Saturday, May 24, 2008

The Beginning of Goodbyes

Farwell Jacq
Well, this past week, Sikasso Kaw said goodbye to a Bulshi (the stage that came 2006), Jacq. Jacq is extending her PC service in China! Last Saturday, we had a lovely party for her. I think everybody had a great time.
On Sunday, I went to market. I detest the market on Sundays because it’s really crowded, and one time, I almost got pushed over. Linds came in for the party, and she needed to go, so I went with her. I did, however, make a fun purchase. I bought some lingerie beads. They are called and you wear them around your waist. When we first got here, they were talked about during one of our cultural lessons, but the Malian was too shy to show her beads.

I, however, am not to shy to show my beads!

Monday was a really tough day for me. I was ready to call it quits. But, I have an amazing support system here, and concluded that some days are just terrible. Did I mention how much of a crappy day it was? Oh, and my beads fell down. Apparently, I didn’t tie them tight enough. Thank God I was wearing pants!
Tuesday night, we had Jacq’s Bash part II. We had Asian Fusion night. It was so much fun and absolutely delicious! Jacq left Wednesday morning for Bamako, so it was her last night here!
On Thursday afternoon, Trinh and I went house hunting (for me) and bureau shopping (for Sikasso Kaw). Our bureau is a one room hole in the wall, and we have to share a yeagan. (And, the yeagan is almost overflowing. I won’t take a picture though. You can use your imagination!) I really enjoyed house/apartment shopping in America, but not so much here. First of all, there is no brochure of all the places for rent. We started off with my landlord, he knew another landlord, talked to him, and asked if he knew anybody, etc. Anyway, that little book is really helpful. The last house we looked at was quite impressive. 5 bedroom/ 5 bathroom house…only 6 times the price of my apartment! Note: It’s never a good sign when you ask how much a house is and the landlord says, “It’s expensive.” My power got cut yesterday, so I am even more motivated to find a new place. One thing I believe Americans take for granted: Having separate electricity and water bills. I’m predicting my water to get cut within the next few weeks too because I haven’t seen a bill in quite some time. Time and time again, if I ever have to choose between water and electricity, water all the way!!!!
Next week, Emily is coming to Sikasso to celebrate her birthday! Linds is coming too, and we are going to have a magnificent time!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow-Whee Check Out Those Beads!!! You definately need to expand your collection!. :) Donna

Unknown said...

I'm a little confused what function, if any, the beads serve. Maybe you can elucidate without an illustrate?
love,
a.m.