Rock Climbing and Mud Wrestling

What a month it's been! I left Ségou shortly after New Years to go to Tubaniso for our in-service training. On the way, I got to swing by a town called Siby, which is about an hour-long bumpy ride south of Bamako. It was worth the trip, because we got to go hiking and rock climbing. It was awesome.

(Yuri, Kyle (in the background), Britta and Katie hiking in Siby)

(Yuri, Kyle, Katie and Britta)

I was with several other volunteers, and we had a blast. It cost us each about six dollars to rent all the gear and have two guides set up courses for us for four hours of climbing. Not a bad deal! We did four different courses and had a blast.

(Britta playing around on the rocks)

(All of us after climbing)

Tubaniso was fun as well. It was like a camp reunion -- all of us got back together after being in our various sites for three months. We had tons of stories to swap. We had loooooong days at Tubaniso (training lasted from 8 am to 5 pm and sometimes even went into the night). But somedays, if we got out of training before the sunset, we got to play sports. We played tons of beach volleyball (there's a sand court), football, etc. The highlight of the two-plus weeks there, though, was the MUD WRESTLING TOURNAMENT. It was glorious!

(The "before" shot)

I don't know where the idea originated, but it didn't take long for everyone to jump on board. We got the Agriculture, Natural Resource Management and Water Sanitation volunteers to create a beautiful mud pit in the fields, and then the tournament began. There were some great match ups.

(Kyle posing with Michelle, Cody and Kara surrounding him)

(Me getting pronounced the winner after pinning Kara in my first match)

I am proud to say that I never lost a match. I think I might have scared a few poepole who weren't aware of my extensive tackle mud football background! But it was all fun, and now we have some awesome memories (as well as some sweet pics).

(The "after" shot)

(Me, Kyle, Yuri and Eric..."Ségou kaw" -- meaning we all live in Sgou region) The last thing I'll say about it is -- it is TOUGH to wash out muddy clothes by hand in a bucket! I think I had to handwash my clothes four times before the water stayed clear!