Happy 2010!

Wow! I really can’t believe that we’re already into 2010. It's getting cold now. Especially at night--I sleep wearing long sleeves and under a blanket (for perspective, the nighttime temperature is supposed to be 63 tonight). I’ll have my COS (Close of Service) conference in a mere four months, which is completely crazy. I won’t be home at that point, that’s just the conference where we’ll go over what all needs to be done and how to deal with readjusting once we’re back, etc. We’ll also each learn our official COS dates at the conference.

So, Christmas was nice. Earlier in December, we had a small Christmas party at Tubani-So that included all of the newest stage of volunteers, which was good to have. On Christmas Eve, a bunch of the volunteers that were in Bamako went over to an expat’s house for food and hot, mulled wine. Then, Christmas day, I made biscuits and gravy (from scratch, of course), eggs and heated up some bacon that was sent to me (thanks mom!) for everyone who was staying at my house (there were a lot of people). For dinner, we made mashed potatoes and gravy, cooked some green beans and carrots, and bought rotisserie chicken. Desert was my new specialty: peanut butter fudge (which is something that I’ve really enjoyed making recently) and a key lime pie that another houseguest made.

Tubani-So Christmas Party - with hot chocolate!

New Year’s Eve was very relaxed, which was good for me—I’d just graded nearly 700 exams the day before (I was only given one day to grade them all) and was ready to simply relax. There were a few parties that I knew of, but I opted to stay home instead. At midnight, I toasted the new year with some champagne while watching the fireworks from my roof

1 day to grade all of these!

New Year’s Day was the “Hangover Hash.” I was a little concerned at first. Apparently, last year’s was a 10k run. But it turned out okay, they kept it to a 5k with a lot of ups and downs. The dinner after the run was lasagna—which was absolutely amazing!!!

Hangover Hash

In law school news, I’ve received a few acceptances and denials. On the acceptance side, we can add Northeastern—which is in Boston (with a $8,500/year scholarship and a $3,000 nonprofit coop stipend), American University—in DC, and University of Iowa (with a full ride scholarship—totaling $117,906 for all three years). Obviously, the full ride at Iowa makes them my top choice at the moment (they’re also ranked 26th in the country), but I’m still waiting to hear from a few more top schools—some, I don’t expect to hear back from for another couple of months.

In all, life is good over here in Mali, and 2010 is already shaping up to be an excellent year (busy and with lots of work to do, but excellent all the same). I still really enjoy my time in Mali, and I’ve made a lot of great friends—Malians, expats and volunteers.

Thanksgiving isn't the only big feast/holiday this week

Wow, it's hard to believe that it's already time for Thanksgiving. Like last year, I'll be going to the Ambassador's for the big fest. Lots of amazing food. Definitely looking forward to that! Then, on Saturday, there's Seliba/Tabaski (AKA the sheep festival, or the Festival of Sacrifice), which is a really big Muslim holiday. It celebrates Ibrahim's (Abraham) willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismael, to God (which God rewards his devotion by making a sheep appear at the last moment so Ibrahim can sacrifice that instead).

Lately, things have been going quite well for me. As you may remember from my last post (which was a few months ago...), I went back to the US in order to take the LSAT and have a nice little vacation.

The results of that trip worked out favorably for me. I scored a 163 on the LSAT (88^th percentile), and managed to stack on 15 lbs (which, I've already lost, btw). I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to see, but I did see a lot of people--which was nice. I did most certainly get to go to a Columbus Crew soccer game and an Ohio State football game while I was back.

With my brother at the OSU game

So far, I've applied to 14 different law schools around the US, and today, I received my first acceptance! Catholic with an offer of 14,000/year in scholarships. It's good to know so early that I'll at least be going somewhere!

Since returning to Mali, I've managed to do at least a little travel/climbing. I went to Hombori with an expat friend, where we spent full week camping, hiking and climbing. It was absolutely beautiful up there.

On the way to Hombori, just beyond Douentza

We saw a considerable amount of camels on the trip. Actually, we had to stop the car and wait at one point while camels crossed the road. We had really hoped to see some elephants while on the trip, but it didn't work out. Maybe next time!

Millet - the primary grain/food eaten in Mali

Millet is the grain that's used to make tö, which is the staple of most Malian meals.

Hiking at The Hand of Fatima

Standing on a rock. Obviously. We're pretty far up at this point, but there was a lot more up to go.

