Rain, 40+miles, Bamako,and New Vols

A break in the storm on the Niger, Segou

Kids playing in the puddles, stopping to look at the white girl taking pictures!

Jenn, Hannah, and I before my 20mile bike ride back to my village.

Rainy season has finally come upon Mali. The extreme heat is supposed to be over, but it is now replaced with extreme humidity, to be then cooled off by the amazingly powerful rains. This is a welcomed season for Malians because the rain means planting, harvesting, and that there will be water in the wells. In my village they have started planting their corn, cotton, millet, peanuts, and beans. I myself have planted American Sweet Organic Corn, Organic Carrots (seeds kindly sent to me by my awesome Dad), celery, basil, and green beans. It took me 3 days to prepare my raised beds and to plant. I used my Malian style 'daba' to carve out my plot. The daba is an old school hand hoe. My body ached for about 4 days from my hard work!

The rains are so important here in Mali, they are necessary for the crops to grow. No rain, no crops, no money, no food. Majority of farmers have no irrigation systems, no watering mechanisms. Just faith that it will rain and provide water for their crops. So far, the rains have been coming to Kamona dooney dooney (little by little). I am told August is when the rains come into full swing and it should rain everyday. Its difficult for me to explain the power of the rains here, but when it rains, it really storms! It's wonderful to experience.

Next story:

A few weeks ago I told my friends Hannah and Jenn that I wanted to visit them in their villages. They are technically in a different region than me, but they aren't that far away, only 40k through the wilderness. What an experience! It took me 3 hours, 4 villages, and was truely one of the coolest things I've done in Mali! Since everyone is out in the fields, if I got lost I was easily able to ask for directions, and the people gave me blessings for a safe trip. And, as usual they got such a kick out of the white girl speaking their language! That always makes me happy, to see them so happy. I can only imagine what it must be like to see a while female, riding through their village on this nice American bike, saying hello to them in their language. I think it would be like if I was in Guilderland, and I saw a giraffe walking by that said hello to me in English and acted like he totally belonged there!

Anyway, it was so nice to visit my friends in their villages, and to meet their work counterparts and families. In their villages, they spoke a different language, but fortunately I was still able to communicate with them. So, total I think I rode my bike over 40 miles (due to me getting a little lost at times!) Next time they come to Kamona!

Story #3:

I'm in Bamako-the capital city. I came for two reasons: 1 being I wanted to spend the day with my boyfriend in the city before he took the plane to go to Lebanon for his month long vacation. We spent a wonderful day together, and had the most Amazing dinner at the best restaurant in the country. I felt like I was back in France! I had gaspacho, steak and steamed potatoes, and homemade ice cream. I really felt like a princess for a night! How wonderful! He's gone for the next month, and I'm left here...waiting for next year when I can hopefully visit Lebanon.

Reason 2: Since I've been in Mali for over a year now it was time for my yearly physical. My health has been great here, so I'm not too worried about anything. It's so nice to have 100% free health care for once!

Story #4:

The new volunteers are here. I am so excited for them to be here, to show them around and to let them know that it's not so bad here. In a few weeks I will be a 'buddy' for a new volunteer, acting as an interpreter and a guide for helping them when they go to their future home for their site visit. I am planing some activities for the new group that will be in Segou! Our welcoming last year wasn't so welcoming, so I'm happy to be able to give a good one to the new people.

Well, this was a long one. Sorry. I've always have so much to say! My Arabic lessons are coming along, my French lessons will officially start in September, and now I've got an Italian friend so I want to brush up my Italian again! I LOVE languages! I think August is going to be a fast month. I hope so, because Samer (the boyfriend) comes back at the end of it. Not only is Samer gone, but all my other friends have returned home for their vacations N.B. Europeans pretty much all take vacations in August, so it feels like the whole world is on vacation right now-except for me. Boohoo. I can't complain, I think the last 10 years have been one long vacation for me!