I apologize in advance for not writing a ton about the last few weeks, but they were awesome. I went to the West African International Softball Tournament (WAIST) in Dakar, Senegal. Peace Corps Mali rolled up with about 25 volunteers. About 300 other volunteers from The Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania showed up, as well as other international organizations and schools. We didn't win a single game, but that is no matter. We all had a ton of fun, got some good plays in, and got to hang out with hundreds of other Americans all in it for the same reasons.

I'm up at bat in our second game on the first day... we actually did come close to winning this one.

Dan is bear-hugging Pete after making a great catch for the third out of the inning.

After the tournament, I headed south to a town called Popenguinne (still in Senegal) and spent three days/two nights in a rented beach house with about 20 other PC Mali volunteers. It felt great to go swimming and spend time on the beach. I also went for a hike into a national park on the shore with a another volunteer named Adelle... actually we started out three strong, but one girl bailed when we had to check in with the "headmaster" of the park. She thought we were going to get into trouble, but the guy just wanted to know who was in his park. He then informed us that there is a PC volunteer that works at the park, but was away for a fruit drying formation. So, this guy gets a national park on the beach with all the fresh seafood he can ask for while I am stuck in Mali sweating among the toh-eaters.

Here is the view of the beach from atop the national park cliffs.

Speaking of seafood, I woke up early one morning and headed to the beach. As I was wandering around, these guys came to shore and started selling their morning catch. I bought a few dollars worth of fish to bring back up to my friends. Then, this guy comes up to me with a squid and says it's only a dollar. I bought it, figuring if we couldn't determine how to cook it, we could always just give it away. Anyway, Lindsay, who went to school in Indiana, somehow learned to dissect and cook squid in her high school biology class. She sauteed it in garlic/onion butter... it was wicked good.

Here's my dollar squid

While in Popenguinne, I decided to travel further south to The Gambia. When I went to the internet cafe to inform the Peace Corps of my changing travel plans, I received an e-mail from the State Department. The e-mail contained my Qualifications Panel results letter, and I passed! So, I need to be in America by June (most likely) for the interview, which is the last step in the hiring process.

With that incredible news, I headed to The Gambia on a high note and had a great time. I traveled with 4 other Mali PCVs and we ended up being a really cohesive travel group. Our mantra was, "We're just feathers... we're going wherever." In The Gambia, we stayed at the Transit house in Banjul (the capital) for a few nights. My friend from PC Mali, Ted, who now works in PC Gambia met us there and we hada open pit BBQ chicken night. We cooked up with chicken while some other people cooked up veggies and pasta inside.

Ted flipping the chicken

I'm making sure the chicken is cooked through.

The chicken is almost done and we're enjoying Julbrew... the local beer, which is also the best beer in all of West Africa... it tastes almost like Heineken.

After Banjul, we went to Paradise/Coconut Island for two nights and spent some more quality time on the beach. After being among tons of people for 2 weeks, it was nice to get away and have the beach to ourselves. After the island, we headed back to Mali. We high-tailed it for 2 days of intense travel and arrived in Bamako looking pretty haggard after sleeping on the side of the road, not showering, and eating very little along the way. All in all, completely worth it. This was probably the best vacation I have ever been on and wonder if I'll ever top it. But, I'm heading out of Bamako now and going north. Hopefully I will be back in village by Thursday morning. Then on to more rock climbing adventures, maybe a trip to Ghana in May and hopefully America in June.