A little bit of easy climbing at The Hand of Fatima

This last picture was taken while we were still hiking around The Hand of Fatima. We didn't take our gear on the hike, because we didn't think we'd need it. Turns out, we had to do a fair amount of climbing during the hike after all! This particular climb wasn't hard, but it was pretty far up, too.

Bamako, itself, has remained pretty much the same. There are several more Bamako volunteers than there used to be, but that's kinda nice. It gives us all more chances to unwind a little--which can be important. It also allows us to collaborate on ideas and projects a little better.

Born Again

Yesterday was the last hash that I'll have the opportunity to go to before my vacation in America. The hash was actually in Siby, and the rain completely drenched us all. For certain, it was a beautiful hash, and at the close, I finally received m hash name (thus, the subject heading). Professor Doolittle. It amuses me, and it's considerably less offensive than most people's names.

Siby Hash 1: Yes, we run the hash rain or shine

Siby Hash 2: Which way to go?

One standard of hash runs are false trails. Sometimes, you run for a while before you realize that you're on a false trail; then you have to turn around and go back to find the true path. Or, you do as those pictured above and wait for someone to yell that it's the right or wrong way.

Siby Hash 3: There were a lot of ups and downs


Siby Hash 4: Finally able to run again

Siby Hash 5: Pay no attention to the man with a gun

Siby's a rural area. So it's not uncommon for Malians to have rifles like the one pictured above. Just like it's not uncommon to find farmers in the states with rifles.

I also played flag football yesterday. As an activity, it had stopped occurring for a while due to the majority of people who played had left. But it's picked back up now, which means my Sundays are once again action packed. As has happened every time I've played flag football, I cut up a knee while sliding on the grass. Seriously, my body doesn't like the embassy grass.

I can't believe that it's down to less than two weeks before my trip to the US. I'm definitely looking forward to it. Especially the chance to take a hot shower. The weather's getting a little chilly here, and the cold water doesn't exactly feel all that great at the moment (unless it's directly after working out--otherwise, I get the distinct feeling that I'm going to suffer from hypothermia). So hot showers are high on my list of things to enjoy (along with cheese, bacon, bratwursts, fresh fish, sushi, lattes, Mexican food and a whole slew of other things).

My LSAT studies are staying intensive. As I've said before, I feel that's important--especially since many law schools give more than a 4:1 weight to your LSAT score over your GPA. Given my somewhat weak (3.08) undergraduate GPA, I certainly need to do as well as possible. I do, at least have some very solid soft factors (MA degree, lots of professional work experience, multiple foreign languages, Peace Corps, other volunteer experience, etc.) that can only help me.

I've also recently had to start dealing with a fact of life that the majority of other Peace Corps volunteers cope with for their entire service. No internet. Technically, I don't think my year contract is up yet, but the plug that powers the actual radio cable (yes, I received internet through a radio device located on my roof) burned out. I found a replacement in the grand marché, but the price was astronomical (12,500 CFA--or probably about $25). For a power cord!!!! Knowing that I only have a week or two left of internet anyway, I decided not to buy the cord at that time (that and I didn't have 12,500 CFA on me at the time--else I probably would have broken down and bought the piece). My guess is that we're going to continue to get internet in some fashion, as it's pretty much invaluable to me as a professor, but that's a decision to be made by the house. Not me alone.

Hellos and Goodbyes

16 days until I return to the US for vacation/LSAT. Not that I'm counting or anything.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Koulikoro-ville (Koulikoro is also a region of Mali) with several other volunteers. We were having a regional get-together that included the new Koulikoro trainees. It was nice. Also nice, was getting out of Bamako for a moment. Koulikoro-ville is only about an hour and a half (more or less) by sotrama (a big, green van that they'll literally stuff 20+ people in the back of for transport. Seating consists of a wooden bench that runs along all 4 sides inside of the van behind the driver). What I saw of the town was nice. A lot smaller and much more relaxed than Bamako, but then, that's not difficult.

Koulikoro 1: Flat Tire

We had to wait for another bus to stop by for help, because we didn't have a jack.

Koulikoro 2: Waiting for the tire to be fixed

The bus/van pictured above had 21 people sitting in the back (20 volunteers and one Malian) and 3 or 4 sitting up front (including the driver).

Koulikoro 3: Dance Party

After the get-together, I came back and set my 4th hash (luckily, I'm not setting this weekend's--which will be a nice change of pace). We also hosted the on-after at my house, which seems to have gone well.

