Back from home stay

Hey everyone,

So i have been living with a Malian family for the last two weeks and now enjoying a 3 day break, battery recharge, before heading back to my site on Saturday. The wonderful thing about being in training is that you are well informed on what to expect before each training session because there are current volunteers heading the sessions and you can ask them ANYthing that is on you mind. The big one before we left was the experience of home stay and what to look for. A volunteer who has been here for a year said that it is an out-of-this-world experience when you first live with your family. He said as well that home stay for the first two weeks is the hardest part of service. Point 1 to me as i have not ET(early termination) and still here writing this blog. My wave of emotions have been on a high, especially the first few days in site, to low because it is mentally and physically draining because you are working 24/7. Though we have class 6 days a week, language, culture, and technical environmental sessions, you are watched intentley and curiously by the whole community once you are in site. It has been an exhausting few weeks but the experience has been great.
I arrived two weeks ago during the afternoon and met my host family. It was so fast when they dropped me off that it still didnt hit me that i was living with a host family. They helped me with my bags, set up my room, made me lunch, and welcomed me into their home. The father is a rancher of sorts as he has 10 cows, 6 sheep, and an unknown number of chickens. He has one wife and 5 children. The wife from day one was quiet and not as welcoming to me. We were informed of gender roles in Malian society so i didnt think much of it at the time. I took a nap after lunch and was late to orientation that day. A great way to start, but all was ok and nothing came of it. That night was interesting. I ate dinner, in silence as everyones eyes were fixed on me. Kind of wierd to be honest. Right after I ate, a flood of Bambara words were thrown at me and i frantically wrote everything down phonetically. So much info in such a small amount of time. Bed time came and i went to sleep, in my 10x10 foot, blue colored room with a bed, mosquito net, straw mat, and hand fan(which is a godsend here). I took a moment to look around at my surroundings, taking it all in. That night i had no trouble falling asleep, until 4:30am when i heard pitter patter on my tin roof. Rain started and when it rains here, it rains!! they are pretty violent, with wind gusts strong enough to blow over canopies and rain that pours down like a faucet. On my tin roof i could here every drop of rain, but magnified by 100 so it was impossible to sleep while the rain started. I woke up and openned my door to find my father and his two sons running around the yard grabbing things that are blowing away. They also knocked on my door to see if i was ok and the two sons slept with me on the ground for the rest of the night. I thought this was a wonderful gester and appreciated them looking out for me. I awoke at 6am and started my first day in Mali.
Life in town has been wonderful. Malians are friendly, which is an understatement to how warm and receptive they are. They greet for 5 minutes before walking off to where ever they are going. They are always helpful when you need something and treat you like a king, which takes some getting used to. Here, foreigners are respected and treated very well so you are taken care of all the time. The kids are adorable as they are curious to meet you. They will greet you in french "bonjour" or "bonsoir", with a huge smile on their face and waving at you until you are way out of sight. they come up to you when you walk around and shake hands, then run away only to do the same thing when you walk back later in the day to do the same thing again. Some kids have never seen a creature like you before so they are terrified of you at first. They will cry and run away as soon as they see you but eventually they come around.
So some cultural things: you eat with your hand, the right one. You shovel food in your mouth. You bath out of a bucket which isnt that hard once you get the hang of it. They do bath in the nyagan (the place where you go #1 and #2) which takes a little longer to adjust to. they drink tea all the time and there is a whole ritual you do which is for another blog in the future. Joking is important in Malian culture as it has a history of peacemaking in times of war. I be sho dun (you eat beans) is a running joke that never gets old, ever. Everyone laughs at you, for being an american, for speaking the language well or poorly, or because they just want to laugh at you, but it is all in good humor and not to be taken seriously.
All in all my first two weeks have been great. More to come but my initial shock and anxiety has settled to where i can take more time to learn as much as i can. They say here DOONI DOONI which is slow slow, meaning that it takes time to adjust and to not rush yourself. Life here is simple but they do quite well though things can use change. i have found they are loving life and enjoy every day to the fullest. They are able to do things with limited resources and are happy, something that i compare to life in the states where we have everything at our disposal.

