Home is where the heart is

Well i'm settled into my new house in Bamako.  It's seems like a mansion compared to my hut in Sanakoroba.  I must admit, this is MUCH cushier living than out on Brusse (this means bush in French...well i assume in french, i actually don't even know lol).  I've got my own bathroom with running water, a shower (albeit a cold one), and even a toilet.  Now I just have to figure out how to get the mildewy smell out of the shower drain, it's gross.  I've got my own kitchen now too.  So i can start cooking food in my ghetto oven.  I even have a fridge!  

All the same i live in a city with open sewers, terrible pollution, and there is livestock meandering down the center of the road at any given time.  Life is strange in a Developing Country.  

My house is very nice, and some pictures are posted in the links below.  So check it out.  They are all before pictures, I actually moved all my stuff in today, so the house isn't so empty.  I live with two guys, Jeffrey and Alec, so I'm not all by myself like most Peace Corps volunteers.  Again, my service isn't very normal since I"m living in a capital city working at a university.

I'm very happy to have finally unpacked my bags.  It's been hell living out of a bag for 2 months without any REAL place to call home.  I love my house.  I love my neighbors.  I love that I have a Malian Market around the corner (think bazaar in a very 3rd world kind of way....i get most of my food here, among other things...i'll take pictures later).  I love the dirt roads, the cows wondering about the streets, and the life of the city.  I think I might even love the mosque down the street that wakes me up at 3:30 in the morning for call to prayer (well actually it's to tell people to eat before the sun comes up cause of Ramadan, call to prayer isn't til 5)

My address is still the same, but now I'm a PCV, not a PCT (WOOT). 

things are good, and getting better.  

Gypsy on!

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057370&1a&id=8501838

The new pictures are after picture #30

there are more new pics, but i'm having trouble uploading, stay tuned