First Impressions

I arrived in Mali on August 28 after 3 long, stressful days of flying and sitting around airports. I stepped off the plane into the sweltering heat, walked inside, went through the fastest customs ever, watched several cycles of bags through the baggage claim, and did not find mine. Someone told me to go outside and around to find out about my bag, so i obeyed, about at my wit's end. I didn't have my bag, and worse, it looked as if there was not anyplace indoors for me to sit for the next 8 hours until the program director would arrive.

As I walked outside, I didn't notice the man holding a piece of computer with SIT written on it, until I was almost past him, and he approached me. When he introduced himself as Modibo Coulibaly, the academic director of my program, a wave of relief hit me. They helped me check with the office where I was directed to find out about my bag, and we found out that it wouldn't be there until Monday. I could go to the hotel right away, so I hardly cared that I didn't have my bag.

I hardly noticed anything else about the airport. I got in a van with another student who arrived shortly before me, and we rode to the hotel, staring out the window at the fields of corn and millet, which were quickly replaced by houses. I was struck by all of the women carrying huge buckets on their heads, with children tied around their waists. That is definitely not something you see every day in America.

From the moment I left the airport, everything keeps getting better. After a couple of days of orientation in Bamako, and staying in a hotel there, we went to Siby for three nights. Siby is a village about an hour and a half outside of Bamako, in a lush green area. We visited a women's cooperative that makes soaps and shea butter there, and spent a couple of hours in small groups in an actual village compound (a family here doesn't have a house, they have a compound, with different buildings aroudn the perimeter for cooking, sleeping, and washing). We knew just enough Bambara to introduce ourselves and greet people on the street. That is one of my favorite things about Mali so far: everyone greets everyone on the streets, especially in villages. The culture is so open and welcoming, which has made my transition to malian life very comfortable.
In the village, we stayed at a 'hotel', that was actually a series of huts. Living in a hut and listening to a thunderstorm through a thatched roof, but never getting wet was a great experience. While in Siby, we also went on a short hike that led to some places where some of the events of their legend of Sundiata took place. Look up Sundiata (or Sunjata)- it is the story that the Lion King was based off of!

After Siby, orientation was finished, I finally got my bag (on Wednesday since we were in Siby on Monday), and I moved in with my host family, and our normal class routine started. More about that later...