Saying goodbye to my host fam, swearing in

So much has happened in the last month! Here are some highlights: 

--Successfully completed homestay in Djialakorobugu. I cried so hard as I was leaving my family and saying good bye, that my host mother was giving me all these blessings, and I couldn't even say "Amina" because I was crying so hard! I could never say enough good things about my host family, they gave me everything they had and took me in as a member of their own family. 

This is my host family at Djialakorobugu. I was named after my host mom (in the blue), Ramata Samake. These are the kindest people I have ever met. 

This is during a dance party at my concession, that Marlow and I had. The kids love it when you dance! No matter what kind of dance you do, they love it! 

LOOK AT HOW HAPPY THEY ARE! For our dance party, we got the kids to join in, and they laughed so much, learned new dances and had a blast with us. 

Awe, good bye to my old house in Djbo!

Packing to leave the next day from homestay. 

Love this picture: This is the morning of our thank you party for our LCFs and host families, the day before we left homestay. We had a dance party with our LCF. Haha this was about 8:30 in the morning. There is no inappropriate time to dance in Mali! Here is Josh making a fool of himself, while Marlow and our LCF, Marie Telley laughed. :) Love you Josh!

Josh, Marlow, Marie Telley and me, after a quick dance party for our thank you party to Djbo

After our thank you lunch, all of Djbo, with some of our host families, LCFs and the town dugutigi and mayor

Peace Corps folks - the (then) trainees, with our LCFs

The night before we left, at another town dance party. These are a bunch of cute kids who wanted to take some pictures with the Toubaba. This little girl stayed by my side and stared at me, but was a sweetie. This dance party lasted all day and night. When we returned at night, around 10 or 10:30 PM, it was a crazy dance party. Something that I would be shocked to see in the States! There was choreography and what looked like young, single Malians trying to meet their mate. haha I dont know how to explain it, but there is some major talent in Mali, especially regarding dance moves!

--Completed Pre-Service Training, two and a half grueling months of redundant Peace Corps training, but also two and a half months of enriching cultural training and Bambara language sessions. We had the best LCFs (Ianguage and culture facilitator, or culture and language teacher), who would do extra tutoring after class. We joked with her that she loved to "donke donke", which means "dance" in Bambara. Many of the volunteers say that PST is the hardest part of Peace Corps service because you are literally treated like a child - your days are scheduled for you, without free time at all, you sleep a lot because you're exhausted constantly, you can't communicate, you don't know how to eat yet, etc. Haha I am now a kindegardener by Peace Corps standards! 

These pictures seem so long ago! This was our first Seddie field trip, way back during our first visit back to Tubaniso after the first two weeks at homestay! My trip was to see how Bazan fabric is made. 

This was the FIRST week of class! This was when we were still learning under the (barely there) shade of a tree in a barren field by the soccer field. We used to have herds of bull, donkeys mating, chickens eat our crumbs and little kids hang out in our "classroom." This seems like such a long time ago!

This is our second classroom - at our LCFs house, in a boiling hot hangar that got hotter and hotter during the day. This was our second stay during homestay. So long ago!

Djialakorobugu, our first couple of weeks at homestay. 

--Passed my language exam with flying colors. My Bambara skills are now at Intermediate Mid, which is equivalent to the three years of French I took in college, all in two short months! I studied my butt off during PST and spoke as much Bambara as possible, so that my language skills would be good. Knowing the local language is one of the most important aspects of being a successful volunteer. 

--Swore in as an official Peace Corps volunteer at the President of Mali's mansion!! In PC, they treat Swear in as a very big deal, a very big accomplishment, and no other vols in the 40 years of Peace Corps Mali, ever had the pleasure of the President of Mali not only hosting their swear in, but speaking kind awards about us and the PC. It was all over the Malian news, and we even got a pic with the President! The US Ambassador to Mali officiated our oath we took when we became official PC vols. 

Our stage, waiting for the President ATT to come out

Trying to see what my swear in outfit looked like. Here it is!

Getting ready before Swear in - I wore a Malian outfit with black shiny fabric and purple, blue and orange swirls on it. I have more pics Ill post. 

The chandeliers in the Presidential palace

Here's a link to pics and a story about our swear in: http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.media.press.view&news_id=1762

So, tomorrow, I am headed to site for the next part of my training.I am extremely nervous, but excited. I really love my site's community, my homologue, my neighbors, and my jatigi (host family).  I am going to make a lot of goals, have dance parties with my jatigi on Fridays, go to as many ceremonies and events as I can, and see how education and women's empowerment play a role into the needs of my community. 

Also, here are some pictures you can see, if we're friends on FB. If we're not, add me!! http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.932500414699.2555300.16821927

Thank you for your support!

Laura aka Ramata Coulibali