SPAMY to AFRICA

Where do I even start?

Amy (or Spamy as some call her), came to visit Joe and I for two weeks. We had a memorable time. It was exhausting, painful at times, uplifting, full of laughs and smiles and love. I am so blessed to have a family that cares for me and supports me in all I do. Ames, I love you! Thanks for coming. Not only do I miss you, but Mali misses you too!

Here is a glimpse into some of our adventures:

BIKE TRIP INTO DOGON COUNTRY:

Looking back on all of these pictures, I think I forgot how tiring Mali can be, Amy was a trooper and hung in there, it was about 100+ degrees out and we biked 25Kilometers to a "hotel" in the dogon cliffs.

Don't we look cool! Break #1 of the bike trip, we are descending from the cliff top.

We biked by 3 or 4 waterfalls that day, it is rainy season right now, so the falls were pouring down.

The road less traveled.

Once we got to our destination and were rested up, of course Amy and I did some shopping, and guess what she bought? A purse. Duh...she is a Martin.

Chill-axin at our "hotel" and admiring the beautiful scenery.

A part of being in Africa, is getting sick, unfortunately Amy encountered this, she was down and out for about 2 days. Poor Ames.

Back at'em, Amy was feeling better, but not good enough to bike the 25K out, so we rented her a Cow Cart. (This picture is for you Gpa Jack)

HOME SWEET HOME-VILLAGE LIFE:

After our bike trip, we spent 4 days in our village. Amy got to experience what we have been living for the last 15 months. She was there over the Muslim holiday Ramadan, so we got to cook with the ladies, dress up, hang out with the kids and just talk.

Playing Skip-bo, the sun had gone down and there is little to do with no electricity. So we played a lot of cards.

We had a few miserable hot nights, but Amy and I were able to laugh it off in our tent. Well, we tried to laugh it off.

All dressed up and literally no where to go, okay well the neighbors house. Yahoo!!!

Smalls, grew on Amy. (Check out her fab dress, girl looks good in everything.)

MOPTI-THE VENICE OF MALI:

...Or so they claim. After village life, we needed a refresher, a shopping trip and some pizza, so we headed to Mopti. It is a city that rests on the banks of the Niger river. It is a main tourist attraction and a must see.

Only the best for Amy, riding in style. (Our taxi into Mopti)

Lou, Amy's roommate in Austin, is in Mali for a few months, exploring the country and seeing if she wants to come back and work. So she was able to meet us in Mopti and add even more laughter to our trip.

Pre-shopping picture, Amy, I and Lou.

We took a sunset boat ride, we got to see a few small fishing villages on the river. It was so peaceful and relaxing.

ON A BUS:

Just when we thought our adventures were done, we hopped on Malian transport. It took us 8 hours to go, what should have taken us 3 hours. Never mind the fact that before the 8 hour bus ride we were waiting on the side of the road for 3 hours just to get on the thing. I don't even know if you can call it an adventure, maybe more like a "hot mess." I will let the pictures do the talking.

Good Ole' Diarra Transport. This picture was about 30 minutes into the bus ride when we decided to stop and load about 50 goats on the top of the bus and 5 crates of chickens. An hour and a half later, we were ready to continue the trip...

So nasty, the bus was so nasty! So after our hour and a half stop we take off with goats and chickens in tow and with just our luck it starts to rain....

usually rain is good, cause it cools the temperature down, but that day, it was hell....

lets just say the bus was missing a few windows and screws, so rain, "goat juice", and chicken filth started coming in through the non-existent windows and ceiling....

did I mention, that there was a hole in the bottom of the bus, so the engine fumes were coming in also...

oh, and this was the slowest moving bus I had ever been on, and we would stop every 10 minutes....

oh yeah, and we had to stop once because one of the goats fell off the side of the bus and was dangling by its horns, as we were moving...

once we finally reached our destination, we all had to wash our pee infested clothes, backpacks and selves, we were a "hot mess!"...

good thing Amy and Lou were there to laugh off the situation, it will be their material for jokes for years to come...

Here are the men loading up the goats, they first put them in rice bags and then hauled them to the top of the bus by their horns.

Goats on top of the bus

Shopping always pays off, Amy and Lou are sporting their new Turban Cloth, to help protect them from the "goat juice" coming in the window.

All good things must come to an end. I just wish it could have lasted a little longer. (not the bus ride, but Amy's visit)

THE END!!!!

End of Ramadan

Our village just celebrated the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting in which Muslims abstain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn until dusk. In our village the men go to the cliffs right outside our village and pray facing the east looking out over an expansive valley. Everyone in village dresses in their nicest outfits and spends the day walking around and greeting each others families. These are just a few pictures I was able to take throughout the day.
The men walking back to village after prayer.

One of the elders from village.
A man from our village with his two daughters.
On the right is one of the religious leaders in village. They have laid before them the Koran and a ceremonial sword.
Me, and the chief of the village (small man on the right) and another guy who just wanted to be in the picture.

Two bike trips and my work

A few days ago I had the opportunity to take a 80 km (about 50 miles) bike trip with my friend. It was nice to be out on a little adventure after spending almost 10 days in village by my lonesome. Ashley has been down in Bamako helping to train the new volunteers and so I have been spending time in village on my own. I would have to say that village on my own is not as fun as village life with Ashley. I did get a lot of reading/studying done and my language skills did seem to improve more than they would have if Ashley had been there since I was not able to speak English at all. The improvement of my language skills were noticeable because several villagers mentioned that "I could hear a lot of Donoso" which means I was getting better.

