Viva Tabaski!

I have been camping this weekend and it was fabulous. We camped on a hill about 1500 feet up. In the photo, you will see the view from our campsite and the Senegal river. On this side of the river is Mali and the other side is Senegal. We saw a few monkeys on the hike up and heard them all night long--similar to sleeping through a grandmothers' tea party at the Synagogue. On the return hike, we ran into one of the local villagers and when we explained what we were doing, he was shocked that we survived the night because "devils live on top of the hill." Local Malian folklore always says evil spirits live on top of each of the big hills around here. If the evil spirits happen to be the beetles that were crawling all over my backpack this morning, then call me a local folklore believer.

Tabaski begins tomorrow, here's a website with a great explanation of it: http://www.nhm.org/africa/tour/unit001/016.htm Not exactly my cup of tea. Evidently all the cows, chickens and goats in the villages give a sigh of relief on Tabaski. I'm certainly one of those people who would be a strict vegetarian if I had to do my own slaughtering--let alone doing it for religious purposes. My heart and thoughts go out to all the local sheep tomorrow and I tried my best when I suggested they slaughter heads of cabbage this year but I received the "you are a crazy white lady" look again. I would love to go on a sheep rescue mission tonight but I think the other person in this household might object to my compassionate efforts.

By the way, for those of you who might like to know, here's a great story of some "real" American Ambassadors to Mali........ (just when I thought Air Force dudes couldn't be any more sexy, along comes Humanitarian Air Force dudes.....)

http://www2.hurlburt.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123126767

Is it really December?!

Wow! It's really December. (only 16 more days til Galicia!!) The temperatures have finally gone down to the lower 90's during the day and 70's at night. It scares me to think what the Spring will be like. I'm told it's the hottest part of the year. Oh Joy.

Everyone is preparing for Tabaski, which begins on Monday. I will explain more about Tabaski later this weekend. FYI-Vegetarians might want to skip my Tabaski post. Ramadan and Tabaski are equivalent to the Christmas/Easter or Rosh Hashana/Yom Kippur of Mali Muslims.

By the way, did I ever mention the local language here is called "Bambra" and that Mali means "hipopotamus" in Bambra? Now you know--impress your friends.

Another interesting Mali factoid is Lemongrass grows wild here. Back in Houston, there was only one Asian grocery store (in a town of 4 million) where you could buy fresh lemongrass. There are at least 8 lemongrass patches in the back yard. Now if I could just grow some nacho and India Pale Ale patches in the back yard, life would be beautiful. The other night I actually tried making tortillas with the local corn flour here, I think "disaster" is a relatively appropriate description for how they turned out. Oh Texas cuisine--how I miss thee.

By the way, I added a photo of my Mali/Senegal border crossing from this past weekend. First class.

Mali-vision

For the past three years, I have lived without a television----until I moved here. There are about 20 channels here (a combination of French, African, British and American stations). My favorite is the local Bamako channel which either shows "home-made" music videos of a Patty Labelle-looking lady coated in West African garb and probably 15 kilos of gold or it shows City meetings full of very bored Malians and even more bored Westerners. The American channel is CNN Africa plus there is an African-American channel which hosts contemporary shows like Falcon Crest and Who's the Boss. The best part about CNN is the commercials. Many of the up-and-coming Eastern European countries shoot C-grade commercials (we're talking mid-1970's style) to advertise for tourism. Croatia--here I come! Monte Negro--gonna let you develop for a few more years and your national anthem is annoying.

Saw a very interesting sight today.......when the plane flew in today (please see photo of airport/plane above--yes, our airport is actually a sea container--and that's actually the big plane which flys about 26 people instead of our usual plane which flys 16) there was a problem with the right propeller. Anyway, I witnessed 15 guys pushing an entire airplane along an airstrip today. Not a scene one wants to see right before they get on that plane. That was about four hours ago and I just heard the plane take off so it sounds like both props are working again. Go Mali Airlines!

Made a ridiculous amount of lentils for my lentil curry last night so I am going to try my hand at some lentil cous cous veggie burgers. If they turn out, I will post the recipe. Also found a way to make cornbread with polenta (we have polenta here but no corn flour), so am going to try and do these mexican spiced veggie burgers on cornbread buns. I think back to the days of Bloomington, Laughing Planet Cafe (www.laughingplanetcafe.com) had the best veggie burgers in the world. If you're in B-town and you've got the time, go treat yourself. Your heart will thank for it this close to Thanksgiving.

