Volunteers! aka We Made It!!

So this is my first post as a Peace Corps Volunteer and not a Peace Corps Trainee! It has all become official. Michele and I (and the rest of the bunch) were sworn in yesterday morning at the US ambassador's house in a much more flashy ceremony than I first assumed. I knew the ambassador and much of the Peace Corps staff would be there, but I had no idea that several Malian government officials and the village chefs etc would be there.
Damn it feels good to be a PCV now. We took lots of photos after the ceremony and then headed back to the Bureau in downtown Bamako to sign the official government paperwork- then it was off to the hotel Le Refuge to save a mattress (our room for the night consisted of the rooftop conference room and some 15 mattresses sans pillows). Then we returned to the ambassador's house for the pool party (and the open bar!) After that we were cut loose onto the city of Bamako for the first real bit of free time since getting to Mali. We hung out with a bunch of the more experienced PCVs (and basically learned that in the next 2 years we will most likely become just as insane as they are).

So here is the plan for the next little bit: Michele and I are in Bamako and Tubani So until tomorrow. Sunday we leave via public transport to Sikasso ville where we will stay with Trinh and a few other people while we wait for the Peace Corps to show up - we will get to shop around for stuff we want to furnish our house with. Then, on Tuesday, we get to celebrate my birthday in Sikasso. On Wednesday, we go with Claudine (our region APCD) and take all our stuff out to Blendio where we will live for the next 2 years.

Basically, the first 3 months we won't do much other than try to learn the language and get to meet a lot of the locals. After the 3 months, we return to the training center in Tubaniso for 2 weeks of intensive sector training and then return to Blendio for the real deal.
This really is the start of our adventure. In a few days Michele and I will be out on our our without the Peace Corps holding our hands every step of the way. Just a few days left until real PC life begins....

More pics from S-town

This is our little sister... whose name is about 18 letters long, so neither of us can ever remember it. Anyway, she is evil. She chases chickens with a stick, runs around with a machete, fans fires while butt-naked, and while all the other children are yelled at all day long she remains daddy's fav.

This is our sanankoroba group... our pct family, our homestay people, and our LCFs (language-cultural facilitators).

Tim says: this is an example of one of the crazy guys driving in bamako... where does he have room to put the tires? i know! Around his waist! we have also seen people do tthis with goats, but we will leave that to your imagination.

Me screwing with Musa, the kick ass lang prof. He now says 'coolness' and 'lame' all the time! woo hoo! but seriously, he knows i could totally kill him if i wanted to.

This is kyle and i... we call him fadibe.. his local name. he looks like a killer and this is the photo that proves it. that's right kyle! you serial killer you!

my host family and i... some people are missing (hello, where is tim?), but this is the bunch that we chill with on a regular basis.


This is the chef himself and tim and i. he is totally cool and patient and amazing. i owe a lot of my mad bambara skills to him and the rest to our amazing lang profs.

Ode to Staging

And so this is most likely my last blog as a Peace Corps Trainee (but don't hold me to that). The next should be as a Peace Corps Volunteer all official like. We leave our homestay villages at the end of the week and swear-in is just a few days later on the 30th, so, to look back at all the moments we've shared as a bunch of freshman nobodies in for most of us our first 3rd World country (such a misnomer), I have compiled a bunch of photos for your enjoyment. Thank you to the high speed internet cafe in Bamako even if I am sitting next to a Christmas tree.


This is going to be Michele's and my house for the next 2 years starting in just over a week. Oct 1 or 2 is when we arrive there to start our service. It's a small 2 room fixer upper with a waist high wall all around it and a nyegen in the back. 1 door, 2 windows, plenty of head room... It came equiped with a lot of the previous PCV's crap (Rob, I don't remember your last name but if you wanted any of your stuff that you left, we sorta gave it to the community). It is going to be a nice place to live I think - that is once we get used to it. The nearest water source is about 250 meters away, so I'll probably bribe kids to carry the heavy water for us.



This is Ben. He is a pretty cool kid. He doesn't talk much, just sorta screams, but he loves to run around and yell my name, 'Teem!'. I did hear him say "I ni sogoma" (good morning) once, but no one else was around so they don't believe me. He left Sanankoroba 3 days ago to travel to Kayes with his mother. It was a pretty sad parting since I probably won't see him again. Ben, if you ever learn to read Angele-kan I wish you the best!



Michele and her new best friend, Trinh Tran. Trinh won't be too far from us in Sikasso (25km to Niena, then 70km to Trinh). She loves to hug and is fun to talk to since she is pretty smart.

This was us at dinner last night! (Michele, Isabelle, and Trinh pictured). It was so delicious! We made macaroni and cheese by taking a bunch of curly noodles and adding the Vache qui Rit (Laughing Cow cheese). And the meat I bought and cooked (yes, I was in charge of finding and cooking the main dish) was the best part! We marinated the meat in mustard and vinegar and other spices and then actually got to use a grill from one of our karamogo (instructor)'s neighbors. We also made fried onion rings (and the less popular fried cucumber). It is kinda depressing now that I think about it - it is possible to cook such good food here yet no one ever does. It is strange to think that the people of Mali like 'to' so much. (sidenote: I have no idea why I don't have a picture of 'to' but next chance I get I will. It has the texture of jello and tastes like cardboard and sand).

