Saturday, November 17, 2012

Round Two

Hello, faithful readers and new ones!  I'm starting up this blog once more in preparation for my next trip to Mali.  I'll be leaving tomorrow for another six-month stint of intensive, mostly one-on-one instruction in traditional Mandé music in Bamako, Mali's capital.  I'm better prepared this time around, I think: my car is finally in-country and through customs, so theoretically I should be able to drive myself around, I have my own apartment, and I should be able to study with all my old teachers, so the essentials are set.  I've also got a new kora waiting for me that, I'm promised, is of the finest quality.  Mostly, though, I have a much better practical understanding of Mandé music than I had last year, and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to improvise in the Malian style before the end of this trip.  Plus, I've upgraded my field-recording gear with a stand and a windscreen, so there should be some higher-quality recordings up on the blog later this year.

I might try to post some video, as well.  I've stayed away from recording video in the past since Malians, no less than anyone else, act entirely differently when they're being filmed.  Given that I've spent a lot of time and energy trying to become more Malian or Malian-seeming (learning Bambara, entering into a traditional master/apprentice relationship, spending endless hours drinking tea and discussing world politics), I'm leery of anything that will label me as an outsider.  As I said, we'll see; video can be a powerful explanatory and documentary tool, but I'm not sure it's worth the time and loss of intimacy, particularly as I'm not in Mali for anything other than personal study, not as a grad student or ethnomusicologist.

Many people I've spoken with who know about this return trip have been concerned about my safety, vis a vis Mali's current political situation.  I can respond to this in a couple of ways.  First, I'm not particularly thrill-seeking: if I thought there was a good chance that I would be in physical danger in Mali, I wouldn't be going.  I know and speak with many Malians, both in Mali and without, and read a lot of analysis, both in the world media and on Malian news-aggregator sites.  My considered opinion is that, provided that I stick to Bamako and the south of Mali (including Kita and Sikasso, the only other two cities I'm considering visiting), I should be in no more danger than I ever have been in Mali.  Second, while it is shocking to see the huge territorial gains that Islamists and Tuareg separatists have made in Northern Mali, it's important to remember that this area is sparsely populated, and its inhabitants (those that are left, at least) are widely separated and at the mercy of small, well-organised armed groups like those occupying the region right now.  Bamako alone has more than 2 million inhabitants, or about 1000 inhabitants for each militant by most of the estimates I've read.  Mali's main army base at Kati is only 15 kilometers away, while the "front," if you want to call it that, is over 480 kilometers from Bamako, so if I'm going to be in Mali, I think I'm in the safest place I can be.

I realize that none of this may be overly comforting for some of you reading this, but we're just going to have to see what happens together.  Hopefully you'll all continue to learn about my adventures through this blog, and not through CNN breaking news...

Finally, I should mention that I'm not undertaking this trip under the aegis of the U.S. State Department or the Fulbright program, but on my own.  Mali has temporarily been removed as a Fulbright grant location, so I've been working all this summer to get together the necessary funds for this second trip.  That said, I'll be doing essentially the same activities I did while I was a Fulbright Student, just better, hopefully!

Oh, I've also been going through the 80+ hours of field recordings I made last trip, and I'll try to post one next time so there will be more music and less blather.  Excelsior!