Bamako

So, I'm in Bamako now. It's big, busy, crazy. It's also expensive (relatively speaking). Which means, I'm nearly positive that I'm going to have to have a roommate once I'm actually living here. For site visit, however, I'll certainly be okay (expense wise).

Tomorrow, I plan on playing flag football at the US embassy in the morning. Later, I'll go on the 5k run that's being put on by the South Africans (followed by food and drink). And that will be my Sunday.

Bamako doesn't cool down in the cold season like it does in much of Mali. This is because it's a big city. And by big, I mean there aren't a lot of paved roads, but there are a lot of roads and a whole lot of people crammed together.

Taxi drivers frighten me. There's a chance that I'll have high blood pressure problems before I leave Mali. Case in point. On the taxi drive from the bureau to the PCV that I'm staying with, the taxi I was in hit a person on the road. Granted, it was more of a "clip" and the person was completely okay, but still. First time in a taxi here in Bamako, and they hit someone. That says something.

I also had a cheeseburger for lunch and am soon to have fried chicken for dinner. The cheeseburger had french fries on the burger and was quite delicious. I'll have to report later on the chicken as it hasn't arrived.

There are several things I won't be able to do in Bamako that other trainees get to do during site visit. Most notably, I won't be able to see where I'm actually living. That's one of those things I'd really like to know. Especially since leases are supposed to be signed and given to Peace Corps so that they can give us money for our homes (no lease = no money for home). So, that's a tricky situation for me, but I'll wait and weather it out.

Otherwise, all is currently well. I'm tired tonight because I had to wake up at 5:00am to get ready to come here at 6:30am (which, as I expected was just ridiculous since there was no rational reason for me to be in Bamako so early--it's a 10 minute drive from Tubani-So).

I did, however, get to enjoy a real cup of coffee after arriving in Bamako (instead of the Nescafe I have every single morning). And that was absolutely fantastic.