Our First Stay at Diaramana

Michele and the Malian children enjoying themselves at the International Women's Day festivities.












A portable Malian gas station, it goes from bus to bus in the auto-gare filling them up. To save petrol, it runs off of hay and water.









Children watching the Women's day dancing, with the most noticeable tree in Mali, the Baobab. Legend has it, long ago the Devil, angry with the Baobab pulled them all up out of the ground and replanted them all upside down with the roots exposed. Most of these trees do look like the legend is true...










Our new house! 6 rooms, made of concrete with a large front yard and even a small grove of trees. We sit underneath our gwa (the grass/reed hangar to the left) every morning and greet all the people who come and walk by.






Sunrise in the hot season of the Sahel. Dust fills the atmosphere and covers up the sun- oddly, the season while the sun is blocked is the hottest season here.


































Our dog Bogo - named after the Bambaran word for 'dirt/mud' because he eats dirt. This is him chewing on a chicken foot. Being that he is owned by Americans, he's inherited our taste for food - he refuses to eat toh until he's gotten to the point where he realizes we're not giving him anything else. This is him smiling for the camera.