The Tubani So Update...

This is the Phase IV update: Michele and I are back in Tubani So, our training center just outside the capital city, Bamako, to go through our next step of training, or IST (In Service Training). We will be here for the next two weeks- we have cell phone coverage here so feel free to call us if anyone out there wants to. Because Michele and I are in different sectors (Water Sanitation and Health Ed) we only get to see one another during meals and in the evening down time. This training has been exciting so far, at least for me: I am finally getting to do some hands-on activities.

Today's classes were all about well construction - the W/S people split up into teams, the round brick team got to build using round brick, and the Dutch brick team got to build using Dutch brick. (The differences between the two aren't very many and actually get fairly technical so I'll spare you all and not go into it). We were basically building the exact same things but with different shaped lego pieces. We had to cut the sheet metal (toli) using metal wire (negejurulan) and bend rebar, align bricks, dig a lot, and hit bits of rock in the soil with a tool we dubbed the 'kiwi' (it is really just a stick that bulges at the end where a sharpened piece of rebar has been wedged).

Yesterday we got to inspect actual wells in various stages of disrepair all around the Peace Corps grounds. The day before that (how exciting this is!) we got to dig a compost pit and fill it with all the layers recommended for the best compost - mainly garbage and shit (feces). Tomorrow we have a field trip into Bamako to visit a pump installation and repair shop.

Our days are basically packed, sunrise to sunset, with training and classes with a few short breaks for coffee and meals. Probably unknown to most of you back in the states (I would not have believed this either unless I had seen and felt it myself), but it really is the cold season here. Now, it's not anything close to snow weather, but it is still downright chilly in the mornings and evenings. We actually have to turn off the fan and sleep under a blanket. Michele walks around in a sweatshirt in the mornings and evenings (I don't because I left mine in Blendio because we were unable to return there in order to pack before we came to Tubani So).

The reason this is the cold season despite our being so close to the equator has nothing to do with the tilt of the earth or the sun's position but rather it is the winds coming from the ocean this time of year. The winds blow up a lot of dust (as this is a very very dusty country) and block out the sun most of the day therefore cooling this place down in the mornings and evenings. The days are fairly comfortable around 75 degrees. PCVs who have been here for a while tell us to not expect to see the sun for the month of February and part of March because of the dust in the atmosphere. We've had a few mild days like this so far, dark clouds building up all day long; in the states one would think it is about to rain any second, but we here know better. It has not rained since the end of October and will not rain again until the end of July.

The scenery of this entire country has changed drastically since we first got here. When we first arrived in the beginning of the rainy season everything was lush and green and this country (though still dusty) looked like a jungle. Now, everything that was once green is yellow and brown, and the roads that were once strewn with puddles and mud are now rocky and dry. The plants that line the roads here are a dark brown, covered in all the dust kicked up from cars that pass by. People who ride motorcycles (75% of vehicles on the road are motorcycles or scooters) wear surgical masks. The entire nation seems to be living off of food they farmed and dried out months ago and saved specifically for this time of year. Corn toh has been replaced with millet toh (the lesser of the two). I need to remember to take a picture of toh next time I have some. It is the jelly/grain that is the staple food of most in Mali - they eat it religiously, even some of the better-off-financially sorts of people just because it is so ingrained in the culture. It is not tasty, but they love it anyways.