Yesterday was our first full day in Mali. Yeah, I know, right!!! I'm actually in Mali, West Africa!!! I woke up...in Mali, West Africa. And I mean both literally and symbolically...
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| 170 lbs of luggage |
There is so much to talk about. We arrived in Bamako, the capital of Mali, at about 9 PM on Wednesday night. The airport was about 90 degrees inside and Peace Corps employees were yelling at us from all different directions while my arms were going numb from my carry on and 25 lb purse. There were Malians speaking French and we were filling out all these papers and grabbing our passports/visas and WHO cards.
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Mes amis dans l'avion - Air France en route to Bamako
Luggage retrieval went super smoothly and we got outside into a beautiful, 85 degree night with a light, cool breeze and the reddish, sandy ground. There were these jeep-looking cars everywhere and they threw our bags...all couple hundred or so suitcases, into the back of one big, big truck. We jumped into a van with a Peace Corps trainer and we were immediately handed a glue stick-looking mosquito repellent to rub all over our bodies. Hahaha this was the first thing we were given once arriving in Mali. |
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| JUST LANDED IN MALI!!! Right outside the airport, waiting to be transported inside the Bamako airport |
Driving through Bamako - How do I give it any justice? Let me just say that I was floored - stunned - exhilerated - awe-struck - with how comforting, at home and beautiful everything was. It's not your traditional beauty, but a type of honesty and reality. I like that.
At about 10 PM at night on a Wednesday night, Bamako was bustling. There were cars and motos everywhere, and people walking with bags and babies. Along the road were half-standing but vibrantly painted buildings, women balancing the water bucket on her head and a baby strapped to her back, a group of Malians watching TV hooked up right outside their door on the porch, and cars honking and maneuvering in what we found out was a basically speed-limit-less road system. No speed limits, no traffic signs. People pay attention to each other and drive "like everyone's out to get them," like my dad likes to say.
When we arrived to Tubaniso, it was even BETTER than I had hoped. The huts...were exactly what I had expected. Round, red mud huts with a thatched roof, cement floor and three small windows. There are three beds in each hut - beds all decorated with different color mosquito nets over the bed like a canopy :) When I say different color, I mean one was white, one was brown and one was greenish. We were lucky enough to have the luxury of a small coffee table in our hut and lights.
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| C'est moi - In my hut, in the safety of my mosquito net...love it |
So there are some topics I want to cover...and I will do my best to cover them all before we run out of Internet...but first I want to say something.
BUT FIRST...You have to see my hut!!!
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| My hut, with two other roomies. We are E2. The best hut in Tubaniso. |
My post from last night
My post from last night really shocked me. What I mean, is, I wrote most of that while still in DC, before we ever even flew across the Atlantic or arrived in West Africa. It shocked me, because just after only ONE full day, I didn't recognize the person who wrote that blog.
I had already changed...in just 48-ish hours. My brother and sister described it best. They both basically said they would have to say good-bye to me forever when I left. To me, the person traveling across the world to live in isolation and everyday challenge, that's kinda scary to hear...but they meant they had to say good-bye to the old me...because the person who comes back after this exploration, this adventure...will not be the same Laura. I am already getting a glimpse into that.
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| On the left: Our bucket and shower facility aka bucket baths. On the right: the Nygeen aka bathroom aka hole in the ground |
I am not going to lie, it's hard. But I keep remembering some key things. First - I am not here because of me. This isn't about me. It's about something much bigger. And two, attitude is everything. Three - the promise I made to my family that I wouldn't take my safety for granted.
So...back to my list. Here's my list of things I want to talk about so far. By the way, I am trying to get pics onto my comp. Ill post asap if I can!!
Will cover these topics to best of my abilities in the next post...Just figured out how to download pics and thought pics were more telling than a diatribe. Will explain the experience in more detail in next blog post!
We will have the luxury of electricity, lighting, water and Internet until Monday. On Tuesday, we head to our host families.
Quick summary of the first two days in Mali
Today we learned some cultural norms, I continued my familiarity with the nygeen (aka bathroom), am starting to like the bucket baths and have already learned how to master the art of water conservation with a bucket bath, realized we have friends such as spiders, grasshoppers, mosquitos, flies,lizards and fire ants in the nygeen, had our first diaherra training (aka Mr. D), learned to greet in Bambara (the language 80% of Malians speak) and tested Intermediate level in my French...so much to tell!!
Love and miss you all! Here are some of my next topics...be prepared for nygeens and the story of the two husbands :)
Ok...
-Tubaniso luxuries
-First French CFA
-the food
-Bambara
-Culture
-Malaria pills
-huts
-two husbands, french test
-bathrooms
-bucket baths
-weather
-kids and donkeys
-gender roles
Bonjour from Mali!! This is me on a walk with a bunch of Peace Corps trainees on the road that goes into Guinea. The sun was setting and the weather was gorgeous!! All is going well!! Mali is amazing!!
