Halis also has a mustache you can't see. He said that his Cuban friend (Cuba has ten doctors stationed here on a rotating basis) had told him to shave his mustache. Halis replied that if he did that then his face would look like a woman's. I am glad that he thinks of issues like that though I disagree with his conclusions. I said I was surprised a Cuban would say that since so many Latin American men sport exactly that 3rd world standard mustache (and Fidel even more) but he said Cubans didn't. Maybe Cuban doctors. I guess I am thinking of Mexicans in the 1970's. It was pretty universal. Mohamed has that mustache.
Halis lives in Araouane for 7 months and in Timbuktu for 5 months. He gave us a brief explanation of Tuareg culture, as he experiences it: every Tuareg man must go on 4 salt caravans (45 days each) before he is eligible for his family to pick him out a bride. That sounds like a useful requirement all around (even if you are trying to get out of marrying). The Tuareg women are in control of society. The men are gone for three or four months at a time, and the women (Tuaregs are monogamous despite Islam permissiveness) manage the household. They are not in veils. Halis told us that Tuareg men wear veils as a sign of respect to old men. It's a way of keeping them from seeing your face. This is not entirely respect, a bit of it is the Mafia bodyguard's sunglasses.
Mohamed is back in his Supersonics cap again. Some millinery deconstructionist may plot his contrarian headware usage. It seemed in general that he'd wear his turban when he wished to be identified among strangers as Tuareg and to accrue that social advantage; but among his familiars he wore his cap as a way of identifying with his city residency. The cap, and not having dozens of kids.
