I ni su, (Good evening)
This week has seen me feel a lot more settled in Bamako. In a way I’m starting to feel less like a tourist and more like an ex pat. (I’m not sure if this is better) I am starting to find my feet which can only be a good thing and becoming more accepting of the food and culture. I am now obsessed with an onion based dish called Yassa, and get sad when I can’t have it in our local rice restaurant! My new found sense of adventure has prompted me to want more from the experience and has made me decide that I want to try and spend some time living with a local host family. I hope I am allowed as it’s something I would really like to do. Anyway, this week has mostly been full of work however we have had time to do a few things, so here are some of my observations from this (and last) week.
Last week saw the death of Gadhafi, I only remark on this because of the response here in Mali. Because of links with Mali and the fact that Gadhafi’s sons own some hotels in Bamako we were slightly worried things would happen. Unrest never came. Instead, I spent the evening of his death huddled on a bench in the street watching the TV with the local shop owner engaged in a debate about how badly the media had handled his death. The streets were full of people huddled round tiny crackled and often black and white TV screens watching the news. What was interesting was that whilst the British (and European) press happily published frankly inhumane images the Malian news barely published a news story at all-just printing a tiny news flash in the corner of the website. I was disappointed with the way the British media handled it, and was glad to be away. I was however shocked that there was little interest here. What’s more, lots of the people we initially spoke to completely denied his death saying that the images had been photo shopped and that his death was a lie (at the time it was unconfirmed.) It was really interesting to compare the reactions and it’s interesting to be in a country where print media is of such little value. Word of mouth is so much more important here.
Anyway, away from happenings in the news in between working here we have done a fair bit of exploring and playing. On Thursday we got up at 4.30am to surprise Lucy for her birthday by going to Point G which is a plateau on a hill above town. There we watched the sun rise, it was beautiful and so nice to watch the city wake up. The walk there was less nice as we got hideously lost and ended up walking across hospital wasteland after getting lost and being warned about snakes and scorpions, instead what we found was not much better. Needles and test tubes crunched under my feet as we walked across the wasteland. The smell of burning was overpowering and I questioned (or tried not to question) what I was standing in. I definitely regretted not wearing my hiking boots. However, injury avoided, the view was very worth it as you can see!
Continuing Lucy’s birthday surprise Claire and I decided to bake a cake. In the grill- not recommended. After battling with a lack of cooking equipment and a lot of burns , as well as dropping lots of chocolate in boiling water by accident we finally made the perfect cake mix only to find two minutes later it was on fire. Oven-1, Alice and Claire- Nil. This prompted a mad dash to the supermarket to buy a French cake and decorate it in the guise that we had made it all along. Note to self- cooking in our kitchen does not work. On the plus side, this week Sophie and I discovered tinned vegetables and have been happily munching on lentil stew, albeit from a tin. Considering my staple diet is rice, bread, chips, biscuits and banana this was very welcome! I shouldn’t be missing food from home but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t. Friday was party day, and we held a party on the roof of the house! One day, I want a house with a roof terrace! What I love about being here is how creative we can be with very little! We decorated the roof for the party with numerous scarves and a few fabric skirts- it looked so pretty and it was something I never would have thought of at home! We partied, danced and had beer! It’s funny how heady the combination of doxy and beer makes you. Once we were all tired, we lay down and did some star gazing. I saw two shooting stars and I forgot how pretty they were. However, I think that star gazing season may now be over as this crazy dusty wind called the harmattan has now invaded town. It’s a hot, dry, dusty wind coming from the Sahara. I think it’s pretty much here to stay now and town is covered in a dusty hot haze. Today we couldn’t see the road as we were driving to work. It makes everything very eerie.
On Sunday we decided to be tourists in our own town and ventured to the “Parc National” It was a beautiful public park. What struck me however was the entrance cost. 300 CFA (40P) for locals, 1500 CFA (£2) for tourists. I know locals pay taxes but even with low prices there were few locals in the park, apart from a few wedding parties having photographs. It seemed to slightly defeat the object of national park! The park however was worth it, a little haven in the middle of downtown. There were fountains, lots of shady trees and even people doing Yoga. There was also an amazing tea house, where I tracked down more good coffee. (I MISS COFFEE!) It’s weird however, to be in a place in Bamako where being Western is the majority and I still find this novel. I think I’ll start going to the park often however! In the afternoon we went to a café which had a swimming pool. Being in a landlocked country that is so hot makes me miss the sea, so finding a pool was amazing even if it was full of unidentified bugs! Swimming and sipping fresh juice in a French run hotel made it feel like a holiday Sunday. However, in the evening, Sophie, Claire and I ventured to the cinema to see a French film called “No et Moi” it was brilliant and for the first time I felt like I lived here and was doing everyday things. We went to the CCF (Centre Cultural Francais) which has lots of films and events and is a really nice place to hang out. It seems to be the ex-pat hangout of Bamako and made me feel like I was on my ERASMUS year again! I also feel like we are becoming more a part of the local community with for the most part less un welcome comments. The children recognise us and now always want to play which is really nice (apart from when they ask for sweeties.) I did however have one slightly dodgy encounter this week when lots of 16 year old boys chased me down the road circling me and asking for my money, it was somewhat intimidating even though I was definitely bigger than all of them!
We headed back to the CCF on Monday to see a concert by “Le Super Biton de Segou” orchestra. At the concert we rubbed shoulders (or sat near) the Malian culture minister and some BBC radio 3 journalists. A program on Malian music including the concert will be on World Routes sometime in the near future I think. The orchestra is one of the oldest in Mali. The concert was interesting, four men in traditional clothing doing slightly un traditional choreographed salsa dancing whilst singing in Bambara. They were accompanied by a keyboard player who replaced the brass section (This was a shame), a kit drummer, a guitarist, a bassist and a guy playing the Bongos. The music seemed very Spanish and it later transpired they take their inspiration from Cuba and there were lots of Spanish/Jazz rhythms. I thought the combination of rhythms and sounds was captivating but the singing was shouty! The performance was however interesting and showed a different side to Malian music. Some locals went on stage to dance and this was apparently perfectly acceptable. I wish we could do that in England.
Here is a taster (and a pretty picture of the Niger) :
Sorry for the incoherent ramblings this week. Despite the 35 degree weather, I have been struck down with a mystery cold. No idea how!
Until next time when I am sure I will have more to talk about after a weekend away,
Bonne Nuit
X
Another fascinating week..... and I like the music. JR
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