To the village

So I am leaving my training site tomorrow and will be going to my homestay village, which is a bit outside of Bamako, where they speak the local language Bambara. I am staying in the village Chief's house, which will be both exciting and intimidating, since my Bambara vocabulary right now consists of four greetings. I will be in the village with ten other volunteers, and will be there until September 10th, when I will move to my permanent post. The homestay village is where I will get my intensive language and cultural training, and I will be completely immersed in Bambara.
These past few days have been pretty interesting. Right now its finally raining - its been hot and extremely humid the past two days here, so it is definitely welcome. Training has been great so far, but it really feels alot like summer camp, and I really look forward (with a bit of trepidation) to leaving for my homestay village tomorrow. The training has been really varied, and weve had classes on language, cross cultural and diversity issues, our technical field training, and even a two hour class on how to deal with gastrointestinal malaise (which is, apparently, inevitable). The training is mostly done by Malian Peace Corps staff as well as with current volunteers who are really trying to prepare us for life "en brusse" (in the village). Its undoubtedly been a learning experience - from the tragic fall of one of my Birkenstocks into the deep, dank neygen (toilet, aka a hole in the ground), to learning the polite way of eating with your hands around a communal bowl, learning how to fix a bike tire, and trying to understand the different gender roles and respectable behavior. Alot of our training is focused on how to be well integrated and respected in the community, as well as how to stay healthy an d safe. We had a cultural festival on Sunday, where the Malian staff and local vendors came and performed music, made food and sold some Malian clothes.
So tomorrow will surely begin the real culture shock, as I will be living and interacting with Malians, learning how to filter my own water, washing my clothes, and learning a language that I have had no experience with. As I will not have internet, I won't be able to post for about two weeks. Until then!