Learning Bambara

OK...we started learning Bambara now. I forgot how much I don't like languages. In college, I had to drop Spanish III before I failed, and Spanish is an easy language I was already familiar with. Bambara is just completely unfamiliar. Our teacher doesn't speak any English so we hold up objects and she tells us what they are and she goes over and over until we feel comfortable, then we record her. We hold up a cup, she tells us the word for cup. We hide the cup and say, where is the cup. Then we find it. We hope she is teaching us to say, where is the cup. We put the cup on the stool. We hope she is saying, the cup is on the stool. She's really patient but I know it has to be frustrating for her. She laughs at us a lot, and we have no idea why so we just laugh back. It's exactly how I used to teach the kids at the day care new words, holding up pictures and objects and going over and over them. But, this should be a lot better than memorizing words and being tested on them. It's hard but it's really good because we are in control, and if we want to work more on something we can go over it more and if we think we have it we can go on. It helps a lot to be able to go at your own pace. The other girls here used this method and went into places where no English speakers had ever been and after a year they speak the language fluently. So, hopefully, I'll learn the language quickly, even though it doesn't come naturally to me.
God has already given me an amazing love for these people, and I can't wait to be able to communicate with them and share the gospel.

First few days...

Hey everyone! I'm finally here in Africa, I didn't really think this day would every come, but here it is! We got here late Friday night and have been pretty busy ever since. First, I can't really do anything here. I knew to expect that, but it's weird to actually experience it. I can't drive, cook, talk, find my way around, nothing. When people try to talk to me all I can do is look at them dumbly and hope they understand that I'm not being mean, I just have no idea what they're saying or how to respond.
All we've really done so far is get to meet some of the other m's here, go around the market and explore some, and learn how to story. All of the people groups here are oral, so we're learning how to story the Bible for them.
It's not nearly as hot here as I thought it would be, and it's really beautiful. The people here are really friendly, they just don't speak English and I don't speak French or Bambara so I can't really talk to them, but hopefully soon!
So far it's been a lot of fun and I really love it here.
Please pray that I will be able to learn the language quickly and drive safely. Driving here is crazy and I'm terrible at driving a stick shift, so this should be interesting...