And the verdict is... Segou for two years!

Tuesday


August 10, 2010

It seems that I only write these blog entries on rainy days. I am sitting on the floor of my house on a straw mat hearing the rain beat down on my tin roof. I have come to learn that the rain always sounds much more intense against this roof than it actually is. I learned this the hard way by laying in bed after a long night of sweating and desperately wanting to take a bucket bath but thinking it was too rainy out only to leave my room and realize, it was not rainy at all. So always good to check outside before making any big decision such as bucket bathing ( and yes this is in the top three of big daily decisions I make here in Mali).

Map of Mali, Segou to the east of Bamako

Back at Tubaniso. This trip back was the big one we where we finally found out our sites. I will be living in the region of Segou located north east of Bamako. The village I am in in 5,500 people which is huge compared to some of my fellow WATSAN friends, one of my friends is in a village for 300 people. My town in called Samene and is 45 km from Segou- which is the regional capital. Because I am in a larger village I have a pretty good set up. There is a market in my town every Monday where I should be able to buy some fresh fruits and such. Part of me is very excited about this and part of me is terrified. The major thing that I have been struggling with in our language classes is the money system. It is the most confusing thing I have ever attempted to understand. When saying a price it is not just the number that you would say if you were counting. Instead it is some bizarre system that involves multiplication and division by five, and the introduction of new words into the counting system- basically totally confusing but something I will have to learn quite well if I wish not to totally get ripped off every time I want to buy a banana.

At our sites we are assigned a counterpart. This is a Malian that was elected by their village to help us be successful at site. During this time at Tubaniso our counterparts came to meet us. This has been interesting as I know very little of the language! But it seems that all the PCTs are a little over our heads here so at least there is solidarity on this front.

Tomorrow I will head out to my site and spend a week there. I am at a replacement site so I will be replacing a volunteer. He will meet me there and show me around the village. I am grateful for this and can't wait to see where I will be living for the next two years. This is an exciting and terrifying time. Wish me luck!