View of Songo
Aga po sewo (how is your morning)?
Séo (good)
Uneshe sewo (how is your husband)?
Séo
Ginwa sewo (and your family)?
Séo
Unuwa sewo (and your children)?
Séo
Rock paintings, Songo
The fantastic, lengthy greetings of the Dogon people sound much like a song. The formula is always the same and the responses are rapid and rhythmic. I had fun trying it out today and got a couple of full asking and responding sessions with the older women.
We made it to Dogon Country a few days ago and are staying at a place that Mac recommended, the Hotel Les Deux Caimans in Sanga. The son of the owner, Line, came in from Bamako for the start of the tourist season to be our guide. We had our first taste of Dogon country in the village of Songo where we saw the famous rock paintings that an important part of the circumcision ritual that takes place every three years. Yesterday, we visited some of the villages that are hiking distance from Sanga with Line.
Granary
The Dogon houses are interesting to see; limestone blocked centers then covered with a mud plaster but what makes them really impressive is that they are clinging to the cliffs and hidden in rock crevices. Some of these are said to be the work of the Tellem, the people who lived here before the Dogon and it is said that they have magical abilities (such as sticky hands to help climb the rock faces to enter their dwellings) and very small in stature. The old Tellem homes are high up in the cliffs in what seems to be impossibly inaccessible spots. It is also thought that the vegetation may have been different then, lush and filled with vines that they could have used to climb to their homes.
Old Tellem village
Everyone here is very persistent with the cadeaus and bon-bons. Line explained that the French tourists often bring candies with them. I would calmly explain to the kids that we are not French and that only the French bring pens and candies. We bring them friendship. They didn’t want my friendship in the end and would have preferred the candies.
Around lunch time we witnessed a chicken being fed to one of the sacred crocodile of Amani, it is one of their totems. That was definitely a first for me, I can’t shake the squawking noise the bird made when the crocodile snagged it and slowly pulled it under the water.
Lunch for the sacred crocodile
I tried to show the kids I have no football to give
Being our last night in Dogon country, we stopped to visit the local market in Sanga. There were packs of kids following us who were quite aggressive. First they hold your hands, which may be cute the first time, not so much when there are three or four of them trying. I asked them to please stop because I need my hands. It worked for a few seconds before they were snatched up again. I couldn’t even look at anything in the market because I was too busy fighting off the kids. If they can’t hold your hands, and sometimes even while they hold your hands they begin the “ça va?” scam. The “ça va” or how’s it going is basically the entry point to making their demands. If you acknowledge them or respond to the ça va, it then leads into the tirade of “give me a pen”, “give me a bon-bon”, “give me a present”, or my personal favorite “give me a football” as it is something that I obviously do not have in my pocket or bag.
At one point, the kids got annoyed with Bobby for ignoring them and were pretending to hit him as they walked behind him. I rushed up to them and grabbed them by the shoulders and scolded them. At first I felt incredibly guilty but I caught the glance of an old man who gave me a smiling nod so it seems people don’t approve of the children’s actions either. After that I was just so sick of talking to people, they all try to be friendly only to try to get things from you. The whole hand holding thing is really just to make you feel guilty so you will give them things. Give me, give me, give me! Give me PEACE!
