Swimming South of the Sahara

Yesterday was my friend Eric's birthday, so we decided to celebrate a little. Because Eric is from Nebraska, Derek had the idea to theme the party as his home state to make him feel welcome. So, we all dressed up in cut off shirts, jeans, and straw hats and became Nebraskans. We have this cistern that was built out of rocks and cement. Whoever built it in the first place had the amazing foresight to build bench seats on the inside; not only does it catch rain water, but it also acts as a pretty good swimming pool during the Malian hot season. After scooping out all the leaves and dirt that have accumulated, we scrubbed it out and begin pulling water from the well. The water was nasty brownish and we even pulled up half of a dead lizard. Despite filtering the water through a cloth and dumping bleach into it, this was still not enough. I'm in no hurry to get shisto at this point. Plus, we struck the bottom of the well and started to pull mud. Eventually we found a garibu to bring us water from a tap not too far from the house. In addition to an hour's worth of well water pulling, we added another 36 bidons (5 or 6 gallons worth each) and we were in business.

The water actually doesn't look so bad here.

By the time the cistern was full, Derek and Ariel had cooked up a meal of fajitas and Castel. (Yes, they were awesome.) We ate up, and jumped into the cistern to cool off and escape the temp pushing 100 degrees for the rest of the day. It was definitely a success. Look how white I am below my head! The rest of them just got back from a beach trip to Senegal. You can tell I was stuck here.

Last night I was able to speak to Mike for about an hour before heading off to bed (aka my tent) and we got to talking all about the when he and Zack arrive in June. I'm psyched for them to get here because they'll finally be able to see and understand what I am doing here as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Seeing these pictures and posts make it sound good and fun all the time, but I really want them to see the slow monotonous lifestyle of village life. Just for a brief time, though. The trip will be filled with fun and games, though. I'm going to meet them down in Bamako, spend a night or two there and then continue south to Sikasso. By this time, the rains will have started and everything should be lush green. We'll head down to the waterfalls and camp out for a night. The next part of the plan is to head north and follow the rains. I want to get back into village with Mike and Zack around the time that the villagers begin planting the millet fields. At this point, I should be set to start planting the new drought resistant millet varieties. I'll get them out working in the fields at least for a few hours. After this, maybe we'll go down to Dogon country or up to Gao. Depends on the timing and the heat.

Here are some random pictures.

Check out the determination on my face as I test out my new slingshot. I feel like Dennis the Menace.

This is the view from my front door in village. You can see how close I am to the mud mosque. With 5 prayer calls a day beginning around 5am, you can imagine how I would like a slight shift in proximity. I am rooting that the village doesn't get electricity... a loudspeaker might just kill me.

This is the view from behind my house. I asked why there are no people living in the houses you can see here. Apparently they all died. My little ghost town. Nice mountains, huh?

What birthday party would be complete without firing jumping?

Rufus is getting big.

The gang's all here for the St. Patrick's Day festivities in Bandiagarra.

Inside my house a few months ago.

The view of my village from the mountains above it. The green area is where the stream, gardens, and mango trees are. Plus, that's where my laundry gets clean.