plus à dire

yesterday i wasn't able to get in all i wanted so here goes...

i'm learning bambara with a man named sekou, who speaks bambara (duh), french and english - if he speaks any others, i do not know. he is currently writing a book about festivals in mali and has done a lot of work researching, translating, educating, etc. he was telling me today about how he freaked out a former jewish-american student by proposing that they pray together, muslim and jew. he says that if the jews and arabs come together then the u.s. would be screwed. we talked about obama as well. we are both fans.

i was in the supermarché the other day and saw tons of fabrics (tissus). at my homestay, the women often wear fabrics that publicize/feature an NGO (ONG). mah, who just returned from a conference in burkina faso, was wearing today a dress supporting a campaign for drinkable water for everyone. fabrics with politicians and flags are common too.

i had my first dance classe last friday, tout seule. it was at the house my professor and her husband built for the students they bring to mali every summer. for the class, it was just me, my dance instructor, three drummers, my language instructor and the drum teacher (who seemed to be just hanging out). anyways, we worked on three steps, which weren't too difficult to pick up by watching and copying my instructor. but the break between the first and second steps was difficult for me to do on my own because i wasn't at first listening well to the bqss drum.

ahhhh no time. to finish, i've been christened "djeneba" by my homestay family. it's the same name as one of the women in la grande famille.

over and out,
djene