August kicked off the beginning of the hungry season in Mali. It is aptly named the hungry season because, well, people are hungry. Right now everyone is in the process of planting their crops; corn, millet, etc. Despite being a season of food production, there is little available to eat. Planting crops costs money, one must purchases seeds, pesticides, farming equipment, etc. Money that usually goes to food goes to the production of food.

Our village, which lacks fresh produce even during the rest of the year, has seen a further reduction. We have onions (most of the time), eggs, canned tomato paste, and spaghetti pasta. Even peanuts are becoming more rare. We’ve been relying on canned goods purchased in Bamako last month and dried foods sent from America (thank you friends and family!).

Needless to say, I’ve been suffering from food withdraws. I even had a two night recurring dream of shopping for junk foods in Walmart–specifically Velveeta cheese and corn tortilla chips (***HINT*** We would love a care package stuffed with Velveeta cheese blocks).

On Wednesday, our village butchered a cow. It was a 1000CFA (around $2 USD) buy-in for a kilo or so of meat, and well worth it. Ashley made pot roast. Amazing. A welcomed change from the norm.

But don’t worry, we’ll survive. But, if anyone is considering shipping a care package, here is a list of our most craved:

Beef summer sausage
Butterfingers and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Velveeta cheese blocks
Cheese powder from instant mac and cheese
Beef jerky
Beef Bullion
Chicken Bullion
Sunflower seeds
Dried fruit (prunes, pineapple, banana chips, raisins, etc)

Thank you!

It is hard to believe that it is already the end of summer. While my friends and colleagues back in America are getting ready for classes to begin, I am heading back to school too.

Ashley and I began our daily classes with our new language tutor when we returned to site. The Bambara classes are going alright, better than previous teachers but as with any Malian led course it has its stumbling blocks. The Malian education system is very different from its American counterpart. Students are taught to memorize, not interpret. Children can recite memorized lines in French and English, but if you ask them the meaning of the words, they are usually lost.

We have also begun studying for our GRE exam–its only six months away–and we started learning French (again). We alternate classes daily, each an hour-and-a-half. I teach the GRE prep and Ashley the French.

Oh, in case you are wondering, both of us are healthy.