Sini sogoma N be na taa n ka dugu la

Tomorrow is the day I get installed at my site. As of now I am still in my banking town hanging out with the PCVs living in the same concession as the stage house. Yesterday we made tacos for dinner and banana bread for dessert. That was my third time making banana bread in Mali and I think we found a recipe keeper. For 1 loaf of B Bread: 2 cups flour, 3/4 cups sugar, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt, 1 packet vanille sucre; mix dry indgredients. Smash bananas (5) depending on size add 1/2 cup butter and two eggs to the dry ingredients. Mix all together. Prep breadpan. Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake 45-55 min. Wala! Bon appetit! I told my host family I was going to bring them a Tabasco bilebileba (large) from Bamako, but I did not have the money at the time to get it when I was in Bamako. So instead I plan on bringing them a loaf of banana bread. Maybe sometime in the next  two years I can convince my host family to build a mud oven.

Mudcloth  (Bogolan) to decorate my kitchen

Currently I am waiting for my backpack to arrive, because it has all my keys to all of my luggage. So unfortunately I have no more clothes to wear, except the ones I wore to get here. Since I've been here I've placed an order for a twin bed frame to be made, I think I'll pick it up tomorrow morning along with a mattress. I also bought a hammer, paint, paint brush, a table, rope, ketchup, liquid soap, strawberry jam, a broom, dried mangos, toilet paper, and I think that is all. I'll need to get more things to make my house a  home, but I hope to find the rest at site. Market day is Thursday I believe so I'm excited to see what's available. I'll be at site until October, because I'm returning to my banking town for an on-going language training session. I hope to set-up a 3 or 4 day language training schedule with my tutor at site. Hopefully by December my language skills will be awesome! I am getting a lot of practice in the Market now, just by buying things I need. This morning I went to the bank with another PCV and it took FOREVER. We probably arrived around 9:30am grabbed our numbers from the ticket dispenser. Mine was 975 and the display read 836. 'Ok we got some time to kill". We walked around for about an hour, did a little shopping and yalayala. Came back and the numbers hardly changed, we even had time to walk across town hang out at her work for 20 min. headed back and waited for another 30 minutes. Now I know when you need to go to the bank you'll be there for a long time or i'll get there before it opens.
The end of Ramadan feast is coming quickly I think it is taking place this Thursday or Friday around sunset. I think next year I will try to fast with my family, from dawn to dusk, but now it would be too hard for me to attempt while learning the language and the overall adjustment.
I plan on compiling a list of things that I brought to Mali, and what I found useful and what I should have brought in case by chance a future Mali PC applicant comes across my blog. Good luck to you and to family and friends God Bless and chat with you soon.
"Ala kan kelen kelen wuli"

Early Terminations not yet...

Our 'stage' name is "Team America" we stand together strong, ready to embark on our next adventure post-trainee status. We were once 80 trainees traveling from America now we are 80 recently swore-in volunteers traveling to different sites in Mali. I apologize for beginning this blog at such a late date from my start of the Peace Corps program, but time has been traveling fast and I did not have a chance to create a blog until now. Mostly due to the fact I could not come up with an appropriate title, but I figure it can be changed again at a later date.
The title of my blog now is "Barisa, N be se ka!" which translates in English to "Because, I can!" I am currently learning Bambara, the language spoken by roughly 80% of the population in Mali. Once I learned how to say "because" I used it and abused it. I also noticed I say "I can" a lot in Bambara, but I guess people are surprised to see that I can fetch water from a well, or I can sweep my room, wash my clothes in a tub, etc. I must admit it is wonderful being a guest in a Malian's home, but basic tasks I am so used to accomplishing on my own such as washing clothes is something I enjoy doing even though now (without washer&dryer) a lot of time and energy is involved in the task.
Tomorrow or the day after I will be "installed" at my site, the place I will be living and working for the next two years in Mali. I cannot post the name of my town, but I will tell you that I am in the Sikasso region. It is very beautiful. Currently we are in the rainy season, so the temperature does not seem to exceed 90 F. After rainy season comes cold season, which I am very much looking forward too and then hot season. Fortunately, because I am in Sikasso I have an abundant access to fruits and veggies grown through out the region. I also plan on building a garden and attempt to grow strawberries in my concession. I'll be living in a shared concession with my 'Dja Tigi'/'Host Family'. I have two decently sized rooms, high ceilings, and thankfully cross-ventilation with the two windows, a luxury I did not have while at homestay. My room was like a sauna, but was perfect for the fact that it helped me integrate. I was in my room very little and when I was I melted. The language has been a lot of fun, but the structure or schedule during training was demanding. During our less than 2 months training at homestay we had language classes Mon-Sat. for approx. 8 hrs a day. Occasionally our language training would be cut short by environmental tech or cross-culture sessions. But, thankfully Sunday was our fun day. The picture at the top is a view from the mountain we climbed on one of our Sundays off. Now that training is over I can say I did it. It is official I am a Peace Corps Volunteer serving in Mali for the next two years. I am Intermediate Mid (INTM) in language, I can survive! "Sisan, N be fe ka taa negen na. K'an ben kalo kelen. Ala kan su here caya."