Week in Hell?? We will see!

So I finally have a little time with the internet access which is nice to catch up on the world. So this has been quite the past several days! I have been at site for about 9 days now and man it has been very difficult. To start, I was very fortunate to have Peace Corps drive me to my site which made me happy, I was suppose to take the bus but when they saw the amount stuff I owned, they offered to drive.  When I got to site, nothing that was suppose to be done was done which was a little upsetting but then hey I am in Mali during hot season, things run a little slow.  Then the week started... It was very difficult for me, it has been hot season so being warm may play into a lot of my unhappiness but here is my rant.  First off, I really really love my host family and the locals that I spend time with everyday, this is nothing against the locals.  I am having a very difficult time adjusting to the life here, everyday I am taking a bucket bath with visible dirt and dead bugs in it.  After I bath I am still dirty which is very difficult to get use to.  Then there is the fact that I can not properly communicate with anyone, my french is decent but most people do not speak French and I do not understand Bambara very well yet, this makes it difficult to get to know everyone.  I also have not been eating a lot because majority of my food consists of fish, which I do not like, and there are bones in the sauce which makes me very ill.  There is also a constant bug problem in side of my room, for example the other night I was awoken by a cockroach crawling on me.  I am also still very homesick, I really miss my friends and family.  I realize and started appreciate the aspect of having them in my life.  I called my parents and they give me all the encouragement to stay, explaining that I will get use to my life here sooner or later.  I really hope so, a lot of people explain that I can go home, and my friends would like me to, but I feel it might be too soon to throw in the towel.  There are moments in the day when I feel I can do this, but it is greatly outweighed by the moments of wanting to run away back to America.   I may just be being dramatic or overly critical, but everyone experiences thing differently and adapt differently. 

I have found a new appreciation for America while being here too!  I really miss it, and everything it offers.  I like the variety of foods and will never take it for granted again.  I am really trying hard to stay here for a while still, I need to work this out and I really hope I can.

Until next time, Happy Easter!

What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger

So yesterday I became an official Peace Corps Volunteer.  We went to the Presidential Palace where we were sworn in by the US Ambassador to Mali.  It was quite the occasion, the President of Mali presided over the ceremony and he had a formal speech with us. It was quite memorable and I have tons of pictures.  The only thing is, we all decided to don mustaches which was super creepy so when you see my photos, they are creepy!!  So today I left training site and on my way to Yanfolila for the next 2 months before In-service training. I will be in Yanfolila on Friday. I am currently in Bougouni for some last minute shopping.  I am really nervous for the next 2 months because I will have minimum contact with all my friends and other Americans.  I hope everything goes well for me and the rest of my Kennedy family members.  This is going to be a very difficult time, but as they say "What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger." 

So last 2 weeks update :)

To start, my update is going to be in the form of an ADD person, random...  I will be jumping around for 2 weeks, NOTHING is in chronicle order.

So to start, I am officially done with my homestay :) which is nice and not at the same time.   I am really going to miss my family, they cooked for me and I didn't have to worry about anything with them.  They too real good care of me.  It is nice though too because I will not be constantly watched over and questioned with everything I do, which is just the Malian way of life.  I am currently at my training facility which is relaxing, having electric and showers, but it will only last until next week Wednesday when I officially move to my site. I become an official Peace Corps Volunteer next Tuesday at the Presidential Palace of Mali. This is exciting because we are the first stage to ever have that happen.  It is pretty cool to have my swear-in ceremony too!  I am a legit volunteer.

So now what happened during my 2 weeks.  The best part was last Sunday, all of us trainees went to the America Club in Bamako.  It was awesome because we got to go, drink some beer and swim in a pool; basically we got to relax and be Americans, something we can't do with our Malian host families. Alcohol is frowned upon here because 95 percent of the population is Muslim.  I had such an amazing time there and definitely didn't want to leave. It is very rare for me to have actual fun here, between all the classes and limitation on what we can do.  Then last Saturday was awesome too, I was at my village and there was a crazy dance party.  I got a shirt from the locals for the party which was cool for the party.  The dance party started out lame because no one really dances at dance parties and Malian music kind of sucks.  Although, later in the evening, the party was crazy.  The music was amazing, and they had this professional dancer who was ultra creepy, dancing very Malian inappropriate (I say that because he was appropriate in America).  Malian dance parties are funny though, the main way they dance is having 2 lines of people, girls on one side- boys on the other, then all they do is sway towards each other one pair at a time.

