me and my sister in Bamako, Mariam "Laveille" Konate


Bonjour mes amis,

Phew, what a week! So much has happened since I last wrote, I will have to just go over the highlights. Last week we spend our time in a village called Sanakoraba, which is only about 45 minutes outside of Bamako, yet like a whole new world. Courtney and I lived with an adorable young family in their compound, in the part we actually stayed at their was the dad, his wife (who we concluded could not be more than 4 years older than us) and their five kids. Also living on the property was at least 4 older women, two other couples, brothers and lots and lots of children. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun. Sanakoraba also has the SOS school for homeless and orphaned children, which we visited one day. However, the public school system is quite shocking as I learned the classroom size is typically one teacher to 150 children. Something that makes you feel privileged for the access to education. The children are not as educated there as Bamako, and for the most part, farming is the way of life. There is a program being introduced there that helps organize the fields to switch out crops throughout seasons to take advantage of soil nutrients, in addition to introducing better seeds with higher nutritional value. All in all, it was an eye opener out there and also highlights how western Bamako is. I know this is not what you all probably want to read, but I find it fascinating. Here’s some photos for your enjoyment!


dance circle (and yes, we all had to show off our white people dance!)


our compound (suprisingly empty in this photo)


there are also more on Facebook... check it!

Oh, Africa

Ok , Ok it has been way to long since my last update but they say, never start with an apology , so I’ll dive right in with a story.
There is a television show here called ministar, think African style American idol with children. They dance, they sing, they entertain the masses. Well today was the finals and Hannah and I were very excited and decided to make it down to the centre and be a part of the live audience. Usually, all the other weeks, the filming started around 10 am so we thought we were giving ourselves a substantial amount of time trekking down there at 7 am to get a good spot in line. However, ministar wasn’t buzzing with the attention it deserved, and after talking to the only 5 other people there, we realized the doors didn’t open until 1 pm! This is another case of West Africa wins again, but I encourage everyone to google search ministar and check out how awesome it really is.
Oh, and there is a ministar dance. I will teach you all upon returning.

Not that it was a bad day at all, the woman who I greet at the corner gave me free flou-flou today (these are fried little balls of dough that are ideally served hot or in monnie, a milky millet drink) and a bunch of us checked out grand marchee, and the Mali photo exhibit at the Musee (and let me tell you, I could take some of those pictures myself!). Actually, I will share the wealth a bit when I have access to a laptop, because the updating does take quite a bit of time.

It is beautiful here, the red dirt with the green trees. Everything is bright because it is the end of the rainy season, and it is slowly getting more humid (phew!). But pagnes are beautiful and now I currently own three (I bought two, and my togoma- the woman I am named after- sent me a beautiful tie-n-dye outfit yesterday. I am actually going over to her house to thank her and probably get some photos in!)

Now comes my apology, I am bad at blogging but hopefully can keep it up better now that some of the craziness has worn off. On Monday, the students are all going to spend a week in the rural village outside of Bamako- it will be completely different from city life! I know you’ll get an update after that.

To those who read this, I love and miss you! I hope everything is going well and I am thinking of all of you. Until next time,
Gnouma Konate/Brittany

Some of us after hiking the cliffs.



Dans la rue.



That was our hut in Siby, which was our first excursion spot.



But now it is story time.
This happened about a week ago, before my sister and I put the mosquito net up. It was a nice cool evening, it had just rained and I was getting ready to go to bed. After I finished up at the hole (la toilette) I laid down on the bed, sprawled out on my stomach. It was completely dark at this point and I was exhausted from the activities of the day and was half asleep when I felt something on my back. I woke up a little and tried to decipher what it was. There were four distict pawprints. I told myself it was the cat, that there was nothing to worry about. But then it climed up my back and rested on my pillow. I decided to slowly maneuver my hand to see what it was by touch. It was not a cat...

Je mange les haricots

Bonjour friends and family! how are you? Life here is grand, it is surreal to think i have been here only a week. we have been so busy, and so much has happened it feels as if it should be longer. But i am good, we went to the city of Siby last week for three days, climbing waterfalls and hiking through the hills. it was so beautiful. there, we were also able to visit a village, help with dinner (they thought it was funny how slow i was at cracking peanuts) and play with the children. They are so much fun, and regard us with such amazement (especially when you greet them in the native language- Bambara). from there, we moved in with our host families, which is quite different! I have 3 siblings, countless cousins, two aunts and my Malian parents all staying in the same compound. there is always something going on!
Oh, i really love Africa time. no one is ever late to anythingm because americans have watches, africans have time. so if it is 4:45, it is the same as 4, so when we go to "school" it is super laid back, and it makes me nervous about going to an american class ever again. but i am trying to improve my french with every conversation. i've learned that each family name has a certain joke about it, so other people always joke with you when they find out the family name. apparently, my jokes have to do with liking beans, and being other people's slaves. it is so much fun just greeting people on the street.
well i apologize for the grammer mistakes and problems in this email, but i wanted to let you know what was happening and i love you all! i hope everyone is doing well.
until next time,
Brittany

Bonjour from Africa!

Hello everyone, I am sitting down to write my first official blog from Africa! Now I am in Dakar, a bautiful city on the coast of Senegal. The people here are so nice! After learning that I am only here for a day, two seperate people have asked me to stay with them "for at least a month" in order to see the city properly. How generous! That is not the plan, however, as tomorrow I will land in Bamako, Mali and there I will stay the next few months. Its very exciting to know I will soon meet the family I will be living with. I don't have too much to say, but I am safe and caught up on sleep, and now I am off to check out the plage (beach). Ciao!

Getting ready to embark!

With exactly three weeks until I leave the States, I've created this blog to keep friends and family (you!) updated on my travels. Ideally, there will be pictures, funny stories and yarns of Malian life (depending on internet access). Feel free to bookmark this page for your viewing pleasure and thanks for your support!