The forecast tomorrow for Bamako: 43 degrees!

Just a quick hello! I had a great weekend. Friday night I went to a "grin" (like a 5 à 7 or happy hour) at the Canadian Embassy. There were lots of other expats, most of them from Québec. The highlight for me was meeting a few other cool Canadians who work here. We exchanged phone numbers so now I really feel tapped into the scene here :)

Saturday I spent the day with Marianne, another project supervisor here. We had some good food. I dared to eat salad! And was fine luckily! Then we treated ourselves to an afternoon at a hotel pool. So worth it! I almost felt slightly cool at one point when I was in the water and managed to catch a breeze...it was delightful!

Yesterday I took a day trip with a couple of the Canadians I met to a nearby village, Koulikoro. It was your typical village, except that an ancient king is reputed to have fled to the mountains surrounding the village, seeking refuge from prosecution (that's all the info I've got on that...). We took advantage of the mountains to do some climbing. It was great (although not the best idea to head out during the hottest part of the day...).

We went by soutrama (public transport minivan which they managed to fit 20 people into) and it was long because of the frequent stops. I had invited Baba, my field supervisor, for dinner and arrived back in Bamako just a 1/2 hour before the time we were going to meet. I quickly ran home, undressed and turned on the water to have a shower and....no water!!! I was disgusting - sticky with layers of dried sweat. So I grabbed some antibacterial gel and rubbed it under my armpits and put some clean clothes on...it was awful really. Luckily by the time I got home from dinner, there was water!!!

Today was errands around town in preparation for the arrival of my group tomorrow. I visited the hospital used by most Canadians here. It was very nice. I have no worries at all about bringing one of my volunteers there. I also bought myself a bike! It will be useful for traveling between the 3 villages where my group will be living. It cost me $70, not cheap, and it needs repairs. But Baba assured me I was getting a good deal and that it's normal that it needed to be fixed before being ready to ride...he said that's the way it works here...ok I guess....

I've posted some pictures on Facebook. If you aren't on, you can just click on this link to see them: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125002&l=38176&id=719685270

As I mentioned, my group arrives tomorrow. We will spend another 5 days in Bamako before taking off for the villages. I'll be enjoying my shower (when there's water) until then!

Toubabou

I'm writing from the intense heat of Bamako, the capital of Mali! I promise not to talk about the heat in every blog, but just imagine sweating constantly all day. And the only reason why I don't at night is because while I'm staying in the capital, I have a fan in my room!

What an experience this has been already. I feel like I've lived a month of experiences crammed into 3 days. It's undescribably really...but I'll try.

Bamako is a busy, hot, dirty, loud, non-stop city. It's intense! There are many aspects (smells, sounds...) that remind me of the cities I visted in the Middle East, except that there is way less infrastructure here and visibly more poverty.

Up until today, I don't think my brain could fully register that I'm here. In Africa! In Mali! I'm getting used to the idea now. I can't say that anything has really shocked me yet. Except, even though I saw pictures and heard stories, it is very "undeveloped". I hate using this word, but unfortunately I am at a loss for a better one. People here live in what most North Americans would call chaos. And yet there is a rhythm and habitude that just works. I don't know what better way to describe it.

I arrived with another group from the same program, but from a different project and destined for a different region in Mali. My group arrives on the 10th, so until then I am preparing myself and joining in on some of the other group's activities. It is SO much easier traveling in a group like this. My previous travels were far more challenging. We are being led by our Malian partner NGO, and it is so nice being driven to where we need to go etc. Although, I do anticipate more challenging moments with the arrival of my group. I'm trying to relax as much as possible for the time being.

­Yesterday, I went to visit the 3 villages where my group and I will be living this summer. They are wonderful. Unlike the capital, they are quiet, green, peaceful, cooler (it's all relative) and the people are wonderful! The villages are basic, groups of huts essentially. If the residents need to buy anything, they have to walk (because there are no vehicles) or ride a bike (usually only the men get these) to the next "big" village, which in my village's case would be about 18 km away. It doesn't sound far, but the road is rough, so by truck it took us about 45 minutes.

My village is Floklon. It has a population of 782 (seems accurate...) and it is situed between the two other villages. The people are so friendly. Everyone smiled when they saw me, and the kids are adorable! They are just dying to say bonjour and wave with big smiles. As the project supervisor, I have the privilege of choosing my host family. There was a woman who accompanied us during my visit and we tried to talk to one another, despite the obvious language barrier. She was friendly and carrying a little baby on her back. Possibly the cutest baby I've ever seen, and happy. He smiled and giggled everytime I looked at him. Well I fell in love! And I now have a new baby brother. I'll send more photos of him soon for sure :) But in the meantime, the little girl in the photo below was cute too!

I had an interesting conversation on the way back to Bamako last night, with a man who works with a NGO here. He asked me why people in Canada (or especially Québec) do not get married...well I obviously didn't have a straight answer, but we talked back and forth about it, which led to a discussion about the role of women. I can't say I was shocked, but I was still disappointed when he said that he thought most women are trying to get their hands on a man's wealth (monetarily or not) and that, consequently, men are better than women. Cultural differences? Maybe, but unacceptable ones in my mind. It just gives me more motivation to fight for women's rights! That being said, there is a time and a place, so I didn't push my opinion too much, while at the same time trying to remain as honest with him as possible.

These experiences remind me of why I travel. Having your ideas challenged is so important(despite the frustration).

I think I'll end here for now. Like I said, more pictures to come. I didn't mention the food either. Next time!

Kan ben! (Bye!)