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| Our neighbor getting her hair done, while we chat and giggle under the mango tree |
Opportunity, adventure,
possibilities; tempered by reality.....Bambara Language Study. Living as a
learner first....... and last........ is a theme etched in the sands of daily
life in Africa.
Where knowing, greeting, being greeted, and sitting under the shade
of a mango tree in the hot afternoon sun, is the place where the Malian people
constantly remind you that being in a relationship, spending time, is one
thousand times more important to them, than ALL the pre-planned programs of
"things" that you, and the folks back home, feel you need to
"do" to be "productive".
They remind us that our western
idea of "being productive", often means running by, or over, them. Remember
"who" you came for, more than the impersonal "what" you came for.
Lesson #1
Malians are not nearly as impressed with our "stuff" as we are....and
they really question the value we westerners place on our "plans", often over time and relationships with them.
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