There is a hand gesture here that I am having a hard time getting used to.
In the USA when we hold up a hand and open and close it, it means "bye-bye" or "hello". The same gesture means "come here" to the people here. I have had a couple of misunderstandings because of this.
A couple times people have been trying to get me to come over to them, and I have simply waved back thinking they were saying hello. They kept waving at me, now frusterated and probably thinking, "no, I want you to come here!"
At school the kids say goodbye to the teachers before leaving for the day. Sometimes the kids will wave goodbye at me (by waving their hand side to side) and without thinking I will wave back by opening and closing my hand. This is confusing to them because they are trying to leave to go home, and I seem to be calling them to come back to school!
I know in my head what this gesture means here, it is just hasn't become like a reflex yet.
Hey there my long lost friend from Chi Alpha at UMD! The last time I facebooked with you, you were exploring the world. Now I find out that you are in west Africa. Well, guess what, I am in West Africa. Benin, to be more precise. I want to catch up! I would love to hear your story and how you ended up in Mali. I also would love to come visit you :) My email is krissypeacecorps@gmail.com. Hope to hear from you! Krissy
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