Koutiala Kaw are Awesome Sauce

Basically, kaw means people and my people are some of the bestest.

When I went for site visit I ended up getting sick on the way. This made it possible for my homologue, Sam, to basically kidnap me. I was supposed to head to Koutiala-ville and meet up with my buddy, a mysterious person named Hannah, but when we got to the town north of mine on the main road, Sam asked if I wanted to get off the bus. I would have said yes if we had to walk 20 miles at that point. But we only had to bike around 8k. However, 8k on brousse roads is no mean feat for someone carsick and utterly dehydrated, so needless to say I didn't make a really great first impression on my new home, and my village was just a blur of pigs and crowded houses to me. I was so out of it that I actually laughed at my Dugutigi when Sam introduced us. Our village chief is young young young. Like 25 young. That's highly atypical in a country where age is respected above all else. But he seems competent and his young family seem nice. Anyway, the rest of Sunday night is just fuzz, although I believe I greeted people, ate some welcoming chicken, and fell asleep early.
Monday morning, I woke up early all ready to go meet with Hannah, which I had explained to Sam the night before. He came over and said, 'let's go greet people.' Four hours later, with a sunburn on my shoulders and really salty fish sauce in my belly, I said, "OK, I'm going to Koutiala now." Sam said, "Today!?!" as if we hadn't discussed it at all ever before. I tried to explain that Hannah was waiting for me, but I'm pretty sure he thought I hated my town. It's not true, I don't hate it at all, but I was still trying to feel healthy once more and I couldn't be as effusively complimentary as I was meaning to. Anyway, he grudgingly biked 8k to the road with me and waited almost an hour for a bus to stop and pick me up. This was totally unnecessary, especially the waiting, and just one example of the many lengths Sam went to this week to make me feel very welcomed and wanted. However, I got the impression he was terrified I wouldn't come back that afternoon.
Koutiala was a whole new world, full of taxi drivers shouting and young men asking the same questions about my husband that the old man on the bus did (namely where he was and when he was coming to see me... I made up a story that didn't add up, but my Bambara was weak enough to cover the gaps this time). I got off the bus at the wrong stop, and then my phone died. I had to borrow someone else's phone (for a hefty bi-naani fee!) to call Hannah and tell her where I was. When she and Jenn rode up on their bikes, looking all beautiful and concerned, I thought angels were swooping down to carry me off. Not having a bike (I left it with a nice old man), they didn't so much carry me off as get down and walk with me back to the house, which was a haven of Internet and English. I met a few COSing volunteers, and one even made me Pizza! That's right. In case you didn't hear already, Koutiala has a dairy that makes actual cheese. It's something like a cross between cheddar and mozzarella. Basically it's delightful. She also promised me her bed and didn't want me to pay her for it! I'm going to make a donation to the Gender and Development fundraiser for the things she gave me, methinks, because her generosity as it turns out isn't always par for the course and some people had to pay tons for their stuff to COSing volunteers. (COSing = close of service-ing)
Tuesday morning, my new Wifeys (Hannah and Jenn) took me to the cybercafe (for printing), the bank, and the post office. My new address is on facebook, or you can just ask me for it. After lunch we headed out to return to my site, by bus and bike. We got caught in the rain just after we got off the bus, so we hung out with the sweet old man and his family while it poured, and then headed into the bush to get covered in mud. There was literally half an inch of mud caked on some parts of my bike when we arrived. Ick. Anyway, my village hadn't expected them, but demonstrated more intense welcome and warmth by killing yet another chicken (a welcome relief from fishy sauce) and finding two whole mattresses for them on the spur of the moment. We slept early, having stayed up Monday night watching a movie and tuckering ourselves out with the bike ride. Wednesday, the girlies left in the morning, despite the protests of my village that they had just arrived, and with effusive praise for all the awesomeness that is my town. They live some distance north of me, but it's supposed to be bike-able (at least for them, athletic strong people that they are) and I'm hoping to see them pretty often.
The rest of the week is mostly a blur of greetings and tea-drinking. I posted some pictures of my house, but they don't do it any justice. I met the mayor of my commune, and he was pretty young, too, and I bought some tea and a scarf on Friday at the little market. Honestly, I didn't even look to see if I could get 'cados at the little market, but they're definitely findable at the big market in Koutiala, and maybe in M'Peso also, where the Wifeys go. The tea I gave to my jatigi (host father) ostensibly for the terrible food his wife cooked me, but more out of form than anything else; to the Dugutigi for being the youngest chief I've ever met, and welcoming me; and I saved out two boxes and gave them to Sam right before he tenderly (and unnecessarily, since he could have stayed with his family that 16k round trip plus the 45 minute wait and let me get there on my own) tucked me on to the bus to Segou Saturday morning. His face was priceless. I hope he got that I was really grateful for the welcome and really excited to come back.
Segou was its own kind of wonderland, where I met up with the Wifeys again, plus so many awesome people like their bff who made all us new girls necklaces. We went on an awesome see-the-sun-set-on-the-Niger boat ride, we had more Pizza (!!!), and we dance partied until the wee hours.
Sunday was spent in transit, and for all that it was difficult to get going, the ride back to Bamako was pretty smooth. We went around town a tiny bit, then back to T-so, and here I am. I go back to home-stay tomorrow for my last 11 days there. Time to make language class count, because I have a lot to learn. I managed to communicate, sometimes, but I'd really like to get much better at Bambara, so that it's automatic and I can begin studying the language my village actually speaks, Minanka. But that's for another day, especially since there are no PC trained Minanka teachers. And for now, it's dinner time! Ka su here caya. May the peace of your night be bountiful.