Four Cleary Perspectives on Fall Break

Kailou:

Ggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Ahhhhhh, fall break, unlike at the charter school we get a nine day break at my new school. It is luxurious and needed but for some reason I am still here at my desk being forced to write “five sentences” for the blog, but once am done I will be free. My dad is the mastermind behind this blog plot, my mom flew to Nairobi for a teacher conference, but after this, freedom!!!!!!! I can’t wait for tomorrow because tomorrow is movie night at the American club. The movie is never great but it’s fun to hang out with all my American friend and drink a soda while talking about good old America.

Jade:
Dear friends and family,

            Today my family and I have just returned from a trip with another family. We all had a lot of fun visiting a small pottery village and walking amongst the children of a little fishing town. But of course there was a poison dart in the raisin tart and this time it was bugs. The bugs were the worst on the first night we got there and we didn’t know to apply bug spray constantly. Surprisingly though all the other nights where practically bug free, or at least of pesky mosquitoes! By the way, Tireya Bugu, the encampment we stayed at, was built right next to the Banie River so we took a small pirogue. I got to sit in the very front which made me feel free and powerful as the wind whipped my and the sun sank lower in the sky.

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Cindy:

We have been in Mali for nine weeks and today we are out in the countryside for our first true vacation. It feels like we’ve been here much longer while at the same time still feeling so fresh and new.  It’s a good time to reflect on what we’ve learned and accomplished so far and what we still wish to create for ourselves in our new African home and lifestyle.

We have a full week off of school, Fall Break, which was much needed by all of us.  It’s been exhausting to figure out all of our new routines and to set up our home, office, classrooms and activities. Being in the city most of the time is a sensory overload and even though we escaped to nearby Siby for a couple of climbing/hiking days, getting out even further and for four full days is a rejuvenation deep in our bones. 

On Sunday we drove 6 hours away from Bamako to an encampment in the heart of Mali, just beyond the old city of Segou.  Segou is a riverside market town that was the capital of the old Malian Kingdom as well as home to the French colonial leadership.  We stopped to shop at a huge pottery market by the Niger River and eat lunch at a little street café that is recommended by the local Peace Corps volunteers. Several of them were there to chat with us and tell us about life in the villages – reminding us of the luxuries we enjoy with our air-conditioned house, car, running water, ample restaurant and fancy grocery stores.

Teriya Bugu, meaning “Hut of Friendship” in Bambara, is the encampment we are staying in, nestled alongside the Bani River in the midst of a forest of eucalyptus trees, mango groves and banana plantations. It’s 28 kilometers from the nearest paved road and located between fishing and pottery villages. It’s an eco-tourism site, founded by a French Priest who set up the massive gardens, tree plantations, solar farm and health initiatives in a group of villages. We are staying in cozy huts along the riverside with a swimming pool and slide, ping-pong table, roaming peacocks, restaurant, and a mini-zoo. The income from our stay supports the sustainable development of the surrounding villages. This afternoon we’ll go on a boat ride to tour a nearby fishing village and tomorrow we’ll visit a pottery making village to try our hand at traditional pot making.

Thomas:

            What an amazing first big trip away from Bamako! The city life, even in our ‘outskirts of town’ suburb, is busy, noisy, and impersonal. Visiting the villages near Teriya Bugu, an hour east of Segou, was such a surprise. Kids running up to have their picture taken so they can see themselves on the LCD screen, people wanting to talk to me and shake my hand in friendly greeting, toothless old ladies laughing at us and with us, men showing us their work at blacksmith anvils or handcrank sewing machines, and more.

            Our school, www.aisbmali.org, has a fall break in late October. This is a wonderful timing as it allowed us to catch our breath after 2 months at the new school. Africa or not, teaching is a demanding job and getting my classroom up and running, with all new curriculum, took a lot out of me. Now I am fairly settled into a planning routine and this week off gave me a chance to reflect and take stock. So far so good! My students and I are all (mostly) happy with our classroom life.

            So on the first Sunday of break we loaded up our new car with its new roof rack, picked up another family to journey with us, and headed east for a 4.5 hour trip ~ according to the guidebook. Of course the writer of said guidebook did not have 4 adults, 4 kids, several ‘quick stops’ on the way out of town, and messages to be passed on to families of house help in far flung villages. Nor did he apparently have an inexperienced driver of a big, new (to us) SUV vying for limited road space against even bigger semis, whilst dodging deep potholes, slow domestic animals, and fast kids on road’s edge! Ten hours later we rolled into our ‘encampment’!

            But the next 2 days were restful in the calm of the eucalyptus trees planted along the banks of the Bani River surrounding our bungalow. We swam in the clean, cool pool with its steep slide and visited its grounds with forests and small animal park. We took a pirogue (boat) to a nearby fishing village and were welcomed by the village chief and hoards of happy kids, returning home on the river at sunset. We toured another village spending 2 hours with a family of master potters, even making our own pots. And we walked through a market very different than those in Bamako in that there was more of the locally produced goods and foodstuff and less of the Chinese, plasticated fodder.

            On the ride home we stopped at a mudcloth cooperative and watched artisans at work and even made our own swatches. The fabrics were beautiful and made with all natural dyes of amazing blues, greens, reds, and yellows. And, even with that stop, we made it home in 8 hours!

            Now I have had a few days at home for the last half of break while Cindy was off to a conference in Kenya. I was busy unpacking our shipment which arrived, right before break, after 3.5 months. It is great to have more clothes after 2 full months in 4 sets of clothes (and I was down to 3 holey undies and 2 pr of socks!). We have also really been wanting our bikes as we are too close to school to drive but too far to walk. Other exciting things: toys and games for the kids, climbing gear, wall art, music players, printer with scanner (will help with lesson planning), kitchen appliances, tv/dvd for kids, and classroom resources. So now back to school for a month before more travel at Thanksgiving break and another month til a big trip at Winter break!