Happy New Year!

New Years in Mali appears to be quite fun – there are concerts, dancing, and tons of legitimate, “shoot high up in the air like you might see at a minor league baseball game” fireworks. But, I rang in the New Year with a fever, thus possibly imagining the grandness of these fireworks, and all alone, because I have some type of sinus infection and possible malaria.

I was ready to travel to Segou with my friends to spend New Years with a bunch of other PCV’s (now that our three month “no travel” ban is over) – I even had an outfit made at this awesome tailor that I found. However, my plans were haulted when I woke up still fevering from the previous night and feeling like a moto had run me over twice. I know my body pretty well, and I knew that I had to get back to Sikasso and call the PCMO. I had also been feeling sick for the past few days and realized that I could no longer chalk it up to a cold. Of course, my ride back to Sikasso from Koutiala was eventful in the typical Malian fashion – my bus ended up being a mini-bus with broken doors, known as a “bashee”; as usual, there were five people squeezed into three actual seats; I had a fever and my whole body ached; and, we stopped every twenty minutes so that the Malians could buy the same foods and drinks at every stop. This is Africa.

But, last night as I was shivering and sweating out my fever in the Sikasso transit house, I was also reflecting on where I am in my life right now and how all of these “crazy stories” are completely normal to me right now. I remember that last year on New Years, I watched some live swing music at a club on U Street, drank more than I should have, and ended up back at Garfield House where we took that oh-so-flattering picture of us in the kitchen (that is currently my desktop picture because I absolutely love it). Last year, I loved drinking away my stress, eating pizza, being clean and cleaning, and hated the “9 to 5”, “reviewing documents for eight hours a day” part of my job. I knew that I would be going somewhere for the Peace Corps, and I was ready for whatever that challenge might be because I was so bored in the situation I was in. I loved my work environment and the intelligent people I met, but I knew that it just wasn’t meant for me.

Now, every day is literally a roller coaster of emotions, I wash my hair once every two weeks, I wear the same crazy Malian clothes for days in a row (until it gets too dirty to wear anymore), I am constantly dirty from all of the dust at this time of year (which doesn’t bother me because it’s really just dirt), I sweat all of the time, I eat mostly carbs, but, most importantly, I am honestly very happy here. I am working in a rural health center and maternity every day, learning about global public health in the developing world and getting paid for talking to people and helping them develop projects to improve their villages. This is exactly what I wanted, and even when I am feeling miserable and sick, I still love being here and knowing that this new Peace Corps family is here for me. Since coming to the transit house yesterday, the guard here has checked in on me, my regional coordinator has stopped by and told me to call him if I need anything, my friends have sent me tons of texts, and my friend in Sikasso was amazing and brought me dinner – chicken, fries, salad, chai tea, a Sprite, and this delicious peppermint fudge. I feel very lucky to have such a great family helping me out. Being alone gave me time to reflect on where I am now and where I want to be by the time I leave Mali in 2012, so in a way, I guess I am glad that I am sick. I do hope I don’t actually have malaria, though.

There are a few things that I want to remember to do this year:
1. I want to remember the “small victories” and write down at least one every day. Sometimes, it gets overwhelming here, and it’s nice to remember that everything matters, even the small things like meeting someone new and getting the greetings completely correct.
2. I want to try and be as healthy as I can – so, I want to start cooking all of my meals for myself, biking more, and possibly running. I have more than enough free time during the day, so I might as well put it to good use. Maybe it will even cut down on my sicknesses.
3. I want to focus on the present and not wish away this journey that I’m on. Sometimes, I find myself thinking about what I will do when September 2012 arrives and worrying about finding a job that I’m happy with – but in doing that, I’m kind of dismissing the fact that I am here, right now. So, I want to focus on the present.
4. I also want to remember that this is the real world and not some fantasy “Oz.” My friend made an excellent point when she wrote that we need to make this our “Kansas”, or our real world, and not imagine that Mali is some dream-like “Oz” that we get to escape from in two years. I am here doing real work, meeting real people, and forming real relationships. There is nothing un-real about this experience, and I need to remember that in two years, I’m not going back to the “real world,” but that I’ll just be going back to a different world.

I hope everyone had a great holiday and new year, and thanks again for all of the emails, letters, cards, and packages! I will get back to all of you, I promise! It will probably take me a few weeks, though, so please be patient!