We're here and we love it!

Okay so where do I begin? Ummm... ok... we are here in Bamako, Mali... actually in an area they call Tubaniso, which is the PC area pretty much very separate from the rest of the city. Anyway... the first night here was pretty rough. I was freaking out. We had to sleep with a giant green mosquito net covering the bed... there were bugs... holes in the groud surrounded by a pseudo-building where you have to pee, take craps, etc. We also have to shower in them, which is kind of cool b/c they have open tops so you can see outside while you pour cups of water over your body. I actually really like the way you shower. Let's see... so far it has been ridiculously exciting aside from the shots--- 3 more today tetanus, meningitis, and hepatits b. They werent that bad, but i cried again... irrational fears are the worst. Tim and I found out where we are going: the Sikasso region. We should be near somewhere between Sikasso the city and Bamako. We will be a little less than 10 km from a large city, which is totally awesome. Tim found out that along with working on water sanitation, he will also probably be able to teach english at a local school for 7 yr old kids, which he is ecstatic about. I will probably be working with kids on nutrition and older married women with family planning (so freakin excited). Plus, when Tim and i were in Philly we bought around ten different small balls to give to the children and play with them. Nothing is better than Americans with gifts. We will be learning Bambara and French. French will be more important for me to learn because I wil probably be working in some clinic with malnourished children and teaching the women what to feed their children to keep them alive and healthy. We also learned troday that Tim's counterpart (nbasically the guy taking care of him) is a local very well respected man, and taht apparently we have nothing to worry about. So anyway, we are doing a lot of sweating, a lot of French and Bambara-speaking, eating cool foods... life is good. We leave for our homestay families next wednesday. They are the people that will help us figure out how to itegrate into Malian life, but they are not where we will be permanently. The homestays are just host families near Tubaniso (TOO-ban-ee-so). I have met many wonderful Malians thus far and I cannot wait to be able to effectively communicate-- I have so many questions and so much to learn from these friendly people! They are so happy we are here and are eager to teach us the things we need to know. At lunch today we learned that they have a joke about bananas where when they eatr them for dinner they ask you if that's your banana to get you to say 'this is my banana' and then they put down their banana which is always bigger and then they laugh at you----- i love how men are the same everywhere you go. I met a couple of malians named cisse and matiq--- and they were sop great. I learned how to say this is my husband and toim learned this is my wife.... we learned about malian ethnic groups, etc. I am loving this! Anyway, people are in line... and I should not be that asshole taking too long.

If Chris' (faceyboy) Mom sees this he says 'hi!'


anyway---- love you all... the bugs are fabulous, the flies take more than a flap of the hand to deter, and when I gert some authentic African garb you can bet your ass I'll post a pic. (i love it--- i think the women here are gorgeous)


au revoir---

p.s. dad, you would love it here.
p.p.s. mom and jessica, i havent taken the necklace off, and i love the earrings and i am really glad i got them at the last minute. also, jessica if you see this soon enough, will you go to old navy and get mom to buy me some of those pants at the front of the store (they were in green, brown, and khaki) they were like gaucho/capris. they were $25. send me some. I need more pants that arent long. send it via DHL.