Questions from Mom

I recently received a long list of questions from my mom and thought that they'd be worth sharing on the blog. Enjoy!

1. What time do you get up? My roomate’s alarm goes off at 8:30am and I roll out of my tent around 8:45. Yes, I’m sleeping in a tent because it’s more fun than a mosquito net.


2. What is your morning routine?
As I’ve mentioned before, time in Mali is somewhat fluid. Mornings occur in the following order, but are not necessarily limited to any specific time: get up, breakfast with tea and bread, split into our two French classes (in the advanced group, we’re discussing Malian society through local proverbs), meet up on the roof of our house for three hours of dance and drumming, quick shower, and late lunch.

3. Who do you live with and what do they do?
We’re all living together in our program coordinator’s house, which is luxurious by Malian standards (electricity, flush toilets, ceiling fans, refridgerator) but minimal by US standards (no oven or microwave, no internet, no AC or central heating, no real delineation between shower and toilet). We’re split up two to a room with most of us on the second floor of the house. We usually hang out in the outdoor hallway or dining room/living room/classroom. I’m rooming with Emily who is a sophomore from Carleton College in Minnesota and is majoring in Biology and Studio Arts. Combined with the facts that she’s very outdoorsy (crunchy) and has similar sleeping patterns as me (early riser), we’re a good match.






4. Have you eaten at any restaurants in town?
I’ve really only visited a couple: Le Relax is a popular hangout for Ex-pats and Peace Corps Volunteers and is one of the few places where you can get a burger and fries. Because it somewhat isolates you from the local population, I only go there when there is dire need of American food. The second, who’s name escapes me right now, was as Chinese restaurant discovered as we were wandering (getting lost) in downtown Bamako. Of course, it’s a somewhat diluted Chinese-Malian cuisine, but I appreciated the effort towards diversifying the usually starchy and bland food here.

5. Do you speak French all the time?
Not all the time. Because we spend most of our time with the other students, our conversations are mostly in English. Right now, my French is used during class or transactions in the markets and the buses. It takes a great deal of effort to have a concentrated conversation and my endurance lasts about 30 minutes before my brain kinda shuts down. We’re also learning a bit of Bambara, the local dialect often preferred over French. It’s more culturally sensitive to use Bambara than the language of the colonizing nation.

6. Have you gotten sick yet?
Almost immediately upon arrival, people started getting sick. What’s strange is that it wasn’t diarrhea or one of the many tropical diseases, but your typical head cold. Everyone in the group and our three professors got ill and in varying stages. When my throat started itching, I could look at a classmate and know that in another 24 hours it would be difficult to swallow. Fortunately, all of that’s seem to pass and we’re all relatively healthy. Tired often from the heat, limited food, and pace, but it could be much worse. Even the mosquitoes lack the voracity of what I’ve experienced backpacking in the States.

7. Did you pack well?
In general, I have everything I need, but here’s some more luxury items I would bring next time: computer and iPod (sigh, I miss them dearly and many other students brought theirs), tons more snacks, gum, chocolate, gummi bears, powdered energy drink mix, ice cube tray, spices, more magazines and books, extra boxers and t-shirts (the limiting factor of my laundry), and more toilet paper (oddly, not provided by the house).
Items that I could have left at home: about half the amount of sunscreen and bug spray and all of my socks.

8. Who are you enjoying in the group?
Everyone. It’s amazing how well we get together and the varying degrees of our friendships; I’ll talk over morning tea with Emily, go for a hike with India, got to a club with Jake and Kunal, be bitchy with Jamilia, silly with Erica, and always in agreement with Monica. We’ve also inherited four other members: Jazz, a recent college graduate who is on a Watson scholarship comparing traditional dance in Africa, India and Brazil for a year, Cam, an enthusiastic high school senior and family friend of Michelle, and then our new little sisters, Michelle’s daughters Ami and Asi, age 12 and 10.


(Jamila)


(Jake and Kunal)


(Erica)


(Cam and Sekou, our sleeping Malian professor)

9. What do you eat?
Food is fairly predictable and brought by a local family. Breakfast, as I’ve noted many times, consists of dry French bread and tea loaded with sweetened condensed milk, a milky syrup called Jago. I initially tried the bitter Nescafe coffee, but my Starbucks influenced palette couldn’t stoop to such a level. We play variations on this breakfast theme, adding peanut butter or granola I keep stashed in my suitcase. If we’re really lucky, we’ll scramble some eggs from the market (but since there’s not refrigeration, the yolk is about as pale as the white).

Lunch and Dinner are essentially the same; salad, a grain dish, sauce, and meat. The salad is always lettuce, onions, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Sometimes we’ll have a yellow dressing that is served in a plastic soda container, though recently it’s gone missing. The grains is any one of the following: rice, couscous, millet, or pasta. I’d say there’s a 50-50 chance when lifting off the lid you’ll find about 10 lbs of cooked rice. Sauces are peanut or vegetable based and always has these fiery red peppers that we squish with our fork to release their juice (entire consumption though require near-hospitalization). Meat is more of a dinner dish and we’ve had everything from chicken thighs that resemble bat wings to fish with eyes still intact. Of course, our meals are decadent compared to our neighbors. But I certainly appreciate the diversity and abundance of food back in the states.

10. Are you getting lots of e-mails?
Yes! Thank you to all who’ve taken the time to write me. It turns out that the initial mailing address is somewhat worthless because there’s no mail delivery system where I live. So e-mail will be the best way to stay in contact.

11. Do you feel safe?
While I’ve never ventured out alone through Bamako, I’ve also felt uneasy about a situation. Annoyed by hustlers in downtown Bamako, sure, but nothing more. Mostly, I have a sense that the locals are watching out for us, especially in our specific neighborhood.

For example, a few of us were returning home via taxi after an afternoon at the cyber café. This was the first time that we’d traveled without our program coordinator or any other person fluent in French/Bambara. The driver pulled up about 100 yds short of our house and while we were trying to point this out, some local street vendors shouted and waved the taxi driver forward. Even though we’d never had any sort of conversation with these merchants, I guess we’re well known in the neighborhood (we kinda stick out).

12. Do you interact much with the locals?
Yes and no. Just the act of us walking down the street to buy a Fanta causes little kids to shift there attention to these crazy toubabous and their parents to extend a civil “ca va?” And we do have a causal friendship with our dance and drumming teachers, as well as the 20 or so random locals that hang out in our courtyard. But I’m not yet sitting and carrying out extensive conversations. My French is limited and many of the locals we’ve met speak only Bambara. Hand-gestures and an easy laugh go a long way in communication.

13. Are you ready to dance you when you come home?
Of course! I’ve honestly thought about this question since it’s become such an important daily routine. I feel incredibly healthy, my posture’s improved, and there’s a greater sense of mental clarity after a particularly good routine. But African dance in Africa is different than African dance in Ann Arbor; I’ll miss the live music, cement floor, and kids peeking through the windows.

Got any more questions? Send ‘em to mtliang@umich.edu and I’ll post a reply here on the blog!