Peace Corps Address
Friday, February 26, 2010
Mount Hombori (Hombori Tondo)
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
The President Comes to Town
Killing two birds with one stone-girls walking from our village to see ATT, but also making the most of their walk into town, with wood in tow to sell.
I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!!!! No matter what your thoughts are on our current president, he is a hero over here. These girls from our village had on their Obama shirts and Dogon cloth skirts, all geared up and ready for ATT.
The Dogons are the ethnic group in Mali, known for their culture. Here is a Dogon Mask Dancer. They preformed for the president and also helped to keep the crowd under control. (see the whip in his hand, yeah that's right, he would go after people with the whip) Third-world secret service ROCKS!
A shift in topics:
As most of you know, we got a new camera for Christmas. So Joe has been trying to learn how to use it and it's different features. Here are a few of his latest shots.
1st picture-Reading by headlamp, 2nd picture-making dinner by headlamp
This is part of our nightly routine, making dinner, reading, going over to visit the chief and then showering all by headlamp. I can't wait to toss that thing out when I get home. I want electricity back!
Friday, February 12, 2010
A boat to Djenne
A giant pile of kola nuts. Kola nuts are bitter and contain caffeine. I buy one dollar worth of kola nuts about once a week to give as a gift to the chief of our village (who is also my host dad). When you enter a village in much of Muslim West Africa you present ten kola nuts to the Chief of the Village as a sign of respect. Chewing kola nuts eases hunger pains. I don't like chewing them but I love giving them as gifts.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
It's COMING...
The signs are:
- scorpion sightings have risen sky high in the last few weeks
- one shower a day is not enough
- short sleeve shirts are now feeling to restricting
- no cloud in sight
- skirts are a no no, you end up with a thigh rash
- temperatures in our house keep climbing to high 90's
- the winds are here-multiple "wind storms" lately that have kept us stuck in the house
- sleeping makes the day go by faster
- ANTS! They are desperate for water and are invading our house
- children have nothing to do, bc farming season is over so they sit at our house and bug us
- you sweat profusely on public transport
- a face mask is a must when biking or on public transport, due to the amount of dust in the air
- SINUS INFECTIONS!- due to the above point
- we are starting to have to bike early in the morning or early evening bc of heat and wind factors
- there is no way we cannot sleep on the roof, we have to have a breeze
- spritzing yourself with water at night is a must
- showering with clothes on before bed is a plus...Malian air-conditioning
HOT SEASON, gotta love it!
Monday, February 1, 2010
New-bies!
NEW MOON
Ladies and Gentlemen we have a NEW MOON! In the last week we have enjoyed a full moon in village.(It's amazing what you learn about the stars and moon, when you sleep on the roof every night and don't have electricity.) And I know this might not mean a lot to any of you with electricity, but without electricity it makes an evening absolutely delightful. We took advantage of the Moon and put our flashlights away. We were able to actually be productive after the sun went down. CRAZY! Usually I just get tired when it starts to get dark and head to bed about 8. But with the full moon out we decided to make the most of it, we played cards every night on the roof before getting in our tent for bed. And my favorite was our "date night." We biked back cokes from a neighboring village about 3 miles away, beings our village has nothing close to a coke, and decided to eat some Cheez-it's that had come in a package a few weeks back that we were saving for something special. So there we were on the roof, in the light of a full moon, drinking cokes, eating Cheez-it's and playing cards in Africa. Some things just don't get better than that.
NEW BABY
And we have a NEW BABY! Well not us, but my good friend from back home. Ingrid and I have been friends since elementary school, we did almost everything together, sports, playing the trumpet, going to the neighborhood pool, church activities, family vacations, eating pepperoni pizza, and even college. I have been so blessed to have Ingrid in my life, she is a faithful friend with an amazing heart. I am also blessed that our husbands get a long quite well...maybe a little to well with cloves and hooka involved. I miss the time we don't get to spend together, as we have lived in different places since after college, and being in Africa doesn't really help.
NEW DAY
So the last few weeks have been kind of hard for us, we are winding down in our months as Peace Corps volunteers which is super exciting, but it also makes life here a bit more difficult. You start day dreaming of family, friends, running water, Mexican food, speaking English, real date nights, our return, the plane ride home, etc... And with all the day dreaming, you forget where you are, and take living here in Mali with these remarkable people for granted. We went to a baptism yesterday in our village for some of our friends, which involved Muslim traditions of a naming ceremony, prayers and lots of eating rice(a special treat). We had a wonderful time and spent most of the day at the baptism. We met back at the house in the late afternoon (as men and women would never celebrate together) and decided it was a NEW DAY. God had blessed us with a new day of good food, laughter, tradition, and culture and we loved it. We know we need to take this time and revel in it while we are here, because it will soon be over and we won't be able to get it back.