Apologies for a boring post

So I wasn't ready for hot season. Not really. Heat during the day is one thing, but it should cool off at night. I've come to accept that it will be hot for the next three months, but I'm counting down the minutes until the rains come and wishing I could go on vacation to the beach again.

I've just begun to under stand the reality of hot season in such a poor country. Yes, I'm hot all the time, but that's hardly the biggest concern for Malians. Wells have started to dry up and produce is quickly disappearing. People are also starting to save food (grains and such) for when the rains come and they need to work in the fields. In some households, three meals a day have already been reduced to two. I think these are going to be some of the toughest months yet.

As far as my service has gone, not much has happened since my return from Senegal. I went back to site to continue to try to make things work. They haven't. My site change was finally approved a few weeks ago and now I'm waiting on a house. I don't want to say too much about the new site yet...at least not until I've actually moved in and gotten to know my new coworkers. I don't know, I just don't want to jinx it! Hopefully I'll move soon.

Right now I'm in Bamako for several training sessions. First is Junior Achievement. There are only 10 PCVs or so that came in to learn about the program, and Tubani So is wierdly empty with hardly anyone here. Next week everyone is coming in for April IST (all Breakfast Clubbers and some Belushis). Fingers crossed that I'll be moving the next week, after which there will be one more SED training in San.

A lot of the PCVs I came with are starting to fly home to visit (most are going in May and June) and some are meeting up with family members in not-so-terrifying countries (Morocco, Spain, Italy...). I can't believe how long we've been here. The new group of volunteers arriving in July have started getting invitations. I'm anxious to come home to see everyone, which unfortunately won't be until Christmas.

Sorry this is a lame post. Nothing has happened here! My day to day life is surprisingly boring, especially in the heat when I sit around and read all the time. That said, I have excellent book recommendations if anyone needs some!