Purpose! Adventure! Movement!

So here I go - I've never been much of a public writer, but I am sure that having a blog will be the best way to let all of you lovely people stay up to date with my adventures. Two weeks until departure, and its been quite a whirlwind since I found out five weeks ago. Theres been so much to do, so many people to see and moments to absorb and preparations to, um, prepare. I've been wildly packing for the trip, packing up my house, downloading books (thank you kindle/dad!), and bouncing from Long Island to Brooklyn to Manhattan. And through all of this I feel such immense excitement and a feeling of wholeness - I am ready to leave the academic world of "conscious inertia" as Doestoyevsky puts it, and move forward with action. So why am I giving up a comfortable, air conditioned life in NY to go and live in a developing country for over  two years? Because I know that this one time in my life I have the freedom to live and work in a foreign country, and share my knowledge and interest in medicine with a population where it is not as easily accessible. I hope I can really make an impact on the healthcare in my area, and create a program that is sustainable and relevant. I hope I will better my French, learn a new language, paint, listen to Malian music, meditate, meet wonderful people and experience a new culture from the inside out. 

So for those who would like to know a bit more about Mali (summarized mainly from Wikipedia and the Peace Corps welcome book):

Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Algeria, Mauritania, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal and Guinea. It is about twice the size of Texas. Through it runs the Niger and Senegal rivers in the south, where most of the population lives. The ancient Ghana, Mande and Songhai empires controlled much of the trans-Saharan trade through the Niger river (many traded through the famous city of Timbuktu). The northern region is mainly comprised of the Sahara desert. Mali has a constitutional democracy which was established in 1992, and is considered one of the most politically and socially stable countries in Africa.  The national language is French, but many of the population speaks Bambara. The population is mainly Muslim (90%), but there are small populations of Christians and traditional animist religions (and apparently a few Saharan Jews!). Mali is know for its music (check out Amadou and Mariam, they're good!). The Peace Corps have been in Mali since 1971.

If you want to know more, you could, well, look at Wikipedia yourself, or check out these other resources:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ML.html (CIA World Factbook)

http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcmali.htm (a great map of Mali with facts)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1021454.stm (BBC country profile) 

http://mali.usembassy.gov/ (US embassy in Mali)