It's about 7:55am here. In about ten minutes or so I'll load my pack, water filtration system, mosquito net, ALL of my PC manuals and my pillow on a bus. Six of us are going to be living in the village of Tieguena (chay guh nuh) for the next 8 weeks. I will meet my host family today, meet my fellow villagers and have Bambara class in the afternoon, which brings me to the reason why I am quickly blogging this morning.
I think I've learned my first lesson already. Yesterday we found out our homestay sites. I was all geared up to learn a minority language (they're totalllyyyyyy way cooler than just Bambara). I was convinced I would be because I tested well enough in my French. However, when they called my name, it was for a Bambara site. I have to say I was a little disappointed. I was also tripped out on Mefloquine, so that could have been part of it. Regardless, I realized that it doesn't matter what language I learn; it doesn't make a difference. I'm still working for the same organization. Besides, it's not like I'm going to use Bambara when I leave Mali, let alone a Dogon dialect or Malinke. I learned that having no expectations is the best way to go about this job. I can't be let down, and I may even be pleasantly surprised. It's a hard lesson to learn for someone as Type A as I am. How do you tell yourself not to hope? With practice, and by learning the hardway I am nervous about meeting my host family today and becoming truly immersed in Malian culture, but I am going to try to remember this as I'm freaking out because I have no clue why they're laughing at me. It's GOING to happen, haha. I hope I can handle it.
Everyone says this is one of the hardest days. DU COURAGE!!! I'll be back to teh internetz on the 20th for two days. I would LOVE to have a letter by then... :) Only kidding.
But really.
Okay k'an ben!
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