A little of the…
Polychronic

I just noticed how used to this I am. Have you ever heard of this theory? I studied this crap in college so I’m full of coined phrases for the way culture and communication work. It’s a way of talking about how we manage our time and interactions with others. Generally, Americans tend to be Monochronic, ie, one thing at a time. We write down in a planner what we will be doing at 7am, seven-thirty, eight, 8:30 and so forth (that sentence [and frankly, most sentences I write], was designed to bug any grammar sticklers out there). We make an appointment with the man and he brings us in his office when it’s time and he closes the door and we sit and have a meeting. Priorities are established (or not) and we go through things—like I said—one thing at a time. If you’re in a conversation with someone and someone else you know walks buy, you don’t stop talking to that person and start something new with the new person (in most cases). Just like if you are walking down a hall and two friends are deep in conversation (or even shallow), you don’t say “hey, how are you doing today?” you just give a nod or smile and leave them to it.

NOT SO (and I know it’s belaboring the point to explain it but, hey, you’re not a captive audience, you can skip this crap) with Polychronic organization! As you might have guessed, someone who sees the world in this way and interacts with people as such, defines priorities a little different. I sat down with the Mayor of Sofara the other day and was talking about the different projects I’m working on and other possibilities for Sofara and someone came to the (always open) door. I just instinctively stopped in the middle of my meeting and looked up so he could greet us (greetings are very important in Africa). He then described some problem or issue. The mayor told him what to do and he left. I picked up right where I was and continued. The man returned with someone else, more instructions. This happened a few times. I’ve gotten good at pagemarking my own conversations so they can be continued later.

It was during this conversation that I took note of how naturally this seemed to flow (despite how unnatural it should have appeared to an American having a “business meeting” with someone important). So I started to watch how this worked during the next few days and realized it was happening all the time.

One thing that is a big step for me (and I know you’ll be proud of me for this Ellie) has been the greetings. As you walk down a path, it is generally expected that you will greet people (esp. anyone you know to any degree) along the way. Even if two people are talking intensely or arguing or kissing (ok they don’t do that here, but you get the idea) you would still be expected to greet them and they will interrupt their goings-on to reply (to at least some degree). This took some real getting used to, and I still feel weird interrupting people. But it’s not rude here, it’s expected. To not do so would be rude.

You want to know how I learned to do this? Too bad (unless you skip this too, shoot). I was trained. The person approaching or walking by is expected to initiate greetings. If you don’t, once you pass, people will tell you “HEY! You don’t greet me? What’s the deal?” It happened to me all the time. Now I just blaze down the street interrupting left and right:

“Hello!”
“Yes”
“Are you healthy?”
“Peace.”
“Family?”
“And children?”
“Peace?”
“Family.”
“No problems.”
“Good work.”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
“Peace.”

OK so it doesn’t make a lot of sense but it shows you care somehow. Let me share a little secret with you (and we’ve obviously deviated from talking about poly and monochromic organization to greetings, WHICH is a rad example of mixing it up as such). When we first got here we had language training for two months. The first thing we learned was the greetings. We learn the correct question and the correct response:

“Hello.”
“Yes.”
“Did you have peace in the night?”
“Peace only.”
“Are you healthy?”
“I have no problems.”
“How is your family?”
“They have no problems.”
“And your spouse?”
“They have no worries.”
“And your children?”
“They have no problems.”
“Good work.”
“Thank you.”
“May Allah bless your path.”
“Amen.”

The reality though (and secret) is that this never happens in an actual Malian village. We spend so much time (in the beginning) trying to get the responses right and we are so frustrated to find THEY never answer OUR inquiries correctly. HOW RUDE!

But that’s not how they show they care. They show they care by keeping the rhythm going. It’s like saying “I like you enough to keep inquiring and responding (irregardless of what your inquiries and responses are).” It is actually more ruder ;) to sit there concentrating to get the right answers down because it cuts off the greeting or doesn’t perpetuate it.

“How’s your health?”
(oh yeah?) “How’s your family?”
(nice try) “What about those people in your extended family?”
(take this!) “Did you have peace in the night?”
(trying to throw me for a loop, I see) “They’ve got no problems!”
“PEACE!”
“FAMILY?”
“HEALTH!?”
“YES!”
“YES!”
“OK?”
“ALRIGHT!”
“May God bring peace to your day!”
“Amen!”
“May god bless your dwelling!”
“AMEN!!”
“May God show us tomorrow!”
“AMEEEEEEEEEEEN!”
(jeeze).
(You’ve won this round Coulibaly).

