Team America!

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve blogged, so this will be a long one. I apologize if your eyes start to hurt, but it’s okay because I AM AN OFFICIAL PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER now! We were sworn in at the Embassy in Bamako on September 3, and, like everything else in Mali, it was a very random day. We arrived at the Embassy completely soaking wet from the torrential downpour outside (which has actually become a common occurrence, given that it is the rainy season here). I had on a Malian dress made of new, unwashed fabric, so the color bled all over my legs and feet. Plus, the AC was pumping in the Embassy, so all 80 of us were wet, shivering, and completely exhausted. But, we took our oath, took some pictures (which I will post later because they are on my friend’s camera), and then took off for the American Club. The American Club is this magical place in Mali that serves beer, hard alcohol, has a pool, and has a large TV. After shitting in a hole and eating only carbs for two months, going to a place where only Americans with a valid ID are allowed in is like a little piece of home. It poured for a while there too, but after feasting on a burger, quesadillas, potato salad, pasta salad, and mojitos, I was in a great mood. Then, the weather cleared up, we played a lovely game that involved flipping cups over on a table, and then headed into Bamako for our swear-in party. We ate some Chinese food, learned that our stage name (the name of our group of volunteers) is Team America (because we are all very different but still all-American?), and then crashed around 4AM. It was kind of refreshing to have one last chance at fun with other Toubabs before heading off to my site in a few days. Which brings me to my next point that…

For the next two years, I will be living in a village in the Sikasso region of Mali! I am the only volunteer at my site, but I have a site buddy that is only 4K away from me. I will also be able to get into the city fairly regularly to access the Internet and access the market, which is great. My village has about 3,000 people, and I will have my own, two room “house” on the dugutigi’s compound (AKA, with the village chief)! I have no electricity, I will still be using a nyegen (hole in the ground) and bucket bathing, I will be cooking all of my own meals, I will wash all of my clothes by hand, and I have mice in my house. I am most definitely getting a cat. But, I am pretty excited to start working, especially after meeting some people in the village and working at the CSCOM (health center) already. I’ve even helped with some PNC’s! I definitely excited to really dive in, talk to people, and just immerse myself in life over here. It’s great to be able to have Toubab time, but I am really looking forward to hibernating in my village and really getting to know people for the first three months. So, please note my address change on the side of this blog… and also, notice the “wish list” that I have. Please do not feel obligated to send me anything at all! But, anything (emails, letters, etc) is more than welcome! I download all of the emails that people send onto my IPod, and I read them when I get homesick. So, keep sending me emails and letters and I will write back whenever I have the chance!

Here are a few other random thoughts that I wanted to share about my life over here:

- I keep hearing two songs on repeat on the Malian radio stations: Rude Boy and Sexual Healing. I find this completely ironic, especially since my homestay family used to watch me awkwardly dance to Sexual Healing whenever it came on the radio…alone…at night…while cheering my Malian and Ameriki names. Oh, how I will miss my homestay family. They were amazing!! I am going to call them every Sunday and keep in touch.
- I always forget that my life here is so much different than my life in the states: I eat every meal with my right hand (because the left hand is used to wipe after using the nyegen… no TP here), I have no electricity (and therefore get very excited whenever I can sit on a real toilet or use a real shower), I sleep under a mosquito net (or as I like to call it, a princess net) every night because malaria is dormant in my system right now (thank you, Mefloquin, for keeping it dormant!), I bathe with a bucket, and I shit in a hole. To me, this all seems relatively normal now, but I realize that to others, it might be shocking.
- The donkeys, goats, sheep, and cows make the loudest and most obscure sounds that I have ever heard. I can’t even describe it…it sounds like someone is being violently attacked on the hour, because that is when the donkeys make the awful sounds. I am pretty sure that Malians can tell the time solely based on which animals make which noises at certain times. Strangely enough, I walk side by side with all of those animals every day and am never attacked.
- Mali runs on West African International Time… otherwise known as WAIT. You wait around for everything, especially when it rains. Malians are afraid of the rain, apparently. But, when everything is so slow, it leaves more time for…
- Greetings – you greet every person you pass on the street, and they all love talking to you. You ask how they are doing, how their family is doing, how their children are doing, and how their village is doing. Then, if you know someone well, you go through a list of about 5 to 10 benedictions (such as, “May Allah grant you many children” or “May the bed bugs not attack you today”). It’s refreshing to talk to someone and have him/her be genuinely interested in your life.
- I have seen the breasts of every woman in my host family because breasts are completely non-sexualized here. They just whip them out to feed their kids all the time, and it does not matter who is around. Knees and thighs, however, are never, ever seen. My legs are covered at all time!
- The concept of joking cousins is really important here… and because of my last name (Diarra), everyone calls me a shodunna, or bean eater. It’s like a fart joke, and it’s a way to instantly talk and bond with people. It’s actually really fun to laugh and call someone with a different last name a bean eater, a donkey, or a lion as an insult.
- Since I’ve been here, I’ve biked 20K in one day (yes, ME), been on a bush taxi (AKA, mini bus with open windows and falling-off doors), seen a chicken get killed, plucked, and eaten (I only did the eating), and had 2 marriage proposals. Life is hard over here.

Tomorrow, I get installed at my site and the real Peace Corps begins. Keep following my blog, keep sending me emails/letters/packages, and keep cheering me on!