Oui, la blanc! Americaine!

-one of many shouts heard when walking down the street, Anywhere, Mali..that and the "Awa! Fatimata! Mariam! Mariam!!!" of random shopkeepers trying to guess my name (which is Djeneba). Surprisingly, I'd rather turn my head to being called "white" or "American" than "toubab," which also means white person but is more annoying when called at you, because it's usually said over and over and over again to get your attention. It is really hard to blend in here..ha.

I watched "Fast Food Nation" the other day. If that movie's goal is to gross you out and turn you against eating meat, it should not be marketed in Africa. The whole time I was watching, I was thinking...cow poop in the burgers? There's poop on everything I eat. Poop particles practically float in the air here. Also, the scenes of cows being butchered in the factory made my mouth water, and also made me think how lucky Americans are that we get to eat so much meat, so often. Protein!

On the subject of cows, a friend of mine recently tested positive for tuberculosis, which comes from unpasteurized dairy products, and I think doesn't show symptoms until you've had it for awhile. The treatment for tuberculosis, which she has to take, consists of 3 months(!) of medication during which you can't, according to rumor, eat dairy products(including chocolate!) or drink alcohol. She's going to Ghana on vacation soon and asked the doctor if she could put off starting the meds until after her trip-apparently they have really good chocolate in Ghana.

I stopped drinking milk here long ago because it upset my stomach. Probably a wise decision. I recently discovered pasteurized milk at a dairy in San, but I'm a little wary. How do I know it's really pasteurized? It is possible to buy regular milk and boil it to kill any possible diseases, but I've never seen any other volunteers do that.

Another thing I've never seen volunteers do: treat local tap water. It's supposedly chlorinated, but would we really know the difference? Something to think about...