Today I took a tour of the medical clinic that’s affiliated with the program Leila’s doing here.  Sick here has a totally different meaning from back home and I saw some pretty incredible things, including a leprosy ward.  

My tour guide for the walk around the clinic was this sassy woman who was really funny and chatty.  She kept telling me that Julie was my American name and that I needed a Bambara name for my stay here.  She gave me one…I think it was Ohmarakita…and when we would meet new doctors or clinic workers, she’d make me introduce myself with this new name.  Everyone I said it to found it really, really hilarious.  I couldn’t tell if it was because I was this western chick with a fake local name or if she’d tricked me into introducing myself as “dorkface” or something.  This could finally be karmic justice for all of the stupid things I tricked my little brother into saying when we were growing up.  Totally deserved.  

Yours,
Ohmarakita/Dorkface