These are some of the kids who have become fairly fond of me and the rest of the stage group in Sanankoroba. They swing by the Karamogo ka so (instructor house - also where we have class) every morning to see what we're up to. They know my name by heart (God! I'm a bad person, it is so difficult remembering people's names here!) They are really fun and I chase the younger ones and tease the older ones about all the beans they eat (a joke gone wrong here in Mali - to have fun with your joking cousins, you tease them about eating beans - because, get this: beans make you fart! You can tease anyone from young people to the elderly and they all always think its funny. It is a lot of fun now but I see it getting very old very fast.)

This is the view most days from class (note the lack of the word 'classroom' because class is literally outside, under a tree, and next to the road.) I have seen children as young as 6 herding groups of cows down the street. Look closely at those horns. As an American, I have a distinct fear of being gored, so I try to be nice to the misiw (cows) in case they ever get tempermental. Kids also herd goats (baw), sheep (sagaw), and donkeys (faliw). (interesting side note: to make a word plural in Bamanan kan, you add a 'W', not an 'S' like in English)

Musa, one of our teachers. Basically a cool and good guy, Musa continues to promise us a trip to BlahBlah, the Bamako night club he loves. So far, no trip (is he waiting for swear-in?). He is a very bright guy who has done some great work with the Peace Corps in Mali. He is fluent in most of the languages in this country (if I remember correctly, I think he knows 6 or 7 including French, English, Bambaran, Malinke, etc.) He is fun to hang around with.

This is how we spend a good bit of our spare time, hanging around, reading, trying to learn Bambaran (Peace Corps is a 24/7 job). Every once in a while we will get to really relax.

This is Michele shoe-shopping at the market in Sanankoroba. Every Monday for the market, the village springs to life and swarms of people come from all of the neighboring towns to by goods. It is quite an experience. When I was buying the sheep meat to cook for dinner, the butcher chopped the leg into 2 kilos worth (I was hit in the face with some bone, but it was ok). I later got to strip the meat off the bone with my Leatherman (which I washed thoroughly afterwards) and cut off the gristle and bone shards and tendons, etc. We made a marinade with mustard and vinegar and a little bit of my Mrs. Dash from home - none of that infernal Maggi (Malian seasoning that makes everything they cook taste the same).

Broken thoughts from Africa (in a hurry, sorry)

So Michele and I are back in Sanankoroba for the time being. We ran into Bamako today to grab some cheeseburgers at our favorite restaurant 'Broadway Cafe' to take a small little escape from the stagnation of rice everyday at homestay. Actually, our homestay food really isn't so bad anymore. I have really been getting used to the food the Chef Mamadou household prepares for us. Last night Michele and I had a loaf of bread with fried eggs, tomatos, and onions (fried egg sandwiches!). Things are really starting to fall into place here in Africa. It seems like every time the big group of us trainees gets together we find out another person has dropped out and gone home - Michele and I seem to still be going strong. Honestly, so far, food is the only weak point - but it is just 2 weeks before we are shipped out to site for good and we will finally not have to rely on anyone else to feed us. I see a lot of eggs in my future.
I really don't have enough time on this computer to really get into much else - I miss everyone back home, Happy Birthday Dad! This past week we started getting into the training of our different sectors, I am Water and Sanitation, Michele is Health Education. We still basically go to class all day long seven days a week. Cross culture, language, and sector training.
Children ride around on donkeys in the streets, people hate dogs and hit them whenever they come near, traffic usually consists of sheep or cattle in the road, the mosque next to our house sounds off 5 times a day (the first one is at 5am!) (other than last night when someone was on the mosque loudspeaker from 6pm to at least midnight). The days are extremely hot - but it is suprising how quickly you get used to it. You sweat a lot, but get used to it too. Life isn't bad here. I miss the US but life isn't bad here. Michele and I know we can do this.

Tragic News Out of Mali

I doubt many of you will hear about this on the news back in the US, but things have been pretty solemn here in Mali the past few days.

This past weekend, 4 Peace Corps Volunteers were sailing on a boat they had built up the Niger River. When docking, their metal boat came into contact with a power line and 2 of the Volunteers were killed. Of the two survivors, one in unharmed and the other is on his way back to the US to be treated for severe burns on his arms. We have not been able to contact people in the US until both families of the deceased had been contacted. Though Michele and I hardly new these 2 guys, a loss is felt by all here in Tubani So. Both were just a few months short of their 'close of service' dates. We had both met Justin a few weeks before when he taught a brief class on how to put our mountain bikes together. Matt neither Michele nor I had met.

The plan is to have training continue on as scheduled mainly because what the Peace Corps does in Mali is so vitally important to the communities here. Michele and I spent the past few days in classes at Tubani So and will be returning to our homestay villages tomorrow morning. I had hoped to be able to reach a phone today to call home, but I'm afraid I will have to wait for the cabine in Sanankoroba (who has ever heard of a place that has internet but no public phone!)

