6 Feb 2003
Home, #2

HELLO!

Got your letter @ breakfast today, the second one, the first came a few days ago after I had talked to you on the phone. I loved the pics! A great way to send photos; my friend Jared was very pleased to see that I do in fact have relations. Jared is Dave Yost’s roommate here in Samaya and we talk music + psychology… group politics, that sort of thing (he majored in psych and is a big fan of classical music, so there’s always something to talk about w/ him), he’s the flute player I think I’ve mentioned before in Philly on the phone.

So yes, it is very hot and it’s only getting hotter everyday. My little sister is sitting here gnawing on an orange and surprisingly, letting me write in peace. She’s about 5 yrs old and laughs at my horrible Bambara skillz. I’m sure on paper this sounds cute and endearing, but mostly I just want to sit on her. Her name’s Setout (not sure on the spelling) my roommate’s name is the same (Samantha in American-speak… or rather, that is her non-Bambara name… this is an incoherent sentence… too many names!). My name is Awa, named after another younger sister; last name Koné. We’re the chief’s daughters… or really, grand-daughters.

We share the shade of our mango tree w/ a few neighbors, goats, chickens, a kitten, trash, last night’s orange peels, and lots of dirt. A LOT of dirt. The picture’s don’t do it justice. There’s plenty of greenery, but I’m, settling into having dirty fingernails, ears, and feet for the next two years. (oo! I think my wiggly toes have caught the kitten’s attn!) One of our neighbors owns a donkey. That’s a lot of fun. We couldn’t figure out what was making such a horrible squeaking/wrenching sound every morning + evening. Something like a gate opening + closing or a pump in need of oil. But then I witnessed the bray in action… still unbelievable. Wonder’s never cease. I’ll try and record it for you so you can hear it all when I get back.

Training is pretty cool, we find out our sites on Friday… tomorrow at lunch. I’m anxious and a little… well a lot excited to find out where I’ll be and to see who in our stage I’ll be near. We’re so busy during the day that letter-writing has become a sport. Only a few hours of light remain when we return home and most of that is spent swatting kids + flies away or studying language things. Peace Corps gave us kerosene lamps, but they’re awkward to write by with no table to put them on. Ha, Amadou is holding the “lampon” for me so I can write. He’s cool, a little brother type in his teens and proficient in French so he serves as a great translator for us.

The usual (which isn’t so usual yet) for us is as follows:

6a – get woken up by all God’s creatures, mainly donkey + rooster, but sometimes the guy at the mosque calling everyone to prayer… depends on the day.

6:20a – alarm goes off to wake us up. We’ll see if that’s ever useful.

6:30a – take the morning bucket bath w/ cauldron heated water in our supersized nyegen (bathroom… outhouse thing).

7:00a – walk from Samaya to Toubani So (which I’ve learned means Dove House)

7:30a – eat breakfast @ Toubani So.

8:00a – Learn language and technical things.

6:00p – Take the bus back to Toubani So.

7:00p – Eat dinner w/ family after bucket bath

8:30p – Play guitar/talk w/ fam or friends.

10:00ish – Sleep on a thin mattress (a bed) w/ a rock-hard pillow.

8 Feb 2003

Just returned from an afternoon in Bamako. Visited the museum of Malian history and emailed @ the Bureau. Fairly exhausted from being around everyone in the heat for so long… but about to go kick a soccerball around w/ kids and trainees anyway (oh, well w/ Dave… forgetting how in-the-know you are. haha).

I’ve also received a birthday card from Beth Eden (roommate from college) and a letter from Rob. It’s just like Christmas everytime mail comes! : )

Anyway, I’ll write more soon. Sunday’s are our day off and I think Ill go find somesolace by the river Niger and write a million letters to various folks about the globe. Miss you, say hi to Polly for me.

Love,
Heather