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This is from July:

I have been back for a while, am about to go on my second vacation (Ghana!!) and didn’t finished this vacation update until now. The main events since vacation are that the Zinder team hosted an all Niger volunteer conference with 54 volunteers in our hostel. A lot of volunteers made presentations and I co presented on murals. In other news, it’s been raining and my villagers have been going out to the fields and I toured the fields with my friend Murza. Everyone farms, even old ladies, and they all ask me when I’m going to go or hire someone to do a field for me. I keep telling my villagers that I’m planting a garden, which I only did a week before I left my village. The moringa project, health murals and textbooks project are all progressing with some hiccups but generally pretty well. Rainy season means bug season and I am currently covered in bites because I thought hiding in my mosquito net without slathering DEET all over me would be enough. Not so, and therefore it’s DEET for me until October.

I’m writing an account of my trip through Bamako, Mali to Senegal in Ancient Greek Comedy form [a la Audrey because I don’t actually know anything about Ancient Greek Comedy] with graphic novel inserts. Also please keep in mind that I’m translating most of the conversations from French via a fuzzy memory and I took artistic liberties even with some of the stuff I remembered okay. Furthermore, apologies are in order because this has accidentally turned into a Brobdingnagian behemoth and also I am a terrible dialogue writer and I should probably be shot for even thinking of putting this in play/graphic novel form. Cheers, ~aj

Prologue:

Chorus:

Lo! Here is a white girl traveling across Africa alone.

How she feels vulnerable and adventurous so far from home.

She travels the sky with lux Ethiopian like the Nubian princes

But outside the airport with just French, no local language, she winces.

What are you doing here in Bamako on your own?

Audrey:

I am going to Senegal to meet my Austrian friend Felizitas.

I must stay over night in Bamako because Africa doesn’t have a lot of flights.

Chorus:

What do you think of Mali?

Audrey:

There is the Malian landscape, dessert with bluffs and a river winding through, much like Niger, just as expected. Here is the city Bamako, dusty, sprawling across the river basin. The airport is bigger than Niamey’s, but then, there aren’t many capital city airports that are smaller.

Wow Mali has air force jets like Americans, look at those two big black cargo plains!

Chorus:

Those are American air force. Remember hearing about the training that American soldiers have begun doing in the Sahara dessert. Now on your way out of Mali you see the soldiers on the other side of the lounge and you smell the delicious buffet they are eating.

Audrey:

I want to experience local cuisine. I want to experience local cuisine. I want to experience local cuisine …

Chorus:

What will you do in your 20 hours of Bamako?

Audrey:

I will find this elusive PC bureau and I will visit the national museum. Lo here is the building, after much trouble of searching! Wow this bureau is gorgeous. Nothing like the Niger bureau, which is shabby in comparison. And look at this nicely designed though modest national art museum. What will I see here?

Chorus:

You will see a large showing of Mali’s famous indigo dying. You will see Mali’s archeological treasures. And look around the corner. What is here?

Audrey:

It’s the Chi Wara antelope headdresses! These are studied in every world art history course and are famous! These were my favorite pieces when I took that course. Imagine, wandering through a dusty West African museum and, with no knowledge of the spectacular treasure it contains, stumbling across this. And here I am standing on the same soil as the culture that produced these! It is like meeting de Vinci for the first time.

Chorus:

A pilgrimage now well complete

But it is time your friend to meet

Act I

Scene I: Arrival. See Graphic Novel insert 1.

Scene II: [Setting: Felizitas, Audrey and Mamichou greet the family sitting on plastic lawn chairs on the side walk outside and enter the house. The room is nicely furnished with tile floors and concrete painted walls and a door going to the kitchen and one to the interior rooms. Felizitas and Audrey put their things in a room that has been given to them for their stay. Then they sit in the living room with the family.

Mamichou: Is the room okay?]

Felizitas: The room is great. Thanks a lot.

[enter Ramatou *I‘ve forgotten her name, but I‘m gong to call her Ramatou]

Ramatou: Hi I’m Ramatou. You must be the guests.

Felizitas: Yeah, I’m a student at St. Louis University. I’m your friend’s neighbor in the university dorms. This is Audrey, she works in Niger.

Ramatou: Wow, what is Niger like?

Audrey: It’s very hot! And there aren’t streets like here. And the carts that are pulled by horses here are pulled by cows and donkeys there.

Mamichou: Are you hungry?

Felizitas: No I’m not really hungry. Are you?

Audrey: I could eat.. But only if there are leftovers from lunch. Don’t cook anything for me.

Mamichou: I’ll go get it. Do you want to take a shower?

Felizitas: Yeah I’d like to.

Audrey: Um I’ll take one later tonight. [Aside] Yikes I’m gonna be exposed already as a mangy, stinky slob. But it’s so cold here, it must be only 80 degrees and I don’t think I’m really all that smelly yet..

[exit Felizitas and Mamichou, enter Ali]

Ali: Hi I’m Ali.

Audrey: Hi I’m Audrey.

Ali: Do you wana look at pictures?

Audrey: Sure.

[Ali goes to large armoire and takes out two large photo albums and two small ones]

Ali: Here, this is Ramatou’s wedding.

Ramatou: So what do you do in Niger?

Audrey: I work in education. I work with my middle school doing English clubs, and I’ve painted a few murals at the health center. What do you do?

Ramatou: I’m a secretary at the university.

[enter Felizitas]

Felizitas: Oh these are so pretty.

[Ali goes to the TV and starts playing with the DVD player. He puts on a digital photo slide show and starts playing music]

Ali: This is my favorite song. [Singing:] We are the woooorld. We are the children. We are the ones who make a brighter day So let's start giving …

[enter Mamichou with a large platter of food. She covers coffee table with table cloth and sets out silverware. They begin eating from the communal platter.]

Mamichou: Is it good?

Audrey: It’s so good!

Mamichou: What’s the food like in Niger?

Audrey: It’s rice or millet pudding with sauce over it. Like this, only a lot more oil and a lot less veggies and meat.

Mamichou: Have you had Jibojen yet?

Audrey: No what’s that?

Felizitas: It’s one of the national dishes of Senegal. You’ll eat it sometime this week. Jibo means rice and djen means with fish.

Ali: And there’s also Massa and Yassa.

Felizitas: Massa is a sauce made of peanut powder and veggies and meat and yassa is another type of sauce with veggies and meat.

Mamichou: Eat more!

Audrey: I think I’m done.

Felizitas: Yeah me too.

Mamichou: You should eat more.

Audrey: Well.. Okay maybe a little more.

Felizitas: man Audrey you can eat!

Audrey: [aside] Dang it, now I’m gonna be exposed as the giant food disposal system that I am! Felizitas is so dainty and I am two left feet with a bottomless pit on top. [to Felizitas] Yeahh.. I can shovel it in pretty well..

Mamichou: So after, you guys can rest and then we should check out this neighborhood block party down the street. Those are fun! It’s a tent set up with mats in front and a band plays Senegalese music and we can dance or just listen.

Felizitas: That sounds good

Audrey: Thanks for the hospitality, this is really nice.

SceneIII: [Dakar’s street market, at a shoe stall in front of a touristy factory.]

Felizitas: I don’t know. Are these shoes okay looking?

Audrey: Yeah, but don’t trust my fashion sense. How much do they want for them?

Felizitas: I don’t know yet.

Audrey: I’m going to go into that store right there and look around.

[Audrey enters store and begins fending off sales people.]

Sales person: Look over here, this is pretty and it’s a good price!

Audrey: No I’m just looking.

SP: That bag you’re looking at is just 8000CFA, very pretty, very high quality.

Audrey: Okay well I’m just looking for now.

SP: Well I’ll hang on to it and you can look for more things you like. The price comes down if you buy a lot of things!

Audrey: No really, I’m just looking, 8000CFA is way too expensive anyway.

SP: Just keep looking and we’ll talk prices after. You like those slippers? Which ones, I’ll hang on to them. How about this dress? Do you like this?

Audrey: No I really don’t like that dress.

SP: What’s your name?

Audrey: In Africa, I’m Fati.

SP: Fati is the name of my mom! You are my mom! What are you looking for? Do you like this towel?

Audrey: No I don’t. How much is this suit?

SP: Cheap! Only 10,000CFA, here give it to me I’ll put it in the pile. Come look over here at these things.

Audrey: I really don’t think I’m going to buy anything. [Enter Felizitas.] Felizitas! Are you looking around too? [lower voice.] He’s crazy!

Felizitas: Yeah…

SP: Come look upstairs, let me show you the factory. This is a factory for handicapped people. We’re very well known. Let me show you special hand dyed, hand woven tapestries. My friend here makes these! They’re very high quality and you can only get them here.

Audrey: [Aside.] Yeah right this is a factory for handicapped workers, and these woven things are pretty similar to the ones made in Mali and Niger… Gotta give him credit for his sales pitch, he knows how to work a tourist. But not me: -I- am no tourist.

SP: How bout this one? Hey bring out all of those on the wall. What would you like to see? This?

Audrey: No, I really don’t have enough money for these, I don’t want them.

SP: I can give you a good price! How much do you have? 7000CFA! It’s a good price!

Audrey: No I really don’t have 7000CFA. [Walking out.]

SP: Okay let me show you these batiks. They’re very pretty arent they?

Audrey: No they make lots of batiks in Niger, where I live.

SP: Okay lets see this room then. See anything you like here?

Audrey: Do you have this shirt in a smaller size?

SP: No that shirt is one size fits all. It’s the style. It’ll look very good on you. Try it!

Audrey: No really that’s too big. I don’t like it. I’m ready to go.

SP: Well, let’s sit down and talk about prices then. Over here, make yourself comfortable.

Audrey: Really I don’t think I can buy all that. I don’t have very much money.

SP: How much will you pay?

Audrey: For that only 3000CFA, and that only 4000.

SP: No that’s not good. These are very high quality. The fabric colors wont run when you wash them in the machine! It’s good stuff.

Audrey: No really, that is the same as the fabric I can find in Niger, and there it’s half what you are asking for. Look at my bag, this is the same fabric and it’s from Niger and I didn’t pay more than 3000CFA for it.

SP: No that fabric is cheap. If you wash it in the machine it will run. This fabric is very high quality.

Audrey: No it’s the exact same and besides I wash by hand! I wont pay more than 3000CFA

SP: How much for all of this?

Audrey: I dunno…. 15,000 CFA?

SP: No! This is worth 35,000CFA!

[Enter Felizitas and Mamichou. Mamichou sits and tries to bargain in Wolof for Audrey. It doesn‘t look to Audrey like Mamichou is getting much head way.]

SP: Miss, how much will you give, above 20,000CFA?

Audrey: No only 20,000CFA.

SP: No really how much above 20,000CFA?

Audrey: Hhhhh. 23,000

SP: 25,000. It’s good. I’ll sell it for 25,000

Audrey: Hhhhhhh. Okay.

[Audrey pays and while Felizitas is bargaining for her items, Audrey gets suckered into one more purchase, the weaving in the other room. Audrey, Felizitas and Mamichou walk out of the factory to see the rest of the market]

Audrey: Man we got schooled back there, Felizitas!

Mamichou: [Rolling eyes] Next time, I do the bargaining.

Audrey: Yeah… Oh look! Can we go over there?

Felizitas: What?

Audrey: Yeah are you hungry? Just a snack? It’s Ali Baba Snack Bar! It’s in my guide book so I wanna check it out. And I’m a lil hungry.

Felizitas: We just ate like an hour ago.

Audrey: I know. Just a little bite, yeah? My treat!

Scene IV: [Mamichou, Ali, Audrey and Felizitas descend on to the docks of Gorée Island from the ferry to the sound of a drumming group. On the small beach there are kids splashing in the waves and parents sipping drinks at the cafés. The town is composed of well kept up 18th century, brick, two and three story buildings painted in bright tropical colors with tropical flowering bushes spilling out onto the cobblestone streets. It is too picturesque to be the scene of so much horror. The group wanders down the narrow streets until they come to a museum. They buy tickets and go in.]

Felizitas: This is the slave museum. It’s the building where slaves were kept before they went to the Americas.

Audrey: It’s really neat architecture.

Felizitas: Yeah. Look at this, this is the door that they left through. It was in a really famous film that you have to see.

[Enter Docent.]

Docent: Please listen up everybody. We’re gonna get started. First, thank you for coming to visit Ile de Goree and the slave museum.

This house was built in1776 by the Dutch. It was last slave house built in Goree. The 1st slave house dates to 1536 built by the Portuguese.

These rooms in front of you were cells reserved for the men. Families were split up, men from women, women from children. These cells are 2 and a half meters squared and housed 15-20 people with their backs against the wall. They were chained from their neck and wrists.

Occupants were let out to relieve themselves once a day and therefore conditions in the slave house were so revolting that it’s no surprise that Goree’s first pest endemic, in 1779, originated in these cells.

This small house contained between 150 to 200 slaves-men- women-children who had to wait for very long periods, almost three months before being carried away.

Their departure to the Americas also depended on the buyers; perhaps the father went to Louisiana in the USA, the mother headed for Brazil or Cuba, the child to Haiti or the West Indies. The separation was total.

And this is where children were stored. The mortality rate was obviously the highest in the house.

Young girls were kept separate from the other groups because their virginity might give their captors a higher price. Some of them wouldn’t be saved for the auction block but would be used in this house. If they didn’t all protest, you can’t blame them; it was that or death.

The second floor was used for trader’s quarters.

Why did they use Gorée Island? The harbor is good and sheltered somewhat. But mainly, there were not very many escapees from the island because most Africans couldn’t swim and those who could would be eaten by sharks. That might sound fictional, but in the 18th century there were a lot of sharks around this island because sick and dead people were thrown into the water.

There were many ports from which slaves were taken from Africa and Gorée isn’t the most important numbers wise. There were others in Senegal, in the Gambia, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Congo, South Africa and countries in East Africa.

After all this, who is to blame for Africa’s struggles to stabilize and develop? Certainly the West deserves much of the blame having torn crops, minerals and flesh from this land. But it has been 50 years since many African countries gained independence. An entire African generation has grown up and become middle aged in freedom. And still our society lets its youth sit idly, regressing. Our history may not have been in our control but our future is. So from your visit to Gorée Island, I hope you take enjoyment, but more importantly I hope you take away learning- I hope now you know more about the past, but that you think more about the future. Thank you.

*much of the speech I got from the UNESCO Goree site (because I wasn’t taking attentive notes in French while on vacation) here is the address, it has some great pictures: http://webworld.unesco.org/goree/fr/screens/0.shtml

Scene V: Sunday see graphic novel insert 2.

