Mailing address

By the way...since I'm so close to Bamako, I've decided to keep the Peace Corps mailing address instead of opening a new box. So, if you'd like, you can still mail things to:

Rachel Emmick, PCV
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 85
Bamako, Mali

Mail is ALWAYS welcome! Just be sure to send via airmail, but dont pay for fedex or dhl...not worth it. I'm working on getting letters out to all you folks at home, too:)

Merry Christmas!

Back in Bamako for Christmas with you'll-never-guess-who. The one and only FR. BRUNO SEGATTA! No kidding. He travelled overland from Morocco through Mauritania to Mali with the final destination of Madagascar because...well...because he's Bruno and he does things like that. So we've been hanging out at the stage house together with Kevin (another Gonzaga-in-Florence alumn from a few years back), and a few other PCVs. It doesn't espcially feel like the Christmas season here, being an Islamic country and all, but we did what we could. The tubab stores have little plastic Christmas trees and we played some Christmas music brought from home. Not quite the same, though. Christmas Eve we all cooked a wonderful dinner together complete with fresh chicken (we had the vendors kill and feather them for us...we're not quite THAT integrated yet), mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, and sugar cookies:) followed by a wonderful Fr. Bruno-style mass. Christmas Day started with brunch at the Plaza Hotel, then some cake baking, which we took to Cheryl's house for dinner. Cheryl is an APCD aka my boss. There were about 15 people there...PCVs and NGO workers alike, all far away from our families but putting on smiles in the spirit of Christmas cheer. It was actually a pretty good way to spend the day, though I really miss you all...especially Dad, Mom, and Becca.
I'm headed back to site later today, which is still going really well. Bambara is coming along nicely, if slowly. I'm meeting lots of welcoming people and starting to feel very much at home there. Thanks for all your posts and emails. I love hearing from you all! Kan b'u fo!

Life at site

Tioribougou is the wonderful little town which I now call home. Having lived there for almost two weeks now, it's nice to finally not be living out of a suitcase. I live in a little cement house with a tin roof with my tiny white kitten (Jakoman Coulibaly... jakoman is "cat" in Bambara and I'll explain Coulibaly later), a bat, a family of birds, the few spiders which neither jaki nor I can reach, and a ton of terminites who will hopefully move out when I get around to painting the walls inside. It's a pretty exciting little house, actually. I have a gas stove on which I make tea or coffee every morning, a big water filter, a bed complete with mosquito net, a bamboo chair, a reed mat, and a bamboo dresser. First thing in the morning I walk down the road to buy bread and maybe furufuru (fried millet-dough balls). I prepare breakfast and feed Jaki, then read awhile before going out to greet my supervisor (Abdullay the doctor) and counterpart (Sitan the matron). They usually take me around to meet different families in the town, or we just sit and chat (they chat...I try to figure out what is being said) outside the health center. Three days a week I have Bambara lessons in the afternoon with Sitan's husband who is a TROURE which brings me to my explanation of why Jaki's last name is Coulibably. Mali has this wonderful little thing we call "joking cousins." There are only a few last names here (mine is Diarra) and certain families joke with certain other families. We say things like, "you eat beans," "you're my slave," "you're a cat/dog/donkey/etc." It's hilarious and never gets old...well, doesn't get old to Malians, anyway. Diarra's mainly joke with Troure's, and everybody jokes with Coulibaly's (my host family is Coulibably) hence, Jakoman Coulibaly. It's a riot whenever I tell people that:) Alright, well I'll be back in for Christmas and hopefully have time to write some more then. But until then, Merry Christmas season! Enjoy the snow extra much for me cause there sure isn't any here!