well dinner is served and i am hungry hungry hungry. see you soon and best wishes to all

Peace,
Geoff

Meet the family

Friends,

I am off to home stay, which is 2 weeks living with my host family and learning Bambara and Malian culture. We live with a family and try to integrate with them by asking mun don (what is) and pointing to things trying to get a grasp of the language. I will not be back until the 21st so no blog until then, however the blog after will be loaded with goodies. This, told by current volunteers, is the most challenging part of the service as it calls on you to live with a host family without real comprehension of the language. We basically sit there with our family and feel eachother out, learning from one another. During home stay, we will get more language as the two weeks are fulfilled. We have been eating like Malians, using our hands (right only) to eat food, dressing in business casual all day, and learning about cultural fopahs to help us succeed at this point. Language will be big. We learned some stereotypes that Malians think of when they see americans. One is that we are dirty. Malians clean their face, feet, and hands 5 times a day, taking showers 2-3 times a day. So yes, we are dirty compared to Malians.
Ok off to bed as tomorrow is a big one. see you in two weeks.

Kan Ben,
Geoff

"these statements are my own and in no way reflect the Peace Corps Mission, Goals, and Operations in any way"

Finally in Mali!!

Hey everyone!!! Bonjour! i have made it to Mali and have been here for the past few days. Let me just say that it is hot hot hot here, humid but tolerable once you realize that you will be sweating non-stop while you are here. But that is ok, its a part of life and detoxing naturally. Our stay has been fun as the first morning was such an eye openner to a new place. The landscape is similar to southern CA but the temperature is much different. The fellow volunteers here come from all over the nation representing states such as Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Tennessee, and New York to name a few. Everyone is great and excited about serving. Today was our first day of class, which covered saftey, health, and culture. Malian culture is different in many ways but their hospitality towards others is genuine as they will help out perfect strangers. Their humor is suprising with sarcasim a commonality. We have a few more training sessions to do then we head to live with our host family for two weeks. Before we make the transition, we will learn Bambara in order to help integrate with local communities. Mosquitos are here but not in the numbers i was expecting, which i am really happy about because mosquitos seem to really like me. We spent the 4th of July at the Americans Club which was interesting going to such a nice place after living a day in our training site.
Ok, animals i have seen. There hasnt been much but a gecko in the nyagan (litreen) and the biggest moth i have ever seen. Birds are common but can't really make out any so far. Oh and toads are here as well and they constantly hunt at night around the huts.
Training has been 80% of our day with breaks for lunch, vaccines and the occasional jam session with other volunteers in the site. A lot of work in a little time to prepare for service. We focus on customs the most, especially in an islamic country. Things like not using your left hand to greet someone, looking away from elders when meeting them, and eating ediquet are much different than US customs. This will take some getting used to but interesting challenge to abide by local customs. And my french is blah so i need much practice parle francias. Wish me luck.

A plutat,
Geoff

"these words are my own interpretation of events and in no way represent Peace Corps in any way"

almost there... staging

Hey all!!!,

Here in Philadelphia for staging and orientation. PA is pretty with old colonial buildings that infuse with new buildings. The plane ride was good from LAX to PA and i finally realized that i am headed to Mali in less than 48 hours. On the plane ride, the feeling hit me that i am in the Peace Corps!! It's a great feeling and meeting so many cool people from across the US who are serving. Our "class" is 80 or so all headed to Mali. To note that i will be cancelling my phone number shortly and email will be best to reach me. gleech00@yahoo.com and those are zeros and not o's. Miss everyone and hope all is well. Send your email to me as well. Take care and see you soon.

Peace,
Geoff

P.S. looking at a lot of shots soon