Scene VI: Monday -Fatayas! Walk with Ali

A: Are you hungry?

F: No, didn’t we just eat like an hour ago?

A: Um yeah. But can we find a snack around here somewhere?

F: Oh no you’re hungry again! Okay here’s a fataya stand. Do you eat street food?

A: Are you kidding? All the time. What’s a fataya?

F: It’s a pastry stuffed with things like a meat sauce and then fried. It’s the samething you had at Ali Baba’s only these are smaller.

A: Hmm okay I’ll try it anyway.

F: Don’t they have these in Niger?

A: No I haven’t ever seen them.

F: Do you want sauce?

A: Yeah [takes fatayas] Oh my god these are amazing. Man I should introduce these to Niger.. You can get these all over around here?

F: Yup.

*Un theatrical side note: I asked for fatayas everywhere I went after this so much that at one point Felizitas forbade me from eating anymore fatayas.

[later in Mamichou and Ali’s house]

Audrey: Hey Felizitas is taking a nap, Im going to go walk around the neighborhood.

The Mother: Oh no you can’t go out by yourself, you’ll get lost!

Ay: No no, I’ll be okay.

Ali: I’ll go with you. Wait for me.

Ay: Well okay.

Ali: Where do you wanna go? D’you wanna go to the market?

Ay: There’s a market close by? Yeah let’s go there.

Ali: It starts here. What are you looking for?

Ay: I dunno, not anything really. Do we need anything for dinner?

Ali: D’you wanna make a Senegalese salad?

Ay: Sure, but you’ll have to teach me. I don’t know what a Senegalese salad is. What do we need for it.

Ali: Lots of veggies. Here’s the lettuce. It’s 100CFA.

Ay: Alright

Ali: What else do you like? I think we have onions at home. We definitely need mint..

Ay: I like all vegetables, the more the better.

Ali: Alright here are carrots and tomatoes. She’s not giving me a good price on the tomatoes, let’s go over here. And she’s got a bunch of stuff.

Okay we have carrots and tomatoes and cucumbers. I think we’re good.

Ay: Is there a pastry shop near by?

Ali: Yup it’s down this street. If you look down here you can see the school Ramatou works at and if you keep walking on this street you get to my school.

Ay: Do you walk to school?

Ali: Yup.

Ay: Do you come home for lunch or do you eat there?

Ali: I come home. Oh no we forgot limes! Here’s a stand with limes, lets stop and get some.

Ay: Okay

Ali: They’re 200CFA.

Ay: Here you go.

Ali: Okay now we have everything and there is the pastry shop

Ay: Oh man, it’s a Brioche Dorée! I didn’t know you had one of these so close! What does your family like to eat from here, I’d like to get us some small dessert.

Ali: Ooooo This bread here.

Ay: Okay I’d like one of these breads and two pain au chocolats. [to Ali:] For breakfast tomorrow when Felizitas and I are on the bus. Okay let’s go back before it gets dark.

Ali: Thank you! [Ali jabbers on about something to do with Muhammad and Islamic history which sounds suspiciously inaccurate to Audrey. When the house is in view, only just barely because it‘s already night:] Oh no we forgot mint! We have to go to a stand down this street to get some. There is absolutely no way we can make this salad without mint!

Act II

Scene I: At Gite Somethingorother

Audrey: So we got in our room and now we need to find out how to get running water and lunch.

Felizitas: And we need to find out about tours so we can see the animals. So that guy drinking over there is the owner.

A: Oh great.

F: And I was listening to those English guys’ conversation and I think they’re doing a tour later that maybe we can get in on. Maybe you could talk to them?

A: Okay.

[enter Max the local Senegalese guide]

Max: Do either of you speak English? I’m supposed to take those guys on a tour tonight and I need to tell them some things, but I don’t speak enough English and they don’t speak enough French.

F: Yeah especially her.

M: Would you mind translating a little?

A: Sure.

F: Hey do you think we could join the tour?

M: Probably, but you’ll have to ask them, we’re taking their SUV.

F: Okay, also can we get lunch here even tho it’s almost 3?

M: Nah the cook’s gone and the owner doesn’t want to serve anything. But you can come to my house, I always cook for people on all day expeditions. I’m very good. I can make omelets or fish sandwich or spam sandwich, whatever you want.

A: Oh man Felizitas, I don’t know about you but that spam sandwich sounds amazing!

F: We’ll figure it out. What about the water situation? Why is there no running water right now?

M: Oh, the electricity’s not on. This place runs on a generator and the owner doesn’t like to turn it on till almost dark.

F: Guess we’ll be dirty and not picky eaters today. Why don’t you go help translate and ask those guys if we can join them?

A: Kaydoke. [To British guys:] Hi, sooo, this guy says he’s taking y’all on a tour later and he wanted to make sure you knew about some stuff but that he doesn’t speak English enough.

Uncle English Guy: Yeah, well that’s great!

[I actually can’t remember what Max needed to tell them, I think confirming what they wanted to see and the time. But that’s boring, so skip to..]

A: So my friend and I were wondering if it’d be possible to jump into the tour and split the price with you guys.

UBG: Yeah, well we’ll have to take some stuff out of the jeep cuz we‘re going around in our car, but yeah no problem. See you then.

A: Kay thanks.

[lunch at Max’s was as modest as it sounds, and also boring so skip to the tour:]

F: Oh these mangroves are so neat! And maybe we’ll see monkeys!

A: Monkeys! No way. We have to see monkeys. We absolutely cannot leave without seeing monkeys.

Nephew British Guy: You haven’t seen monkeys yet? Oh they’re all over around here. You’ll definitely see them before you leave.

Max: Monkey footprints here.

A: Ahhh! Cool, wow, awesome! What are these prints?

M: Warthog. Hey tell them that this white powder is where they have collected all the seashells around and piled them up on a stack of logs and burned them to get this powder that is used for making cement or plaster. And here we have my friend who runs this garden. He speaks English.

Gardener: Hi welcome. I work as an agent for this environmental tourism project. We want to build this site into a functioning organic garden area in a natural wildlife park to attract tourists who like seeing “Green” solutions. That’s ecotourism. Let’s walk down and see the area. So here is a natural spring. [It was gorgeous.] And here’s a papaya tree. There was a fruit here yesterday that I thought ‘tomorrow that will be ready to eat and it will be delicious’. But during the night a monkey came along and also thought it was ready to eat and look at it here on the ground now all eaten. That monkey stole my papaya. So here we are at some gardens that these local women take care of. They were built like this in order to take advantage of rainfall. So the rest is just to show you an area where we’ll see lot’s of birds and some toads and things. And that’s it.

[Later back at the resort Audrey and the English Nephew Guy playing table tennis:]

A: I’m really horrible at this game, so sorry if you loose and eye.

ENG: Oh no, that’s no problem. I’m not too good at it myself.

A: So what are you and your uncle doing in Africa?

ENG: Well my uncle decided to drive around Africa and invited me to come along, and I was working in construction and didn’t really know what I wanted to do for future career and so I thought the offer was too good to pass up. We were in Mauritania and that was really pretty, and tomorrow we’re going to the Gambia and then across to Ghana and Togo and Benin and Burkina Faso and Mali. In Burkina, we’re meeting up with my mum, cuz my uncle and she grew up there and they wanta visit it. So she’ll be with us for about 2 weeks. And then, yeah, we’ll make our way down south to South Africa and we’ll take about a year.

A: Wow a whole year of nothing but traveling! Are you going to come back up?

ENG: Well we’ll see. That depends on if we feel like it and if it doesn’t cost too much.

A: I watched some episodes of a TV show this French couple made of their trip from South Africa to the holy land which they walked entirely on foot -except for one stretch with camels=over 2 years! You African explorers, man I couldn’t do it, but it must be so interesting.

ENG: Yeah well on foot I couldn’t do that either. But its pretty cool. My uncle’s traveled here a lot and I’ve gone on a few of his trips to some of the big game parks. It is a really cool place to travel.

Felizitas: Oh look, what’s that animal?

ENG: It’s that giant owl I told you came to the water hole last night! Let’s go look.

SceneII: Monkeys! See graphic novel insert 3.

Scene III: Monolyths, see graphic novel insert 4.

Act III

Scene I: Walking in downtown St Louis

Audrey: I’m hungry now, where should we eat?

Felizitas: Always hungry. I was thinking at this restaurant called Fast Food right up here. It’s not great but its okay and it is *fast* food. Since you liked Ali Baba, I figure you’ll probly like this. And we’ll go by a bookstore we can stop in on the way.

A: Cool, but I think I’ll order before I look in the bookstore. I think it’s funny that you are taken aback seeing livestock on your campus. I mean in the western context its weird, but man I’m so desensitized, I would have culture shock if there weren’t random cows lying around outside my door.

F: It’s so weird! They wander by the window when we’re having class!

A: Yeah I remember how that would have seemed surreal to me, but it’s just too ordinary now. OMG look at that menu. What am I going to order? This is like 3times better than a fast food place in America. Except for Chipotle. Ohhh they have fatayas!!

F: [rolls eyes]

A: Yes that is what I’ll have. A fataya. So why are there so many students who take German at this university?

F: My university and the one here have a partnership so a lot of exchange students go between the two. I’m gonna get the burger. Lets go sit down.

A: [starts shuffling contents of bag]

F: What are you doing?

A: Putting my sea shells into a plastic bag so they arent all over the place.

F: That’s smart.

A: Don’t want them to break, they’re my travel present for my villagers since I think they’re pretty rare in a land locked dessert where not even enough food is imported. [Side note from the then future: all the women I gave those sea shells asked me if it was medicine or decoration. Sometimes I think life in my village is completely normal life for me, and then my villagers ask me if a sea shell is medicine. And then I remember it is not my normal life because I have in fact time traveled to the 15th century. But all my friends loved the seashells.] The beach was so pretty, even though it was overcast and there’s a lot of trash on the sand. I could go back there. [And we did!]

F: Yeah I used to go there all the time, even skipping classes, which is alright because we don’t even all the time have classes anyway. In one of my classes the teacher hasn’t bothered to show up except for twice- all semester!

A: That is weird to me. I can’t believe that. How does Africa intend to make progress if it doesn’t even intend to teach it’s university students.

F: Life here is just different. …Food!

A: Food! …OMG this fataya is the most delicious thing I have ever eaten at a fast food restaurant!! Except for Chipotle. AHHHHHH!

F: [looks dismayed]

A: This is my new favorite restaurant. I wish I could eat here every other day.

F: It’s so much like those awful places we have back home!

A: YESSSS! Those beautiful awful places!

F: I don’t get it. Do you like these places or not?

A: In the States, I snobbishly dislike fast food, but I’ve been living in Niger for the past 8 months where fast food is fried millet batter with ground up hot pepper. This is almost home, this is almost heaven after so long in Niger!

F: Well I’m glad you’re happy.

A: Hey look what they put on TV!

F: That’s traditional Senegalese wrestling.

A: No it must be West African. In Niger it’s called Kokowa. I didn’t know they did it outside of Niger.

F: they just had a big national competition.

A: Yeah in Niger too! They hosted it in Zinder, I watched it on TV cuz I had amoebas when I was in town. Wow. Okay wow, that was a great fataya. I almost could eat another.

F: [bug eyed] I envy you. Shall we go?

A: Lets.

F: Taxi!

A: I haven’t seen too many of those public transport vans that were in Simplice’s film we saw last night. [Simplice is Felizitas’ boyfriend from Burkina Faso who is a film grad student.]

F: They’re mostly in Dakar, I’m surprised you didn’t notice them. You’ll see them when we go back.

A: You know what they look like? Those fishing boats all around here, with the bright colors and designs on the sides. I’ll bet the fishing boat painting tradition got reclaimed in the van painting when they started adopting vans for public transport.

F: Maybe. They paint those vans as a matter of pride and also advertising. Since they break down all the time, the paint job tells you how well off each driver is; the more money he can put into the paint job, the more money he can put into repairs.

A: Is that going to be explained in the introduction that Simplice hadn’t finished yet?

F: Probly.

A: I wish I could see it all finished, and have a copy to show people. It was sooo good, and I’ve been to a couple of film festivals, were they show even more experienced filmmakers’ work. His thing was really better than a lot of those.

F: Yeah he’s really talented. Here we are. So you should watch one or two of the movies in Simplices ‘African Masterpieces’ film collection so that I can give him back those DVDs. And then maybe if we feel like it we’ll go to this dance on campus.

[Notes: We got up at 2 am to walk over to the dance and then decided not to go in. The films I watched are the following: Le Mandat, La Noire de…, Le Wazzo Polygame Le Retour d‘un Aventurier-witch was filmed in Niger and if you watch it, what you see in this 1967 film is pretty much what Niger looks like today only there are more burqas now. Simplice’s documentary was on the life of a public transport van and, as I learned from this film, they are super interesting. A lot of them date from the 1950s and were hand me downed from America to Africa in like the 80s maybe? Here they are rewelded and repainted over and over (just like the bush taxis that I take in Niger and that are common all over Africa). The engines, I can’t possibly imagine, have more than 3 original pieces anymore. Many parts of the car are practically hanging off the frame. Sometimes the frame is hanging off the frame. But the vans run. And run and run. Somehow. The documentary was very silent with little dialogue and no narration except the part in the beginning that Simplice hadn’t put in then. It was kind of like a poem with its clearness of subject but lack of explanatory language. I will definitely be interested in following this African filmmaker’s career.]

Scene II: Saint Louis, see graphic novel insert 5.

Scene III:

Okay guys we’re almost there. Greetings on your sticking in there. I’ve become bored of this format, which I originally decided to use because I had so many interesting conversations which I didn‘t know how to relate in my normal way, but most of those probably didn’t even make it in here. And you, by now, have gotten tired of this botched and silly format as well. So here’s my concession for your continued attention: this bit I’m gonna talk about in my normal, kinda rambly way.

On Sunday Felizitas and I went to the market where I bought a really great large wrap that I subsequently and lamentably lost in Niger on my return to Niger, and then the beach. Afterward we met Felizitas’ American friend Nathan. We went to a bar where I had a Guinness for the first time in more than a year and then a Vietnamese restaurant which was quite good. On our way in we met an irate Spanish mother who told us the owner was crazy. We passed her and found out from the crazy lady that this mother had let her monster children run wild in the restaurant, turning over tables and such, and then proceeded to take issue with the crazy lady’s request that she get her kids under control or leave.

There, that wasn’t so bad huh? Two more little tiny sections to go…

Scene IV. Back to Dakar, see graphic novel insert 6.

Epilogue:

Chorus: So what are you going to do with your weird 20 hours in Bamako on your flight back?

