It is August. 1 month down, 26 more to go! Time really feels like it is flying by, but then again I feel that my life has flown by-especially the last 3 years. I went from living in Nicaragua, back to Philly, then to Brussels, back to Philly, next came Arizona. Now Mali, West Africa. I am still not even settled here yet! Right now I am in just in the training process of Peace Corps. I am not officially a volunteer yet; that will come on September 12th. During this training process I am staying in my small village for language and cultural training. This week we are taking a little break and I will be going to my actual site (another village about 6hrs. from the Bamako) where I will be working and living. The name of the closest city is called Bla. Yep, I wrote ‘Bla.’ Mali is a country that has really cool names for places: i.e. Tombouktou (Timbuktu)!
I am nervous, anxious, but also kind of just going with the flow. For the last 4 weeks, everyday has been scheduled for me-this is just another thing on my schedule of things to do. Now, don’t get me wrong-this isn’t really ‘just another thing to do,’ it’s actually really important. I will be doing site assessment, meeting the townspeople and starting a rapport with them. It is really important that I make a good first impression (which I’m not worried about), and that I use my time there wisely.
Now, what will I be doing here in PC Mali? The big questions many of you may have. Well, here we go: I will be taking over for a current volunteer that has finished her 2 years of service. In my sector NRM (there are 5 here in Mali: Natural Resource Management-NRM, Health, Water Sanitation, Education, and Small Enterprise Development) it will be my job to work with natural resources! Specifically I will be doing things like environment education, planting gardens, making compost piles, and will be able to work with other sectors to maybe market our Shea butter that is so widely produced here….maybe even ORGANIC certification (that’s for you dad!). It seems like a lot that I will be doing, and I am really happy that I have the flexibility to do different projects. I also couldn’t be happier that for the next 2 years I don’t have a 9-5desk job! I get to work outdoors and with people. This is really the type of work environment that I love.
My last week in a few sentences:
No funerals, but I did have the baby naming ceremony and a wedding-I got gypped on both through my own fault! Since I am living in a Muslim community their process is a bit different than the baptizing I’m used to. Now, I would love to tell you all the details of this ceremony, however I didn’t wake up early enough to attend…I was there just in time to see the mother, take a picture, give a little Muslim blessing, ask it’s name, and give them the $200CFA that my host dad gave me to give them. Bada boom. Done.
The wedding was nice…we got to see the bride leaving the village to attend her wedding in another village. Miscommunication. Damn. I’m sure I will have more weddings to attend in my 2 years here.
Amoebas. I had uninvited visitors in my stomach for a little while. It was uncomfortable, I’ll spare the details but after 3 heavy dosages of meds I am now better! Apparently it’s pretty normal for every PCV (Peace Corps Vol.) to get them. There are various ways that I could have gotten them- I have been drinking filtered water, but really I have no idea where/when they invaded. At least I’ve been christened! I have now had amoebas, and parasites as visitors to my intestinal system….I’m an experienced woman!
This should be all for now. I am really trying hard to get pictures posted, I even tried to email them to Brian so he could put them on, but it just wasn’t working. I would love for you all to see my environment…it is pretty cool! I’ll be back in about 8 days.
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