I finally got 2 Malian outfits made, one informal which is super big but very comfortable, the second outfit was formal and made for my swear-in ceremony.  I think I will get more clothes made too, especially pants which are comfortable and considered dressy in all occasions (they are Pajamas in America).  The clothes are all costumed made by a tailor, my out fit for shirt and pants cost about 10 dollars, fabric and labor.

I am not fully liking it here still but it is growing on me.  I really appreciate the experience I am having and look forward to learning more.  My language is difficult for me still but I am slowly learning it.  I have my final test tomorrow to see if I need a tutor, which I do.  I am up to 22 pounds lost also! I have to take this day by day, the culture is amazing here, but I am just having trouble adjusting to the heat (110+ everyday) and not understanding everything that is going on. 

I will try to update again before I leave for site.  I hope it isn't too long until I have access to the internet again.  TTYL

Update on Life!

So it has been a month or so since I have updated last so basically nothing new really happened, my life is basically the same each day.  Until last week, I have been studying Bambara and living with my host family.  It was good, some drama with some people but nothing to lose sleep over.  Same donkeys making the same ridiculous noise!  Then last week occurred, I found out my site which I am happy with. I am in Sikasso Region where all the fresh fruits and vegetables of Mali comes from, and it is greener than the rest of Mali. I arrived there last Sunday by bus.  Taking a bus in Mali is an experience in itself.  The have jugs of water in the aisles because once every seat is full, they start sitting people on the jugs, once those are full, people stand (for hours).  They played some very lame music videos that were hilarious, Malians dance worse than me which is saying a lot!!  I went with my Homalogue/counterpart to Yonfolila which is my new village where I will be living for 2 years!!  When I arrived, things were okay, I was a little homesick but things were okay, I was in a "hotel" with air conditioning, I use the word hotel loosely because the place was mad sketchy.  Well I stayed there for the first 2 days because my room was not set up yet.  The first 2 days went well enough, I didn't sleep much nor did I each much but it was okay.  I met a local french volunteer so I hung out with him a lot.  Everything was good until day 3!  I fell into this major depressive wanting to leave Africa mood which lasted until today.  It was terrible, day 3 I moved into my house which was not finished yet still...  I had a mouse that seemed it liked to annoy the hell out of me, I got 1 hour of sleep, kids were opening my door at 3 a.m. because my lock didn't work, all in all it was hell.  This consisted for 3 days there, I was bored and annoyed.  I couldn't even communicate with anyone.  My only saving grace was my friend William, who was the french volunteer.  I hung out with him everyday so I can have that connection to western life.  He will not be there when I go back because all the French volunteers have been evacuated, which annoys me because he was the only westerner for 80k from me.  I will be in my village alone :(. Then there is the libya stuff, there is some concern for safety issues with that too.  There is a very strong relationship between libya and Mali.  So we will see how that unfolds.

Honestly, a lot more has happened but I don't have the patience to write any more so I will update in 2 weeks when I return to the internet. 

Adios

Update on Life!

So it has been a month or so since I have updated last so basically nothing new really happened, my life is basically the same each day.  Until last week, I have been studying Bambara and living with my host family.  It was good, some drama with some people but nothing to lose sleep over.  Same donkeys making the same ridiculous noise!  Then last week occurred, I found out my site which I am happy with. I am in Sikasso Region where all the fresh fruits and vegetables of Mali comes from, and it is greener than the rest of Mali. I arrived there last Sunday by bus.  Taking a bus in Mali is an experience in itself.  The have jugs of water in the aisles because once every seat is full, they start sitting people on the jugs, once those are full, people stand (for hours).  They played some very lame music videos that were hilarious, Malians dance worse than me which is saying a lot!!  I went with my Homalogue/counterpart to Yonfolila which is my new village where I will be living for 2 years!!  When I arrived, things were okay, I was a little homesick but things were okay, I was in a "hotel" with air conditioning, I use the word hotel loosely because the place was mad sketchy.  Well I stayed there for the first 2 days because my room was not set up yet.  The first 2 days went well enough, I didn't sleep much nor did I each much but it was okay.  I met a local french volunteer so I hung out with him a lot.  Everything was good until day 3!  I fell into this major depressive wanting to leave Africa mood which lasted until today.  It was terrible, day 3 I moved into my house which was not finished yet still...  I had a mouse that seemed it liked to annoy the hell out of me, I got 1 hour of sleep, kids were opening my door at 3 a.m. because my lock didn't work, all in all it was hell.  This consisted for 3 days there, I was bored and annoyed.  I couldn't even communicate with anyone.  My only saving grace was my friend William, who was the french volunteer.  I hung out with him everyday so I can have that connection to western life.  He will not be there when I go back because all the French volunteers have been evacuated, which annoys me because he was the only westerner for 80k from me.  I will be in my village alone :(. Then there is the libya stuff, there is some concern for safety issues with that too.  There is a very strong relationship between libya and Mali.  So we will see how that unfolds. 