Audrey: 1st I’m going to the PC bureau to use the computer and try to root up some American who wants to go with a random traveler on a random Tuesday night to a music club since the music has the reputation of being the best in West Africa.

Chorus: You wont find anyone to go with you

Audrey: Ah well. Then I’ll go to this store that the travel guide says is the best in Bamako.

Chorus: Nope. The nice PCV in the bureau has never heard of it. And your book is 5 years out of date. But she is recommending Indigo, which is also highly recommended in your book.

Audrey: Yeah okay. I’ll go there and I’ll wander all around downtown Bamako looking for it. Ah this is expensive stuff, but some of it’s pretty cool. I’ll make one purchase of this reasonable and very unique thing which will remain unnamed on purpose.

Chorus: And how about that section of the Bamako market that the PCV told you about?

I’ll try to find it, but I’ve wandered this way and that and I’m not even sure I can recognize a market in Mali. This might be it, but the shops are so well built… and I don’t know where the artisan section would be, and ah, here is my street. I’m back to the catholic mission hostel I’m staying in and It‘s almost dark. I’m going to sit and journal and listen to the pretty choir practice. Then go to bed so I can leave really early in the morning for Niger.

[Curtain]

This update is about a big change and possibly my last post. My parents’ visit went relatively well after losing two days to a state-side snow storm and they are going to write posts about their trip to Niger so that you can get their perspective. When it was time to leave with them for my vacation to America, a kerfuffle with ticketing codes almost got us all stuck in Niger. We got out alright and upon arriving home found out that the very night we left there had been an al Qaida kidnapping of two French men at a bar which many volunteers go to and which is very close to the Niamey hostel. Later the two were killed when the Niger army tried to free them. There have been kidnappings before, so I thought not a lot of it. Though on the other hand, the kidnappings happened in the capitol for the first time at a place frequented by volunteers and that made me a little uneasy. But nothing happened for a few days and I breathed a sigh of relief that they wouldn’t evacuate Peace Corps while I was on vacation in the states, cuz you know, that’d be pretty annoying. Then on Wednesday the 12th of January, my 25th birthday, I got the news that indeed that is what they were going to do. And that although my fellow volunteers will be pushed to close their service they will have a chance to look for and apply to posts in which they could finish their service. But because I’m in the States, I’m done –they’re closing my service 8 months early. I thankfully got ahold of my volunteer friend in Niger who broke into my house for some things I didn’t want to loose and who explained what was going on to some of my village friends. For that I am seriously grateful. Hopefully Peace Corps will eventually get those things to me.After that, I scrambled mentally to assess what this meant for me, my service and my village. Were my projects okay? My moringa tree garden project was in a pretty decently well developed. There were improvements I was going to make, and I would have felt better if the health center had done a cooking class or two completely on their own. But, we got far enough into it that they understood how to do every part of the project and were invested enough, I think, to carry on. My text book funding project was not even begun. I feel really bad that the school’s hopes were so high and now they have very little resources to get the books –practically speaking, no chance. But on the other hand, besides the principal of the middle school, I wasn’t sure that I would be able to get the staff involved in the project. So I’m calling that project a wash. One of the things my dad and I did in Bande was build a bread oven. I was going to develop a cheap and nutritious recipe for bread using squash and moringa and teach it to people –a project that would be both about “income generation” and about malnutrition. There are a lot of projects I wanted to develop in my last 8 months. I was still thinking about an art club, which would have been about the only thing I would have done in my 2 years that would employ my art history degree. I had just started sewing with my friend Murza and was hoping to begin to grow that project into a group. I was going to begin English classes with the teachers at the middle school. I never made an improved (mud covered) cookstove with my neighbors and friends who were interested in learning that. There were things I wanted to do for myself too, like illustrating a graphic novel, beefing up on my art history and studying for the GRE, re-reading Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings and reading Ulysses. Now I guess I have time for most of that, just instead of in the Peace Corps it will be while sitting un-employed at my parents’ house, figuring out the rest of my life. And I have felt sad about not getting to say goodbye. I had only just begun to feel really comfortable in Bande and just felt like the people I hung out with really were, in some odd way, my friends. I have some of their numbers, but the language barrier was hard enough sitting right next to them; speaking across the wire and several time zones, I’m afraid my frustration will overcome my desire to keep in touch. They don’t have a postal address and I think none of them have started emailing yet. I was supposed to have 8 months to figure this out. Now what am I going to do? It is a sudden, crappy probable end to many relationships that, so short a time ago, were all I had on a daily basis. I think also of all the things I was going to do in my last 8 months. I wanted to get out to see Kelle, a post that has an ostrich farm and some big rocks out in the countryside where monkeys live. During the fasting of Ramadan, my sub-region had planned to meet at one of our posts to sleep all day and at night when there was electricity we’d watch a marathon of West Wing. I was gonna really learn Hausa so I could test at nearly advanced at the end of my service. I was gonna teach our guard at the hostel in Zinder how to harvest moringa leaves from Stephanie’s memorial moringa garden. I had more to say to you about Niger, I just had to find those magical words that would explain it all- but that was okay, I had 8 months to do it.There are just too many loose ends. Too many goodbyes not said. Too many instructions not given. Too many promises not kept. I had thought Niger was Un-evacuable. Peace Corps has been around 50 years this year –and has served uninterrupted in Niger for 49 of them. Al Qaida, al Smaida. I did not think my service would end with me sitting on my bum in America. This sucks.

It never rains but it pours. How’s that for a cheesy use of the adage? But now, as many times before in Niger, I’ve learned the literal as well as figurative truth of an old saying. Just like the torrents that took out house walls in my town last rainy season, changes and disruptions in my life haven’t sprinkled but deluged in September and October. Three of my six Zinder training mates were on medical leave in South Africa or America, for over a month (all back and in health). Volunteer relations with the bureau in Niamey have been strained to put it mildly. My laptop, a volunteer’s Ipod and another volunteer’s motorcycle helmet were stolen in our hostel. And in the middle of all that, Stephanie’s death happened.

Finally, to leave no part of my life in Niger untouched, my best counterpart, the English teacher in my town, got promoted to be a principal in a town like 47 light years away from anywhere. That was in September. It is now mid November and today I med the new replacement. I substituted for a few classes, but I had no enthusiasm for it because I knew it would be forever and a day before we got even one of the two English teachers we were promised from the regional school office. Last year when one of the two English teachers we had decided to just leave in search of better work (but still draw a salary for being a teacher in my town…), the regional office never replaced him. My job isn’t to teach here, and it’s not fair to the students for the middle school to rely on me to take over the post. It wasn’t fair for me not to do what I could though as well. So, unenthusiastically, I taught a couple of classes and waited. I know the kids are our future and I should always bound happily and confidently into every classroom, I’m afraid I had a stinking bad attitude about this. The kids, however, made most of those classes more fun than the few I taught last year, which made me think English club, if I can ever get it going again, would be that much better this year than last. It’s a relief there is finally an English teacher again. Time will tell if he’s a counterpart too.

Last month was the most bummer month of all, so far. PCVs always told me all parts of your service can be hard for different reasons. I knew even last year it’d be harder later in my service because things went so smoothly at first, compared to the first month horror stories I’d heard.

So to keep positive I have been thinking a lot about my parents upcoming trip here to see me and about my trip back to the states (January 8-24th—come visit me!!). To give my parents an idea of what to expect I made up a mock travel brochure which I’ll include below (eventually.. technical dificulties). My mom says she can now think past the bathroom situation. I’m figuring out how to arrange a camel ride for us out to my town’s garden and I’m strategizing about all the foods they should –and shouldn’t- try here. As for America, I can’t think much past all the food I’m gonna stuff in me. I decided back in june, just after I counted up the days I’d be in America, that I’d eat at chipotle for at least 14 of my 18 American days (I wouldn’t want to over tax myself by not having a few days off). Indeed, I will see the inside of a chipotle and probably have devoured the veggie fajita burrito with mild salsa, no sour cream but extra cheese and guac that I will be buying, before I see the inside of my old residence. I’m going to eat my way through vacation. I have conservatively estimated seven restaurants (apart for chipotle), 2 bars and a grocery store (rather frequently) which I will insist on visiting. Good thing I’ve been saving my pennies, I may blow my bank account just from spending time at home. My parents might have to roll me in a wheel barrow onto the plane back to Africa.

My biggest preoccupation in ville has been moving forward on the moringa project. The garden was swamped during rainy season and many trees died. But I have extra seeds and they grow very fast, so I’m not worried at all. The first class went with no major problems, except that the lady I’m working with, Zara, didn’t emphasize the points we are supposed to teach. I’d worked with her before on that, but I wasn’t sure if it had been enough and my suspicion was correct. I also didn’t have my act together enough to say everything in Hausa and so I was only able to prompt her to explain a few things. I learned from that and made sure that for the second class I was prepared and knew the hausa phrases I needed to prompt Zara to explain everything in better hausa. I also developed four questions to ask the women at the end to make sure we got the important points across. Both classes were fine (as in not failures) but we improved a lot the second time and we’re moving in the right direction. I thought after that class that I could really imagine the health center doing all this without me in a few months and then it will be a real shining jewel of a project-and all for less than 400usd!

Everything else in town has been quiet, normal village life. I’ve meant to do something to explain life here more to y’all but I always had something else to write about, and didn’t ever know how to describe what I see here. It’s such a different world. How does one describe a place where people live in mud brick or cement houses and watch satellite TV under grass huts? Here is a place where people lounge on mats under trees and drive new motorcycles, where people use town criers to announce meetings or important celebrations, and surf the net on their cell phones. People here make a weekly circuit of neighboring towns’ markets on camels, oxcarts and 1960s era minivans (sometimes with camels in the minivans, which to see is my personal holy grail). there are so many idiosyncrasies and anathema and details that I always think you need in order to begin to understand this place. I am like a sci fi writer trying to explain the planet trafalmador. But there are only so many gigabytes I can type and so many characters you can possibly devote time to reading. But here is a start at least.

It’s the tail end of harvest season so I’m watching a little parade of six pint-sized kids walking into town from the fields with bundles of dried millet stalks on their heads (unaccompanied by anyone over the age of 8). If it were dusk, I’d be watching a train of ox carts going by, loaded high with millet and sorghum.

I sit, almost everyday, with my “fada”-tea drinking conversation group –in front of one of the middle school teachers’ houses. We sit on a big mat and four plastic lawn chairs. We go through tea two or three times a day, sitting, chatting sometimes sleeping. We chat about work of stuff in ville or often just things I don’t understand cuz it’s in Hausa. They might play cards or mess with their fancy cell phones. Now and then someone’ll make a joke, everyone will crack up (except me cuz I didn’t get it) and a guy who appreciated the joke especially well will clasp hands with the joke maker. People will pass by and conversation will be interrupted for the appropriate greetings. When they ask me questions it’s often about when I’ll get married and how many kids I’ll have. when I say maybe I wont get married for 10 years and maybe I wont have any kids or maybe just one, they say, “Oh no Fati! You’re already old! in 10 years you’ll be way too old! You’re gonna get married here and you’re gonna have 10 kids! Do you like black people?” Then I have to gracefully decline marrying one of them. Once when we were getting lunch brought out to us by the wife of the house, a guy I don’t know very well said, “This is why I needa get married. I’m tired of cooking for myself, I need someone to bring me lunch.” I wasn’t in the mood to take this sexist comment seriously so I said “Meee toooo! I’m tired of cooking, I work and then I have to cook too and I just want to rest. Can *I* get a wife too?” After a moment in which he gave me a bizarre, puzzled look, he laughed. I also once listed all the stereotypically womanish traits when my teachers asked me what I was looking for in a man. He must be able to cook really good food and sweep and take care of the kids and do the laundry. They were pretty sure they could still find someone for me, but I’m skeptical.

A giant overloaded truck just lumbered by on the road that is technically a national highway and a main artery between Nigeria and Niger, but looks like a pot holey Midwestern country road bisecting small town after small town. The truck had mattresses tied three or four thick to the sides and several giant nets, bigger in circumference than I am tall, filled with plastic buckets hanging off the back. Several of these trucks roll through my town everyday. My friends tell me there are “experts” in Nigeria who conduct the insane over loading of these trucks, because not just anyone can overload it the right way.

I also hang out with my friend Murza to get the other side of Niger life. We sit and sort of talk, or cook things or lately we’ve done a little sewing tutoring. I do wish I had more language when I talk to her because I know I’m missing out on a big part of niger culture, not being able to talk well to women who haven’t finished much school and don’t know French. but when I got here I could barely explain that I was going to the marked or I got back from Zinder the day before. Now I know a lot about Murza. She’s 25, she was married in Nigeria but her husband died (-or she was divorced and she doesn’t want to say, but he probably died). She has a 19 month old son who was able to live in her new house (with husband #2) until he was weaned but then he had to go sleep at her mom’s house across town where her daughter lives also. She had two other kids but only two have survived. She’s genuinely interested in things I can tell her about America and when she finds a lot of money she’s gonna come visit me in America. The way she interacts with her husband is fascinating to me. She’s a little flirty and a little like any US housewife and a little like a teenager to a parent when she wants more allowance from him. I get it in my head that women are oppressed and held back here –because, largely, they are –but then I get it in my head that all marriages here must be cages and stifling for women. but I see Murza with her husband and I think well it might not be perfect, maybe they love the marriage, maybe they don’t, but here are two people making their way through life with what they have, each other as companions (--well actually he has at least one other wife… every conclusion I make here is tempered with “but on the other hand”).

I just saw an ox cart go by loaded up seven feet with millet stalks, a man leading it and two boys lounging on top just barely peeping over the edge of the millet bushels.

I hope to have a Thanksgiving/Tabaski edition to you in 3 weeks. As always, comments questions and your own updates are always relished.

Toodloo, ~aj

Dearest Folks,

I promise to get a good full update soon, but I will have more time with the internet in 2 weeks. For now, i have an excellent treat for you all: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XoM5bxlVFo

This is a video that someone who just finished made from some of my teammates' video clips. It's really well done and you'll at least get a glimpse of the aesthetics of Niger, even if you don't understand what's going on in the clips.

I just got back from my second vacation. My first was in Senegal and I will have that update for you when i have time to load pics because I supplemented it with graphic novel pages. My second vacation was in Ghana, mostly at the beach which would have been excellent had we remembered to pack the Niger sun with us in our bags. But we got the Ghanaian rainy season sky instead. If we didn't see the sun, however, Accra made up for it in letting us see the movie Inception, which you in the states can go see in theatres right now. I'm so up to date! It was so nice to be in mini America for a few hours and the movie was excellent.

