that class was awesome.

once again, my very sweet west african professor brought mali into the classroom when she didn’t have to (the topic on the syllabus was haitian women in NYC). we talked about timbuktu today and how it is a real place. lol. that was hilarious to see myself in the other students (looking back a while). “it’s a real place!”

we watched a clip that explained the customs of the touagreg men being veiled and the women unveiled, and how the women are the heads of the households in this culture. and then it happened, my professor explained how i am moving to mali next year. didn’t expect that. the funny thing is, she still insists that i’m going to bamako to study at the university, even though i’ve explained that it’s more of a humanitarian aid work sort of thing that i will be doing (being careful not to turn her off because of her faith). she even offered to call a friend that works at the university and set me up. honestly, this woman is so kind. and she’s of the faith that is so plastered these days of being soooo hurtful and anything but loving. perhaps she’s a person just like me, but is bound in chains. gosh, i could do a sermon.

i should’ve gone to senegal this past summer when she passed out the study abroad packets in class last spring, but oh well. we talked about bambara, & i loved hearing her pronunciation of it. it was like music to my ears. earlier in class the professor explained that her grandmother never lost any of her teeth before she died (in her 80s) and how in the wolof culture they say that they need to lose their teeth before they die, or their grandchildren will die instead. and how her mother will not eat chicken that anyone else besides herself prepares (more of a personal thing instead of cultural). how she scrubs it until it is white, she says. and i got to thinking… it’s really not that different from all these other silly things i as an American think of or have been taught.

west african people have my heart. oh, so much. and i am just in awe of how He has prepared me. really, it’s crazy good to think about.