a bit more...

I have been in my village for exactly a month and like it a lot. Its much larger than my homestay village. There are about 2.000 people. Its about 15K from the Niger River and that's where my market town is. I have to ride my bike there to pretty much get whatever i need.... bread, eggs, a coke, telephone service and i have recently heard there is Dial up Internet at the radio station. I love riding my bike and i try to ride everyday. I wish I would have biked at the beach for practice before coming here. I at least fall in the sand every time i go for a ride. Its difficult. Some days I will bike to the river and spend the day watching the kids swim and fish. I will read or write. Its very relaxing... even though i am the only white person and always draw a crowd. I must be some freak show or something. Its okay, I am slowly getting used to it.
My village is a very strict Muslim community that is full of rice and millet farmers and animal herders. It seems as though the women and children carry the work load in the community while the men sit in the shade and drink tea. The women are just amazing, they cook, garden, wash clothes with dirty water that somehow are cleaner than those from the washing machine, wash dishes, sweep the sand (at first I didn't quite understand) but it gets dirty and i find myself sweeping my concession daily and they do all of this along with taking care of a djabillion kids, with babies on their backs and water on their heads. Its beautiful!

I have my own house. Its really exciting because I have never had my own house. Its little but really cute. I am making curtains this week for my windows (yea, i sew now... never thought that would happen). Anyway, i have a two room mud house (hut). The first room is my "living room" its pretty much my bedroom and the other room is my storage and kitchen. I have a gas stove in which i attempt to cook on. For the first 2 weeks or so I didn't know how to light it, i would turn on the gas and wonder why it wasn't getting hot. Good thing I have good peace corps friends that help me out.

I have a really nice cement porch that i lay on daily. Sometimes women come over to chat in the afternoons and we all nap there. I just got a hammock but haven't hung it yet. Its been so hot lately, but "cold season", which I'm still wondering if its cold., will be here soon so it wont be as hot and i can use my hammock.

The last part of my house is the negen. And that's the shitter. I'm not going to go into much detail, but simply, it is a hole in the ground.

I don't have electricity or running water. I am up with the sun (but usually just lay in bed until 7 or 7:30 or even later if i don't feel like going to get water to bathe) and i go to bed around 9 or 10 (and that is a late night). After the sun goes down I will sit outside by my kerosene lamp reading or writing until the mosquitoes eat me and then i move inside. I usually go to the pump at least 4-6 times a day, depending on if i am washing clothes or dishes. I have become quite domestic. I also bathe with a bucket and i love it. Some days when its really hot i will just stand in my negen naked and and pour water over me every so often and stay in the for about an hour. Ive never thought about taking a chair in there until now... i think tomorrow I am going to give it a try.

I don't exactly live with a family. I have my own concession but its pretty much connected with my host family's concession. My jitigi (host father) who is the person in the community I work with has a fantastic papinier. I'm learning how to graft trees. Hes working on grafting a mango tree that will produce fruit in 6 years, i think it takes about 20 on a regular tree. He has many wife's, 6 i believe, I am too afraid to ask because Muslims should only have 4 at the most. One of his wife's Me, is one of better friends and shes pregnant now. So it will be exciting to have a new addition to the family soon. There are a handful of kids that hang out daily. I have a ball and frisbee so we play a lot. They are fun. and keep me entertained. Anya, my favorite, is about 2 and shes just started talking. Shes always running around Aminata....Aminata... its going to be fun see her grow up in the coming years.

As for work, I spend the next 3 months "analyzing the community". I pretty much hang out, get to know the people, find whats the problems are and start considering project ideas. It just so happen that the village I am in the part of the UNDP Millennium Development project. I am just learning about but its going to be amazing opportunity to work with this group.

I'm starting a garden in the women's garden soon... i will be doing a lot of work with the women and the garden. The women also want to dye fabric... tie-dying in Mali.....

The most difficult part other than missing the food in America driving around in my car listening to music has been the language barrier. I am learning though. I just speak as though I am a 4 year old.

I just celebrated my 24th birthday. I would have to say it was like no other birthday I have ever had. Two of my buddies came and we ate beans and played scrabble......