And speaking of America, my third vacation will be in January back home in Ol USA. I didn't think I'd go home during the two years, but somewhere between 115 degrees F in the shade and a hallucinated donut, I broke down. I hope I get to see so so many of you!

But for now, it is back to post and back to work for me. I'll be setting up my moringa classes with my health center, and planning english club with my teacher. Plus I've successfully avoided almost all of Ramadan and I'll be coming back just in time to eat goat with my friends.

Wishing y'all well, ~aj

I've been really remiss in getting my last update done about my vacation in Senegal and here I am a few weeks away from going on vacation to Ghana. I stilllll havent gotten that update done because i'm biting off more than i can chew, but here is some interesting stuff on the hunger situation in Niger. In my town I havent seen anything really bad, nothing that seems different from last year. But in the north i've heard people have had it bad.

The following are links to an ICRISAT report that a fellow PCV posted on facebook. the BBC version has pictures and compact captions and the ICRISAT page has a lot more detailed info. I'm going to investigate implementing this in my village in gardens rather than crop fields.

PS I love the picture in the BBC slideshow of the woman with lettuce on her head, and incidentially that is the biggest most amazingly healthy and pristine lettuce i have ever seen in niger.

PPS The music sounds native american in the video on ICRISATs page. Music in Niger is not at all like that.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-10698153

http://www.icrisat.org/newsroom/latest-news/one-pager/africa-hunger/africa-hunger-crisis.htm

PPPS. Props to Cindy's mom who somehow finagled that girl into bringing back a bag of treats for her poor deprived friends.

(Note: This post was started by Audrey's mom, because it is easier to upload pictures & stuff in the States. Audrey will come in later and write the actual blog post, so stay tuned!)

(Note: This post was started by Audrey's mom, because it is easier to upload pictures & stuff in the States. Audrey will come in later and write the actual blog post, so stay tuned!)

(Note: This post was started by Audrey's mom, because it is easier to upload pictures & stuff in the States. Audrey will come in later and write the actual blog post, so stay tuned!)

(Note: This post was started by Audrey's mom, because it is easier to upload stuff in the States. Audrey will write the actual blog post later ~ stay tuned!)

(Note: This post was started by Audrey's mom, because it is easier to upload stuff in the States. Actual blog post will be added eventually by Audrey ~ check back!)

NOTES TO FUTURE NIGER PCVs:

Niger is another world altogether, and if you are really willing to live here, you have already decided to go without some things we all take for granted in the states. But you don’t have to go caveman or do without your favorite things; thinking through your packing with some idea of what you can and cant get here might help you. So here is my own packing guide for you all.

General notes:

-do not bring any very special thing that cannot be lost or broken under any circumstances. It will break, Niger destroys everything.

-do bring the few things that you will go insane without. (watercolors? An old (not special) instrument? Your running shoes or yoga cards? Favorite nail polish, DVD, photos, pyjama pants?) whatever that little thing is that you recharge with in the states. I didn’t bring my violin and now have to have it brought from the states so that the doctor doesn’t have to Med-Sep me for mental health reasons.

Host family gift/ things to show your villagers:

I didn’t bring anything from america for my host family, but I gave them fruit from Niamey when I visited there. But things you might think about bringing to give or to show (to help explain america) would be: an atlas, definitely bring pictures of your family and friends, pictures of snow, I use blow up globe beach balls with my English club, coloring books and colored pencils or other small kids art supplies because kids don‘t have things to do art with here, a frisbee and if you see a kid’s book in the Paris airport in French you might pick that up. Uno cards are great or other small travel games-they play a game with regular cards like uno but they love the actual uno cards too and you can try teaching them other american games that don‘t require language.

Electronics:

In Niger, the hostels generally have electricity, refrigerators, Tvs, dvd/vhs players etc. If you are going to be an education or community development volunteer you’ll probably be in a bigger city and probably have electricity. If you’re going to be agriculture or health worker you might be in a very small village and might not (probably wont?) have electricity. Many volunteers with power at their house love to unwind by watching tv shows and movies and playing music in their house. Those without power still use their ipods till the battery runs out or have a solar charger. I find my small 10inch laptop indispensable in the bush and it‘s size is awesome for toting back and forth to Zinder on our god-awful bush taxis. Whatever your house has, as I said, your hostel will have electricity so if you aren’t sure about bringing a small set of speakers or an ipod or laptop base your decision on whether or not you want it to last longer than these 2 years (again, assume it will be useless when you come back) but you will more than likely use it here.

Camera:

This is the most important thing you will bring. You can either bring a great camera and take amazing photos and stress out about it getting broken and not let Nigeriens touch it. Or you can bring a crappy camera, imagine how amazing your pictures would be if you’d brought a good one and be happy that your villagers are soo happy to play (a little) with your camera and look at the photos you took of them and take a few for themselves. You decide.

Clothes:

Most volunteers buy Nigerien fabric and get clothes made here by the tailors, in fact a lot of us really like this part of the lifestyle here. However, most of the fabric is heavy and durable and not light and breezy. So you will want to pack several light breezy tshirts that cover the shoulder and tummy and that don’t show too much cleavage. For guys, definitely pack a dress shirt, although you can buy them here too, that’ll be an important part of your attire if you work at the doctor’s, schools, or mayor’s. For the bottom half, guys long pants and girls anything that covers the ankles. You can wear anything you want in your own concession so bring what you will want to wear when its 115 degrees out. Also, it gets cold enough here that you’ll need longsleeves to sleep in and a jacket for the day. Even if you plan to only wear sandals here, bring some closed toe shoes for vacation or going out in the big cities. If youre a filpflop person, only bring your starter pair, there are enough flipflops in Africa to shod the world. If you are like me and need more straps, you can invest as much as you want in your sandals, but they all look the same after 3 months. Also if sandals break you can usually get them repaired in your village. I’ve sewn my own expensive pair myself 3 times. As for sports attire, if you will use them, bring shoes and socks, and pants that will cover the knees and shirts that will go over the shoulders (guys and girls) **don’t over pack on clothes unless you just cant stand the idea of wearing what the locals wear. You can get anything made here for cheap!

Cooking:

If you’re a foodie and a chef, bring your favorite, uncommon gadget. Otherwise, you can get all your kichen needs in Niamey if not the regional capital or your own village.

Books:

Many of the hostels have a lot of books, especially the best sellers or older titles. Zinder’s library is the best so if you’re a bookworm, hope for hausa land. I brought a lot of books and am using the library a lot. I brought mostly books that are not typical genres; mostly art history, French language, fantasy and philosophy. The hostels have plenty of African related stuff. You cannot buy English language books that are of any interest to us anywhere in Niger, keep that in mind. A good book for everyone is a pocket French-English dictionary.

Stamps:

Bring stamps! You can send letters or small packages with people who are traveling to the states and who will drop your things at the post (and that cuts down costs a lot because its really expensive to send from Niger).

Bedding:

Bring at least one sheet, twin or queen, and one pillow case. 2 of each if you like to have nice clean ones all the time. If you are really rugged you could stuff your pillowcase with clothes, which is what I do when I travel to friends places. But if there is any possibility that you will want a pillow, bring it because you cant find them here (or at least I can’t even in my regional capital).

Toiletries:

Ladies, your villagers will remark about your lack of make-up if you are like me and too lazy to wear it on a daily basis. I keep my few bits of makeup in the hostel but my villagers think im an un-selfrespecting slob. Just fyi. Also, there are mirrors here but not the vanity mirror kinds. You wont want to see yourself like that after a few months here anyway, but if you need it you need it, and also your villagers’ reactions to a vanity mirror are precious. Everyone: if you have special brands of this and that, bring at least a few months supply of it (more if you don’t expect to have access to much beloved care packages). If you don’t give a rip about what brand you use, you can get anything you need here so just bring a month supply.

Food:

Food cravings (if you are in any way a foodie) will happen to you for the duration of your service. I brought my favorite brand of gum and a giant bag of pistachios with me, not knowing what I would be able to find here. The nuts lasted me 3 months of occasional munching. You can get a lot of little tasty snacky things here, but rarely are they very reminiscent of our favorite things back home. I would bring more snacks if I were packing again-- fewer clothes and more snacks. See below for list of things you can find here, so as to avoid.

Outdoors supply store items:

Man if you have the cash to burn before you come, go to the outdoors store and get a few nice things. People here who have them like their: bug huts, thermal sleeping bags for 30 degrees and above that roll up itty bitty, head lamps and solar chargers (Solio is the brand a lot of people have). I don’t have any of these, and haven’t really needed them, but it’s something to consider.

Misc:

Bring a roll of duct tape, you can buy it in Niamey but its useful to have a starter roll especially cuz it’s a little hard to find in Niamey and you wont have time during training. Also there are plenty of flashlights here but I like my hand crank flashlight from america (I brought two and the 1st got destroyed by my host family).

Items that you can find in Niger (don’t pack):

*Radios

*Sugary candies- I can even get off brand Worther’s Originals in my town, but nothing like jolly ranchers or tootsie pops or pixie sticks or pop rocks etcetc.

*Tootsie roll type candies

*Dove soap and Nivea lotion and some other random things

*Nutmeg (I found whole nuts in the market!), dried ginger root, basic hot spices (peppers, curry), thyme (dried in the Zinder grocery store), basil (some people grow it fresh as ‘medicine’), and in Niamey: dried basil, herbes de province, black pepper, and some other basic herbs.

*TP-no worries, you need never go native, and its also not too expensive.

*pop corn and lentils in Niamey only

*honey (my sub region is famous for it)

*PB-but the local made stuff might be hit or miss with you-I can’t stand it

*peanuts and candied almonds

*tuna

*some canned veggies

*Soccer balls

Items you cannot or at least are hard to find in Niger:

*Most brand name things

*Cinnamon and some other spices

*brown sugar (a care package item)

*herb seeds, flower seeds (most veggie seeds you can get here, but hey if you have a doubt or a brand you really like, a packet of seeds is a cheap and small thing)

*magnifying mirrors (vanity mirrors-that make your face bigger, not that you’ll want to see your self like that after a few months)

*those cute Japanese fold out fans, or other compact hand fans (they make large straw ones here that are for stoking the fire but also work to cool down, just aren’t portable)

*Nalgene’s. I recommend you bring two and then bring some wet wipes to stick down into it with a fork and wipe clean cuz bleach doesn’t clean it out.

*A variety of drink mixes although there are a few flavors here. Bring your favorites to start out and then see if you like the local stock.

*crackers of pretty much any sort unless I just need to look harder, not many potato chips either but they do have Pringles!

*cashews, walnuts, pistachios

*hair dodads, like elastics that are wrapped in thread

*(american) footballs and Frisbees

*board games, except for chess and checkers you can make your own set

*Waterguns/ balloons

A note on Care Packages:

If you are among the lucky who receive greatly anticipated packages from america, here are a few pointers.

To receive packages here, it will cost you about $2-3 which for 1-3 packages per month is not a lot at all on our stipends.

To send a package, it will cost you friends and family $40-70. Which is a lot in my book. For that reason I recommend that you tell your people who are wanting to send you things to wait until you have an idea of what you want to receive here, once you know what you can and cant get here. Also sending more in one larger “US Postal Flat Rate” box is usually more economic than sending a bunch of small ones or not using the flat rate-unless it’s a really light item or etcetc.

Other note: all chocolate and other meltable things will melt if sent between April and June and might melt between June and October. However, we still eat it.

Things that I or my friends have received and enjoyed that travel well:

*My favorite cookies, chips ahoy rainbow deluxe repackaged into a tupaware. *Fudge striped cookies *M&Ms (seasonally) *Parmasan cheese powder (seasonally) *Other cheese powders *Pistachios *Quinoa boxes *Tea/hot chocolate mix *books/sketch books/daily planners/diaries *drink mixes like Gatorade or crystal lite’s little packets and EmergenC and koolaid. *Turkey Jerky *brown sugar *special tuna flavors, and other seafood *wheat thins/et al crackers *soup/sauce packets of all sorts (but you can get rice, beans and pasta aplenty here so don’t waste the space on that) *Jolly ranchers *My favorite cereal Kashi *pesto *peanut butter (they have it here, but I don’t like the taste) *Magazines!! And new music CDs/movie DVDs

Dear Folks,

Since my newspaper-themed letter home I have: 1.baked bread in a dutch oven successfully twice almost successfully 4times; 2.gotten English club in full swing, sort of; 3.visited Kira’s town and Cindy’s town; 4. celebrated St Patty’s day in full Irish style (minus Guiness); 5. participated in Girls Camp 2010; 6. written a grant proposal for a moringa garden (fingers crossed); 7. eaten delicious Easter brunch in Zinder; 8. gotten through the girls Zinder soccer tournament 2010; 9. hosted tea parties Nigerien style for my middle school teachers; 10. Painted a mural in SLH’s town. 11. developed an allergy to mangoes?! 12. celebrated the first rains of the season!

ps there is an NYTimes article on Niger. one of the villages mentioned is the village of girls on my team. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/world/africa/04niger.html?ref=africa

Girls Camp

This is a yearly event that the Zinder region does in which volunteers bring young girls from each volunteer’s village to the hostel in Zinder. We host them at the hostel and do lots of activities which teach them about things from gender equality (and the idea that rural women like them can and have become important leaders), AIDS, the importance of birth spacing, self-defense and yoga, the kinds of careers they can have if they stay in school, how to paint murals and lots of other things.

I heard about two events which I would have liked to have participated in but had to skip for another project. One was the professional women visits: groups of girls with their volunteers went to visit women who worked at banks, the post office, the cultural center, schools and other places and they asked the women questions about their work. Evidently some of the professional women were super inspiring and engaging and were themselves touched by the activity. The other event, I got to hear on the radio, if not see them: the girls all got to give shout outs on the radio to people in their home towns and then they sang a song. I listened with another volunteer and our hostel’s guard, Dengay. Dengay really sincerely congratulated us on our work and seemed really proud for the girls.

The activities I participated in were mural painting and visiting the Sarki’s palace [-Sarki is the traditional big Hausa head honcho]. I helped design and set up the four murals we did on the walls outside an elementary school. The themes were “health is wealth, wash your hands with soap!”, “Ignorance is darker than the night: young girls go to school,” “A well educated woman makes a better mother,” and “To avoid AIDS practice abstinence until marriage”. The last message has a dubious record of getting results but if it influences someone and slows the spread of AIDS just a little, it’s still worth the paint. The girls had, for the most part, never painted anything before and then suddenly there were 20 of them doing a public mural. It was a bit of chaos, but we really got the girls to do all of the coloring. There were drips a plenty but we spent a few hours touching up and outlining and it came out looking really good. And even though we did the polishing, I see the murals now and I see the girls painting them, not us PCVs. As someone who has always wanted to promote art, that was really gratifying.

