Ville'

As if it were meant to be, the power went off just before I typed my first letter. Much more convenient than after the 4,382nd word.

creatures of the night

Breakfast, village style

Anywho, I have settled into village life quite well. It seems like I moved in just yesterday, but I guess, according to my watch, I have been here almost a month. I've got a good routine going now and things are definitely less chaotic than in PST. I normally wake up before the butt-crack of dawn and make tea or coffee (a real luxury) on my little gas stove in my hut. It is nice and quiet aside from the roosters (who have obviously set their clocks ahead). Breakfast is the typical millet pourage or leftover dinner and then it is off to the master farm garden which is a 1sq hectare plot for demonstrations, best management practices, and such. After IST (in-service-training), I will hopefully be able to start some projects here. But for now it is nice helping my counterpart/brother. Mid-day is hot and therefore a type of siesta time where little more than lounging gets done. Soon as the angle of the sun approaches desirable, it is back to the garden. When finished, I haul my bucket of water, pulled from the well in the wee hours of the morning, back to my hut via bicycle. The sun has been exciting these water molecules all day and they prove to make a bucket bath exponentially more pleasant. :) My family here is really great too! They are very welcoming and I spend a lot of time just hanging out with my brothers. The language is also picking up which makes daily chatting much less frustrating. I have also had the freedom here to help out in the fields with peanuts, cattle, etc, go into Kolda and explore the market, or go hang out with my volunteer friend about 30min via bike. A much appreciated freedom that was missing throughout PST. Oh and I have adopted Cupcake - A dog from a past volunteer here.

Brothers, Cupcake, stacking peanuts