I ni fama!

Heh!  It's been a long time.  In fact, since my last post, Mali has switched from the amazing, relaxing cold season to 24-hour-a-day-sweaty hot season.  At least the mangoes will be ready soon.  They are ripening by the day on their trees. 

To share the latest news and photos, I visited Paris for a week in early January with Mom and Dad.  It was very good to see my parents after 1.5 years, very cold, and the food was very good.  Here's a picture of Mom and Dad outside of Notre Dame in Paris:



Then, Mom and Dad came to visit Mali for 2 weeks.  We travelled to Dogon country, Mopti, Djenne, Segou, Bamako and my village.  It was wonderful to show them around my home of 2 years and to share bits of Mali with them.  Here are the 3 of us near the village of Begnemato in Dogon Country.



As soon as Mom and Dad's plane left, Margaret and Lauren arrived!  They spent 3 weeks with me in Mali, also hiking in Dogon Country, visiting Mopti, attending the Festival Sur le Niger in Segou, and visiting my village.  The music at the Festival was amazing - what an opportunity to see so many Malian musicians in one place!  And, truly, the Malian music was far superior to any we heard from the other West African countries (I should add, "in my opinion").  Here are the 3 of us at the Festival:



And, Lauren and Margaret with freshly prepared tea in my village:



I returned to site in February and have gotten back to work, trying to complete two projects before I finish my service in September: 1) A well in the women's garden, and 2) A combined training and purchase of shea butter processing materials for the women's shea association. 

In March, I celebrated my 26th birthday by baking a cake in my solar oven.  We also celebrated International Women's Day on that day, so all of the female teachers in my village and I put our money together to have a huge dance party...just for the women!  We all had matching International Women's Day Fabric, and had a great celebration.  Here is a picture of Tierno, Jayi, Sayon, baby Sali and me enjoying my solar oven cake:



In other fun times, I was in Bamako in late February for work, and had the chance to celebrate my friend Assigue's successful completion of his final English exams at the University of Bamako.  Here is Ibrahim, me, Assigue and Bill at the celebration:



And, most surprisingly, some men came through my village on their camels a few weeks ago.  As I walked home from a friend's house, I suddenly found myself face to face with a giant camel!  This time of year, nomads come through the area giving blessings in exchange for food, money and other gifts.  I  was a little nervous to take their photo, but my next door neighbors came running over and made me take their picture with the camels!  Here is a large camel, Ba and Famodi Jan...the only time I've seen camels in my village during my whole service!