Okay, speaking of food, time to put the final polishings on my "Obesity" research paper.......

Southern Living

Am down in Southern Mali for the week, near the Ivory Coast (for those of you with a map). Although I thoroughly appreciate the change of venue, it is unbelievably dusty here. I went for a morning and evening run yesterday but it probably would have been healthier to run in downtown Manhattan during rush hour instead.

This area seems much more populated than my stomping grounds up north. Every village still looks the same though===Beaucoup de mud huts and burning trash piles with a scattering of geeps (goats and sheep), chickens and donkeys. I still can't decide if African donkeys look more sad than American donkeys.

I've actually made a friend on site here. He's a two year old boy who is the only young child not to cry upon my first encounter with him. Perhaps it's because of my white skin or perhaps because decades of UN immunization givers are white females (causing Pavlovian-like fear with most young natives), but African babies do NOT like me. I have made an infinite amount of African babies cry simply by smiling and speaking googly French to them. I might as well be waving around a big immunization needle and shouting at them because no matter what, they are going to release the tears and screams when they see me. Fortunately, most of these babies' mothers find it highly entertaining. Anyway, this little dude rides around the site with his little tricycle (an extremely rare and prized possession for the locals) and rides over to greet me during my morning and evening runs. I wonder how long I can keep this facade of "knowing how to speak French" with him........ (For those of you who have not already witnessed it, my French is awful. Please send a handsome French tutor if you happen to have an extra one hanging around your house.)

By the way, I would like to correct a mistake from my last blog--my favorite Bamako restaurant is spelled Suhkathai. Had the world's greatest Thai Beef Salad there. The vinaigrette was absolutely divine and thought I might pass along the ingredients--do your own measurements.....lemongrass white vinegar (let some lemongrass hang in some vinegar for a day), lime juice, sesame oil, cracked chilis, finely chopped onion, crushed cilantro, pinch of sugar, and some salt. Make sure to mix it vinaigrette style and drizzle it over some romaine, carrots, tomatoes, onions and medium rare fillet. Would also make a great marinade for meat or tofu.......

Time to take a Musculoskeletel Exam...would love to have a box of Oreos to accompany it (note: please send handsome French tutor with Oreos......)

Waiting for the Plane....

Some quick background......Born in Indiana and have lived in Houston, Texas for the past ten years. I am now living here in Western Mali in West Africa and studying Health and Nutrition. This isn't the most healthy nor nutritionally stable place but it's definitely a learning experience and so far I wouldn't trade it for anything.

For those who have always lived a First World lifestyle, living in one of the world's poorest countries will humble you and open your eyes beyond anything. I have infinite appreciation for being here and everyone who made it possible.......... Now, if anyone could send me some Whole Foods 365 Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter and all the episodes of this season's 30 Rock, I will be even more grateful........

The main purpose of this blog is to pass along interesting tidbits of my African lifestyle as well as some interesting food things and any Cliff Claven-esque trivia I can dish out.

Today has been such a lazy day. (that's not a complaint) We're now waiting for the plane to arrive so we can fly down to Bamako (capital of Mali). Shall be a glutenous Thai meal this evening at the SukkaThai restaurant. Then off to the Appaloosa bar for social hour with the Ukrainian girls accompanied by a few beers. The Sukka Thai makes some wicked awesome peanut sauce and spring rolls----which are usually lacking here in the Sub-Saharan belt.

Am looking very forward to my upcoming week in another location. Will be down in the southern part of Mali--another new experience.

Due to my plethora of bug bites, I have been scratching like a flea-ridden dog. For some reason, despite our entrance into the dry season, the mossies are biting more frequently than during the wet season. Btw--little piece of trivia--did you know Houston used to be the state capital of Texas but because so many people living there were dying from Malaria, they moved the capital to Austin.

Today is Veteran's Day. A special salute to my favorite veteran--RJ. It's been very interesting watching Veteran's Day events in Western Europe (in both English and French). Those guys (and girls) from WWI dressed up in their uniforms in the freezing cold. My salutes to all of them.