N Togo Sanaba Sacko

So!! I finally got back to some internet!! I will try to make this post in some sort of order but I feel like I have so much to say! Homestay has been amazing, we're in a really small village of about 400 people which has actually turned out to be the best thing that could have happened because everyone in the town knows us (there are 3 of us there) and they all want us to learn bambara so they make us stop and talk with them. And people don't point and shout tubabu (white person/foreigner) at us, which they definately do in the bigger cities. The people are fantastic, they are so funny, so so patient with us, and protect me like i'm their daughter. The other night one of the other girls got sick and we were waiting for the peace corps to come pick her up to bring her to the med unit in Bamako and the boys wouldnt go to bed until they came so that they could walk us back to our homes since it was after dark. And I could literally see my house from where we were sitting. But the boys all make sure that we have escorts everywhere. And they make sure I am eating enough and showering. I was playing soccer with the boys (they were a little too cool for school until I started to play with them and now they accept me, haha). After a little while, one of the boys who is like 10 made all the boys stop and take me home because it was time for me to shower. hahaha. My host family is so so enthusiastic. They absolutely love it when I can form sentences. They are so encouraging, and after dinner my host dad makes me come over to chat with him in bambara. Oh, which brings me to my bambara name!! I'm Sanaba Sacko, which everyone in the town knew even before I did. And whenever I talk in bambara my host dad is like AH SANABA! You can speak bambara (all in bambara of course, he speaks some random phrases in french but mostly only bambara.)

The hardest parts so far have been the frustrations with communication. It is so so tiring to always be on. I have to always be thinking about communicating and trying to communicate. I never thought it would be such a relief when I hear french. Its like I can finally speak in full sentences. My bambara is actually getting pretty good though, I told my host family all about my US family and what everyone does (minus the karate part because they didn't really get that but I got teacher across about my mom and dad, and they think that's great). They thought that the fact that tanna, danny, and I aren't married was like the funniest thing in the entire world. Women here get married around 16 and men get married around 20. But anyway, so that's difficult/tiring not being able to speak english. And it has been really tiring getting used to the diet, I was really low energy for a while because the lack of protein and stuff, but I my body is starting to get used to it now. And a bunch of people met up at a bar last week, so that was definitely a relief to see other americans.

So now I am back at the training site after 2 weeks at homestay. We find out our sites tomorrow, so everyone is nervous/anxious to find out. I am trying to put up pictures too but we'll see if that happens. I know I am missing things that I want to say, so I will probably post again tomorrow!!!