i just heard that will was voted off of sytycd

so i will start this post with a little news from the homeland. i was just informed by karina that my favorite dancer on this season's so you think you can dance was voted off. will. that dude was masterful. i don't know what happened...

anyways, back to mali. ne be mali. "i am in mali."

dance classes have been my saving grace here. when i was lonely, sick, whatever....dance has always made me feel better, whether i was too sick to participate fully in class or i was full of energy and ready to go. we have thus far done several different dances: sandia (a griot dance), sogo nin kun (my favorite so far) and tansole (very aerobic...kills me every time, haha). it's great feeding off of the energy of the drummers, my teachers mba and sali, and of course my fellow dance students. i'm in class with two others, michael and omilade. michael is another brown student and lade is going to arizona state in the fall to start an mfa program in dance choreography. playing with the drummers is especially fun. there is a part of sogo nin kun where we have a clapping rhythm and the djembe player will make his drum "clap" in time with us.

i went to the tailor's with lade yesterday. mah sold us fabrics for the panafrican women's day on the 31st, and we went to have outfits made so we could join all of the women in the parade. mah was saying that on this day, none of the women work. it's the men who will do the cooking while the women get to party. i have a feeling that i'm going to really enjoy thursday....

oh, here's an update for those of you who know my dietary habits. in the u.s., i became a pesco-vegetarian a couple years back, mostly because i have issues with the meat industry in the united states. when i came to mali, i ate similarly, only eating fish as a source of meat. my reasons for being a vegetarian, however, don't really apply in this context. meat production is totally different here. animals are raised locally, often right down the street from where they are eaten. there isn't the same issue with deforestation. animals are not couped up in cages, nor is meat stored for days in freezers. it's fresh. i had the pleasure of watching some of the men prepare a sheep one morning that we ate for dinner later. the flies had a field day that morning, circling the men as they dissected the sheep's meat.

i've been living for some time now in the coulibaly house, but michael, lade and i have been bonding and well, it's time we got serious and i moved in with them to yeredon (the school that my professor and her husband seydou built). we have this running joke that i'm slowly getting into a commited relationship with them. first it was the extra tube of sunscreen. then i took the key to one of the rooms. then a fitted sheet so i could nap occassionally.
the official move-in day will be tomorrow. i will certainly miss being at the coulibaly's. it has been a pleasure spending time with them and since i know how to walk there from yeredon it shouldn't be a problem visiting the house from time to time.

my time is almost up! got to go.........

lovelove,
djene