The Sarki’s palace was a fun outing. We piled the girls into a bush taxi and the rest of us rode down on motorcycle taxi’s (for future reference those are called Kabos in case I ever slip and say that instead of English). We entered the first chamber. There were baskets and sacks of different things hanging from the ceiling. I am still not clear on what that is for (wards for protection or charms for prosperity or to keep away evil spirits or something?) and some of the PCVs say that they have heard that ancient camel heads are in some of the sacks. There was a big door that was brought to Zinder about two centuries ago after the Zinder sarki won a war against the Mirriah sarki (that is a large town east of Zinder). It is made of a bunch of small plates of coppery metal nailed together and looks like an industrial chic decorator’s dream come true. We saw where they used to hold prisoners and in that court yard there was an actual hearing type thing for a family dispute going on. Many people still use the traditional authority of the sarki-system even tho it holds no legal value now. That was amazing to me that we could just walk through this courtyard while people’s personal disputes were being hashed out. The set up reminded me of King Solomon (ahem, do I have the right name?) and that biblical scene where he cleverly unmasks the true mother. We saw some garages/stables, and some outdoor hallways to various personal chambers. The girls seemed to be relatively engaged and our tour guide was fairly good.

I didn’t have much to do with this whole event. This is a testament to my awesome team who can 1. explain in Hausa and in a culturally sensitive manner how to have conversations with husbands on family planning, 2.organize 5 days worth of food and activities and 3. corral 20 girls, some of whom had never seen a paved road before, all through the streets of the big city of Zinder. I don’t know how I’ll ever help fill the older stages’ boots.

Bread Baking and other minor projects

I’ve been baking bread, mostly because it’s delicious, and also because I want to make an oven and get people to generate income with bread baking. For this I need to research the right kind of oven for Bande, the most nutritional kind of bread to teach them, and the most economical process to maximize profits. There are ovens in Zinder and my friend Alex’s town that I’ve heard about and need to visit.

I also want to do a plastic recycling project. There is some sort of project that an MIT group piloted that I am inquiring about, but if anyone knows of anyway to recycle plastic bags effectively, please let me know. Right now, they line the streets and sometimes get raked into piles to be burned. Niger has 3 huge and completely untapped natural resources: the sun, the sand and the plastic bags in the streets. I wish I could do some sort of glass bead making, but that seems out of my ability. Solar panels are expensive because Nigeria made Niger tax heavily solar panel imports so that Nigeria would be sure of a large electricity income. So plastic bags are staring me in the face (every time I look under my sandal or up at a tree branch where bags are caught) and I gotta do something useful with them.

I am working on my moringa tree nursery project for my health center. The plan is to plant 30 or 40 trees mostly for leaf production and some for seed production (to give to villagers for their own trees). Moringa trees are a malnutrition fighter that has garnered a lot of interest in the development community. I learned about it in IST and talked with my health center staff about it who were really enthusiastic. We would do little classes targeting women with malnourished babies and in addition to telling the women how to prepare it and why it’s important, we would make a small dish for them to try the moringa so they could see its not bad tasting or anything. I really think it would catch on well with my community so I’m hoping the funds come through.

Visiting my friends

This month I visited Kira for a really short time, and Cindy for another really short time, Sarah LH and Ashle. The visit to Cindy’s town was the first time I’d stayed there, and it was about time I got myself there. Cindy needs to do more projects when I’m not busy so that I can visit her more often. (Shout out to Cindy who hates being mentioned online!) SLH and I did a health mural in two days (which is really fast) and also watched the sunset on top of her rock and indulged in our latest obsession, battlestar galactica! I stayed over at Ashle’s when I came for our soccer tournament’s first game. There was a fundraiser that I wanted to see, for the middle school, but unfortunately we missed it. I want to do a fundraiser in my town for the book drive eventually, but it is looking like it will have to wait until next school year. I traveled too much, but I spent quality time in my town too, so I don’t feel guilty.

The 2010 Zinder Girls Soccer Tournament

You think South Africa’s got something goin on? The World Cup has nothing on the excitement and world interest of the 2010 Zinder Girls Soccer Tournament. That’s not true, but it should be. And there is a lot of excitement, plus it felt like as much of a headache to plan and coordinate as the World Cup must be.

The tournament was based around the health concept of the importance of washing hands. We originally had planned to base (and for past tournaments had based) it on SIDA, but those funds fell through and we just barely got some Water Sanitation funds for educating the girls and our communities on hand washing. That meant there were three competitions, not just the soccer competition. The second competition was constructing hand washing stations in many concessions around town and teaching the family of that concession how to use it. These were made from cans and nails that the girls collected. The third competition was a performance of a song or skit on the importance of washing hands, performed after the final matches in Zinder.

For the first soccer match my town traveled to Ashle’s town. We were on foreign turf, with not many of our own on the sidelines and not having practiced much. We fought valiantly but lost 2:0. I had an experience like un-anaesthetized tooth pulling getting an official coach for my team. I had my middle school set up the team and then I left for IST and while I was gone, the coach had to relocate to Zinder. The new coach didn’t arrive on time and between my traveling and his taking extended holidays, the girls practiced with him 1 and 2 half times and with me 2 and 2 half times and played by themselves the rest of the time. I was just happy they were so upbeat and positive going into the match and didn‘t seem too dejected afterwards.

Although hand washing is important and is the reason we got our funding, the soccer component was the part that the girls were most excited about -and the part that I felt was most important. During practices and during the games, little pipsqueek boys, half these girls’ heights would be commenting and sometimes shouting, to say the least, non-encouraging things like “they can’t play soccer”. That was the number one most often said comment (that I understood), and even if it was the worst one they actually said, it’s subtly very dis-heartening. Girls rarely get the chance to play soccer. Even the boys don’t get to play as often as they’d like because balls are expensive for a lot of people and most kids have to work, boys and girls, young and older. If there is a free ball, it’s grabbed up by boys and the girls never get a chance. Beyond that, girls are expected to do girl-things and are expected not to be able to play soccer well. They have to sell things in the market and help their mothers cook, clean and care for the bazillion babies. ‘Boys are good at soccer and girls are bad at it’. It doesn’t matter that the girls never got the chance to get good. My friend’s town scrapped his idea of having a young girls soccer team because it would be unbecoming for young girls to play. However, there are people here -lots of my villagers were excited for this game- who would give girls sports some of their interest, but there isn’t (like for everything else here too) a social or governmental mechanism to give that interest a platform-like the States before Title 9. Niger isn’t a lost cause in this case, its potential is just languishing untapped. This tournament was just to quietly present the idea of girls sports to the communities and to build the girls’ confidence in their abilities to do anything outside of traditional gender roles.

The hand washing trainings also played into building their confidence because many girls don’t think they can even get in front of a family group and present information. In fact, most of my girls when they tried to give the presentations floundered a little, and for the most part only one girl who’s a good public speaker did them. These mini trainings were a demonstration on how to wash hands with a tin cup hung from a branch or nailed to the wall that lets you use both your hands to scrub the soap around by yourself. We went around my ville popping into houses and asking people about hand washing and then demonstrating the new system. Some volunteers’ teams got really into it, and some villagers were really receptive. Kira even told us about some random lady coming up to her in her town with a tin can of her own asking Kira to show her how to make her own washing station. A team in Zinder talked to something like 1200 people in a week. My ville wasn’t as gung ho, but more or less receptive at least. My team won third place in the mini trainings event.

The last component to this competition was the theater or song portion. I think my team should have won, because we had an awesome play, but we went last and it was hot and the audience was super antsy with not enough water and having had sat through 7 skits/songs before. So we didn’t win theatre. I have, though, a secret hope that the girls will have liked doing the play so much that they’ll want to do other theatre activities.

The final day of the tournament was hot and stressful because several things went wrong and some aspects that I wont go into were frustrating and sad to see. But I think my girls had some fun at the end of the day and we learned a few things about how to do it next year (if any of us have the effort to take it on), so I am satisfied.

Let it rain!

We had a nice, proper storm my last week in ville. I love weather and have been looking forward to the rains beginning for a long time. I am not looking forward to the bugs that come with them but I am not dealing with that yet. My villagers tell me that this is about on time, but I had been under the impression rain wouldn’t start until June or the end of May. One person told me if they come now, it can sometimes mean that the rains will stop for too long during the growing season and the crops will die. So I still don’t know if this is a good thing or not, but for me it’s a good thing!

Before the rain came, the wind knocked over a tree branch in my neighbor’s yard above a cow so that the heavy part of the branch was up in the tree and the smaller branches were spread around the cow. All the men in the vicinity came running right away and they began fixing the situation immediately. One guy held the cow’s bridle until it could be moved away and another guy got an ax and started chopping away at the tree branch while several people moved the smaller pieces away. I thought that was an interesting cultural difference to see played out so clearly; being from the Midwest, I have watched plenty of times when a big tree branch falls on something and a few neighbors stand around for a while doing more gawking than anything else and waiting for the tree branch removal service to come carry it away. Maybe that is because lay people could do more damage if electrical wires are involved or maybe because we just don’t have axes lying around in our houses too often anymore or maybe because if there is a service available, better to use it! In any case, while the Nigeriens were busy snapping into action, I upheld our American tradition valiantly, uselessly gawking from the sidelines!

The worst allergy in all the world

Until I was like 20 and developed an amoxicillin allergy, I was never allergic to anything at all ever except for poison ivy, of course, and a few sniffles in the spring. I always thought of those poor kids who can’t eat peanuts or anything made in a peanut making place or who couldn’t drink milk or eat bread, and who had to carry around an epipen lest their throat close up and they suffocate from eating some delicious food! No cheese? No yeast leavened bread? What a horrible, horrible world to live in. Let me thank my lucky stars I have no food allergy.

But then I woke up with swollen lips a few days in a row and then my whole face blew up (a picture exists but you will never see it). Peace Corps sent the car for me, even though besides itchiness and a battered vanity I was fine. The doctor sent me an epipen(!) and I had to take steroids. I thought it was spider bites but when puffy lips came back for a day the doctor told me I probably had a mango allergy. Imported mangos are in season now, and besides melons, mangos are the only fruit I can find in my town, although the bigger cities have bananas and pineapples and some other fruits. Mangos are going to be in season here in Niger soon and I was told that they’ll have so many mangos here that they’ll just give them away for free! Imagine missing out on free mangos! It was my only mantra before when I thought about hot season (and it is hot hot hot season now) “at least there will be mangos at least there will be mangos”. Mango crisp, mango smoothies, mango salsa (which is the most delicious thing in the whole of the universe and is what gave me my balloon face because I ate so much of it), mango cake, mango cookies, rice and mangos, dried mangos, fresh mangos, mangos in fruit salad. But now, I will be hot and tired and thirsty and craving fruit and surrounded by delicious mangos that I can‘t eat! I think people make comical descriptions of Hell along these lines! I will stop complaining now tho, because I have this one reprieve:

Vacation!!

I am going to Senegal for a week and a half to visit my Austrian friend whom I met in Paris when we studied there. She is now studying in St. Louis (San Lou-wee) and we will travel from Dakar to St. Louis and back. I have a day layover in Bamako, Mali, going both ways so I am going to visit an art museum and a boutique and maybe some of the music venues in that town (the music scene there, I‘ve been told, is unrivaled in West Africa).

For a while, what I was craving for vacation was just to go into an air-conditioned mall, watch fat people argue with their spoiled brat children and slurp up an Orange Julius. But the other weekend I was reading the guide book for Senegal and good thing I’m leaving soon cuz now I cant wait for Senegal! There are good art museums, restaurants, patisseries, shops and markets, excellent beaches(!) and there is a famous island called Isle Goree which is where many slaves left Africa for the Americas. There will also be, serendipitously while I am there, an art festival in Dakar called DakArt (oh the pun!) and it is the best in West Africa and only happens every two years. And if you can sniff at my lucky beautiful glorious timing still, get this: there will most likely be the best Jazz festival in West Africa going on in St. Louis while I am there. Art and Jazz and history and beaches and a long separated friend; you cannot improve upon a vacation.

And that is where I leave off for now. I’ll try to have some decent account of my travels when I get back.

Some of you have not been writing to me and now I am publicly scolding you. You have brought me to this. Write to me or I will stop writing these updates.

Cheerio, ~aj

Email 9, Sannu da zuwa, welcome. It’s been a long time since my last update and lots has happened. 3-week training/ first trip back to Niamey in 4 months, Niger’s coup d’etat(!), and dealing with my unfinished new house are the highlights. In order to keep it fresh, I decided to do a newspaper theme this time, but I’m not a news reporter so this is the last time for that theme for a while. My friend Sean, however, is a bonifide sports reporter who, in a previous pre-Peace Corps life, wrote for newspapers. So I invited him to do a piece on our volleyball games (-well the other PCVs’ games since I won’t play it if you pay me). Enjoy the treat from Sean. Also, I included the text of an article from Voice of America and the BBC both about Niger and its socio-political situations.

Also, soon to come, a write up of Girls Camp 2010. Its been awesome. The exact inspiring heart touching kind of story you expect to hear from me.

The Zinder Gazette

PCVs Find Time for Fun and Games in Training

By Audrey

February 8, 2010

HAMDALLAYE -- While hard at work during the three week training, PCVs nonetheless found time and energy to have fun and try new things.

Ice breakers, or games that get the class moving and engaged, are swapped during training periods to keep spirits up and for possible use when PCVs go to their posts.

For this training period, the ’Wa Game’ was introduced by Ghanan evacuee, Nick. This fast paced, loud rhythm game involves fake karate gestures and quick reactions.

A new comer to this game, Audrey soon became a fan. “It’s such an obnoxious, silly game, but it’s addictive!”

PCVs also had the opportunity to ride a camel after Audrey and Alice expressed their interest in riding one. A camel was brought to the Hamdallaye training site and Audrey was the intrepid soul who went first. Some volunteers were more graceful than others, but none fell off and all were at least as capable as language trainer, Sani, whose performance inspired the camel owner to chide that he was a white person.

“I wasn’t afraid of the camel,” said SLH, “I just felt bad for the poor guy because he had to keep getting up and down and he was making noises like a giant grumpy old man.”

A small but awesome group gathered one night for a viewing of the recent Star Trek movie. Sugar cookies which Audrey baked in the shape of com badges were devoured.

“It was a beautiful bonding experience,” said SLH.

****

PCVs Figure Out Importance of Teachers

February 3, 2010

By Audrey

HAMDALLAYE-- PCVs Alice of the Maradi region and Audrey of the Zinder region, spent a productive language clinic writing creative literature in Hausa.

