Moving!

Tomorrow is the end of "Camp Mali" and the beginning homestay! We have all felt like summer camp kids since arriving in Mali as we have not left the the compound at the training center and have been eating all three meals in the refectoire (dining hall). Happily, tomorrow we venture out into "real" Mali and move in with a family that will house us for the next two months. My village is very small, I think only about 400 people! The family, and I am assuming most of the people in my town, speak Bambara. This is one of the more prevalent languages spoken in Mali, and the one I will be speaking when I get to my actual site. I actually did much better than I expected on my French language test, but they still said I need some practice (obviously, since I can only speak in the present tense haha) so I will most likely have a French tutor as well, at least for a bit. Bambara is pretty fun to learn, but at this point I can really only say some greetings, goodbyes, and "I'm full". Moving in with an only Bambara speaking family is going to be entertaining to say the least! I most definitely will not have wireless internet (or electricity lol)while at homestay, but I will be coming back and forth to Tubaniso every couple weeks or so, which I think will be a nice break from spending all three meals a day with people who have no idea what you are talking about haha. Other than that, not too much exciting has been happening, which sounds strange, but training is pretty much sessions all day, meals, and sleeping. I have a feeling this will be a little bit different than the happenings in homestay!

In ni su! (goodnight in Bambara!)