Check out this page to keep updated on all the crazy jargon we use in Mali!
Djembe (n.) - A west African drum played with hands. While the djoun djoun keeps the beat, the djembe is used to react and play with the dancers to encourage their moves and complement their steps.
Djoun Djoun (or Dunun, n.) - A bigger drum than the Djembe, with a lower sound that is played with a mallet. Often up to 3 Dununs are combined to give the player more variety, though the basic rhythm seldom varies for a particular dance. A djoun djoun and djembe are both needed for a full drum section, but the djoun djoun is the heart of the beat that repeats over and over again.
Dununba (n.) - Big Dunun dance. By adding "ba" to the end of the word, it makes it big, and is a way of adding respect or grandeur to a name or object. Dununba was originally performed with large blades on the dancers arms that would cut their competitors in a traditional Bamana ceremony, and is a very masculine dance.
Griot (n.) - A griot is a keeper of oral history. In the past, they were the voice of the nobility in public, and the emcees at the local ceremonies.
Farafin (n.) - Bambara word for black person, essentially. When kids come up and yell "Tubabu" at you, it's customary to shout this back and enter into a classic game of "Tubabu, Farafin," which you chant back and forth at each other until one party gives up or you get far enough away it just kind of dies. These kids are damn good at "Tubabu, Farafin!" and we haven't won a game yet.
N'goni (n.) - A West African string instrument. The N'goni was originally played during hunters' ceremonies which inspired them to go out and catch prey. They have a variable number of strings depending on the purpose of the N'goni.
Sotrama (n.) - A van used for public transportation. Sotramas are privately owned but they conform to a route so people can get off and on as they please without stops, and still know where they're going. At most they cost 30 cents. I'm always amazed at how many people can fit in the back of a van (up to 20!), as more come and the local attendant squeezes another butt between two people.
Sungurubanin (n.) - Little whore dance. Sunguru means girlfriend. Add "ba" to it and it sort of turns into whore, though this is loosely translated. Add "nin" to the end and it becomes the little whore dance! This dance is very feminine and involves very fluid arm movements.
Tubabu (or Tubab, n.) - Bambara word for foreigner, or white person. As Tubabs, we often get odd looks (though entirely friendly) from locals in the more remote districts of Bamako, and can often pick this word out of a observer's interaction with a comrade, remarking on our presence. One of my favorite phrases, and one I will now say whenever a big group of us get on a Sotrama is "Tubabu chaman chaman nana" which means "so many tubabs just arrived!" It always gets a laugh
