Buckle your seatbelts...

...the rollercoaster has begun!

[Note- This blog took me like 5 tries to post because the internet is so spotty here. I wanted to upload a lot more pictures but it kept crashing so all you got is the huts and a lovely picture of the negeo]

So I'm here at Tubaniso, the Peace Corps training site just outside of Bamako, Mali. From my door of the hotel in Philly to my door in my Tubaniso hut was about 28 hours. Sorry it took me so long to post this blog, but the internet is super slow here and it took me like 3 different sessions to upload the pictures.


After sleeping the entire way to Paris, enjoying my last yogurts and toilets in Charles De Gualle, I got off in Mali to chaos. The airport is swarming with people- it is small- only one gate and baggage claim. Even if you see your bags you can't get to them because there are a zillion people who in between you and conveyor belt. There are also pestering men who try to grab your bags and expect you to pay them for carrying them for you. One man literally grabbed my bags right out of my hands and one of the Peace Corps staff got into a big argument with him. In the confusion, the message going through my head was "take your bags and get the out of here." Panicked and scared I successfully got out...

...but I didn't have all my bags. I realized at Tubaniso that I had left my computer (carry on) bag with all of my valuables on the security belt in the chaos and confusion. We arrived at the complex in pitch darkness. I could not get my bearing and was almost in tears thinking about my bags. One of the PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers) announced to us PCTs (trainees) that we would be doing a niego orientation. After a brief moment of thinking "What? An orientation at this hour?" I figured out that we would really be following the PCVs with flashlights to the 3/4 wall with a hole in the ground which was to be our bathroom/ bathing area. So apparently, this orientation was needed to get us through the night!




Meanwhile, the search for my bag was well underway. Luckily, the airport had called and had found it. So, in an old truck with a Malian driver and an experienced PCV, we drove the 45 minutes back to the Bamako airport, taking the backroads and seeing the impoverished outskirts of the city at night. We were at the airport forever, one person would send us to another person who would be clueless who would send us to another person who would put the responsibility on someone else to help us. So this is the developing world.

My heart finally settled when we saw my bag locked in the main office that night. Of course, nobody had the ability to open the office, but at least I saw my bag and it looked just as full as when it was last in my hands. The driver said he would return tomorrow to get it for me. Of course I expressed my thanks and how stupid and guilty I felt about the whole situation. "C'est mon travail". He needed to take a detour to pick up his overnight things so he could stay at Tubaniso. The PCV and I talked quite a bit about service as the driver proceeded to drive super fast as I observed donkeys in hanging out with the street with crowds of people hanging out outside broken buildings. Dozens of kids crowded around a single small TV, goats, sheep being shooed by couples on mopeds... When I returned with good news about my bag, the I was almost proud to make the other trainees jealous. They didn't get a night-time tour of underground Bamako by night. Sweet deal.

C'est chez moi!

So, I live in a hut, yes, with two other girls. With a tin roof that sounds like nails being hurled at it when the big rain came last night. But Tubaniso is still a very sheltered area. It is a mock-Malian village. We have our classes outside under grass hangers or in small huts, watching the toucans flying by or the freak giant centipedes crawling by your feet. We eat local food- beans, meats, fruits- (I think I've had a banana at every meal). All of our instructors and staff are Malian with some PCVs hanging around to help out. They are quite a fascinating people. Always so animated, and they love to laugh- at everything and very loudly.

The Peace Corps really has things under control though. We are busy every second of the day- culture classes, language, we even had a 2.5 hour class on diarrhea this morning. "Mr. D" as we call it, will be coming just around the corner, but then, I suppose, we will prepared.

I'm trying to work out but I'm so exhausted all of the time. There is a little running trail by the Niger river on our compound (quite beautiful- I'll bring my camera out there for you soon) and I've been running with some of the other PCTs. I just pray I can stay in good health while I'm here- we are all so run down that it is challenging to do so.

I'm enjoying my time here for the most part. The classes can be long and the frustration of not being able to communicate other than IM with my family one time since I've been here made me quite disappointed. Some of the PCTs are already questioning themselves, thinking of heading back to the States. As for me, I love you all and I miss you all terribly. Two years is along time. But the experience here is absolutely incredible- I'm so excited for what is to come. Next time I blog I will be out in a real Malian village living among the people, learning what to do. Wish me luck!

I wish you the best, wish you were here, wish I could fully explain everything about this place. Perfect weather, perfect sunsets, simple life.

I wish I could tell you all- describe in detail fun cultural nuances I am picking up on, the fun little conversations I have with the natives, all of the new friends I am making. And I apologize- my time is VERY limited right now, so I haven't been able to write any letters (which I will be doing soon, especially for those of you I haven't yet thanked for the touching parting words and gifts).

