Sam giving a speech at the swearing-in ceremony.
A bit of the audience at the swearing-in ceremony.
Mike Simsik giving a speech at the swearing-in ceremony.
The Moribabougou crew!
Brian, me, and Ms. Jackson at the swearing-in ceremony on September 20. Brian unfortunately went home a month or so ago because of health reasons.
The Moribabougou crew! With the Mayor of Moribabougou.
Brian and Antony.
American soil. Nice!
The US Ambassador's house. SWEEEET!!
A closer look at Brett Dennen's words. Written in duct tape.
My bed:)
My homemade sink.
My homemade sink. It drains through the wall and outside.
My homemade kitchen sink.
The view looking out my front door.
The neighbor's house.
My landlord's house. His house, the other neighbor's, and mine are all within the same large walled complex.
My house:)
Our concession.
My house, standing at the entrance to the complex.
The yard.
My house to the left.
My house.
The bathroom-- seperate from the house.
My bathroom.
Beneath that small door lies a deep, dark world of disgustingness-- you don't want to see inside! Hovering over the hole can become tiring.
This is a mystery fruit that nobody seems to know the name of in French. I've never seen it before. It's called "soon-soon" in Bambara, and tastes a bit like a peach or nectarine. Mmmmmm!!
From left: Mama (my landlord's wife), Lavielle (Mama's niece, who lives with us), Nandi (my landlord's sister, who lives in Senegal), Fifi (who lives next to me), Yayi (who lives next door), and little Coumba (Nandi's daughter).
Mama.
Lavielle.
Trying to act tough....
.... Buuut I got them to smile:)
Coumba.
Coumba. So cute-- I miss her.
Me, Youssouf, Yayi, and Mackan (my landlord's brother and my friend).
We get our water (for bathing and cooking) from this barrel, which is re-filled each morning.
Little Sadio, who lives next door. She's always at our house.
Sadio, Coumba, and one of the twins.
Adama and Houa (twins), Sadio, and Coumba.
Lavielle and her friend Kama.
Lavielle, Sadio, and one of the twins.
Dancing party around the corner of my house. TONS of kids!
Little Sangha and his disappearing friend.
Peanuts.
PEANUUUTS!
Fifi preparing lunch.
Part of the Senegal River.
Part of the Senegal River. My buddies Makan and Papa in the distance.
The edge of the Senegal River.
A small cluster of mud houses on the bank of the river.
My buddy Makan washing his clothes at the river. The bandage on his face is from a motorcycle accident.
Papa and Makan washing their clothes at the river.
A few houses at the edge of the Senegal River.
The Senegal River in my town.
Another house by the river.
A small wooden boat taking people across the river.
These two rivers meet in my village. The next photo shows them joined together.
The Senegal River (the two smaller rivers joined together).
Huge hippo in the center of my village.
Center of town.
I think this is a centipede. They're about five inches long.
An off-shoot of the Senegal River.
Good times at the river. Bamakan, Makan, and Kafuné.
My friend Bamakan.
Good times at the river. Me and Bamakan.
Good times at the river. Papa, Bamakan, and me.
Mba and Musundi.
Playing in the water.
Makan acting like he gets the ladies.
Makan and Bamakan.
Good times at the river.
Friends at the river. Women frequently carry things in buckets on their heads like this.
This guy lives with a family around the corner from my house. I usually stay faaaar away!
Mama and Sali outside of my house.
Mama washing dishes outside of my house.
People crossing the Senegal River.
A whole bunch of flies or tiny bees on a small branch.
Birds eating the last of my lunch. A couple dozen of these guys live in our complex.
Sleeping with Sadio.
Hanging out with Sadio.
I don't think Sadio was quiiite as excited as I was. Ha.
Little Sadio.
Youssouf, my landlord. Right before we went to pray in the center of town (pictures follow).
Youssouf.
I prayed to Allah with all of these people in the center of our village. It was Tabaski, a Muslim holiday.
