the wrong question

last week was site announcement for all the trainees.

then everybody split up for a week to preview their new home.

a preview where you felt welcomed and wanted. and where you can’t wait to move to.

but also, you had two moments of realization.

something obvious that you saw but never really did see until you came to your new village in mali.

let’s jump back in time to where you were nothing but happy.

in no particular order…

the seine in normandy.

the rhine in strasbourg.

the saône in lyon.

the garonne in the gironde.

the thames in london.

the somme in amiens.

the brazos in texas.

the leie in ghent.

the iton in evreux.

the scheldt in antwerp.

the loire in nantes.

the liwu in taiwan.

the lez next to montpellier.

the ljubljanica in ljubljana.

the trinity in texas.

the red river in shreveport.

the loire (again) in tours.

the nameless stream in the alpes-maritimes.

the douro in porto.

the rhine in basel.

the neckar in heidelberg.

the saint lawrence in quebec.

the niger in mali.

here is realization number one: rivers connect the mountains to the sea.

so while you were playing your mountain vs. ocean game last year, it’s only a few days ago that you realized you overlooked perhaps the most important (and obvious) part.

the question of mountain vs. ocean, the question of staying vs. leaving, the question of sleeping vs. dancing – it was the wrong question. because these two things you thought were opposites are in fact connected.

by rivers. there’s not a mountain that isn’t linked somehow to the sea by a river.

the second realization – the one where suddenly everything made sense - a trip to the niger river is needed first before it can be explained in this journal.

sinking in

when at the peace corps training center, the day officially begins at eight.

but you like to start the day a bit earlier.

you follow the footsteps of your feathered friends.

then you find a place to sit.

on the bank.

the bank of the niger river.

it still hasn’t sunk in yet that the niger river is what your life will revolve around for the next two years.

non-related instants

life for the past week has been full of scattered instants in between classes and meetings and trips.

one of your many jobs in mali is to be a liaison.

there are organizations. ngos. in cities with nice offices.

one, in particular, is ICRISAT – the international crops research institute for the semi-arid tropics.

there are people. in areas that only a bicycle can reach.

how are they to interact with each other?

simple: you.

with english, french, and bambara, you’ll connect the groups that need each other.

you’ll get to know your community and its needs as well as the many organizations that can help it but don’t have access – except for you.

you’ve always loved combinations. and now, you will soon begin to explore a combination that will empower people to help themselves.

soon. not yet, as you’re still culturally adjusting for these first few months.

mentally. emotionally. physically. the stomach is not quite a happy story, but the hair is – kunsigi digi, or hair braiding, is.

dinners here are never around a table. instead they are around a fire with flashlights pinched between the neck and shoulder.

but they are still around. and that is most important.

the story of this photo – the day your malian family discovered jaba rings – will be told another day.

lots of yeleing, or laughing, happens with your host family. mostly at you as you do many things they can’t understand.

such as how you like to make photos of millet.

because what they really want are photos of them. of people. of faces.

maybe – just maybe – gradually you do too.

your photography is changing. maybe.

you haven’t decided yet. normally you don’t care to make photos of people you aren’t close to. it doesn’t mean you don’t admire photographers who make portraits of strangers – it just wasn’t your style.

but the enthusiasm you see when your camera is out – you can’t resist it. you can’t say no. you can’t not make a photo when someone really wants to be photographed.

an bena ye. we’ll see. on verra.

your favorite. surprising, it is not receiving mail and packages. seeing familiar handwriting was the instant that made you happiest.