Thanks to Tomb Sweeping Day and our university sports meet, last week was quite relaxing.  Classes were cancelled on Thursday and Friday while students and teachers competed in track and field events, and other traditional Chinese sports like Tai Chi.  My sitemate and I were happy to take part in the teachers competition as representatives of the [...]

This past week we had a four-day weekend thanks to Tomb Sweeping Day.  No, I did not sweep any tombs, but I did stay the weekend with one of my grad students, her friend, and her family.  Here are some pictures from our time together: Zoe, Claire, and I went hiking in DouPeng Mountain just outside [...]

I’m not going to lie.  When I found out I was going to China, the thing I was least looking forward to was the food.  Thoughts of Chinese take-out in America always made me a bit nervous, recalling the stomach ache and Pepto regiment that is required after the meal.  I am happy to report [...]

Imagine you just arrived in a country where you don’t speak the language and are just being familiarized with the culture.  Imagine being thrust into five non-stop  days of delicious food, family gatherings, and fireworks.  Imagine the discovery, the potential awkwardness, and the learing curve. After one week of language training and a homestay with an [...]

  In April/May I packed a bag and took a much needed vacation around “The Loop” in West Africa.  I was accompanied by five Peace Corps friends who kept me company on 60 hours worth of bus rides, built wicked sandcastles, and schooled me in hiking technique.  Our travels included Benin (stopping at Ouidah to [...]

Once upon a time I was spending the night at the Niamey hostel accompanied by a meddlesome group of friends. It was raining that night and was windy enough to blow things across our yard. As a preventative measure, I put my bug hut (like a tent for one, but made with mesh walls) in [...]

The education of young girls in Niger is a key component to the country developing as a nation. Unfortunately, many Nigeriens believe girls are not as intelligent or as capable as boys, and subsequently believe it’s more beneficial to keep girls at home in order to help around the house. Remaining home will prevent the girls from becoming [...]

“The magic of travel is that you leave your home secure in your own knowledge and identity, but as you travel, the word in all its richness intervenes.  You meet people you could not invent; you see scenes you could not imagine.  Your own world, which was so large as to consume your whole life, [...]

  Gestures are one of my favorite parts of crossing cultures, so here is a little taste of Nigerien culture.

Aichatou, Me, Hammah, and Aissa Last week I attended a training for VATS (volunteer assistant trainers) in Niamey, the capitol.  There were ten volunteers selected to help train the new group of volunteer who arrived at the beginning of July and we spent a few days working with the training staff to prepare for the following [...]

Here is a short video quiz that I made for you to test your African transportation knowledge.  The question:  How many people can you fit into a bush taxi?  Post your guess in the comment box below before you start the viedo.  Good luck!

Or it might as well have been.  Our regional girls’ soccer tournament has now come and gone and the girls are still talking about it.  In my eyes it was a mediocre event filled with lots of laughs and lots of stress, but in the girls’ eyes it was the 2009 world cup.  And they were [...]

When 5pm rolls around, so do a plethora of mixed feelings.  It’s time to drop whatever I’m doing at home (doing laundry in a bucket, raking my sand, etc) and change my clothes, put on some extra deodorant, and lock up my house.   A long walk to the junior high (which is located at the [...]

  I say “you bumped your beezer” and everyone just stares.  When someone addresses me with a petty request and I “fall asleep” mid sentence, they just stare.  When I insult my friends by adding McGee to the insult people just stare (ex: for eating all the pie, Pie Eater McGee).  When I explain the “Ballard [...]

This past weekend our region of volunteers celebrated Thanksgiving together.  It was a potluck style dinner that was fashioned from random findings in the city or from treasures shipped from home.  There was even stuffing, mashed potatoes, pie, deviled eggs, cookies, salad, turkey, cheese ball, gravy, and rolls to be had.  The dilemma comes when everything [...]

Hi friends and family.  A lot of people have been asking if there is anything I would like/need.  Thanks for asking, because there is!  Since my diet consists almost completely of starches (rice, millet, and pasta) and the fact that the only fruit/veggie available in my village is squash, I would love to have some [...]

One of my goals for my first 3 months at post is to learn how to make some traditional Nigerien dishes.  In an attempt to do just that I spent an hour one afternoon with my host mom learning how to make rice and beans with at onion/peanut oil sauce.  The lesson went well so [...]

It was a two hour bush taxi ride that brought me back to the city.  Beginning with a 40 minute wait at the “taxi station” (i.e. the parking spot in front of the hodge-podge stand next to the road) the ensuing trip was filled with frequent stops (helping out other bush taxis who ran out [...]

One word to describe: - these past two weeks:  hectic Lots of language classes (to prep for the exam), our final language exam (to make sure we won’t die in our villages), the goodbye dinner with my host family (pretty self-explanatory), the Peace Corps barbeque (meeting all the current staff and volunteers), the auction and after-party (to [...]

Last week I finally got to visit the site where I will spend my two years of service in Niger.  After a quite engaging 14 hour-long bus ride (part of which was spent next to a chicken, sai hankuri…) our addition of newbie volunteers was received by the team of current volunteers in Zinder .  [...]

On greetings: Here is a glimpse of the hospitality and social orientation in Nigerien culture. Each time you see someone this is generally how the greetings go. The more you greet people, the happier they are. So in the morning when I buy my yogurt and bread in the market, when [...]

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in Niger for a month now, some days it feels like I just walked off the plane, and some days it feels like I’ve been here for years. Training keeps us pretty busy, on average we spend about 10 hours at the training sight (7:30am to 5:30pm). My [...]

I will attempt to update this blog every month, but with minimal internet availability I can’t promise much.  Please feel encouraged to send me a letter or a package (I’m sure I will need a lot of encouragement and fun stories from home).  You can write to me at:   Laura Ballard Corps de la Paix B.P. 10537 Niamey, Niger   Since [...]