The two had discussed the problem of low morale and self esteem among teachers and lack of perceived importance of teachers in Niger. In Niger, teaching is often perceived as the job an educated person takes if he or she cannot find any better work. Possible initiatives include a teacher appreciation day or dinner and radio awareness campaigns.

So Alice and Audrey began work on a radio script in Hausa which would promote awareness of the importance of education and the role a teacher plays in education.

Progress rolled on smoothly as the volunteers worked out a situation in the script that would allow them to elaborate on all the concrete reasons teachers are important. Then they came to a point in the script when the writers would have to begin articulating the concrete reasons.

“The moment has arrived,” said Audrey in a mock doomed voice. And the women cracked up because they couldn’t in fact give a single concrete reason.

Eventually, a breakthrough was made and the volunteers listed several reasons. These include building self esteem and inspiring students to work hard and think of their futures.

Performances are not yet scheduled but are due to air before the end of the summer.

****

International:

Counterparts Conference, Celebration of Niegerien/American Cooperation

February 7, 2010

By Audrey

HAMDALLAYE-- A delegation of counterparts from each volunteers’ village arrived this week to the training site in Hamdallaye. They participated in a two day co-training event with the volunteers.

Volunteers were told to use their first four months in village choosing a primary Nigerien counterpart for working together on future projects. This person needs to demonstrate above all that they have plenty of effort, respect in the community and similar project interests as the volunteer.

Audrey chose her town’s English teacher, Ali, who entered the training site Sunday evening.

Peace Corps introduced the counterparts to Peace Corps philosophy. This was a particularly important session since people of the developing world are used to the more traditional NGO system of appearing in a community, installing new infrastructure or giving food aid or presenting information, and then leaving.

Peace Corps volunteers, explained the training staff, come to live long term in a community and help those interested members to help themselves. They discouraged the idea of Peace Corps volunteers’ ability to fund large expensive projects. The staff also encouraged counterparts to help other key players in the community to understand this different system.

Counterparts also were introduced to PACA, a community-wide priority rating tool which is widely touted by aid program developers but has been met with skepticism among PCVs.

With the volunteers, counterparts learned about project design and management to be able to better organize and implement their own projects.

Asked if he had gotten good response from the counterparts about the sessions, Tondi, the Peace Corps training manager, said, “They complained about the per diems, as usual. That’s mostly what they talked to me about.”

The sense on campus, however, was one of fun and enthusiasm. Ali said, “I’ve learned a lot, it’s been a good conference.”

****

Travel:

Nearly 21st Century Oasis in the Sahel

February 14, 2010

By Audrey

NIAMEY-- Come to Niger’s bustle capital from the rural village post and you will travel across centuries. From its two lane streets, to towering three story buildings and all the multitude of material goods stuffed in, the big city is an oasis evoking a nearly 21st century feel in a 19th century country.

The existence of ice cream, internet and French pastries invariably impresses visitors to Niamey who are also stunned by the presence of real food and real restaurants at their disposal.

A favorite attraction, the Musee of Niamey garners much attention as the only formal institution in the city. Be sure to find the lion cages at feeding time and witness a spectacular and perilous feeding frenzy.

Fashion is a booming industry in Niamey. In the celebrated ‘dead-mans’ sections common throughout Niger you’ll find acres of torn and stained discarded clothes from the developed world, what is a hipster’s true paradise.

If you have the right connections you can contact a world famous fashion designer named Koti. This little boutique in her residence is not to be missed, and if you have the time to wait, she will tailor a fashion forward ensemble worthy of Parisian runways.

This sahalien oasis in a land of donkey carts and hand pounded millet will leave you refreshed but ultimately satiated by its riches and glitz and ready to return to the bush.

****

Sports:

Volleyball Showcases Competitive Spirit, Solidarity among PCVs

By Sean

February 13, 2010

HAMDALLAYE-- It was how she introduced herself to us a few hours after arriving in Niger by letting out a primal scream into the July night and booting the volleyball clear across the training site. Not exactly a typical return of serve, and it lost her team a point, but it established Katy’s reputation as a fierce competitive spirit -- wild and unchained.

During In-Service Training six months later, that spirit drove Katy to make sure all of us who were at least somewhat willing showed up to the volleyball court at around 5 p.m. every afternoon. It created a veritable tidal wave of enthusiasm for the game about which some of us were only lukewarm.

We couldn’t resist what seemed like a gravitational force pulling us to the daily match. It allowed new standouts to emerge, like Ashle, Cindy, Katelyn, Robyn and Sarah L-H, who took many by surprise with their serving acumen and quick reflexes. It gave Guinea evacuee Nick a chance to bond with his new stagemates, even if he kept those who were his opponents from winning in the process. It was even strong enough to get one only occasional player during Pre-Service Training to choose the game, even when that beautiful red-head was beckoning him to stay with her in what would surely be an empty infirmary with everyone else on the volleyball court.

It was that powerful.

The teams were divided up differently almost every day. Hausa vs. Zarma. Eastern U.S. vs. Western U.S. Short vs. Tall. Old vs. Young. Boys vs. Girls. When we ran out of ways to divide our group in two (it was decided Atheists vs, Believers was not a good idea), we just simply split ourselves up randomly and played. But some things were consistent every time. Jesse reminded the rest of us males that he is the one who can truly call himself an athlete. Alex played like he was at least six inches taller than his actual height, while Chris consistently used his dogo [height] to make the most of his 6-foot-6 frame. Will showed he was able to return the ball from anywhere on the court and Tom demonstrated that he could be the most dangerous server among the whole group. Of course, Sara could easily claim that distinction as well.

We were good, but as much as we improved over the three weeks, we couldn’t touch the Nigeriens. Tondi was flat out unstoppable, sometimes easing up out of kindness, but never hesitating to spike a ball past Will when he got mouthy. Ousmane was just as fierce, a weapon on the court that single-handedly carried his team to victory. He was, to borrow a phrase, cokeastic. Even those that showed up only occasionally left us PCVs dizzy, Mani with his rainbow serve and Bawa with his… well… I’m not exactly sure what it was that allowed Bawa to thrive, but his team won the only game he played, allowing him to retire undefeated.

And what about Katy, you ask? She was not the best, Moussa from Gaya insisted during the first game that included our counterparts. But Moussa was wrong, because in the showdown with the highest stakes of the entire three-week session, Katy brought her A-game and made sure her team came through with a victory. She and Brian made the friendly wager, selected their teams and played like their lives depended on it. Or at least their dignity, since the loser would have to wear every single item of clothing he or she owned at the same time the entire next day. Katy stood out more than any other player during that game, and not just for her grunts and trash talk. Her serve was never as sharp, her feet were never so quick, her hands never so steady. And even when Brian, who was also showing an impressive amount of skill with so much on the line, helped his team get ahead 14-10, Katy would not accept defeat, and her team stormed back for a 17-15 victory.

There will inevitably be a rematch during the Close of Service conference during the summer of 2011, a final judgment of sorts regarding our volleyball skills. Until then, you’ll find Katy on the court at the middle school in her village preparing, while the rest of us try not to forget too much of what we’ve learned.

****

Politics: source, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8537043.stm

Niger: A coup for democracy?

By Caspar Leighton

BBC News, Niamey



Most people in Niger's capital, Niamey, seem to regard the military coup as an opportunity not a disaster.

"We have had coups before, and usually not many people die, so for us the military coup is not so traumatic as it might be somewhere else," says Mohamed Bazoum, deputy president of the opposition PNDS Taraya party.



The last time Niger's military staged a coup was in 1999.

Then the putsch heralded a short transition before elections. Nigeriens hope this coup will lead towards elections as well.

"We're proud of what the soldiers have done and we expect them to manage a clean, honest transition, because the soldiers who have taken over are not eager and ambitious, they don't want power," said a man in Niamey's main market who did not want to be named.

'Have faith'

For most people, the advent of a military coup is the fault of the politicians, not the soldiers.

"It's regrettable that we have had a coup d'etat," said another man in the market. "But the politicians have failed us and so I am glad the army stepped in."

Many coups across West Africa have started out with soldiers promising a return to civilian rule and democracy. Things do not always go so smoothly.

But in Niger, most people think the army will stick to its word, including those in the government that was ousted.

"At this stage we have to have faith in what the army says and we think they are men of their word," says Tamboura Issoufou, the spokesman for the party of the deposed President Mamadou Tandja.

Mr Tandja's MNSD party may be allowed to take part in the transition and run in elections.

The opposition is adamant that Mr Tandja himself not only be barred, but tried for high treason.

Mr Bazoum has more forthright reasons for believing the army will return power to civilians.

"Niger cannot survive without international aid, and as long as there is a military government, the sanctions imposed during President Tandja's time will remain in place."

The extreme poverty of Niger has long been an important factor in its political landscape.

Crumbling tarmac

The country has had to rely on its uranium reserves for foreign revenue and has been very vulnerable to price fluctuations. Aid from the international community is essential.

In the past, unpaid salaries have led to tensions in society that have ended in coups.

Many in Niger think it was the international isolation caused by President Tandja's changing of the constitution to stay in power that posed the biggest threat to Niger's well-being.

Niger sits close to the bottom of the United Nations human development index and regularly faces food insecurity.

Being largely a desert nation, cultivating crops and raising livestock is a precarious business at the best of times.

At the end of January the government warned that 2.7 million people, or a fifth of the population, were facing food shortages because of poor rains.

There is no need to look for statistics to appreciate how poor Niger is.

When trucks and other vehicles cross the border into Niger from Benin, they feel the poverty straight away as the road deteriorates into potholes and falls away at the edges.

This road is the main artery from the capital Niamey down to the port of Cotonou in Benin, yet still the money has not been found to repair it.

The trucks crawl along at a snail's pace. Often hugely overloaded, they sometimes tip over as the heat-softened tarmac crumbles into the sand.

"Sometimes good things can come from coups," says Mr Bazoum.

The groups of beggars that wander around Niamey and the millions going hungry across the nation must be hoping the same thing.

****

Politics:

PCVs Weather Coup d’Etat Like Old Pros

By Audrey

February 18, 2010

ASHLE’S TOWN-- News of the Niger coup d’etat reached PCVs Audrey and Ashle Thursday afternoon by text message.

“Unconfirmed reports of gunfire in Niamey. PCVs on standfast,” the message read.

Standfast is the 1st action in Peace Corps’ Emergency Action Plan, followed by consolidation and evacuation. On standfast, PCVs must remain in the town they are in at the beginning of the emergency.

Audrey and Ashle went to school as normal to plan upcoming events with the teachers. They spent the evening talking with neighbors about the coup.

“Everyone seems pretty content with the coup,” said Audrey. “ A lot of Nigeriens knew that Tanja’s presidency had derailed democracy in Niger, and that a coup would be the only way to get it back on track. Now everyone is just waiting to see if this new military regime is serious about doing that.”

While the military Junta has not yet proven itself, early signs indicate that the reinstatement of a democratic government can be expected. The military has exempted itself from eligibility in future elections and has installed a non-military interim prime minister, one-time Canadian Embassy worker Mahamadou Dandah. The military has also allowed non-partisan governmental leaders to continue in their roles.

“The only thing that we were really worried about was the possibility of evacuation,” said Audrey. “As coups go, this was a really good one.”

Standfast was lifted the following Saturday, after it became clear that Niger would remain stable during this transition.

****

Kitten Missing for a Day

March 8, 2010

By Audrey

AUDREY’S VILLAGE-- Audrey woke up Monday morning, expecting Waka, a four month old kitten, to be perched on the mattress outside the mosquito net.

When the kitten did not appear throughout the day, Audrey became worried that the kitten was a goner.

But on Tuesday morning the cat came back. “I figured she’d found another irresistible latrine to explore” said Audrey, referring to an earlier incident when her cat fell into a latrine, “or that she’d become feline fricassee for some of my neighbors.”

PCVs cats have been known to be villagers’ hors d’oevres in Niger, especially when the cants have eaten a villager’s chicken.

But happily for all, the cat returned home, unharmed. Audrey’s conclusion, “I guess she just couldn’t stay away!”

****

*Note: this isn’t the article I wanted to send but I cant find that one. That article was about Niger finally requesting international food aid which Tanja wouldn’t do. I will send it if I get my hands on it again. This one is about the food shortage in general. People have said it’ll be hard for us sometimes to deal with this, so I’m a bit worried. Thought you should know about the real situation.

Aid Group: Severe Food Shortage Threatens Millions in West Africa

International: source, http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Severe-Food-Shortage-Threatens-Millions-West-Africa-.html

Anne Look | Dakar 18 March 2010

A malnourished child sits at a feeding center in Maradi, Niger (File)

Photo: AP/George Osodi

A malnourished child sits at a feeding center in Maradi, Niger (File)

Oxfam: Harvests down 34 percent in Chad, 26 percent in Niger compared to last year.

Oxfam says 10 million people across the Sahel region in West Africa, particularly in Niger and Chad, are facing severe food shortages.

Oxfam is urging developed countries to take rapid action in the face of what it called an "unfolding disaster" in the Sahel, namely severe food shortages in coming months caused by irregular rains in 2009.

The international aid agency warned that eight million people are at risk in Niger and two million in Chad. Oxfam said the looming food shortage also threatens a substantial number of people in Mali, as well as those in parts of Burkina Faso and Nigeria.

Africa's SahelAfrica's Sahel

Oxfam's humanitarian coordinator for West Africa, Phillipe Conraud, recently visited some of the most at-risk regions in Niger, Chad and Mali.

Conraud says the most affected have been the farmers and herders in rural areas, who are running out of places to graze their animals. He says grains are a staple of peoples' diets, but poor harvests this past year in countries like Niger have led to a grain shortage and subsequent rising prices. He says most of the people threatened by the potential food crisis are already extremely poor and will not be able to afford enough food in coming months.

Oxfam said harvests in Chad have fallen by 34 percent compared to last year and those in Niger have fallen by 26 percent. Oxfam said that in some regions of Niger, there were no harvests at all.

Rains are not expected again until June, and Oxfam says food prices will continue to climb until the next harvest in September without international assistance.

In Niger, Oxfam is urging donors to respond to the government's request for international assistance and head off a repeat of a devastating 2005 food crisis in Niger. Oxfam says delays in responding to that crisis needlessly cost lives.

Oxfam says Niger has requested $123 million in food aid. This request represents a change in the impoverished West African country.

Niger's former president, Mamadou Tandja, refused to address risks of food crisis during his more than 10 years in office. Tandja was ousted by a military coup last month.

Oxfam and its national and local partners have already begun emergency relief work in the most vulnerable regions in Niger and Chad.

