I wanted to include this in my first post, but the Internet was running slow. As I mentioned, the family living structure in Mali is different than America. Parents, cousins, uncles, and children all live in large family compounds. Below is a diagram of mine.

Most of my time is spent lounging under the mango trees or covered patio.

I’ve added new photos from Mali: https://picasaweb.google.com/dbrentarnold.com/

Albums:

Mali – Day One – Feb 3, 2011 (Day one at Tubaniso)
https://picasaweb.google.com/dbrentarnold.com/MaliDayOneFeb32011

Culture Fair at Tubani So – Feb, 2011 (Photos from the cultural fair, dancing and buying fabric)
https://picasaweb.google.com/dbrentarnold.com/CultureFairWeekOne

Mountain – Feb 13, 2011 (Climbing the mountain at our home stay site, with views of Niamana from the summit)
https://picasaweb.google.com/dbrentarnold.com/MountainFeb132011

We’re back from our first two weeks living with a host family. I am amazed with how much of the local language (Bambara, pronounced Bahm-bahr-ah) I’ve learned.

My Homestay Site:
I share a compound with four families. The family living situation in Mali is vastly different then that in the states. When male children get married, they move in to a house in the family compound. Each compound consists of cousins, siblings, parents and other extended family.

In Bambara, the word for cousin is the same as sibling, and families are huge. I have a host dad and mom, their son and his wife, and a bunch of extended family. And of course around ten children aged 1 to 12.

I’m one of the few sites that has electricity. I have a light bulb and a plug in to charge my phone. Our water comes from a well and has to be treated with bleach and filtered.

Ashley is staying in the same village but in a different compound. They wanted us to be separate to help better learn the language and adapt to the culture. I see her during the eight hours of language class each day and she comes over for lunch every few afternoons.

The first night at site my host family butchered a goat. It was very humane, more so than anything in America. All the men of the compound surrounded the goat, placed a hand on it’s body and thanked G-d for the gift. I observed the prayer but left befor the actual killing.

Our site has so many animals–it’s like a petting zoo! We have goats, donkeys, cats, dogs (including a puppy!), and chickens galore. All of which are free roaming. The goats spend the night in a barn, but spend the day roaming the town. I’m not sure how people know which animals belong to who.

Last night my family made spicy chicken wings. It was like being back in the states, except that it was served with a side of toe (a corn millet with the texture of Play-Doh, served with a okra sauce that’s the color and consistency of snot). One thing I have learned is that there is not much variety in the average Malian diet. My family sells spices at the local market, but the meals are almost always the same. Starch, starch and more starch with the occasional side of meat. Potatoes and bread can be found in most of my meals. I believe this might be the reason for the high level of malnutrition in Mali. I see hundreds of children every day that exhibit the signs.

Our village is in the suburbs of Mali’s capital city of Bamako. Everything is under development. My compound is made of mostly mud brick, with the exception of my room and one other room (cement). I have a 10 minute bike ride to school each day. For someone that six months ago couldn’t ride a bike, I’m rather good. I pass by maybe a hundred incomplete cement buildings on my communte. People here don’t know how to budget. They start building when they have money and quit when they run out, provided the structure does not have a roof then they do not have to pay any taxes. It looks like a giant paintball range.

We climbed a mountain last week. Pictures will come tomorrow.

We will find out where we will be stationed on March 13, and soon after will be visiting the site to become acquainted with the surroundings.

Overall everything is going great. Time is flying. And it has been nice to be away from my computer for such a long time. We have cell phones, but they are for local calls. Cell phone service is available nearly everywhere in Mali.

The temperature outside is around 94 degrees. We are still in the cool season. Within the next month it will be popping up to 100 to 114 degrees.