Please send mail! Anything... letters, postcards, pictures... whatever!
Dave Munsell
Corps de La Paix
BP:85
Bamako
Mali, Africa
Oh yea, I found out that I am moving to the Mopti region in 6 weeks (after training) to a village near Douentza... check it out!
09 August 2007
07 August 2007
Wow...
I'm back at the training center for 2 1/2 days of, well, training! I got back from 2 weeks at my homestay site and it was a trip! I live in a little tiny mudbrick house in a village down a long bumpy, watery road. There are about 30 cows and chickens that live in my front yard as my family are Puehl herders from the Mopti region. They moved to Sala in 1986. I have taken on the name of the father so everyone calls me Amadou Bary. It's pretty cool and I get to feel really accepted. He has two wives, Fatumata and Diko, six kids, tons of relatives and two houses. My family here does pretty well for themselves. I can tell because they feed me sheep almost every day, which is expensive. All I want is some chicken oh well. There is no running water in the village, no electricity, no plumbing, etc... I have to go to the bathroom in a little hole in the ground called the nyeggen. It's not fun. I got really sick from eating too much goat and sheep intestines all the time in oil... it's what they feed me. I don't eat it by choice! I have to eat it out of a big bowl with my hand and it's wicked messy, but I am starting to get better at it. The sickness was a real bummer because I was running to the nyeggen every 15 minutes for 3 days and I was dumping out of both ends... simultaneously, which i didn't even know was possible! I definitely avoid laying on the nyeggen floor after throwing up to avoid all the flies and cochroaches. My little room is always covered ni crickets, really loud big bugs and a yellow and purple gecko that shows up a few times a day. The room is painted light blue from the peace corps... all the trainees rooms are blue, with blue around the door and window outside. We call it "toubab blue" so everyone can find us. I have a tin roof that collects massive amounts of heat and amplifies the sound of rain to something resembling a jet engine. It's actually cooler than I make it sound.
I was bit a few times by a bug called a "blister beetle." Yea, it injects acid under your skin, blisters up, pops, and deteriorates all the skin around it. Real fun. So that happened on my arms and chin the first week. Those healed up, but I have a nasty burn scar on my arm. It's a sick battle wound. The clincher was waking up last week with a new blister beetle bite between my eye and nose. That was the worst pain and it was all gunked up and bleeding... I thought I was going to lose my eye. No worriers, I just washed it all the time, applied bacitracin and a week later I'm all better. Woohoo!
On a better note, I sit around outside on a mat every night, read, write stuff down, try to speak Fulfulde with my host family and watch the sky. It is HUGE in Africa. I wrote a ton of haikus one night out of pure boredem and recited them to my fellow PCTs... they loved the creativity. I'll post some up when I get a chance. Night time is amazing here becasue it is just so serene and calming in a tiny village. Everyone just hunkers down at night when the sun goes down and relaxes. I have my kerosene lamp to read by and it's pretty much all I need at this point. I have barely even used my iPod so far. I am really saving it for when I desperately need some American culture and technology. Books definitely work for now.
The language I am learning, Fulfulde, is wicked hard to learn because there are so many arbitrary rules on when to change letters, conjugate verbs, make words plural, deal with money, greet everyone a thousand times, etc etc etc it's just insane! I'll get it if I keep pushing on, though.
Mi yahan janngoyde. Jam wallen-en! (I'm going to study. Spend the night in peace)... typical goodbye in Fulfulde!
I was bit a few times by a bug called a "blister beetle." Yea, it injects acid under your skin, blisters up, pops, and deteriorates all the skin around it. Real fun. So that happened on my arms and chin the first week. Those healed up, but I have a nasty burn scar on my arm. It's a sick battle wound. The clincher was waking up last week with a new blister beetle bite between my eye and nose. That was the worst pain and it was all gunked up and bleeding... I thought I was going to lose my eye. No worriers, I just washed it all the time, applied bacitracin and a week later I'm all better. Woohoo!
On a better note, I sit around outside on a mat every night, read, write stuff down, try to speak Fulfulde with my host family and watch the sky. It is HUGE in Africa. I wrote a ton of haikus one night out of pure boredem and recited them to my fellow PCTs... they loved the creativity. I'll post some up when I get a chance. Night time is amazing here becasue it is just so serene and calming in a tiny village. Everyone just hunkers down at night when the sun goes down and relaxes. I have my kerosene lamp to read by and it's pretty much all I need at this point. I have barely even used my iPod so far. I am really saving it for when I desperately need some American culture and technology. Books definitely work for now.
The language I am learning, Fulfulde, is wicked hard to learn because there are so many arbitrary rules on when to change letters, conjugate verbs, make words plural, deal with money, greet everyone a thousand times, etc etc etc it's just insane! I'll get it if I keep pushing on, though.
Mi yahan janngoyde. Jam wallen-en! (I'm going to study. Spend the night in peace)... typical goodbye in Fulfulde!
24 July 2007
Moving Right Along!
It's my last night in TubaniSo before going to my host village. We leave here at 8am tomorrow... got med kits, a bike, a helmet, and a mosquito net. Apparently there is a trunk waiting at my homestay site filled with all sorts of goodies. Oh yea, the bike is wicked nice cause it's a trek. I am charging my ipod now so i can bring some tunes with me to help fall asleep at night. My days are going to be real busy... about 6 hours of language training 7 days a week. The village that I am going to is a fishing village, so I figure I am going to lose a lot of weight real fast! I can't stand fish, but I have cliff bars and beef jerkey to eat! I should have brought more M&Ms.