Road to Siby: Deciding Where to set the Hash

This picture was on the top of a pretty tall hill. Sam and John (pictured) were to of the Peace Corps Volunteers who helped to set that particular hash.

More than anything else, I've been saying goodbye to friends who've been finishing their service. This week, we threw a going away party for several COSers. Sam left Tuesday night after the party. Ben left last night. Holly leaves on Friday night.

Going Away Party 1: Theme: Redneck/Beach Bum

Going Away Party 2: Sam leaving for the airport

Unlike when you arrive as a trainee--all at once--leaving is more like a slow bleed. 1 or 2 this day. Another that day. For those who don't extend their service, there's roughly a 3 or 4 month period in which they could be leaving. They learned roughly when they'd be leaving during their COS conference (which was in May). Generally speaking, you should assume that you'll be here in Mali for 26 months--though some will be here for less and others a bit more.

My LSAT study has diminished as of late. That's not to say that my actual studying has become much less, but that my results are dropping. With just over 3 weeks before I write the exam, I really need to crack down and get my performance back up.

It's all downhill from here

Last week, I reached the "official" half-way point of my service. Of course, I won't know my actual COS (close of service) date until around May or so of next year. Add in my month long vacation coming up soon, and the last half of my service should be fairly smooth. I hope.

The house is once again full. I have a 3rd year volunteer from Mauritania living here and one of the new trainees will live here after swearing in. In fact, Jeremy the Trainee has been here this week for site visit. He seems like good people, and he wants me to teach him martial arts--which will be good for me. I haven't been able to teach martial arts since being here.

So far, my experiences with the new stage (which has been admittedly limited at best) has gone well. They seem like good people, but they're also young. Jeremy's a bit older in his stage (still young though), while most of them are probably 22. I'll get to actually become at least somewhat familiar with the those of the Koulikoro region this weekend as we have an end of site week party in Koulikoro--which, will actually finally be my first time truly out of Bamako.

This weekend, I set my 4th hash (out of the last 5, no less). More than that, we'll be hosting the on-after at my house this time. That part has me a little nervous--as my house, while spacious, is quite spartan and lacking simple things like... chairs for everyone to sit in. We'll see how it goes.

The semester at FLASH has *technically* ended. Classes are done. I had hoped that I'd be able to be grading exams this week, but there's the rub in all of this. Exams haven't happened yet. Teachers went on strike just before the exams. I've turned in my test papers, so I've done all I can do to this point. I'd really like this setback taken care of before too long. Maybe.. with luck..

So many of my friends are leaving Mali now. I may have said this at some point before, but being in Bamako means that I've probably more made friends with the previous stages of volunteers than with my own. As a consequence, they're all COSing now. One friend leaves on Monday, two more leave in a week and a half.

A year and change

The school year is actually almost over. August 1st is the last day of class. That's incredibly hard to believe. That won't, of course, be the end of my school work for the semester. The week after will be exams. Then, there's grading. I still haven't had time to finish grading the previous semester's exams, either (we started the 2nd semester the week after exams--so there was no down time to do things like... grade papers). Some of that semester's done, just not all. Then, after I miraculously finish all the other papers that I'll need to grade, we'll eventually retest the people who didn't pass the exam on the first go (for both semesters).

Hopefully, these retests happen at a point that's either before I leave for the US or after I return--not during my departure (though it really wouldn't matter too much since all tests are proctored and they'd have copies of my test papers to give out to the students anyway).

I've been here in Mali for over a year now. Soon, I'll reach the "official" halfway point. That'll be in August. At times, my service has gone incredibly fast. Other times, not so much. Right now, I think it's mostly somewhere in the middle.

This semester, in particular, has been tough. Teaching 6 days/week has proved to be a challenge. More so because I've been sick more than I'd care to share this semester, and I've developed the most awesome heat rash ever (looking up treatment for heat rash, it says to stay in an air conditioned environment and don't sweat. Right, like either of those options are available to me).

The new stage of trainees (they won't be volunteers until they're sworn in) arrived earlier this month. I haven't had the chance to meet any of them yet, but I imagine I will after I'm done with my classes (I'm going to try and get out to Tubaniso at least once during training to meet and talk with the new university ed volunteer they have). So far, I've heard good things about the new stage.

Hashes. I've actually helped to set the last two hashes (though I still don't yet have a hash name). One of them was a "live hash" meaning the hares (those who set the hash) had only about a 15 minute head start on the hounds (runners). 15 minutes may sound like a lot, but in that time, you've got to create a path, set false trails and somehow make sure the path gets to the destination spot (usually the start). Ours was about an 8k hash.