Anyways, most of the PCV from all across the country were in Bamako yesterday for the funeral. Not sure when they will be heading back, but Michele and I leave tomorrow.

I love everyone back home - Michele and I are safe and still in high spirits about our stay here.

Return from Blendio

So Michele and I have been MIA for the past week at our site (the place we will spend the next 2 years). It is going to take some getting used to for me after having lived in Atlanta and Paris the past several years. Blendio is only 25km off the main highway to Sikasso, but it takes roughly an hour to tranverse those 25km via van. The van only comes into Blendio 3-4 times a week, so if we want to leave Blendio on one of the non-van days we have to get creative. On our first trip to Blendio we had to get creative. Michele's APCD was able to charm our sous-prefect into finding a van to come into town on Friday so we could leave for Sikasso - the van came and left as to the fact that it was jam packed with people and goats. We ended up stopping a pickup truck for a local NGO (actually the village chief stopped the truck for us) and hitched a ride into Niena. From Niena we hitched a ride by bus to Sikasso in the traditional Malian way (stand in the middle of the road until a bus with an opening stops). It is really strange just how nice many of the people are here. When the chief in Blendio found out we needed to get out on a non-van day, he had a sizeable chunk of the village population out in the street to flag down a car for us. The pickup truck driver -when he dropped us off in Niena- told some local children we wanted to get to Sikasso and they helped flag down a bus for us. Even though things are extremely rustic and rural out in our part of the bush, I think we are going to get by. The only real concern I have is over the food - we are spoiled in Sanankoroba with street vendors - Blendio has no such thing. The only food you can get in on market days (Tuesday in Blendio, Sunday in Niena). Michele and I will actually have to start planning ahead and stocking up on the stuff we want to eat (I have a feeling I will get extremely sick of white rice very soon).

Anyways, I can't talk long, there is a line for the computer and I am pretty tired from traveling the past 2 days. I will try to jump on tomorrow to give more details of our site and add some photos. Til then, peace out. I love everyone and hope you all are having a good time in America. Michele and I still love it here in Mali.

Back from the middle of nowhere

(this post is originally from Sept 2)

wow---- what a week. I feel like I have been through so much already, but the challenges just keep coming. So Tim and i are stationed near the 'city' of niena and by near i mean 25 km out. there is a car that leaves our site only 3 or 4 times per week.... it kinda sucks. our house is very modest... two rooms, two windows, a door, a courtyard, and a nyegen. Tim has to bike up freaking hill at least 7 km everyday to get to where he works, so life kinda sucks for him. The boutikis there suck and only sell tomato paste and mayo--- i am pretty sure i have lost another 5-10 lbs. (maybe i should have asked you guys to send me pants that were smaller sizes?) It's cool though....


BRITNE: We love you and are really sad to see you go, but we understand and we want you to know that there is absolutely no shame in leaving. I must say though... i was/am really sad. I cried when Claudine told tim and i that you left. Just know that we are sad to see you go----- eats lots of food for me!


Ok back to whatever i was saying... some people here got places near other volunteers... not tim and i. i am assuming they figure that we are married and we dont need anyone else, but that sucks. i have made friends here and it would have been nice had the people deciding placement at least think about our mental health. we volunnteers make up a very unique family, and a lot of problems, complaints, whatever can only be understood by other volunteers.... we need each other to survive here. But no... no other volunteers. The closest people are about 95+ km away. suckage.


our house: the guy who lived there before ET-ed ( early termination). He left about a year into his stay there because he was sick and was not learning the language. His crap was everywhere in our house. it was full of pictures, clothes, bowls, gross shit that should have been cleaned or something, but tim and i did it. The volunteer before him was super volunteer and did everything. I feel somewhat lost in the virtual lack of accomplishment of sick guy and the complete opposite of super girl volunteer. I have no idea what to expect ir how to survive. The PC is hardcore. I feel like i should be able to get into whatever fing grad school i want to go to after this.... i cannot tell you how difficult it has been thus far. I mean, I am still enjoying myself despite my new maladies of a toothache/cavity and some weird fungus looking shit on my foot. HA! This is hilarious! Can you believe i am doing this to myself? Sometimes i think to myself: Michele you are a big f-ing bowl of crazy.... and then i laugh to myself and put more hydrocortozone (sp?) cream on my foot fungus (currently growing)...

In our town they apparently practice female genital mutilation... which i think is just awesome.... there are just so many things that need fixing and not enough me's. The maternity ward looks like a 3rd world prison, with a metal table complete with stirrups... i am pretty sure thats where i will be spending most of my time too.... michele.... dr. michele/ dr. aichata samake... i saw an IV on a couple of kids and felt myself getting queasy... maybe me and health education werent meant to be together.

there is a bambara tutpr in our village... he treats me like a malian women, and by god i will not stand for it. When we were being taught shit we already know... his example sentences were always: michele cooks for tim. tim does not cook because he is a man... and i would say that i cant cook and that tim wants to cook and take care of the children. bla bla....

ok, family---- i am going to call sometime next weekend. saturday or sunday.

love everyone!