I prayed to Allah with all of these people in the center of our village. It was Tabaski, a Muslim holiday. These are all the women-- they are required to sit behind the men and cover their heads when they pray.
My buddy Makan, neighbor Draman, and landlord Youssouf.
Mousa! He lives around the corner from my house and is the one who delivers our water each morning.
Fifi and Draman. They live next to me.
Makan with the girls.
Malians almost never smile in photos-- I haven't figured out why. Some friends in my village.
Makan, me, and Draman.
From left: my friend Makan, my neighbor Draman, and me. We're each wearing a "boubou", a traditional Malian men's outfit.
The "kitchen" of my landlord's house.
Mama making lunch in the kitchen.
This is our sheep minutes before he was slaughtered. The day was Tabaski, a Muslim holiday. Every married Muslim man who has enough money is required to buy a sheep for his family, kill it, and his wife prepares the meat. The day is spent eating, eating, and eating some more.
Poor guy. This really was terrible to watch. However, I have a morbid sense of curiosity, so here are the photos.
My landlord Youssouf posing with his dead sheep.
My neighbor Draman's sheep about to meet his death.
Terrible.
Some family friends at my house for Tabaski, dressed in their nicest clothes.
Makan and Oumar, who lives next to me (with Draman).
Makan, his mother, me, Lavielle, and Mama at a wedding.
Me and Makan in our boubous for a wedding at his family's house.
Makan, Youssouf, and his brother Papa.
Issa and Amadou.
Sekou, Makan, and Koro.
Me and some kids at Makan's family's house.
Koro and Sekou
Makan's sister's kids. Adorable!
Koro.
Sekou.
N
Makan's sister Mama, me, and Tou.
Me and Makan's mother Tanti.
Myi.
My friend Magniné.
Magnine.
Me and Magniné.
My friend Makan's family. There are about 16 of them.
Me with Makan's family.
The zoo in the capital city of Bamako.
Apparently they feed cows and donkeys to the lions. This is inside the lion cage. There was TONS more.
The zoo in the capital city of Bamako. This guy was about 6.5 feet tall! I didn't know they are so big.
The zoo in the capital city of Bamako. Makan.
Some kids preparing dinner outside of my house. The birds were freshly killed.
Hanging out in my courtyard.
Baba.
The little girl has a small crush on me-- she always calls me her husband. Ha. So cute.
Acting all crazy.
Silly kids. Baba is holding up a copy of a Newsweek magazine I was reading. Ha.
My solar fruit and vegetable dryer. So far I have only done mangoes, which turn out deliciously after about a day and a half in the sun:) Mmmmmmm!
A photo of the front of my house from November. And.....
....the new hangar I had built for my house. Pretty sweeeet!
New hangar.
The inside of my new hangar. I shared it with all those chickens and roosters until my landlord killed all of them last week. He said it's too hot for them now.
The inside of my new hangar. That's my bed-- I sleep here every night. It stays around 100 degrees inside my house during the day, and doesn't cool off much during the night. It's much cooler outside.
A little monkey friend. Actually, he's not a friend at all. I am quite afraid of wild monkeys in this country. I keep my distance.
A soccer game in my town-- this one was the teachers of the 9th grade versus the teachers from 10th and 11th grades. Good times.
A soccer game in my town-- this one was the teachers of the 9th grade versus the teachers from 10th and 11th grades. Good times. The tower in the upper right corner of the photos was recently installed, and delivers drinking water to town.
Some kids at the soccer game. This little guy with his arms folded was adorable.
Some kids at the soccer game.
Ohhhh sunshine, how I love you so. Let's dance.
This is what it looks like when it begins to rain while everyone is watching TV outside-- they allll jam into a tiny room. There is a cheesy Brazilian soap opera dubbed into French that plays every week night at 7pm, and EVERYONE (meaning this entire country!) is completely hooked on it. Most of the kids don't understand the French, but it's a fun social thing to do. People flock to the closest house that has a TV. I think I count 33. Ha.
The sunsets are usually pretty sweet. Unfortunately, the photo only tells part of the story.
