So the last 20 days have absolutely flown by!!! Homestay is over and on friday we officially become volunteers!!! We have our swear in at the embassy, which is on Malian national television, and then a party at the ambassador's house, then off to the American club, thennnnn partying it up in Bamako. haha. SO it should be a really fun night!! And I got a brand new outfit for it, very malian. A complet - matching top and bottom. It is a skirt with a cute top. Eventually I will get pictures up, I promise.
Leaving homestay was actually really sad. My dad killed 2 chickens for me for a big dinner the night before we left. And they made my favorite dinner with it, rice with peanut sauce and african eggplants. oooohhh man. I gave them a 25 kilo bag of rice and 10 kilos of sugar too as a thank you, and they were sooooo surprised and so excited. I was glad that I could give them something because they have really been amazing. Annnnd, tomorrow night they invited one person from every host family to come for dinner so my dad is coming. And my friend beatrice's dad is coming too, which is going to be soooooo much fun b/c we all just sit around and make fun of each other. So I'm really really excited for tomorrow night. So anyway, leaving was hard, malians don't like crying, they never ever cry and always stop children from crying, so my host dad said bye and then disappeared into his house, and my sisters had to leave before I actually left. It was cute, and I will definately be visiting them in the future since they are on my way back to Bamako. And, I promised that if my parents came to visit I would take them there to meet my host family. They had a big party for us too, and the town came out and thanked us (we did some health talks, painted a mural, and taught them how to make more nutritious food for their children). They said some really amazing things about how they had never met white people like us who treated them equally and such. It was very heartfelt. And we thanked them so so much for everything they have done for us. I literally would not have survived without them.
Oh and my mom sent me this singing card that when you open it up it plays music. And it was the most fantastic thing that my host village had ever seen. hahaha. They would all open it, and then look at me like I was the devil, then start to smile, and then just start laughing hysterically. They really loved it. And then they would make me put it back in my house and wouldnt let the little kids touch it because they were afraid it would get broken or something. Oh and with that, I cant put my address on my blog for safety reasons, but I can email it out (emily I will email it to you!!!) if you feel the need to send some mail my way. hahaha.
And on to more important things, I SAW BATMAN LAST NIGHT. oh my god. that is all I can say. It was a spanish bootleg version, and I still loved it. It was everything I had wanted and more, which was hard because I built up that movie so so much. Oh man. i cant even talk about it. What a great great job.
Humm. So it is ramadan now, and since Mali is predominately muslim, everyone has to fast during the day. They dont eat or drink from sun up to sun down, which is crazzzzy, since they are still farming and working. But Mali, as a whole, is definately not as conservative as it first seems. So a lot of people don't fast, if they are sick, or pregnant, or older. Or people will do one day on one day off. But, for me, its great, b/c I still get to eat, and when they break the fast they have really good hibiscus juice and this sweet porridge stuff that is amazing. And then they have a huge dinner. Works for me. hahaha. Except when people are crabby and annoyed because they are starving, that's not so fun. But still. And Tabaski comes a month or so after ramadan ends, and there is a big feast for that. So that is exciting. Kinda makes up for the lack of christmas. hahaha.
I am sure that there are other things I am forgetting. But mostly we're just waiting for swear in and site installation. Sooooo that's all for now!!
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3 comments:
Oh man so much to read! I figured you'd be posting soon so I've been checking your blog like a loser waiting for the next update haha. Needless to say I was thrilled to see it (and to see some IMs!). I just got back from a special trip to the post office...keep your eyes peeled. They say 5-10 days but I have a difficult time believing that mail will get to Mali faster than it will get to Australia. Let me know.
I have a million questions about your post -- are they offended that you dont fast? Do ppl watch Malian natl TV? Are you fluent in Bambara yet? Also, I love your gift of grains and sugar. I hope that when you come visit me in NYC in 2010 that you stop at the Food Emporium next door and pick up a bag of Domino sugar. OH and what kinds of stuff did you teach them about nutrition???
Anyway, life here is good. Campaign time in the US is ridiculous. I'm going to be running scripts for Wolf Blitzer in the Sit. Room tomorrow and Friday so I will be inundated with political chat. I cant wait. Then I have a week off, then two weeks half running scripts for Wolf and half training for Jack Cafferty and then I should be starting full time after that. I cant wait. I havent been in in a couple of weeks so I'm sure it will be a bit overwhelming tomorrow but I'm excited to go back. Mostly so that I can walk into the building and swipe my ID, I think thats the best part.
Ok, this comment is almost as long as your post. I'm gonna go. I cooked stuffed shells for dinner and Em Hahn, Steph Train, and my friend Dean (dont know if you know him) are coming over. Miss you!
Ke!
My favorite thing I've seen in print this year:
"My father killed a couple of chickens for me as a gift". Oh how things have changed for you.
Hi Baby!
Thank you so much for sending out these blogs. I can't tell you how much they mean to us back here. They are so interesting, and funny and give us a real feel of some of the things you are doing. I read and re read them constantly.
We are so excited about all the amazing things are have done already, continue to do and will do in the future! love love love
as always
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