Magnambougou Hash: A couple of Malians who decided to join us in the hash.

The second hash was in a beautiful area that required the runners to more or less climb up a giant hill and then wind down following a cliff line. The toughest part was the beginning (the climb). That and as a hare, I get to run the 5k route twice nearly back to back (okay, we had an hour or two between). Once to set, once with the runners.

Moribabougou Hash 1: View of the ridge line.

Moribabougou Hash 2: While starting the hill near the beginning of the hash.

Didn't do anything special for the 4th of July. I chose to be responsible and teach instead (that is, of course, why I'm here. To teach).

I feel like I'm making significant progress

I stay pretty busy most days. Especially now with my new teaching schedule. 6 days/week is apparently a lot. But I like it. I like being busy. I don't seem to notice time going by quite so much when I'm busy, either. Speaking of, I think my mind absolutely refuses to believe that it's 19 June. This time last year, I was preparing to leave DC and go back to Ohio to see friends and family for my last couple of weeks in the US. In less than a month, I will have been in Mali for a year.

One of the things I've been working hard to do is acquire books to use with my students (so if you're reading this and you have access to textbooks--especially high school or college literature and history textbooks, you should contact me). I've managed to get my old school system, Beavercreek City Schools, to agree to send me two boxes of books. That's a start. I think they're just sending me English textbooks, but I'm not 100% sure. I'll verify today.

I think it's safe to say that rainy season has returned. We've had rain (however brief) for the last couple of days. I'm kinda glad. When it rains a lot at night, it cools the temperature down into the low 80s, which makes it so very comfortable to sleep in. To be perfectly honest, the dry season wasn't completely devoid of rain as I'd been told it would be. There were a handful of times when we received light sprinkles.

Despite my heavy teaching schedule, I have continued to enjoy some free time. I continue to run in the hashes every other week (I'm actually going to be helping to set the course on this next hash)...

Badalabougou Hash: Proof that I actually run in these things

...and I went to the Mali vs. Ghana World Cup Qualifier match here in Bamako earlier this month. We lost... but it was still a good game.

Mali v Ghana 1: On the way to the game

Mali v Ghana 2: Gendarmes ready in case a riot breaks out

Mali v Ghana 3: Peace Corps Volunteers ready for a good game

Mali v Ghana 4: Mali taking a corner kick

Mali has a pretty amazing stadium that's really well taken care of. I was actually surprised how nice and modern this stadium is (there's another stadium in Bamako that's a bit older--this one, however, is quite new). I'm definitely going to have to make it out to a few Mali Eagles (the name of Mali's professional team) games.

Of course, I'm still studying for the LSAT, and that's going pretty well. Some days are better than others with that. The last practice test, however, I scored a 163, but would've scored a 168 had I finished all my sections on time. So speed is my biggest factor right now.

Speaking of law, I've not really ever talked about what areas of law I'd be interested in going into. When I was young and I thought about things like law school, I always just assumed I'd be interested in criminal law (and I am, let's not be mistaken there), but Peace Corps in particular, has really broadened my perspective on the world. I'd really like to go into international law. More specifically, I think I'm interested in areas such as human rights. When I think back on the types of things I've cared about (and a big reason as to why I joined Peace Corps in the first place), it just makes sense. Of course, that can change. And I don't want to get ahead of myself completely (I've not even taken the LSAT yet, let alone applied to or been accepted to any law schools).

In villa updates, I once again have roommates. Temporarily. It's nice to have other people around from time to time, but I swear, I'm going to rename this house "the in and out house." I had 2 roommates, then it was just me, then I had 1 temp roommate, then it was just me, now I have 2 more temp roommates, but soon(ish) it'll just be me yet again. I wonder if it will continue in a similar pattern for the rest of my service. If nothing else, it allows me to really peer into the lives of a couple of people at a time for a brief period. That's good for a writer.

As an aside, I just killed my first scorpion.

More near future plans: For the 4th of July, Peace Corps volunteers are planning a gathering pretty far from here. I'll have to cancel classes for that Friday and Saturday in order to go, but I think it'll be worth it (that'll give my students a time to catch up on their reading). Plus, it'll be my first real escape from Bamako since I've been here (to date, the farthest I've gone from Bamako since homestay was Siby, which, according to other PCVs, doesn't count as leaving Bamako).