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).