Just getting my sweat on...

I'll see if I can do a quick update before the internet dies again.  I still have not pooped my pants.  I'll try to expand on the tea drinking from my last post another time.  I've done some pretty neat things like hitchhiking on top of a dump truck.  Oh boy, this is going to be fairly unorganized I think...

I am back at the training facility and I now know where I will be placed for the next two years.  I am going to a little village that I can't spell about 18 km North of Sikasso.  Sikasso is down south, so it is very green, and very, very humid.  I will be leaving to visit there for a few days tomorrow, then will be coming back here, and then back to my training village of Soundougouba Koro for the last two weeks of training.  This has flown by so far.  Ill try to update about my village when I get a chance.  My language is coming along well, and I met my Malian counterpart yesterday.  So far I know that he has three kids.  I haven't gotten too sick yet, just some minor tummy issues now and again, and a cold a few weeks ago.

It is getting very humid here now.  I do A LOT of sweating.  I sleep outside here at the training facility, but in my training village my family sweeps the ground at about 5 in the morning so I still sleep in my room there.

We celebrated International Women's Day on March 8 called Huit Marasi here.  The other trainees in my village all invited our host mothers and grandmothers and maybe some sisters or aunts up to our School Tree and cooked them French Toast.  They liked it.  Some families really celebrated March 8, but others didn't really get into it.  I can understand why.  The kids don't have to go to school, and the women get to tell their children to do a few more things, but they still have to clean the house, yard, get all the water, and cook all the meals.  Some of the men who teach at the local school slaughtered a goat about 10 feet from my classTree for the occasion.  They gave me some, and it was good.

The other general comment I want to make is about Obama.  He is very well loved here.  There are Obama shirts, sandals, backpacks, cookies, and he is painted on the side of 70% of the taxis.  The American flag is probably on close to 100% of the taxis, and if Obama's face is not on the side then it is Che Guarva (or however that is spelled), with the occasional rapper thrown in to keep us on our toes.

We learned some exciting news about our swear in ceremony in April.  It is the 40th anniversary of Peace Corps in Mali, and Mali's 50th anniversary from French occupation, and so our swear in service will be held by the President of Mali (ATT, cause no one can pronounce his name) at his presidential palace.   Needless to say, I am stoked about this news.  I got some pretty neat fabric to make an awesome swear in outfit.  Also, I've acquired some nifty and highly colorful shirts at my local market.  I am currently wearing one that is half purple and half bright red with red and purple stripes.  Oh yeah, also today is my birthday.  Two people made me cards, and one person gave me their headphones because their mp3 player is dead.  Also, since we are at the training facility some of my friends talked to the kitchen staff and apparently they are making cake.  Totally awesome!  Well, I think that is all for now.  I'll try to update when I get back from Sikasso, and also, I'll try to put up a few pictures if possible.  BAM!