Shots, Goodbyes, and 78 Amazing people

Greetings from Philly-

"Staging" or Peace Corps orientation began just yesterday and by tomorrow night I will be on a plane headed across the ocean to my new life. After an easy run yesterday morning, I headed to the "Greater" Rochester International Airport, and gazed at my increadible family for a few brief moments before I had to walk away, take off my shoes for security, and go off on my own. And sitting there in the airport, waiting for my delayed flight, I could do nothing but write. I wrote about my family and how much they mean to me. I got to reflect on this strange turning point in my life. And though I was teary-eyed as I walked away from the three most important people in my life, I couldn't help but embrace the sense of freshness, excitement, and independence I felt. For a moment, it was just me, God, and a very nice snow-plow salesman that I sat next to on the plane. He told me about his girls- 12 and 9, into gymnastics and theater (sound familiar?) and upon steping off the terminal declared that he will tell his daughters he met a real live hero.

But of course, I do not feel like a hero. For the past few days I have been filling out my paperwork all wrong, listening intently as I am told how to deal with harassment and illness, sifting through all of my fears to bring the core reasons I joined the Peace Corps into the forefront of my mind. We've had to be professional, but toward the end of the day some of the activities provided me with the opprotunities to both attempt a headstand and strum out the chord to "Born in the USA" on my new little 3/4 guitar. The biggest thing I learned through all of staging is this: I am in good hands. The Peace Corps is an incredible organization. They know what they're doing. And perhaps one day, I will too.

There are 78 of us that will get on the plane tomorrow- after a morning of yellow fever and malaria vaccinations and a 2.5 hour ride to New York. Of course, I can't say I've truly met all of the trainees yet, but the ones I have are absolutely incredible. Right at the baggage claim, I met two guys- one with a striking resemblence to Chad Day- and together we figured out where the heck we were supposed to be (well, two of us. The other guy was going to a different country than us and realized after we checked in that he was at the complete wrong hotel). There are married couples, older people, younger people (I am the youngest here that I know of)- each one fascinating. I can't wait to get to know them better.

This morning was my goodbye America run- 12 miles around the beautiful and historic Philly. What a blessing I have for this opprotunity- and I am out of my mind with excitement about arriving in Bamako.

So my apologies for being lengthy and a bit over-reflective. I promise there will be humorous cultural faux pas and other type things to write about from here on end. I miss you all already, and send my love back home.

Emily

PS- Because of safety reasons, I have taken my address off of the site. Please email me or call my family if you would like my mailing address (remember, I will be getting a new one mid-september)

So Blessed

I have never felt so loved as I did yesterday. For all of you that came to wish me well, and even for those who did not make it but kept me in your thoughts- thank you.I am so excited, so excited for Mali, but I couldn't help but question why I would want to leave the most amazing people in the world- as so many of them were right there at 1880 Hickory Lane yesterday.

Thank you as well for the gifts. They were all very thoughtful and useful as well. Thank you especially for your kind words in your cards. I will bring them with me so I can always reflect on the love and support I have from all of you. You inspire me- all of you. And I decided that those of you that put a little money inside the cards- I am taking all of what was given to me yesterday and starting a little project fund. Once I get settled in my village and start to see what needs to be done, I'll come up with something special- a good use for all that money, and let you know what I ended up using it for.

You are all incredible, amazing friends and family. I hope one day I can show you the kind of love you all showed me yesterday. I am so, so blessed.

3 weeks

Mali is only three weeks away!

I'm more excited, anxious, and nervous than I've ever been in my life! I feel like I'll never feel completely prepared, but I've been starting to pull my stuff together, work on my language skills, and stay as fit and healthy as I can.

If you haven't heard, my going-away party is June 29 from 12-4.

Also, I just got skype. My screenname is em-mali. Who knows if it'll work over there, but maybe every once in awhile. If you can't come to my party- drop me a note if you have a new address so I can put it in my address book.

God Bless,
Emily

What I Really Want

MUSIC AND PICTURES

I am trying to compile some music and pictures that remind me of home, but I'm gonna need your help. I would love, love, love it if any of you felt inclined to put together some of the memories we've had, in a burned CD or a couple of pictures so that I can remember you, and home, throughout my time in Mali.

Just over 2 months

It's coming up so soon I can hardly believe it. Graduation in three weeks, Mali in less than three months. I decided that now would be a good time to start giving people an address to my blog so that you can keep updated whenever I may have a chance to post something. I also want to give you all my email address: emilyahurley@gmail.com
I will not have regular access to the internet- so write to me lots by snail mail! This also might mean that blogs will only be occasional (a couple times a month). This postal address is at my training site, which I will be at July 7-Sept 10. After that, I get assigned to a village and will get a new address and let you all know