Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello all. Happy Thanksgiving....a bit belated. We had a great one here in Kayes. There was a good turnout...12 people. We ate yummy food that was bought in Kayes and Bamako and some sent from America. For lunch, we had cheese and crackers and sausage. We bought some fresh green beans, carrots, and green peppers to dip in Ranch dressing we made. We also made deviled eggs. Unfortunately we ate that too quickly for me to take a photo of it. Just imagine a group of happy Americans with HUGE smiles on our faces. For dinner, we ate chicken, green beans, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and cranberries. For desert, we had brownies, cookies, chocolate pudding pie with graham cracker crust and squash pie. All in all, a great day!

Here is the dinner:

Deserts:
LaBass, Jake, Karmen, and me eating:
Half of Andrew, Steve, Mark and Luis:
Karmen, me, Sam, Nicole, and Andrew:

Monkeying Around

Yesterday, Natalie and I went with 2 Malian friends to see a monkey. He is a familys pet and is so adorable. We bought some peanuts and fed him.
Bambara lesson:
Mali
It means hippo.

What a weekend....

We decided to go to Kita for Halloween. Kita is another city in the Kayes region. We took the train down there. Here is Sam and Mark at the beginning of our trip.This is a sampling of the chairs on the train....
The train stopped about 9 hours into the trip at a small town. Apparently there was something wrong with the track. It was getting dark and there was a good possibility that we would have to spend the night on the side of the tracks. As we were waiting, a bashee drove up. It was headed to Kita so we jumped in. Here is Steve, Natalie and me on the bashee.
Mark and Sam on the bashee.
We got into Kita 13 hours fro when we left Kayes. We walked to the stage house. On our way there, we passed this sign. It was so random. I went back the next day to take a photo of it.
Friday was Halloween and Kayes kaw decided to dress up as a Malian soccer team. Here is us acting silly. Front row: Sam, Luis, Mark. Back row: Natalie, Steve, me, Jared, Emily.
Me having fun.
Me and Sam. It was a fun night.
Saturday we went hiking on some mountains near by. We found a home made ladder and decided to climb it. Here is me climbing the ladder.
Me overlooking Kita.
Another view of Kita. It is really pretty!!!
Sunday was Natlies birthday so we went to The White Ranch for dinner and to watch CNN. Front row: Emily and me. Back row: Mark, Luis, Jared, Joelle, Natalie, Steve, Sam.
The train was not running because of an accident so we had to take 2 buses back. It should have been an easy trip but....it definitely wasnt. We took a decent bus to BKO, a taxi to another bus station and then boarded a broken down bus to Kayes. The seats were falling apart as was the bus. Sam and Marks seat was litterally faling onto mine. Here is me and Mark. We are delirious by this point.
24+ hours after we left Kita, we finally rolled into Kayes. This is us exhausted in front of the bus. Sam, Mark, Jared, a guy who worked on the bus that kinda looked out for us, Steve, me, Natalie.
It was an hysterical trip. Very long but very very funny!!!

Bambara lesson for the week:
Ni ye dunan tenbaraba ye, don do i ba tonbaraba ye.
Take care of strangers and each other.

A cute story: my neighbors saw that I like to read. One of the younger girls came running up to me to give me a book in English. I thanked her and then sat down to read it....it is the instruction manual for a Nokia cell phone. I laughed but I still thought it was really sweet.

Emily and Natalie got kittens. Here are some photos.
Me and one kitten:Emily with her kitten:
Stephen with both kittens:
Me with both kittens:
There is a hyena in a cage along the river. I didnt believe it so I went to check it out. The hyena is HUGE!!!
This is a photo of a lizard sunbathing outside my bedroom window:

Bambara lesson for the week:
Yurikurun me o me ji la, a te se ka ke bama ye.
A log in the river will never be an aligator.
It is another Malian proverb.

I have gone out to dinner a couple of times since my last post.

One night 3 people from USAID, one of whom was an RPCV, came through Kayes and took a bunch of us out to dinner. It was at a nice hotel here in town that has a pool. The food was really good.

Then this past Saturday, I went to dinner with Natalie and Stephen (other PCVs in Kayes with me), an American woman with her husband and their 2 kids, a French couple, German lady, young woman from Switzerland, and 2 others that I am not sure where they wre from. Everyone lives in Kayes. It was a good dinner. By the time I got home, Pete called me. He is a PCV in Senegal and is friends with Dan, who was in Kalaya with me. Pete and 2 other PCVs were in Kayes for the night. I met them and we all hung out at the stage house drinking beers and watching THE OFFICE. Here is a photo of Amy (who is a PCV in the region), Mark, Pete, and Ben. It was a fun time.Bambara lesson for the week:
Dooni dooni kono nin b'a dege panni na.
It is a Malian proverb meaning, Little by little a small bird learns how to fly.

Apartment

my living roommy kitchen that is hardly ever used
my bed
my bathroom
another view of my bedroom
view from bedroom to living room
another view of living room
there is a whole other apartment with 2 roms but i never use it so i didnt take any photos of it

Swear In

me, rabayah, and peter at the ceremony
the whole stage after we have been sworn in as volunteers
everyone from keleyah, including our language tutors
all of the SEDdies aka business volunteers
all of us in kayes
me all dressed up in ly malian finest
getting ready to go out

Wish list

Hello all:
Life is Kayes is good. It is hot!!! I do have photos to upload but forgot to bring them. Woops. I have gotten some requests for what I want sent to me. Off the top of my head: anything food related that is NOT rice would be much appreciated. Peanut butter, Cheese Its or crackers or something like that, candy, tuna fish.....Anything you send will be eaten. I can promise you that! Oh and water flavorings are always good. I love those!!! That is all for now. Take care and I love you all!

Updated address

My new address is:

Ashley King, PCV
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 440
Kayes, Mali
West Africa

The Bamako address will still work. The Kayes address will just get to me faster.

Thanks!

Sophie's birthday in BKO

Josh seems to think he is strong.
Sophie and other Josh acting up for the camera.
Me and Josh. It was an intense card game. Ha ha
Holly and Sophie:

Last of the Keleya photos

Me and Salif. He lived in Peter's concession. He is a 60 yr old man trapped in a baby's body. Rabayah and Peter with Salif.

All of us on our last day of homestay. So sad!Sara and Bah in the PC fabric. How patriotic. Ha ha!

The lady in the green shirt is my namesake. She is my host dad's first wife and runs the house. She is an incredible lady and very funny!
My host sister, Tanti, in yellow. She was awesome. I will definitely miss her.Some of my family. The little baby never got around to liking me but she was so cute that I never stopped trying. Karim, the little boy in white, was my favorite host sibling.