It’s like a rivalry of respect. Don’t say what you mean, mean how you say it. On a couple of side notes: Your last words on your sickly deathbed could be “I’m healthy.” In reply to a “Do you have health?” inquiry. No one ever says they are sick. Only lesser degrees to which they are full of health and peace (or “better,” whatever that means… although I suspect they use it as “better than dead”). Likewise you will never say that something is gross or not delicious, only a little delicious or you like it a little bit.

So back to that Polychronic thing (before I was so rudely interrupted). Stuff will get done but you just can’t be in too much of a hurry or want it done on a really specific time-table. I mean, you can want that (and may get it sometimes) but you will find yourself regularly frustrated and will confuse and frustrate the people you expect that out of. I like to take time to go visit people I want to (already) be working with and give them the heads up on what would help us go forward and keep at it do-dooni (little by little).

Oh man, I’m about to drop some more knowledge. You know how I was explaining about this way of prioritizing? It applies to jobs too. My host family’s father is a tailor. I’ve found there is a way to get your clothes made and there is a way to be neglected. Ready:

Goofus the neglected:
Goofus gives his fabric to the tailor and asks when it will be done. He arrives (on time) at the specified date and is frustrated to find it is not done. While there is no evidence of the work the tailor assures him it is “almost done” (ie almost started). He asks when it will be done and leaves (frustrated) and returns on the given date. Goofus sort of gets what he sort of suspects and the work is not done again. Who knows how long this could go on.

Gallant the integrated:
Gallant visits his tailor and delivers his fabric and describes what he wants. He notices the other people hanging around the shop, seemingly just chatting it up and watching the work. He waits a “reasonable” amount of time and then returns knowing the tailor will have been busy with other projects (slash drinking tea). If there is not too many people there he will sit down and start asking about his project and ask if he can see the progress. The tailor will describe the circumstances that explain why it is still folded, just as he left it days ago (perfectly reasonable I’m sure) and the explanation will be accepted (and expected). He will then sit there (making himself a priority to the tailor) and watch as the tailor actually starts the project. He will return periodically and if he REALLY needs it done by a certain time, he will come in early and say he needs it and sit there and watch it get sewn.

I know it sounds unreasonable, and it may be way less productive for a society to have to have one person watching the other work, but that’s how it works here. Actually, if you don’t mind when it gets done you can just keep stopping by till they believe you are serious and they will do it eventually. There are different ways to do this but Gallant chose the most common.

All this useless knowledge (in some circles anyway), brings me to my next point. It’s part of why:

I’m kind of sad…

…thaaaaaaaaat… what?

I’m a year in or so and I walk around Sofara with constant greetings of “ISA” (my name here in case you forgot) and hellos from friends and jokes and conversations. I’m at that point where I enjoy playing with words and joking around. It’s fun to realize that I’m sort of part of the community and instead of being the new Toubab, I’m now Isa.

Why should that make me sad anyway? Well, I can see the end (which, honestly, I can fully accept, or at least I’m not sad about that yet) and I sort of realize that no one from my former life[s] will come and see me in this town in Africa joking with women about buying their kids and accusing friends in jest of “cutting girlfriends” (uh, dating), or greeting and loving people. It’s not something I need or anything but it would be so fun to show someone around and prove the fruition of so many months of work and frustration. Maybe they wouldn’t be impressed (not knowing how sorry and helpless I was in the beginning) but I still sort of wish I could share it with someone.

Not that sad though. I’m still happy and enjoying my time and glad I’ve got things to do.

Happy and Things to do?? You want to hear more about his? Too bad (still):

Mein Kampf

Some of you know about my latest struggles which I won’t go into much detail here (riiiiiiiiight). It all started with a little spot on the top of my head. It was a little sore and acted like acne (which I thought it was). After a few days without coming to a head another one started to form on the back of my head. The first one formed into what I assumed was a big boil on the top of my head. It was actually pretty painful (not sharp but a dull constant pain) and grew in size and painfulness until after a week and a half or so it seemed like it was about ready to burst. Then it did.

I’m trying not to go into much detail here (as us Peace Corps Volunteers are famous for) but let’s just say it was gross. It made me pretty woozy to see so much puss and blood (OK I’M FINISHED!). The open sore worried me (as did the… gross… sorry… I took a picture of the first one if you really want to know [and have a strong stomach]) so I called the med office to get some advice. I was told not to worry and to take some antibiotics from my med-kit.