Oxfam's Conraud says in the months ahead they will be helping rural inhabitants feed their animals and keep their livestock alive until the next rains. He says they are also working on ways to get food to the people who already can not afford to feed their families.

Conraud said they would be working with urban residents who will also have trouble finding affordable food in the coming weeks and months.

****

PCV Spends Inordinate Amount of Time Out of Village

February 22, 2010

By Audrey

AUDREY’S VILLAGE-- PCV Audrey has spent the previous two weeks making a tour of the Zinder region in an effort to spur her town to action on finishing her house.

After completing IST, Fati returned home to her village Thursday February 18th to an unfinished house which also still contained in one room the previous occupant‘s things. The village’s mayor and Peace Corps staff toured the new, though incomplete, quarters and then were shown temporary housing which did not meet safety standards.

Audrey then decided to spend a few days in Magaria helping PCV Ashle on projects. When Audrey was informed of the completion of her home, she returned once more to the village, finding that although the house was now habitable, the work was, in fact, still incomplete.

Audrey stayed a few days in village, starting projects, and left for friend Kira’s town. A map of Africa and of Niger were painted and delicious food was prepared over the four days Audrey spent in this town.

“I was so impressed,” said Audrey. “There was internet and a working shower. And Kira had an oven in her house. Plus I got to see the [culture center] when they were doing tae kwan do lessons! I want to do an exchange with my town’s kids and these kids now.”

On her way back to post, Audrey was informed that her house was still not done. She therefore decided to travel to friend SLH’s town in hopes of doing a radio show.

The two PCVs were unable to do radio, but introduced the concept of a jigsaw puzzle to the kids of SLH’s neighborhood.

Audrey finally arrived back at post, to a house still not finished or moved out of. However, with so many projects pressing to be started, and with the Peace Corps admin breathing down her back, there was nothing to do but to stay at post and function with an in-ideal housing situation.

“I guess this is just one of those frustrating things in Niger that we have to learn how to handle,” said Audrey.

****

Home and Garden:

Trend Watch: Mud Cooking Gaining Ground

March 14, 2010

By Audrey

ZINDER-- Cook stoves are making an entrance in Peace Corps Volunteers’ collections of household necessities. And just in time for the hungry season crunch, say Peace Corps directors.

PCVs recently learned how to make a better cook stove which burns significantly less wood. In this fragile, water-stressed ecosystem that is a literal life-saving innovation. And best of all, these fashionable new mud-based cook stoves are cheap for villagers on a tight budget, costing less than 50 cents to make.

All over the Zinder region now PCVs are constructing these cook stoves in their homes and interested neighbors’ homes. They hope the trend catches on.

****

Students Meet for English Club

Monday, March 8th

By Audrey

AUDREY‘S VILLAGE-- Approximately 30 students from freshmen and sophomore level classes met Monday afternoon at the CEG (middle school) under the supervision of PCV Audrey and English teacher Ali.

Students played a vocabulary matching game and discussed longer-term activities for the school year. Audrey suggested several project ideas and asked for ideas from the students.

“Please,” said one student with English speaking effort, “We are not strong in English and we don’t have much books. We would like that you to bring us books.”

A perfect opportunity for Audrey, who had been waiting to find a way to rope her community into helping her with a book drive. She proposed a fundraising project for the club while she would find outside sources to compliment their efforts. The students readily agreed.

Peace Corps offers a few sources of funding and for a project like creating a library a PCV normally turns to the Peace Corp Partnership Program, PCPP. This is a lengthy application process which results in the online posting of the PCV’s project at: www.http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors. Once online, visitors to the website can make tax deductible donations.

Other projects that showed promise are creating skits to be performed to parents and the community and organizing debates.

Students then received homework entitled “My Dreams for the Future” to be written in whatever language they can manage, but containing at least 2-3 paragraphs. They then gave names of those who will run for president, vice president and secretary.

Audrey was feeling exhilarated after the first meeting. “Many of the students seemed so engaged and it ran relatively smoothly.” She added, “And I really made the right choice in bringing Ali to IST. He was really helping me, even though I can see he wouldn’t feel like he could do this on his own.”

Due to Hausa language training and team meeting, Audrey will miss the next English Club. “I’m really sad I’ll miss the elections. I hope everything runs as smoothly next week as this, but I can’t wait to get back to read [the students’] homework assignments!”

For my health murals I asked some middle school girls to help me with the prep work. I'm hoping that later I can train them to do murals that they design and execute themselves. This was a dipping-the toes-in test run with them.

Then my PCV friends, Cindy, Sean and Sarah LH, came and we painted several hours for 3 days. Cindy did impromptu workshops with the kids who came to gawk at the americans, presenting the issues we were painting and asking them questions about it. She put me to shame with her ability to teach hoards of little kids and her ability to speak Hausa. She also taught them duck duck goose to keep them entertained and out of our hair. Someday I will get videos up, but probably not for several months.

The titles in Hausa say: 'We wash our hands after we come out of the bathroom' 'We wash our kids' hands after they're finished going to the bathroom' and 'A variety of foods makes us healthy and strong'.

Author’s Note

Wilcommen,

It is January and toasty here. Ha. Ha. Ha. To all of you who have been skating around on ice for the past month! I hope you all survive it alright; be careful. Oh the memory of snow, I always remind myself, when its 90 degrees during cold season, of the reason I wouldn’t even have accepted an invitation to Peace Corps-Ukraine had they sent that to me instead of one to the hottest country in the world. Anyway this has been a busy last month before IST so I have broken the many things to say into chapters.

1. IST [January 25-Febuary 12]

First, an explanation of what IST is. IST is short for In Service Training. Like I had PST (Pre-Service Training) in the beginning in Hamdallaye, I will be going back there for more of the same. We will be getting more language and more technical training, also more security and medical classes, I think. I don’t think we’ll get more formal culture classes, but we’ve just had one 4-month-long intensive culture class so I wouldn’t think they are necessary anymore, really. I think having the training broken up into two periods is a really good idea; the admin knows how we get overwhelmed and new-info-jammed in the beginning. I know I shut down taking new information in by the last couple of weeks in PST and I know with all the adjusting I’ve done the last few months, I’ll be ready to retain so much more now.

We’ll be going back to Hamdallaye but we’ll be living up at site instead of down in the town with our PST families. Some of us will go down for dinner once or twice to visit our old host families. I’ll bring my family al kakis- a special cookie boiled in honey and made only in Zinder-ville. We’ll each have invited a ’counterpart’ to come for a few days near the end of training so that the person we’ll be working most closely with is on the same page as us, in terms of what PC is and what we do. I have asked my English teacher, Ali, to come. He’s really good and we plan to start an English club and I think we could work on other projects as well, but I haven‘t discovered those yet.

It’ll be great to see all our old training group mates and our old teachers from PST. I’ll be able to ask the teachers a lot more intelligent questions now. Some of us on Team Z (…Team Fat) have really taken to being bush cooks and cook big dinners for the rest of the team. Team Z isn’t as big as my training group (even after all the Early Terminations from the training group) but I thought it might be a fun way to say thank you to our chefs at site (who cook delicious meals for a giant group of stressed out, bottomless pit Americans and their training staff) if a group of us cooked dinner for them some night during IST. So that is one event I’ll ask to do during these 3 weeks. I’m very excited to be able to talk to all my training friends, to ask them about their Niger-life stories and project ideas. I’m still sad about the 1/3 of the group who wont be there; Hamdallaye is going to feel weird and maybe empty but hopefully, and probably, closer knit as well.

2. Job Description

Being a PCV is definitely unlike most jobs and a lot of people have a hard time understanding what we do exactly. I’ll try to explain relatively briefly here, but I plan to write a ‘describing things ad nauseam’ letter one of these days, in which the minutia of my days in Niger will be fully realized in script.

Peace Corps in different countries uses different set ups and has different job specializations. Some countries have an education volunteer teach full time in a school. Other programs want people with specific expertise to teach at a university or high school level or be a fully qualified health worker in a clinic. In Niger, we have 5 (soon to be merged to 4) broad categories of work: CYE ‘Community and Youth Education’, MCD ‘Municipal and Community Development’ (I think), Ag ‘Agriculture’ and NRM ‘Natural Resource Management’ and CHA -‘something Health something’. We are all assigned a sector but most of the time our work overlaps two or more of the sectors, and volunteers from all the sectors work together on projects from time to time (eg- my health murals (see later chapter) are education and health and MCDs and CYEs helped me do the project). Also, we each have a head of our sector in Niamey, called an APCD ‘Assistant Peace Corps Director’. These are Nigeriens who know our sector well and can speak English with us. My APCD is Bawa and I mentioned the MCD APCD, Oussman, in my last letter(Cokastic).

For the first few months our jobs literally consisted of sitting studying language, sitting to not overheat or go insane and sitting talking to coworkers and neighbors. It’s good for people who like to sit and do (seemingly) nothing, but hard for people who like accomplishment by American standards. All of that is a part of what I’ve already talked about as ’integration’. Now, however, we have begun to start formal projects like mural painting, English clubs, soccer tournaments et al. We are supposed to know our community, find out what they have and what they need and formulate projects that will address those needs. As in the states, the catchword in PC Niger is ‘sustainability’, though here it means that we have to try to figure out ways to make our projects not one-time things but things that can continue to function or happen without us and even after we leave. It’s basically the same model as the ‘community organizer’ model that Obama used in his campaign. Unfortunately, here we don’t get to know how we fared in bringing about Change by seeing voting percentages.

3. Project: Bande

In time for IST, I’ve been thinking a lot about what projects I want to try in Bande so that I can talk these things over with my friends and trainers in Hamdallaye. I wasn’t sure in the beginning about how the town would like murals or art clubs or the artsy-er types of projects I could do -I didn’t seem to get a lot of bites right away. But slowly, especially after my APCD talked to his old school buddy who happens to be my mayor, people have started to mention more and more ideas that I could do here. An art club, a mural at the middle school, maps at the elementary schools. My neighbors expressed interest in learning how to sew, so if I can find a women’s club, I’ll try to set up a sewing clinic. I really want to try to have a girls group make corn husk dolls or rag dolls which I used to make as a kid in the states. I saw a girl here once with a Barbie and looking at it was like seeing an anachronism. Kids just don’t have toys here; so what if some group of people could exercise some creativity and make money and put more cheap (affordable) toys into the community?

I have one idea that I can’t shake but I also can’t figure out. I really want the people in Bande to be able to make their own books. Some could do it, especially if I gave some training on how to write stories or what kind of books there are. But even those who could don’t have the means to make them. I could teach them how to hand bind books, but will they hand write every page? Especially if they are doing multiples of one book, that seems ridiculous -medieval, if you will. Will they buy a computer and a printer and type up their book? Most of the women here don’t even know what a computer is -they are fascinated by my digital camera. Most of the men have never laid hands on a computer, and even my super-intendant who is one of the more educated people in the village and just bought a computer wants me to teach him how to use it --my friend Sean has typing lessons with his mayor on the office‘s new computer. Most people can’t afford this sort of thing anyway and it would take years, I think, for their investment to make returns. Also the closest place to get computer supplies like ink and paper would be Zinder, but you might have to go to Niamey even, I‘m not sure. There are so many problems, I can’t figure out how Bande and computer generated books could be compatible. So then I think, well, I’m living in the 18th Century, why not make a printing press? But I’m not sure the effort of making a complicated machine like that with so many little bits is really worth it. I could as easily do a book campaign and beg and plead with my villagers to buy imported books. They are available, but in a country where kids run around half clothed and half the weight they should be, it’s hard to get parents to make more investment in reading. Also, I don’t want to make a cute, quaint little printing press because, even though it’s not the 21st century in Niger, it is in the rest of the world; and if Niger is ever going to join the global community it’s going to have to pull a China and dive head long into tech investment and education. Antiquated technology, if marginally beneficial, is at best a Band-Aid on a gaping wound.

I do want to bring textbooks to Bande, and that will be an interesting project that I can pin the success or failure of on my villagers. I will find out at IST what organizations I can look to for book buying funds, but even if I do find some money, my community will have to come up with a significant amount themselves. I’m thinking of fundraising ideas; one thing volunteers do is to plant a school garden, have kids help tend it and then sell the produce to benefit the school. There are a lot of potential problems with this as well, but it’s one that I think I’ll try if I can get people interested in it.

Although computers do seem anachronistic here, technology is filtering in. People have phones now that have internet on them -like is finally common in the states, and has been the norm in Europe and Asia for years. Regular cell phones are so quotidian now that everyone and their 3rd wives have them. Some people are getting computers. So I want to get a group of girls to come to Zinder and have an internet tutorial with me at some point so that when technology hits Niger and they get access to it in one form or other, they can take advantage of the opportunity. I also think it might be a way to really open their eyes to education, the world outside their village and possibilities for their lives in general. Projects that get girls outside the village are encouraged by PC because many of the girls (I assume this is true for Bande, tho I haven’t taken my own official survey) have never left their village or at least have never been to the regional capital -if the family is doing anything outside of their town and sending some but not all of its members, the girls are always the last to be chosen for the trip.

So these are some of the ideas I’ll be running by people and working out the kinks of over IST. If you have any brilliant brainstorms or a clearer, head-not-in-the-trenches perspective, do enlighten me.

4. Barka da Sabowar Shekara -Happy New Year!

For New Years I spent a lovely, laid-back day and night in Matamey. We hung out with Ashley and Kira’s best friend in that town. When Cindy came we had lunch and watched House episodes. We built a bonfire and had smores with the Nigeriens and tried to teach them the English words for graham cracker, marshmellow and smore, but they just kept calling everything chocolate. After the Nigeriens left we broke out the booze and made good mixed drinks. After we rang in the new year, we fell asleep watching House.

By the next morning I knew I had some sort of gastro-intestinal illness so instead of going back to Bande I swung up to Zinder to get tested and get my meds. I had amoebas -starting out the new year in good Peace Corps style! There I happily found my friend Kat’s package waiting for me which was a lovely early birthday surprise and made being sick a lot better!

5. A Kitten Called Waka

My RR (Regional Representitive- the liaison between a region’s PCVs and the Niamey admin) had a cat who had kittens. I expressed reserved interest in taking one of them and ended up with Waka. The name means ‘song’ in Hausa and is sadly apropos; it turns out she’s got Wagnarian opera lungs in her. I named her that because several years ago I should have been able to name my cat at home who was instead named Bunkey the Funky Monkey (or Monkey for short). I wanted to name her Sonata but my mom said she’d just say Snotty all the time and hijacked my naming rights. Waka is the closest I could get in Hausa to ‘Sonata’. So here I am on the other side of the planet where mom can’t pull a Tanja (=‘president’ of Niger), getting my way finally.

