And then I found five dollars....

I gotten a lot of requests to translate that last line, so here's the story that goes with it: I came into Segou for new years eve, and took a boat ride on the river to watch the sun set with some friends. While we were on the boat we saw some fireworks (Malians celebrate new years, too!). I tried to ask the word for fireworks in bambara: A be fo cogodi ni tasuma be sanfe? (translation: How is it called when fire is in the sky?). And the answer I got was "Tasuma be sanfe" (fire in the sky). This might be a 'had to be there' moment, but it says something about the literalness of the language that continually cracks me up.
Anyway, I'm back in Segou having finished another round of training. I'm really looking foreward to getting back to my village, as I now have several exciting project ideas that I need to go over with them. I've been talking to Engineers Without Boarders (another volunteer service organization) about collaborating on the construction of a real school building in my village (made out of more than sticks and leaves) that incorporates large scale rainwater harvesting for irrigation in the garden. Nothing is certain yet, but the project would take care of several of my village's biggest needs - education, access to water, and small scale income generation (i.e. selling the produce from the garden), so I'm working hard to make it happen.
I don't know when I got so busy! I'll be back in Bamako in a little over a week to attend a conference on Earthen Architecture, then I'm off to Senegal for the West African International Softball Tournament (WAIST). Lots of fun ahead.
Please keep me posted on how all of YOU are doing!

Tasuma be Sanfe de!

Sorry for the short christmas post, but, as promised, I can write more often now that I'm in Bamako for a few weeks, with all the luxuries of the modern world. We tried to watch the OSU game last night, huddled together under discarded refugee blankets at 1 in the morning, but it wouldn't stream fast enough from the internet, so we gave up. I heard they lost anyway. Tonight we're taking advantage of the CNN access here to watch the New Hampshire primaries. We'll take what we can get.
What brings me to Bamako, other than internet and CNN, is the second phase of technical training. In between football games and catching up with all the other volunteers, we're learning methods for digging wells, irrigating gardens, composting, etc., and also how to find funding for such projects.

I mentioned refugee blankets - yes, it's freezing here! I didn't take them seriously when they said that cold season was coming, but it's true! I'm wearing sweaters and sitting around fires to keep warm.

A be fo cogodi ni tasuma be sanfe?

All I got for Christmas was giardia

After Tabaski, I headed down to Bamako to spend Christmas with some friends. Warm weather and the pace of the big city snuffed out much of the holiday feel, but we celebrated christmas eve toasting wine and cheese cozily at our hotel. Even though Bamako offers 'real food' such as hamburgers and ice cream, we ate our Christmas dinner at an egg shack, and headed out to watch some live music. That's when it hit me. I spent the rest of christmas in the bathroom, humming carols.