL. Moving in was HOT and sweaty. In the rainy season the temp. gets up to the 90's mostly. (its rainy season to about Feb., the coldest time of year being Dec. when it CAN get down to the 60's SOMETIMES ) In these last two days it has been HEAVEN though as it has stormed and stayed overcast. We were lucky that day because in the Camara courtyard a party was going on. It was something of what we would call in the states a baby dedication. Here they call it denkundi. On the eight day after a child is born, its head is shaved and they are then Muslim. Women are hired to come and sing, dance, and play the ji filen, we call it a "woman drum" or a "water drum". It is a overturned wooden bowl in a bucket of water. They beat on the bottom of the wooden bowl with wooden spoons and their hands to create different noises. Woman aren't suppose to play the normal drum they have here (the Jembe). As soon as we walked over, they gave us front row seats. We, of course, break out our camera's and camcorder's and immediately we are surrounded with children. A couple times other women would start yelling at them to leave us alone, but they mostly just wanted to stair at us and look at themselves in the digital camera. A little later on in the celebration, the women dancing motioned for us to come dance with them, so we did. And they laughed at us while we feebly tried to move our bodies like they were. We had asked the Curry's earlier if this was something we could do, and they had okay'd it as it was not an animistic ritual or the like. We provided some entertainment anyways for them. Later we paid them for the honor of letting us dance with them. It is customary here for visitor's to adopt a new name while here. Later in the day we met with Papa Camara (on our choice) to have him give us names. I am now Asita Camara. Named after his daughter. The other two girls were also named after his daughters. They have an interesting custom here where there are certain families who are called "laughing cousins" with other families. This means that we can joke around with them and are not supposed to get angry if a joke is played on us. If we do get angry, they would say to us "you must not really be a Camara" Essentially, you're mother must have had an affair" So the big joke with being a Camara is that we eat garbanzo beans. (or something like garbanzo beans anyways) When people ask our names, often times, if they are not also a Camara they try to give us their last names, but we just laugh and say sorry. Kangaba is mostly filled with Camara's and Keita's. A small percent is all the rest. Yesterday, we were able to visit the tailor and put in our order for what we want made out of the fabric we got in the city. Out of three girls, there were about 3 dresses, 3 blouses, and 9 wrap skirts for him to make and he said they would be ready to pick up on Wed. That's two days. We were amazed. I am excited to start wearing some more traditional clothing. We also were able to stop by the Internet cafe they have here. The keyboards are French. Fortunately, the heat hasn't been too difficult for me. I did notice that it's hotter in the hut at night. My roommate pretty much has her fan in with her under her mosquito net. As far as meals and food goes here...the first two weeks being here are an "immersion time" so each breakfast is provided by Papa Camara. One interesting thing here is there is really little or no conversation over meals. You eat, then leave. Well anyways, breakfast is the same thing every morning. Its called Moni, and its a type of cinnamon-y liquid with little bites of this soft dough, much like the texture of soggy rice. It's interesting. It's not BAD really...just weird. I can't really eat much of it because of the taste being so strong. Lunches are with another Adventist family. Yesterday we had cornmeal covered with a type of Onion soup. We sit in a circle around a bucket of this, and use our right hands as spoons. We are not permitted to use our left hands because they are considered unclean. Instead of toilet paper local people here use their left hand. I had a hard time eating out of the same bowl as everyone else. It's funny. Before coming here I had a hard time with people reaching over my food and now they are diving right in! LOL How do you say "hand sanitizer" in Bambara? We also had some banana's which are VERY delicious. We have been recently eating our suppers with the Curry family, consisting mostly of a small meal of bread and fruit. Today I think I'm going to try out a local "restaurant." The diet here consists mostly of carbs, so its important to make sure we eat snacks of fruit. I am able to get filtered water from the Curry house, so that is nice and safe. We also soak foods in bleach. It has only been two days now, since being in Kangaba, however it feels longer. It has been very fun and exciting, filled with many new experiences and episodes of "I can't believe I'm in Africa!" As I walk down the dirt streets I see houses/huts lined up and down the road with people sitting outside under canopies, donkeys roaming around, dogs and chickens and an occasional goat. Children everywhere. It is sad to see the small children, young infants, dressed in tattered clothing. Trash piles lie scattered around the village as well, usually off to the side of the road. My bathroom, when I'm not at the Curry's house is a small walled cemented area with a small hole. This is also where I bathe. With a bucket and a cup (again when I am not at the Curry's). I had one of my culture shock moment last night when visiting there and seeing cockroaches along the walls and smelling the stench of urine. But all the doesn't compare with how I felt when I found a cockroach on my bed!!! I have not yet taken a shower that way yet. In the morning, i have been exercising with Debbie Curry at her house to a video, then I shower there. And on alternating days I run with Nicole (the other SM) I do want to get in the habit though, of a bucket shower. It is challenging to remember not to take things offered with the left hand, or point or motion...because the left hand is unclean. Today, a child offered Tennille his left hand, which is a great insult in the culture. She motioned to him and spoke to him showing him she knew what that meant. He ran away, yelling something unknown in Bambara. If this continues to happen, there is great consequences here to those who disrespect visitors as it shows great dishonor to the people of Kangaba. Well, this letter is getting quite long, so I better say "Ka'n Ben" for now--until we meet again. Thank you for your e-mails! I love hearing from you. Love, Asita (Krystal)