This is the beginning.......

I guess there is no better time to begin than now, I've been contemplating how to open this blog, which ridiculous story or adventure to tell. But, there is one that stands out... and I will get to the soon. First I am going to cap the first 3 months... which does not even seem possible that i have been here that long. It seems like only yesterday when mama and papa g dropped me off at the airport...

The first two months were spent training. A few days after arriving in Mali, we moved to our homestay sites. Me along with 4 others went to a small village of about 400 people, which seemed like 300 children and 100 adults. I had fallen asleep on the ride there and had woken up to all of these people singing and dancing. I wasn't quite sure what to think, so i got out and followed the others and before I knew it there was crazy Malian music and dancing completely surrounding up, children staring, adults smiling and talking. At that moment I realized that I was not in America and instantly thought what am i doing here? I'm crazy. Shortly following the gracious welcoming and me stumbling over my feet to the Malian beat, they took us to our houses. I put my bag inside and turned around and realized half of the village had followed me. Only then did it occur that i can not communicate with them... at all... so i am just standing there smiling.... and they are just staring at me. Awkward moment. Dinner. Even more awkward. Not only could I not speak with them, but I was sitting on the ground around a bowl eating with my right hand. The next day classes started (I am learning Bambera) and language started to pick up, dooni dooni, small small.

I had the most amazing host family. My mom, who was only a bit older then me, became my best friend. Just writing this today makes me realize how lucky i was to have them. They were an nontraditional Malian family also. The were just like my family in America, a mom, a dad and a younger brother. Usually Malian men have anywhere between 2-4 wives and too many children to count on 2 hands. I'm not going to lie, I cried leaving them. Even more than leaving my parents at home (sorry mom and dad, you know i love you)! I could tell stories for days about homestay. We also did Natural Resource Management technical training and there will be more about that later.

On September 21, I became a Volunteer, which was pretty exciting. We all got to dress up in out Malian clothing, went to the American Ambassadors house and had a night of fun out in Bamako. I wish I had pictures, but I broke my camera.