Honestly, a lot more has happened but I don't have the patience to write any more so I will update in 2 weeks when I return to the internet. 

Adios

Angry Humping Donkeys

So where to begin, possibly with the title of this blog?? We will soon see. 

I am currently at the training center after 12 days of being at my homestay site.  To be honest, I am very relieved to have electricity, internet and a shower, but I find myself missing my homestay family.  They are really awesome, I am learning a lot of cultural information which is great and I do not feel very awkward at home which is a relief.  When I arrived, I was actually very nervous because I met my brother who seemed very intimating to me. I soon find out he speaks fluent english and is super awesome! The only negative to the English speaking at home is that I am not getting the necessary practice in Bambara.  I honestly am getting upset with the language itself, I keep on rushing myself to know this language that I have been speaking for 2 weeks now, what more can I ask for. I do feel that others expect me to have a conversation, and others try to make me feel bad that I speak English at home.  I do practice with my host bro MaMari, he teaches me a lot. 

Now for the random stories such as the title above.   So I leave in this little town outside of Bamako, it is a little dirty (meaning a lot of garbage everywhere).  We have language class outside in which we had 2 angry donkeys trying to mate came running through our class.  We have had herd of Cattle, chickens, sheep and goats walk through our class too!  It is very distracting, so we changed classrooms to the LCF's compound where we were interrupted by an angry women who was screaming at these people, she was topless and her child was trying to breast feed at the same time.  She was very angry and was yelling for over an hour!!

My family now, they make fun of me all the time now, they know that I don't know their names and call me out all the time.   They have patience with me and are trying to help me learn the language.  Also my host bro, MaMari, thinks I am fat so I have to go for a run and when I return there, he will be making me play soccer to lose more weight.  I have lost 13 pounds so far!! 

All in all I am enjoying Africa, nothing too shocking yet that makes me want to leave, so 27 months here I come!!

A Demain!

So tomorrow I will be moving to my host family/village for training.  I will be living in the village of Dialokonoboro(or something like that). I will be training in Bambara for sure now which is great since it is one of the biggest languages here in Mali, and has versions of the same language around west Africa, so for business purposes and foreign service, it is a good language to learn.  I am a little nervous about the whole ordeal, but I think that I may be psyching myself out a little, only time will tell.  I feel it will be awkward for a couple of weeks, until everything gets adjusted and use to things. 

On an interesting note, I bought bleach today to add to my water. It is weird to purposely drink bleach, but it will be diluted enough I guess.  It cost 175 CFA which is roughly 35 cents, I gave the guy 200 CFA and since he didn't have change, I let him keep the 25 CFA (5 cents) and he was so excited and grateful.  It is astonishing on how cheap everything is here and how appreciative things are.  I got paid 90000 CFA (180 dollars) for walk around money, although I don't have to pay for food or housing for the next 9 weeks.  This may not seem like a lot but the average Malian only makes 15000 CFA (30 dollars) a month, and they have to pay for everything :(... Yesterday, I bought Malian fabric that cost 10000 CFA (20 dollars) which is enough to make a 3 piece outfit and it was hand printed and dyed by a woman's association here in Mali; this type of fabric would normally cost 20 dollars or more a yard in the USA.  I bought this fabric to be tailored in my town to have as a ceremonial outfit for my Swearing-In. 

I will not have the internet for the next 2 weeks so I will update then.  It will be an adventurous one so we will see what happens, keep posted.