Looking over the village of Songo which is a Dogon village of about 3,000 people west of Bandiagara about 4 km off the road to Sevare.
The pelt of a monkey hanging from a granary.
The rattles
Songo is famous for a male circumcision ceremony that takes place every three years. It is one of the largest circumcision ceremony in the region and boys age 11-13 come from many villages nearby to take part. The paintings seen in the picture above represent different clans of the region and drawn every three years up in the cliffs above the village where the circumcision ceremony takes place.
Rattles that are made by the boys after the circumcision ceremony. ** My village has a circumcision ceremony for boys every two years and I was able to take part in some of the ceremony this year, and the boys in my village made rattles that where similar and for days after their circumcision they would sit near the road and sing songs to everyone who came by. Passerby where expected to then give money or food.
The view from the cliffs above Songo.

About two weeks ago I had the opportunity to travel with two new volunteers to there villages/sites. This is an important step in the life of a volunteer because this is the first time a volunteer will get to see the village he or she will be living in for the next two years. For a new volunteer this is awkward, thrilling and terrifying. You don't speak the language yet, it is your first time you are on your own in the country and it is the first real feeling of what your life will hold as a volunteer. So, I travel to two village with the new volunteers and just hung out with them and made sure that everything was going well.
A waterfall that has formed on the road between Djiguibambo and Kani Kombole.

After a heavy rain this waterfall formed...the view is from Kani Kombole.
On the road between Bankass and Bandiagara

I was also thinking the other day that I have placed no pictures up of the place I work. So I took a few photos the other day so you can see what the Center for Traditional Medicine in Bandiagara looks like. Ashley and I live about 5 km away from Bandiagara, so I bike into the Center about three or four times a week. This center was built with funding from the Italian government about 20 years ago. The Center produces seven traditional medicines that are certified by the Malian government and are sold at pharmacies through the country . It has very distinct architecture that is unique in that almost no timber was used in the construction, which is important in this region of West Africa where desertification (deforestation) is a problem due to environmental changes both man made and natural.
The main court yard of the Center for Traditional Medicine.
A view of the front.
Entrance to the Center...

Also, I have added this picture which was taken from the roof of our house a few day ago of a storm forming in the distance.

Also, a video I took of a storm rolling in from our front door...yes we are happy that the rain has come to water the earth. Rainy season has start slow and our village start

One School, One Volunteer, One Mural

One School, One Volunteer, One Mural...one by one Education Volunteers will take Mali by storm.

This was the joke that myself, my fellow trainers, and the education trainees have been saying the last few days as we worked on a map mural in a local school near Bamako. We had a ton of fun, got a bit wheezy from all the fumes, had to wash our hands with kerosene, and listened to alot of Akon. It was a blast. Here is our mural from start to finish.

Jared studying the world map intently before diggin' in.

We made a huge grid on the wall, each square was 70 in by 70 inches.

Then we transfered the countries from the grid on the paper map onto the grid on the wall.

Labeling countries for names and color coding.

(Dao, Veronique, and Amanda)

Getting ready to mix the paints. These are paints used for vehicles, it is all they sell here.

(Veronique, Hunter, Me and Ali)

Us trainers are quite pleased with the progress.

(Katie, Hunter, and ME)

Coming along...

Slowly but surely...



Almost there...



Action pic of Jeremy and I, throughly enjoying ourselves.

Can't forget to label the countries, all in French...hmmm....where's is google when you need it.

The trainees

The Trainers

A lot has been going on...

Joe and I have had a lot going on lately or so it seems like we have had a a lot going on....

We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on July 26th, it was celebrated with a wonderful dinner of Velvetta Shells and Cheese (homemade right out of the box), paired with Crystal Light Lemonade....what a night!!!!

I also turned 28 on August 10th. I was in Bamako helping out with training and Joe came down to suprise me and we stayed in a hotel for 2 nights. It was so nice, we were out of touch with Mali for a few days enjoying air-conditioning, a swimming pool, a hot shower, a flat screen TV, and wine paired with pizza. What a luxury.

Rainy season has recently started so all of our villagers go out into their fields from sun-up to sun-down everyday, we have been helping out too. We usually tag along with Oumar's family, to their fields, which are 5K away from our village. It is so interesting to see farming done without the convenience of machines. Here in Mali it is all done by hand, from plowing, to planting to harvesting. These people are amazing, working the fields by hand in the heat. Although, it is tough work we have been enjoying it.

Joe dropping millet into the hole and then covering it up with his bare feet. Yep, that's how it is done here.

Look at the rows of planted millet behind me, all nice and straight and done by hand, AMAZING!

Ramatu, taking a break from work, what a beautiful woman!

All of us planting millet, a family affair!

Joe has recently been studying for the GMAT, which takes up alot of his time here, he will take the test in October in Dakar, Sengal. They do not offer the test here in Mali. So we are bummed that we have to travel to the coast and hang out on the beach, inorder for him to take his test. :)

Joe's "study buddy", Smalls, our new cat!!!

I have been plugging away in Bamako helping out with the new group of volunteers. They have been here for about a month now. It has been fun to teach some classes, but also to see and meet new faces.

And as always, we are constantly hanging out with children in our village.

Saly, she will just stand in our doorway and wait for us to come and hang out.

And this cutie is Gellie, she comes over and just repeats everything Joe says, it is absolutely adorable.

6 Years

Ashley and I celebrated our sixth year wedding anniversary last week. It has been a WONDERFUL adventure and I am more in love today than I was six years ago.