HELLO FROM MALI!!!!!!

Hello Everyone!
At long last (after waiting 2 hours for the internet to free up) I am finally able to get on to show everyone that I am alive. I know Michele posted earlier but a lot has happened since we got here. We've been in classes close to 8 hours a day and have rarely had any free time but so far this has been (and promises to be) one of the most amazing experiences of my life. As I write this I am at a Malian dance party, up front are three man dressed in amazingly elaborate and colorful costumes playing various drums and several women are leading our Peace Corps group of 75 in a Malian dance. I have to be quick with this post so that I can get up and join everyone.
I do not know when I will have a chance to post pictures. We are actually not in Bamako, but just outside in the camp of Tubani So. In 2 days we leave the comfort of the training center to live with our host families where we will join up with a Malian family and become their foster son and daughter. We will get Malian names and be greeted by the heads of the villages. Today we spent several hours putting our bikes together in order to prepare for the upcoming weeks with our host families.

Meals here are awesome - Malians don't bother with utensils or plates, the entire family gathers around one large bowl full of rice or millet or spaghetti and we dig in with our right hands (no left hands please, you use them in the restroom - more on that some other time).

We had a French placement exam yesterday - I passed with a score of Intermediate Mid so I won't need any formal French training before I go out to site.

More exciting news: Michele and I received our placement long before anyone else! Once training is over well we spend the next two years in the region of Sikasso in a town called Blendio. I will be working to establish a new water pump in the growing town as their old one is not large enough anymore. I will also be teaching the community how to manage their water better. My counterpart (my Malian partner in Blendio) is said to be an older well-respected member of the community and that is good because stuff will get done then. They also may have opening for me teaching English to elementary school children. I can't tell you all how exciting this all is. It is really to much at this point to completely grasp.

Anyways, there is a line so i need to be short. to my family, I love you all and miss you a lot. To Tina: Do you remember a Jeff Kirby from Wake? Why do I ask? Because he is here with me. He says hi.