I’m in San and just finished regional language IST. Three teachers from the Peace Corps came here for a week to help us get a better handle on our language, and it certainly helped. Spending an entire week with my friends here has been real refreshing, but I can’t wait to get back to site.
Last week was spent picking peanuts. Every day my routine was wake up, ride my bike and then harvest. Wagon after of wagon of peanut plants appeared at the house and my family and I spent hour after hour harvesting these nasty treats. I don’t know how many of you have had fresh peanuts, but it is a entirely different experience from the dry roasted nuts we get in the states. I never thought a peanut could be juicy, but it certainly can.
Site is going well and I’m making quite a few friends. In fact, I’ve earned myself a nick name. Every night a few people come over to chat, drink tea and hang out with Esai, the family and myself. The evening starts with me being exited to chat and practice Bambara. My enthusiasm is usually matched and a conversation that I can engage in begins. However, eventually people begin to talk amongst themselves, I can’t understand what they say and I begin the nightly ritual of watching stars. Watching stars is something that just isn’t done here, and having tried and failed to engaged my new friends in my fresh passion for the celestial giants I sit in quiet contemplation. One day my concentration in one such moment was broken by my friend Madu “Adama, Adama, you are now Nos.” At first I was very confused, am I still Adama (yes), is Nos a common nickname for Adama (no) then why the hell are you guys going to call me Nos. It is then that they explained that Nos is short for Nostradamus the French astrologist. I haven’t been Nostradamus’s biggest fan for some time, but my having a nick name among some of my better friends is pretty neat. Me being named after an astronomer should give you a fair indication as to just how time time I spend watching stars.
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