pics: my mother and grandmother sitting in my compound, My two sisters fanta and mariama and a Traore a maribou who lives with us, Dan and Braiden (my two closest neighbors at 38 and 55k respectively) and me hanging out in my hut at night, Dan helping Bacary the blacksmith keep his forge going with a bicycle wheel attached to the bellows, views from my hut pre, post, and during storm (sweet lightning shot huh).

Hello all,

just about outta time at the old cyber here so I'll make this a quickie. Life is wild and wonderful out in the bush. I'm really beginning to settle in and get comfortable with my life here. I feel as though I learn so much everyday, so much so that each day it is hard for me to understand how I got by without this knowledge the day before. We've gotten some incredible storms that are not only extremely cool to watch but that bring the temp to a delightful level. I've also gotten into the habit of taking some beautiful early morning bike rides to great view point nearby, pictures to come soon. I'll get a more complete upate in a couple of weeks but until then, all my love and happy summer to all.

willie