The Last Couple Months

Sorry for the long delay in between entries, but It's been tough being able to get a hold of the internet and for long enough to go through all the pictures I have and get that all sorted out. I'm not used to having power, so my main focus has been enjoying the air conditioning.

Recently there's been a lot going on with the new group of volunteers swearing in on the 3rd and I came in early to help do some training with them. It was for two days, one of which was ridiculously hot, the other it rained heavily the whole time. I'm not sure which I liked better being wet from rain or sweat.

So, the new trainees have all sworn in and now and we have to go through the arduous process of installing them into their sites. Luckily we've only got 2 in Manantali, however, it's no longer MAN-antali because one happens to be a girl. However, now there's four volunteers in Manantali and it should make things a little more interesting with more people to talk to.

I went back to my homestay family's site in Soundougouba last month and visited with N'tji and his family. It was a great time, although I could only stay for a short time. I met the new kid that was staying with him and he loved his homestay as much as I did. N'tji really takes care of his family.

Djeneba, N'tji and I after lunch

Additionally there was a wedding in my community which involved a lot of singing, dancing and gift giving. I've got some videos of the women in my community dancing, but I'm unsure if I can upload them because the files are quite large and the internet here is dreadfully slow.

Also, rainy season just started which has caused some intense difficulty in transport out of my village and a rise the mosquito population. Currently my village is slightly under water and a side project that I've started is planting a tree nursery to help soak up some of the puddles...or swamps rather.

The bride's family before making the procession over to her new home.

Here is a picture of the wedding procession through the middle of my community, normally it's not quite so flooded, but we got over a foot of rain the day before the wedding, thus the necessity for the tree nursery

A Muslim blessing of the goat to be slaughtered for the marriage. The man in white in the middle is the husband and the only woman in the picture is the soon to be wife, you can kind of see it in the background of the next picture hanging upside down.

My host mom and the other ladies preparing food for the wedding.

The bridal party, the bride to be is the one in the middle with the soccer jersey and white head cover on.

A dance around the new husband's house. Lots of jumping and drumming.

Some more local wildlife.

A picture of my Homologue's family.

I was unable to upload any of the videos, but I'll try to get them up at some point in time because it's pretty entertaining. That's all for now, but I'll try to be better about posting more stuff.