I am really excited to get to my homestay village just north of Bamako and start learning Fulfulde. Fulfulde, also known as Fulani, will be very beneficial to learn because it is spoken throughout Western Africa in different dialects. Because I am an Agroculture volunteer, I will be living in a very small rural village (basically, out in the sticks!) so I will not really have the opportunity to learn French until later... and that's if someone in my village speaks any French. I'm bummed out about that, but excited for the Fulfulde and over experience, nevertheless. I met a representative from my homestay village today and we were trying to communicate with each other, but it was so hard! She has laughing and repeating things while I was drawing pictures and pointing. I drew all sorts of musical instruments hoping they would have them. She gave me the names for them and put her thumb up... we'll see if anyone plays them! After the 9 weeks of homestay are up I will most likely be moving north to the Mopti region.. I have sand in my future! I can't wait for it though. It is the Sahel region that comes up towards Timbukto and Gao... not quite desert, but close. I really hope there aren't as many flies and mosquitoes there because they are insane here! Sleeping in my mosquito net tent is just like camping. We've been calling this place summer camp or africa-light haha. I can't wait to get out into the real world by moving to my village! Look for more posts in a few weeks, as I will be without internet for 2 1/2 weeks.
Dave
I am really excited to get to my homestay village just north of Bamako and start learning Fulfulde. Fulfulde, also known as Fulani, will be very beneficial to learn because it is spoken throughout Western Africa in different dialects. Because I am an Agroculture volunteer, I will be living in a very small rural village (basically, out in the sticks!) so I will not really have the opportunity to learn French until later... and that's if someone in my village speaks any French. I'm bummed out about that, but excited for the Fulfulde and over experience, nevertheless. I met a representative from my homestay village today and we were trying to communicate with each other, but it was so hard! She has laughing and repeating things while I was drawing pictures and pointing. I drew all sorts of musical instruments hoping they would have them. She gave me the names for them and put her thumb up... we'll see if anyone plays them! After the 9 weeks of homestay are up I will most likely be moving north to the Mopti region.. I have sand in my future! I can't wait for it though. It is the Sahel region that comes up towards Timbukto and Gao... not quite desert, but close. I really hope there aren't as many flies and mosquitoes there because they are insane here! Sleeping in my mosquito net tent is just like camping. We've been calling this place summer camp or africa-light haha. I can't wait to get out into the real world by moving to my village! Look for more posts in a few weeks, as I will be without internet for 2 1/2 weeks.
Dave
21 July 2007
I made it!
After about 30 hours of travel, I have finally made it to the training center in Mali known as TubaniSo (too-bawn-ee-so) and it is awesome. I am staying in a little hut with two other guys. There are actually 81 of us here... we're the biggest volunteer class ever! I am having a great time and learning tons and I will move into a village with a host family on the 25th. I'll live with them for 9 weeks until I am ready to go out on my own! Woohoo!
06 July 2007
Hey I'm famous!
Cool... someone found my blog and put it up on www.peacecorpsjournals.com. That's pretty awesome. People can find me now.
I guess that means I should put up some info so people that don't know me can have a little bit of an idea of who I am.
My name is Dave, I'm 22 years old, and I graduated from Syracuse University in May 2007. In just under two weeks I will be heading to Mali to volunteer with the Peace Corps as an Agriculture/Gardening Extension Agent (the "Agent" part is definitely the coolest aspect of the title) for the next 27 months. I was originally set to volunteer in Tanzania, but something happened with the Peace Corps (not exactly sure what...) and half the program was cut, so I was moved to Mali and have had an extra month at home to see family, friends and make some money before I go. It has been great to be home for this extra time, but I am real antzy to get going and start the next big chapter in my life. Look for more updates once I get to Mali after July 20.
I guess that means I should put up some info so people that don't know me can have a little bit of an idea of who I am.
My name is Dave, I'm 22 years old, and I graduated from Syracuse University in May 2007. In just under two weeks I will be heading to Mali to volunteer with the Peace Corps as an Agriculture/Gardening Extension Agent (the "Agent" part is definitely the coolest aspect of the title) for the next 27 months. I was originally set to volunteer in Tanzania, but something happened with the Peace Corps (not exactly sure what...) and half the program was cut, so I was moved to Mali and have had an extra month at home to see family, friends and make some money before I go. It has been great to be home for this extra time, but I am real antzy to get going and start the next big chapter in my life. Look for more updates once I get to Mali after July 20.
26 June 2007
Alright Then
Well, quite a bit has changed since my last posting. It would seem like I should be in Tanzania by now, but due to changes I was switched to Peace Corps Mali and will be heading out July 20 (I start staging in Philly on July17). I am wicked excited for this and can't wait to go but definitely enjoying my time at home while I have it.
Look for more posts once I actually get to Mali!
Look for more posts once I actually get to Mali!
08 May 2007
Whoaaaaaaa..........
Ok, so I just finished college... or at least the work aspect. I finished up my catering job two nights ago, turned in my last paper, and finished my final exam a few hours ago. All I have to do now is show up and look good for graduation on Sunday. I guess it is time to rock out for the next few days until the family arrives in 'cuse.
Graduation = 5 days
Red Sox at Fenway = 7 days
Peru= 9 days
Staging/Tanzania = 34/36 days
Counting down.
Graduation = 5 days
Red Sox at Fenway = 7 days
Peru= 9 days
Staging/Tanzania = 34/36 days
Counting down.
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