Long story short, that first one was only a hint of what was coming next. The antibiotic failed and I soon had an irritating spot on my waist (which made wearing normal pants difficult). Then my butt had a sore (oh man). Still, I was handling it when new, painful bumps started growing on my head. It was becoming difficult to find a position to sit or lay but I was still trying to treat things from village when one day, exhausted, I took a nap and woke up sweaty and in pain and overwhelmed by how many sores I was trying treat and how many new boils were forming. From the first (now) four I new the hellish process from first indication to eruption to healing and it was more than I could bear. I called the med office again and they decided they wanted to treat me in Bamako so now I had a 10 hour trip to face on a bus with a nasty, painful boil (two actually) on my bum.

Long story long I guess (oh, but not as long as it could be) it was a real spiritual, emotional and physical trial for me. I made it to Bamako (with my now dozens of boils) and received treatment and got better.

Why am I sharing this? Hmmm… I’d like to say something about how “tough” I am but… it was actually pretty humbling. I got through it though. Oh here! Here’s a lesson (of the many lessons I took out of the experience) that I feel comfortable sharing via blog: I got through it. Looking back I can’t imagine going into it knowing what it would be, but I got through it. It made other problems seem easier and put things on a new spectrum.

(Do you think those scars are permanent? Let's take a survey.)

For example: after a 10 hour bus ride in such a state, now these rides seem like a total cakewalk. They are much easier now. While I was in Bamako I also did mid-service medical exams and had blood taken. I don’t like needles but compared to a few days earlier where the doctor was digging open my extremely painful sores with a giant needle (and me giving it all I had to keep from crying) a needle in the arm was small kine.

I’m sure this contributes (but only partially) to why I’m so happy and content right now. I feel blessed to be able to compare my blessings to other possible situations. That said I have to thank my family and friends for all of their thoughts, well-wishes, fasting and prayer. The part of the story I left out is how my Heavenly Father helped me through it all, which I’d love to tell you if you would like to hear it some time.

As for…
Things to do:

I’m happy to have some projects to work on. Ah! There is so much I want to tell you but I know I won’t do it justice. Let me just mention a couple of things:

First, our early rainy season brought a lot of rain all at once. As a result some areas of Sofara (and other parts of the region and country) flooded. One of the places that flooded is where several women’s associations have their gardens. Unfortunately, the Dutch-brick construction and the soft dirt were a bad combination and five out of six wells collapsed (the surviving well being in another garden, far from the others). So I’ve been working with the garden association president to write a project to fund the purchase of cement for new wells. I’m glad I get to work with him because he is really motivated and knowledgeable (and has worked with Peace Corps before). This garden association is great for the women it serves (there is a Dogon, Samogow, Maninke and Fulfulde garden) and I’m happy I can help them in this difficult situation.

(I couldn't photograph the worst of the wells that collapsed, but this one (not actually flooded at the head) is an example of how the bricks react to the moist dirt.

BTW the new wells will use a design less susceptible to flooding. Here are two examples of wells he built that did NOT collapse despite flooding. (this is how we will build the five we are making).

(Issa, a Dogon man in the neighborhood shows me his well that flooded but didn't collapse.)

(They were able to fill this sinkhole in and save the well)

I have also been working with my French colleague to see if we can build a much-needed dike to prevent future flooding in this area.

Second, I am working with a women’s association to create a cereal bank. YOU will be able to help with this one by donating online (100% of proceeds go to the women via me [who your tax dollars support by funding Peace Corps, a gov program]). So keep that in mind as something that is coming up later. I will write more soon and keep you posted on the project’s status.

In the mean time, the project you have already helped me with is moving right along (this Peace Corps Partners Project must be completed and closed before the next one can be submitted). The millet harvest has been cut so we are now buying feed for the cows and should be selling them at market soon. I’ll let you know.

Well. Congratulations to anyone who actually read that. I know it was a lot of really specific detail (to my specific situation). I can’t write my blog do-dooni. I have take the time to travel to our office and then sit down and write it and then go to the cybercafe and then post. I spend most of the time in a town with no electricity (let alone computers) so thanks for forgiving my long delays and then beasts like this.

Just as a side note, I really don’t know who is reading this thing. I mean, I know a few of you (probably the all the ones who would read this whole post to the end, and then some), but randomly I hear about other people who read it that I didn’t know about. Anyone with the time is welcome but try to remember that I don’t really know who my audience is. Hopefully my stories or language isn’t too inappropriate. Any chance of getting a comment “shout out” from anyone who is listening? Click on “Comments” below. Whatevs.