gurl-friend

me and marcy! (or marcy mouse and mary berry) we were painting a wall in a school. in mali. in july. don't judge the look.

you go into the peace corps for a variety of reasons. save the world. save yourself. adventure. cocktail conversation fodder. whatever. what happens during your service separates the boys from the men so to speak.

so, what's a girl to do?

hang on tight. and make some friends.

i didn't come to peace corps expecting to make so many friends. i don't know what i thought was going to happen to me and the people i came with. maybe i thought they'd all be crazy, hippies who wore too much tie dye and didn't shower frequently.

turns out, the Goodfellas are AMAZING.

my point. right. so. tomorrow is my last day at school for a little bit (15 days actually) because we are embarking upon IST people. IST occurs three months after being at site. It's a time to come together, talk, reconnect, sing, gab, gossip, laugh so hard you cry, drink a little wine, not sleep...basically be 23.

oh yeah, and there will be 8 hours of sessions about technical things and how to continue to not get sick. but that's just silliness because we all know the fun stuff happens around that serious stuff.

for me, today is the beginning of the fun. my dear friend, and Segou PCV, Marcy is coming into Kati. We are going to talk, talk, cook, paint our nails, talk some more, and laugh and laugh until the sun comes up again and i have to go to work. marcy will be the first one to come this week. being only 20km from bamako, i'll be hosting about half my stage between now and sunday morning. basically it's gonna be a party and i cannot wait.

for the next little bit there will be no more funk, no blues, no language barrier, no art class troubles and 7th graders who won't stay in their seats. it will be a little vacation, a get away to remember why i'm here to begin with and the people who are walking right here with me.

so may the beginning of the fun come. may we enjoy each other's company and begin to long for our sites. may we lift each other up and plan site visits. may we stay up too late and make up for it with too much tea the next morning. may we sing, dance, gab, laugh, and be exactly who we are supposed to be at this moment.

because really, this is africa, and we need to have some fun.  

covers

ok, so i LOVE adele. LOVE HER. and i usually don't like covers, but i am making an exception. THIS IS FABULOUS. it doesn't hurt that "someone like you" is one of my favorite songs from the 21 album. listen. and repeat as often as you can.

Tabaski, or, a day to eat

Lamb is the meat for Tabaski. So this poor fellow had to watch all of us people eat his friends all day. At least he made it... 

Traveling drums! So very cool. highlight? watching the women, and by women I mean Maria (my big boss at IEP) and Nana dance. EPIC.

Where the magic happens. Cooking. That would be all the potatoes. SO YUMMY (Jellica is in the orange stripped shirt)

the men sit separate from the women. so the man cave was the garage and the women got, well, everything else. this is carter, dori's 15 year old son who is also my neighbor

my girls! Anna (Ciwara 9), Katherine (Ciwara 8), Yagaray (high school, 10) Banesi (Ciwara 8)

Nana! and the newborn that made an appearance. 

my girl Anna. 

Dori, my neighbor, fellow American, and all around life saver when it comes to being white in Mali

shhhhhh...

susan! nice shades!

a very subpar picture of my dear 7th grader Christiane 

the women

Last Sunday was the largest Muslim holiday of the year, Tabaski. It is forty days after the end of Ramadan. It's a celebration and in Mali, that means food, dancing, and family. Which, you know, is totally my kind of holiday. 

I wore my first day of school complet and got up and out early to see what was going on. Not much got started until late morning when I walked with Jellica (seen in the picture of the kitchen) to Maria's house where all the festivities took place and where all these pictures were taken. There we talked, ate, drank too many sodas, ate some more, and took some pictures. It was great to be out and to celebrate with everyone. Plus, I got to see some of my kids from school. Some of them ignored me, some swarmed to me...ahh teaching...

All in all, I fully support a holiday that allows me to eat my weight in fries. Fanta was right, the food was worth waiting for!

(check this out for more information and great photos)

introducing SUSAN!

the idea of standing still for the picture hadn't really caught on and she didn't understand my constant yelling of "SMILE"

Hello Susan! Ain't she precious

she really likes smarties. insert her playing with them.