I ne Sogoma!

When I began to write this blog entry, I was having a lot of trouble getting started. I think it was difficult for me to get all my thoughts organized into something that made sense. I have only 8 days left before I head to Mali, and although that is just over a week, there is really no time for me to get everything I want done. I have a lot of activities with my group in the upcoming week, and that will take away a lot of my free time. As the date to leave gets closer and closer, time here is becoming more and more precious, and I’m trying to soak in whatever I can before I’m gone. Before I know it, I will be in Mali living a completely different lifestyle. I have been told a lot about Mali since I have been here, and what to expect when we actually get there. Although I have been given all this information, I know what I have been told will be completely different from what I’ll experience. The culture appears to be so vibrant in more ways than one, and I am looking forward to the experience. The village that I will be staying in is called Karaje, with maybe 20 to 30 homes. This will be a big change for me as I’m used to a big city, or even a big town such a Riviere Ouelle. There will be a lot of differences and I’m excited to get started and explore everything.

Since I have been here in Quebec, I have had the chance to experience so many things that I may never get the change to do it again. For example, milking a cow probably won’t be in my future, considering I wasn’t that great at it. I think I’ll leave that job to those who know what they are doing. Rahama and I finished lifting our last huge load of hay for our family, in fact, it was the last load for the family this year! I also would like to inform you that I actually have muscles from all the lifting I’ve done. I have also planted around 170 trees with my group for one of our group’s presentations. It took us two days to do this and we completed what we wanted, even in the rain. We had a blast doing it and goofing off during the day, taking lots of pictures as we went along. I have also learned some Bambara from my counterpart and I think it’s great. They have 4 greetings during the day and the first is "I ni sogoma" (Bonjour in Bambara, and also the title of this blog). I know quite a bit of Bambara, not enough to have a conversation at all, but I think it’s neat what I do know. I made a mental note to learn some words such as Buntani (which is scorpion in Bambara), as my counterpart has informed me there are a lot of those in Mali. Some words are essential to learn, and I truly think that a word such as "Buntani" could be good to know. When I get there, hopefully I will begin to pick up the language more as we will be merged into a community that mostly only speaks Bambara. It may be a little difficult as I am trying to learn two languages at once, but I’ll have my team who will be going through the same thing, which will defiantly help.

One of the responsibilities of the volunteers is to present a project within Canada and one in Mali to our group for an entire day. Rahama and I had the topic of Recycling and composting, since our program is in agriculture. We presented Friday (August 27th) and I had to speak in French the entire time. It was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do so far, but I think it was also quite rewarding as I pushed my limits. One thing for sure is that I couldn’t have been happier when I finished our presentation day. I defiantly mis-pronounced a lot of words, but at least I tried! The best way to end the day off was going to Andrea and Ya’s farm for Ya’s birthday. We celebrated her birthday with a lot of food and dancing! It was a great night and a great way to spend some time with the entire team. On the following Saturday we all went to the Public market and spent the day talking about Mali at the table our supervisors set up. We gave out tea that they make in Mali from this special flower, and had a lot of pictures and jewellery on display. It was sweet, because it got all the Canadians more amped to head to Mali, seeing all the pictures and hearing all the information.
I only have 8 days until I leave, and I know that it will go by so fast, especially since I will be so busy this week. I know that I am leaving for Mali in 8 days, but at this moment it just seems so surreal. Once I get on the plane, it will begin to sink in that I am actually leaving Canada for 3 months. I have some fears about going to Mali, but those are just fears of the unknown. I will overcome those fears and learn from what I experience. I know it’s been a while since I blogged last, and this hardly seems like enough writing to express all that I have been doing. Trust me I feel the same way, but as I have mentioned before, it was difficult for me to write this blog entry with so many thoughts about everything running through my mind. I promise that I will get in one more blog entry before I head to Mali, so keep looking back as my next one will be up really soon. I have no choice this time, I’m leaving for Mali in 8 DAYS! :)