More haikus to come, but first

hi. i am in bamako for what will be my last day until i decide to leave my site. at this point in the game, i much prefer to become a site rat and just be plain anti-social.

moving can be stressful, indeed, but when you have to do it in a developing country with one whole day to wrap up loose ends, it fries you. and i'm not talking about that sun out there high in the sky, it sure doesn't help.

i will quit bitching.

i do have good news other than the fact that i am a volunteer now. i got a phone call from my host-mom on saturday. which host-mom? since i have had now 3 or 4 or 5 host-families now in my life? my host-mom phaina whom i lived with during my university study-abroad in montpellier, france.

well, she called tubaniso in the evening and after 3 words, i recognized it as her voice. after our greeting, she asked me to guess where she was. i said, bamako?!?! et alors, it was true. and we made plans to hang out on monday in the capital with her daughter, melissa.

on monday, i couldn't believe my eyes when i pulled up in a taxi by the french cultural center that i was seeing my family for the first time in 6 years. we went to the cafe kaba, the carrefour des jeunes, and took a walk along the river niger.

it felt really good to see loved-ones, and it was super awesome to meet visitors here in africa for the first time. i like to think that it's just the beginning of a long string of visits. and it helped recharge my energy for this big move to sombo.

More Mali Haikus

Loved ones left behind
Friends, lovers, and family
Much missing to bear

this haiku's for the water sanitation sector:
Sewage runs by streets
Lack of potable water
Water San. has work

this haikus for the natural resource management sector:
Deforestation
And desertification
Good luck N.R.M.

this is for the agriculture sector and a daba is a hand-held hoe used in mali:
Increase production
Anti-soil erosion
Ag. works the daba

Trees bow to the breeze
Flowers bloom in the springtime
Japanese haiku

At rainy season
Villagers plant the cash crops
Millet, sorghum, corn

Storms come from the east
Above African landscapes
Thunder, lightening

The hot season comes
Sun passes the equator
Heat rises daily

Long time river stick
You'd be, but never become
The crocodile

This last one is a transformation of a bambaran proverb into english, into japanese haiku form: yiri men o men ji la, a te ke bama ye.

basically in english it means: you may be a stick in a river for a long time, but you will never be the crocodile. this is a proverb for us foreigners here in mali. we can know the language, customs, current event, and be fully 'integrated,' but we will never be a malian... hmm.

Haiku's from Mali with love

okay, i know i haven't finished my peace corps speak entry yet, which i will return to with a more comprehensive list so you all know what the hell i am referring to when i blurb out abbreviations, acronyms, and the like.

plus i left my notebook in sinsina. and i am in bamako.

most of these are untitled. these may be unrelateable. i am trying to succinctly express the stuff going on around me in 5-7-5 syllabic form.

diarreha flows
after drinking from wells
c'est la vie, mali

donkeys, chickens, cows
are neighbors in the country
roam free among us

dodge rocks, amoebas
life's an obstacle course here
mali's dangerous

lipstick, eyeshadow
electricity and sex
we live without them

beer and cigarettes
the only vices we have
p.c.t.'s survive

niger swimming's bad
shistosomiasis hurts
let's swim in a pool

storms come from the east
above african landscapes
thunder, lightening