Out my window

Ashley paying close attention to our french language instructor. We both have to pass a french exam in 6 weeks to be able to swear in as Peace Corps volunteers. We are in class 8 hours a day!

The Grand Mosque of Sanakoraba. The call to prayer wakes me up every morning at 5:30am.

Getting caught in heavy traffic in Mali is never fun. Good thing I was riding in one of Peace Corps Land Cruisers that had a cattle gaurd.

I eat 2 mango's everyday. I pay 50 FCFA each which is about 15 cents USA.

This is out the window of my hut at my (JOE) host family's compound. This is where I am living for training which will last about 6 more weeks.

Blogging in the rain

(I wrote this 9 days ago but this was the first time i have had internet access.)
July 19, 2008

Ashley and I have been gone for two weeks. We are currently living in Sanankoraba, a town of 7,000 people, located South of Bamako (the Capital city of Mali). We are living with Malian host families during this training period which will last about two months. Ashley and I live with separate host families which is good because it forces us to practice our language skills with our families. During the day we meet at the town school and have French lessons taught by native Malians. At night we go back to our family compounds and try to use the French we learned that day with the family. Lets just say total immersion!!

I am currently writing this with what is left of my labtop battery in my 9 by 9 foot hut. My current hut’s roof is made of tin and a giant storm rolled in so I am holed up in my little home away from home. When a storm rolls in I have to shut my tin door and tin window to stop the rain from coming in. It gets kinda steamy and loud with the the doors and windowns shut and the rain pounding on the tin roof, because when it rains in Mali it RAINS (kind of what I imagined an African rain to be like). My family has no electricy so I am writing this by candlelight. My family has no running water which means I have a bucket of water in my room that I can use to wash my hands or to bathe with. I have already learned to bathe with a half a bucket of water. My host sister Abby who is 12 years old, takes my 5 gallon bucket of water to the pump everyday, pumps the water and then puts the water bucket on her head and balances it with one hand and walks home (I just walk with her and watch as men don’t carry water in the Malian culture). I think Abby is training to walk with the bucket on her head with no hands as that is how all the older woman seem to be able to do it. I totally don’t understand how they do it!!

I live inside the Troule family compound in a small mud house of which there are about 7 others. The compound houses the father and his two wives (you can take up to four wives in Islam) and their children as well as their grandparents and if their children are married their spouses and their children. Basiclly you live with your entire extended family in Mali. There are so many people in the compound I don’t even know everyones name. All of them speak Bambara (the native language) and some speak French as well but no one speaks English.

Outside my door is the main courtyard which is dirt. Goats, chickens, long horn cattle, cocks, sheep, donkey’s etc, all roam free throughout the courtyard and compound and for that matter the whole town. Lets just say I wake up when the sun comes up because I have a natural barnyard sounding alarm clock.

Toilets don’t exist in Mali – a bathroom generally consists of a 10 by 10 square that is walled about 6 ft tall, no roof and a small hole in the center. This is where all the bathroom activities take place including the bucket bath. Lets just say that I had Mr. D (dyaria) for two days straight. Not fun when the bathroom is a hole in the ground!

I just want to let everyone know that Ashley and I are loving our experience so far and we have cell phones. So buy a phone card or open a Skype account and call us!! Our numbers are on the side panel of this blog.

We love you all.

Our Firsts

Things we have done:

I just finished my first load of laundry, by hand, with two buckets and a bar of soap. It was basically a "sweat fest." And I am not sure if our clothing is even clean.

Yesterday at lunch we at out of the tradational communal bowl, with our hands. No silverware is used in Mali, along with no napkins. We also did all of this while sitting on the floor. We started with a salad and then moved to rice, meat and potatoes. Yes, all with our hands.

We have successfully used the "negen," a tradational Malian bathroom, or outhouse. The negen consists of a hole in the ground with four walls surrounding it for privacy. And we have not experienced MR.D yet, which refers to diarrhea, which apparently all new volunteers get in the first two weeks.

I(Ashley) had a skirt and a phene(a wrap used after the shower)made out of tradational Malian cloth. Super cool!

Watched Malian dancers preform for us. Also super cool!

Ate lots of carbs....rice, potatoes, millet, couscous, bread. And tasted the delicious Malian Mango!!!!!!!

Drank hibiscus flower juice.

Experienced a rainy season storm, during the night, and our roof did not leak. (check out the picture of our previous post of the roof, this statement will mean more)

We are learning Bambara, a Malian dialect, and Joe and I can utter a few words to Malian staff, in which they love. It goes a little something like this. A and B will be the people talking.
A---i ni sogoma.
B---n'se, i ni sogoma
A---y ka kene?
B---torro te.
A---sogomo ka kene?
B---torra t ula.

And this is all in just 3 days since we have been here....I can't believe there will be more!

We are in Africa - Mali - Bamako

These are our digs...we are currently at the Peace Corps compound outside of the Capitol City of Bamako.

Waiting in Paris....

After a long bus ride up to NY, we hopped on our plane to Paris. Somethings we observed:

1. Bill Murray was on our flight, and Joe managed to utter some "profound" words to him.

2. Our flight crew was immaculate, of course they were french.

3. Free red wine and good food- again, only on a french flight.

4. We are jet lagged.

5. We have another 5 ours in the Paris airport and 5 more hours on another airplane to Bamako....stink.

Keepin' it real, or at least trying to,

The Wollersheims

Peace Corps Orientation - Philadelphia, PA

3 day orientation in Philadelphia's historic district at the Holiday Inn Express (one block from the liberty bell)

78 new Peace Corps volunteers going to Mali with us

4 married couples

Lots of fun and many new friends...

We leave out of NYC for Bamako, Mali tomorrow after our Yellow Fever shots in the morning.

After MANY tears and good-byes (I hate good-byyyyyyyes...shhhh, just go!).

Our Final Days Before Send Off

My sister Joanna taking ownership of our Honda Accord

Tailgating at Miller Park in Milwaukee

At the Brewer game