Hello everyone! Don't get used to regular emails...I'm getting ready to move to my home-stay and will not have a computer for about two weeks so I thought I should send out an update while i still can.
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Malian culture is absolutely one of the most fascinating subjects I have heard about and I am so excited to meet my host family. Ill pretty much be dropped off on Wednesday morning and wished good luck. I've had about an hour of Bambara and can successfully wish people good morning, tell them my name and where I am from... should be a fairly entertaining trip. I'll still have class everyday and I'll have to ride my bike to class which is pretty exciting- i now know how to change a flat, adjust the brakes, change the tensions, etc.
I've already made about a dozen faux pas by walking in front of a man praying, walking on a prayer mat, looking people in the eye when I'm introduced, using my left hand to shake hands or do anything (left hand is considered dirty because the Malians use it to wipe after the bathroom).... the list goes on and on and will grow exponentially in the next two years.
I've already mastered peeing in a whole in the ground for those of you who were wondering, there is in fact a method that took several unsuccessful attempts to master. I learned how to take a bucket bath today too which will soon become my primary means of bathing and it's not too bad. I also learned to do laundry against a rock and the right soaps to use...basically i think we are being taught to survive in Africa in about three days so it's a lot to process. I'm pretty much sweating from sunup to bedtime...and then all night, but it doesn't seem like that big of a deal and i've already gotten pretty used to feeling disgusting.
Love,
Cait
July 11, 2009
Hello!!! So I've arrived safe and sound though absolutely and completely overwhelmed...fortunately everyone else is too and I've got some great company. We've got a big group and lots of new personalities to meet which is quite refreshing. My SED group has 11 people and I've gotten to know some of them really well already- I guess 48 hours being stuck together in either an airplane or an airport can do that to you. I'm currently living in a three person mud hut with no electricity (supposed to be fixed today) and two windows. All things considered though, its pretty nice. We have a shower in a cement hut with the water pressure of a leaky faucet... but it's so cold that its refreshing. Thank goodness Malians think cleanliness is next to godliness because I'll be taking a ton of showers just to keep cool. We've had class all day today and I got my meningitis shot and am taking malaria meds every morning for the next few days/weeks/months so I'm becoming well vaccinated. I love the classes and I'm learning all about some of the cultural stuff I'm going to be faced with- wow...
I just played some Frisbee with some friends and am getting ready for dinner which I've been pleasantly surprised by. anyways, sorry for the brevity, I'll try to write again soon, I love you and am having an aboslute blast thus far.
Love,
Cait
I just played some Frisbee with some friends and am getting ready for dinner which I've been pleasantly surprised by. anyways, sorry for the brevity, I'll try to write again soon, I love you and am having an aboslute blast thus far.
Love,
Cait
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