Drinking Tea in Bamako

Last night my brother invited me to drink tea with him and his friends on the side of the road, Rue de l'Aeroporte. In Mali, tea-drinking is something of a national pastime. As my professor explained it, unemployment is extremely high in Mali, especially for young people, so many young men spend much of the day sitting by the side of the road drinking tea. My brother Alpha is 28 and graduated from university several years ago, but he hasn't yet been able to find a job. He tells me that he typically takes tea several times a day with his friends on the Rue de l'Aeroport.

Driving around Mali one sees many groups of young men, clustered at the side of the road with a small metal stand filled with charcoal that they use to boil tea. They drink small amounts of very strong, sometimes very sweet tea out of shot glasses. There are usually two glasses, which are shared between everyone present. However, taking tea in Mali is much more than a chance to have a quick break and get on with the day. A whole culture revolves around tea drinking and the gatherings centered around it. Walking down the street in Mali, white foreigners are met with shouts of "toubabou, toubabou," (white person, white person), from the neighborhood children, who will also occasionally yell out "bonsoir," (good evening), no matter what the time of day. Also common are invitations to take tea with the groups of men seated along the road. Our professors advised us to avoid drinking tea with men we don't know since, rarely, the tea will be brewed with kai-kai, an herb that lowers inhibitions and enhances sensations. From my professors' descriptions it sounds a lot like being drunk. One professor told us that he'd tried the drug once himself the night of an important dancing ceremony in his home village. He said after chewing some of the seeds he fell asleep almost immediately and ended up missing the ceremony. I asked my brother if he ever drank tea with kai-kai in it and he told me no. He went on to tell me that he's never even smoked a cigarette, marijuana, or ever tried alcohol. Though Muslims are technically not supposed to drink alcohol, many young people here, especially men, do drink on occasion, but not my brother. He introduced me to his friends in the "grain," the name given to a group of men that gathers to drink tea on a regular basis. I also met the "chef" of the grain, the chief of the tea circle who buys the tea and brews it. (In Bambara the verb for brewing tea literally means "to make the tea wake up.") He invited me to come back anytime to drink tea with them, even if my brother Alpha wasn't around. Lots of people here have been very helpful in trying to teach me Bambara, but I think drinking tea with Alpha and his friends was probably the best experience yet. They all really wanted to help me learn and would repeat themselves several times and then have me repeat so I would understand. I feel like I learned almost as much Bambara in one night with them as I have in my three weeks studying on my own.

The next night we went back to the tea circle. Alpha had asked me if I was afraid to ride a motorcycle and I had told him no, without really thinking about it. Around 8PM, when he told me it was time to go I went outside and saw him sitting on his moto. He told me to get on. It's hard to understand why riding a moto through Bamako is such a terrifying experience unless you've seen the way motorcycles are driven here. After riding with him I think I understand why he prays five times a day. He's going to start teaching me to drive it this weekend.