Little Bit of Mali

Ami prepare le diner.

Je prepare entre malade.

(I prepare to be sick.)

You know, the normal stuff like worms and dehydration!

A Day by Ourselves!

Things are going well for us. We've spent the last two nights at our homestay with Mamadou and his family. They have three children close to our age and they help us with our French. Yesterday morning we were by ourselves for the first time! We walked from the office to the tailor who is making our outfits and we ordered more outfits. Yes, by ourselves with no official language training yet. So I'm not really sure if our outfits will look like what we wanted! Then we walked to the Guesthouse to get towels and water. We went to a boutique to buy some chips to go with our turkey sandwiches. We couldn't read the bags but thought we were getting sour cream and onion (turns out they were spaghetti and meat sauce chips....yum). Then was the real adventure. We took a taxi to our supervisor's house to fix our sandwiches. Well we didn't really know how to get to her house (there are big circles everywhere...circles get confusing). We eventually called her, and she told the driver where to go. We got to her house and walked down to the bakery to get some bread for the sandwiches, but they were closed. Luckily she had some we could use. Then we had our first French class. We learned greetings, numbers (in two languages!), how to say "I am going..." and the verb "to be." Then we had homework to learn 1-1000 in Bambara and 1-20 in French, write sentences, and and practice around the house. It's strange when your teacher can just walk outside at home and give you a pop quiz! Ha. Everyone knows food is a struggle for me, especially if it's not hamburgers or chicken fingers. They notice that I don't eat a lot, but I do eat. Last night was I guess cous-cous with onions and peppers, I think beef, and watermelon for dessert. In a few minutes we're going to go walk around some more and practice our French! A biento!

(I hope to add some pictures soon. I keep forgetting to take them!)

Place to Meet New Friends

We found this random sign on the side of the road. But apparently it's something important because there was more than one sign! Our supervisor suggested that this might be a place where we could really become engaged with the people.

First Few Days

The picture doesn't show it very well, but these are mini pringles. When I say mini, I mean absolutely bite sized!

So we've been here almost three full days, and we've done a LOT. Yesterday we started off at the clinic. Our supervisor said it was important to see what it looks like while we are still healthy! It was very nice. There's even a fridge with cokes and beer while you wait in the lobby. We had a tour and saw the doctors' offices, hospital rooms, and ER. The ER was great with one little bed! The hospital rooms were very modern. AC, fridge, television, and bathroom!

Then we went to the grocery store. It is good to know that you really can get almost anything you need in one of these nice grocery stores (with the exception of peanut butter and box mac and cheese). However, we'll only be a 2 day drive away from the grocery store once we move to our village! I spent 11,000 CFR at the grocery store. Hmmm something like $22. We got a lot of turkey for sandwiches next week while we're in French training.

Right after lunch it began to rain! Not only did it rain, but it also hailed! Oddly enough, I've NEVER actually seen hail. While it was pouring, we went to a tailor very close to our apartment. I'm getting a new outfit made, but only one right now.

We went to the market to get more material for outfits late in the afternoon. This market was HUGE. We got fabric and took it to a tailor to add strings for our skirts (makes the wrapping a lot easier!). We walked around while we waited and bought some yams and fried banana (which weren't too bad). When we went back to get our skirts, we were sort of lost. We walked and walked around trying to find our tailor. Finally our supervisor asked some of the Africans if they saw which way we went. Oddly enough, these people had watched us enough to know exactly where we had gone and led us back to our tailor! Incredible.

French training begins Monday. We'll be living with our tutor's teacher and get 20 hours of study a week. However, we're responisble for 40 hours a week, so we'll have to get out on the town and practice a lot! I hope the first things we learn is how to greet people, how to talk to the taxi drivers, and what numbers are so we can buy things!

Commissioning in Mobile

Wow! It's been almost a month since I've updated. I have to get better at this! I'm sitting in the Huntsville airport now. I'm on my way to another training in Orlando for the week. My flight was cancelled, so now I have a couple of hours to kill before my new flight.

Yesterday was my Commissioning Service at Sonrise. I just have to start out by saying that I don't think I've ever felt so loved by so many people! The whole service was incredible. From the music to prayers, poems, the message, my family and friends being there, it was definately a day that I will always remember and will be encouraged to see all of the support that my home church is sending me out with. I received so many encouraging cards. I can't even remember how many times I read the words, "Praying for you daily." Those aren't just words, and I don't take them lightly! I was also given a new Bible to take with me. The people I will be working with really value the appearance of a Bible. If it isn't well taken care of (which includes not writing in it), they think that you don't respect the Holy Book. I can honestly say that this is the most beautiful Bible that I've ever had, and I can't wait to take it with me and share the Beautiful Message that is within it!