Paperwork and more paperwork...

In the packet I received with my official assignment and official "invitation" was the process by which I needed to "accept" or "decline" that inviation.  I had 10 days to send an e-mail stating my name, selected job title, country of service and notification that I accept their invitation.  I got that together that night and sent the e-mail off in the morning.  Once they recieved the notification I got a whole other set of instructions of stuff that needs to be done in the next 10 days. 

I had to fill out all the passport and Visa paperwork and send that in.  Pictures and forms and signatures.  DONE!!  I had to update my resume in a specific format.  DONE!!  Now, I have to write an aspiration statement.  What aspirations I hope to fulfill during my service, adapting to a new culture,  what I hope to gain to carry with me in the future and how my service will influence my personal and professional life after my service ends.  These are all things I feel but just can't seem get to come out in a professional, intelligent manner.  No matter what I write I sound like a babbling moron.  Like I'm answering my Miss America question.  "I hope for peace...If I could change just one person...blah, blah, blah".  How do you put what's on the inside on the outside.  I think I'll look at it again in the morning.  In the meantime, here I am.

If you all are anything like me, when you heard "Mali" your first thought was "where the heck is Mali".  I knew it was in West Africa only because I've been preparing myself for which country I thought I could be going to and Mali was one of them.  Here's a couple of maps to give you a good idea.  Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa.  Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west.  The green area in the picture on the right is where most of the population of Mali reside.  The brown area is the Sahara Desert.  I will not be there!!

 

 

The climate is alot like San Diego in the summer...all year round...and with more rain in some months than we get in a year...but other than that...

http://www.climate-zone.com/climate/mali/fahrenheit/bamako.htm 

Three main seasons which vary according to latitude. Rainy season runs between June and October, diminishing further north. The cooler season (October to February) is followed by extremely hot, dry weather until June.

Hope you enjoy some of these pictures.  Soon they will be from my camera!!
Grand Mosquee in Djenne, Mali - the largest mud structure in the world.

Well it says I will probably be living in a mud/adobe home with a thatched roof.  I'm guessing this is a pretty average village scene.


Sunset over the Niger River

Market day.

I'm feeling more and more inspired to get back to trying to write my aspiration statement.  Can I just use these pictures and write, simply, "Do I need any other reasons?"