Waka is, shall I say, an adventurous kitten. I’m hoping she grows out of this spirit. She’s also taught me the literal meaning of “curiosity killed the cat”. I’ll cut to the chase. One morning I went to visit the bathroom and I noticed that my cat wasn’t coming through the drain hole from the other room, to greet me like she normally did. And then I heard meowing and I though, man how’d she get over my wall to the outside of my concession? So I peeked out my door and called to her but no response. Then I had a thought that I assumed too disgusting and unlikely to be true, but I went back into the latrine room to be sure and there again I heard the dreaded meowing. Yes, it was coming from the bottom of my latrine.

I got my flashlight and a basket hanger with a long rope and stuck these things and my arms up to the elbows into to 6inch hole that I ‘use’. happily, the latrine is new so there was solidish space at the edges of the pit. But my stupid cat wouldn’t grab a hold of the basket hanger. I was resigning myself to periodic essays at rescue in this manner for the next couple of days until my cat died down there*, when the guys who are working on the walls of my concession came(*I‘m sorry if that sounds callous, your reading this in a country where pets routinely get surgeries and I am writing from a country where parents can‘t get surgeries for their kids or themselves). I said in my broken Hausa ‘um can you help me? My cat is there. Theres a cat there’ pointing at the latrine hole. The guy was taken a back and somewhat amused. In the end, they had to hack away the cement sealing, lift up the heavy cement top of the latrine and, after several other options were exhausted, stick a ladder and climb down to grab my wayward kitten. I immediately stuck her in a bath and soaped her up. She got bathed in so much hand sanitizer, yuck. The dude wanted the equivalent of 2 bucks for that, but I gave him 3 because, really, he climbed down into a latrine to fetch a kitten, -he deserved time and a half for that. Sense then, we’ve been on a leash at all times, because we cannot be trusted to stay out of a latrine. I’ve thought about calling her Wuya which is Hausa for difficulty or hardship, but she’s still got those operatic pipes, so Waka it is.

6. Birthday in the Bush

I have passed yet another milestone in my service -my first birthday in the bush. It was a great birthday due entirely to my lovely friends who helped me celebrate; Sean and Sarah, who were part of the Zermou story, and Cindy all came to help with my mural project (see Chapter 7) and Ashle, who lives in magaria- where I bike to and from sometimes, also came up for just the day, and finally Miss Kat back at home sent me birthday candles in the serendipitously received package.

This was no ordinary birthday, it was a three cake birthday! The first cake was an astounding chocolate cake that Sarah made from scratch at the hostel and brought from Zinder. Seriously, Betty Crocker’s got nothing on this cake. Cindy put Kat’s candles on in the form of “2-?” because I wouldn’t say at first what birthday it was(I cant believe im turning into that person who wont own up to her age..!). We ate the cake early so it wouldn’t go stale and Sean justified our transgression by calling the whole weekend my partial birth distortion. I liked that because im a sucker for a pun. The second cake we commissioned my land lady’s daughter Soyeba to make a giant version of these little deep-fried sweet biscuit cake things that are called biscuti. When she brought it, we stuck a candle in, sang the song and took a picture with her. The third was a delic chocolate cake that Ashle brought from Magaria where they sell fancy things like packaged food.

My friends made me a birthday breakfast which I cant describe. But breakfast foods (especially of the eggy variety) are my favorite and almost every morning that I am in Zinder, I make scrambled eggs. My favorite restaurants back home were almost all breakfast/brunch places. So my egg scramble was a perfect treat even though it sounds ordinary.

Later, Sean and Sarah wanted to go out to Bande’s garden way out in the countryside, much to Ashle‘s and Cindy‘s chagrin. Here ‘way out’ is defined by about 2k or a mile and ‘garden’ is defined by a seasonal series of ponds, a grove of trees and some garden-like areas sprinkled about. It was a nice place to have a picnic. A guy working in the garden gave us a bunch of lemons and at one point a dude with a big gun walked by. He stopped to let us take pictures and pretended to get the gun ready to fire, which made me nervous! We sat and talked and played trivia contest and bop, marry, kill.

When we got back to bande, we were exhausted, so I decided we wouldn’t finish the mural that day and I finished it myself the next day. We had planned to grill shish kabobs that night, using my landlady’s wood that she had just dumped in my yard (for explanation on why I would not feel at all bad about using my landlady’s wood see chapter 8), but none of us had enough effort or hunger to go back to the market. So the barbeque has been postponed until Zinder and we tarried away the rest of the evening playing games and chatting.

7. The Sistine Chapel of Bande

As I mentioned, murals are going to be a big thing for me here. And the health clinic is going to be my Sistine Chapel. It might even take the 2 years I’m here (isn’t that how long Mich took?). We started with 2. I promise to have pics on my blog soon, if I haven’t done so already. They are pretty good. I designed them myself, but the idea behind the ‘variety of foods’ panel I got from the mural I did way back during Demyst with Terri. One is about eating lots of different kinds of food and the caption says in hausa “Varied food gives health and strength”. The other is about washing after you leave the bathroom or you kid leaves the bathroom and it’s captions say “we wash our hands after leaving the bathroom” and “we wash our children when they’ve finished with the bathroom”.

My friends came in to help me for four days, -strategically timed to coincide with my birth day. It was a lot of fun to show them my life here in Bande, though when my villagers told them they speak better Hausa than me I felt territorial, even though it’s true. We cooked almost as good food as we do in zinder, and played trivia contest and boggle (thanks mom for that!). Trivia contest is a game my friend Cindy made up and Sean coined the name. It’s what we play when we don’t want to play a full game of Trivial Pursuit, but asking questions sounds fun. The ‘Question Master’ asks the questions and the first person to shout out the right answer wins a point. The only problem is that the Question Master gets divine authority in choosing questions and doling out points and this week Sean was severely, tho he contests unknowingly, biased in Cindy’s favor. So I stopped liking trivia contest and I think Sarah was a bit miffed too.

Once when we were in the daily market and once when we were on the road, a guy with a traditional guitar and crazy eyes serenaded us. He made up songs on the spot about us. “Here’s Uma. She’s living with Fati and we’re really glad she’s here. Here’s Hadiza. She’s working with Fati also. Give me money now.” We got a bit on video and it will be my mission to upload that onto my blog in the next 3 weeks. He broke out into a lounge singer-esque banter between verses even. It was ridiculous and amazing. Wow I live in Niger.

On Sunday evening, we decided to take my Niger style tea set out to a tree near my house and make Shaye, or ‘Chai’ or really strong tea with a ton of sugar in it. We couldn’t do it right for the first batch so some guys from the middle school came over and helped us. They poor the tea back and forth between cups and build up this amazing amount of foam. Then they pour the foam into a shot glass and put a little tea in that and each person takes turns drinking. They usually do 3 brews with a batch of tea and a whole cup of sugar between the 3 batches. This was what I was hunting for in the first month because it’s a good way to get to know a group of guys. But it was harvest time when I first got here and even now my friends who visited say there aren’t as many guys hanging out drinking tea here as in their villes. Besides having fun, being Hausa with my american friends, I wanted to advertise that I do do Chai so that when I’m walking around, maybe guys will invite me over to tea more often.

While we were working on the murals, we didn’t always have work for everyone at once so those feeling ill could sit out or take pictures and those who preferred to play with the kids could do that. Cindy went off and taught my kids duck duck goose. And then she sat them down and used my mural drawings to do little lectures on the health topic that each picture shows. This was in Hausa mind you. Why cant I have Hausa like my friends? Cindy was amazing, I couldn’t believe how she got them to pay attention and answer her questions about washing hands and eating a variety of food. It was perfect Peace Corps. I got video of that too, so once again, have patience and I’ll get it up on my blog somehow or other.

I got the two murals done the day that my friends left and took pics. It’s funny that my friends told me, when I was complaining about the mob of kids crowding our work, that the amount of kids following anasaras around is directly proportional to the amount of anasaras, and they were right. Everyday while we worked we had crush level crowds, but when I was finishing up the mural, there were only a few well behaved kids reading the words that I was writing and trying to guess what the whole phrase would be before I wrote it. It was a nice calm denouement to the project. In the next few months I will do more murals, one is designed already and the others I have to talk to the health workers about but the whole wall, if I have my say, will be covered in pictorial hygiene messages.

8. The Big Move

When I return to Bande after IST, I’ll be moving. My mayor told me earlier this month that the land lady’s son is coming back from Saudi Arabia and she’s kicking me out. She’s not really supposed to do that because there was supposed to be an agreement made between her and the mayor that the rent would be for 2 years. But this is niger, and even if the agreement was ever made, it still means nothing. This is a nice house and I knew that whatever one they found for me wouldn’t be as new and nice as this. But there are a few drawbacks to this house which made me nervous but willing to move-not that I really had any say in it anyway.

So last night the shit hit the fan. I was sitting outside my house having shaye with Dasa my little high school age friend when the workers at my house told me they had to go into my house to figure out what kind of paint to put on the walls. I said ‘okay but you know that you cant paint until after I move which will be after a month’. Then they started getting really agitated saying ‘oh no there’s a problem there’s a problem’. The Saudi Arabia son is coming back in a week and they have to get the house ready! I said they would all just have to wait, there’s nothing I can do. But they had other ideas and hightailed it off to my mayor’s house who is in charge of my housing. Then they came back and told me that the mayor would come in the morning (before I left for Zinder) which I assumed meant he was coming to move me out to… I didn’t know where. I called my RR who called the Zinder driver who called my APCD who called my mayor and long story short, I was informed that I would indeed be moving completely out of that house and into a storage area where they keep grain that next moring (today as I type). I was hopping mad but after a bad night of sleep, and after my mayor seemed honestly apologetic enough for me and was one time this morning I cooled off. We got my stuff moved on ox carts and I got onto the bush taxi only a little after when I had planned. It was better that I got my things moved this way than leaving everything in the house because they would have just cut the lock off and moved my things without me there. Wow I live in Niger.

I am (was) next to a house that plays movies till midnight every night on loudspeakers. There is also a mosque close by and no shade trees in the yard. I also feel like I didn’t get to know my neighbors as I should because in the beginning I wasn’t very comfortable in Hausa and a lot of people only speak Hausa. I just got to see the new house and it’s pretty close to this one, but I think there is no mosque or movie house near by. It is mud brick rather than cement that I have now. But that might actually be a plus- I’ve heard that mud is cooler than cement, but im not sure. They are building a wall right now and were talking about a big shade hanger, tho I only need a small one because there is a big tree in the yard and another big tree right outside the concession wall. There is also enough space for a garden which I want to plant asap. It is a lot smaller than my current house, but I really wanted a smaller house frankly, because I don’t use the two big back rooms I have right now and I don’t like all that wasted space. And now I will be able to meet all my neighbors properly and get on their good sides so they can keep away the kids and the creepy guys from Nigeria. Maybe I’ll even gain a host family, although I still don’t really want to eat Hausa food every night.

There is not a spigot in the yard so I will have to have water brought or carry it myself. It is not very far to the nearest well though, 40 second walk. I didn’t notice any power lines going to the house, and that is the only thing that worries me. I have become very attached to my electricity here even though my light switches and outlets keep breaking. I don’t want to go somewhere everyday to have my cell phone charged and I want to have a fan when hot season rolls around. It’ll be like waiting for my report card, waiting to find out all the last details of my new house. I feel a lot better now, tho, that I’ve seen it, even if unfinished.

Epilogue: Sai An Jima- So Long For Now

Well that is it. Next time I write, there will be Parisian quality chocolate croissant digesting in my stomach. Once again, feedback is more than welcome, it is anticipated beyond imagination. It’s really helpful for me to know what you like to hear about and what is just me jabbering on. It is my job to talk about my life and Niger culture to americans, and beyond that, questions and comments are -always- highlights to my day. Cheers, ~AJ

Here are some pics of our Zermou project and the promised crazy goat video. We learned later that that is the weird thing that goats do for mating, so our kid must have been going through puberty...

okay i am having trouble finishing this upload, mom will have my pics in a few weeks and i'll have her upload it with a bunch of pics. sai an jima... sai hankuri

Email 7

Winter Holiday greetings to all,

Happy Hanukkah, Feliz Navidas, Salutations on the Solstice, Kwanza Greetings and Happy Festivus. Also happy Dictator Day, since this is Tanja’s first day as dictator of Niger.

I am in town for Christmas which we celebrate together as a team by baking cookies, secret santa-ing and doing what Team Fat* does best, gorging ourselves on giant feasts. (*have I explained that Team Zinder is nicknamed Team Fat because we all cook like kitchen gods and make big meals when we get together? Well there it is.)

This last month, the biggest adventure I had was my trip to Zermou. And it really was a big adventure. As I mentioned in my last email, Zermou is the town of my friend from my training group, Sarah Lyon-Hill. She inherited a ‘World Map Project’ from her closest neighbor, Jill, who COSed and returned home last month and couldn’t paint the map in time. A world map project is something that a lot of PCVs do if their towns lack maps in their schools. I probably wont paint a map in my town because we have maps at the middle school and I think the elementaries have some as well. I will be doing a mural at the health clinic hopefully next month with my friends from training. Since Jill’s village-Bankareto-, was so small and rather poor, I think that is why she decided to do this project.

A quick, precious, side story; Alex and Sean met me in Zinder the day before we headed out to Zermou and we had a chance to do some errands in town. We were grocery shopping and Alex found thyme (dried herbs are rare to find in Zinder, we have to buy them in Niamey and bring them out with us) but there was no price labeled. He inquired about the price and they wouldn’t give him a quote ‘because it was a new product and they hadn’t done the pricing on it yet’. That is the broken Niger logic for you. They would have sold it to him probably, but he didn’t feel like negotiating. Anyway, that was just far, far too beautifully set up for me to pass up remarking to their disgust, “well now we know, thyme is priceless in Niger”. True story 100%.

Alex, Sean and I left together the next morning for Zermou. The road to Zermou is all deep sand, like sand dunes deep sand, with a bit of road here and there that is harder-packed sand. As such , regular van bush taxis have trouble getting there and the bush taxis out to Zermou are all open back trucks, the shape of and a little larger than say a regular Ford-ish type truck in America. There are some bush taxis that go out there that are massive big trucks, like Ford on steroids, but not quite so disgusting as monster truck types. Zermou is closer to Zinder than Bande and almost straight north, like Bande is straight south, but the road makes Zermou as long a trip as Bande.

The way is pretty scenery, but I really enjoyed it more on the way back because on the way there my spine was being hacked in two, for half the way. How one rides this kind of bush taxi is: one climbs on top of a bunch of huge sacks of stuff, say rice, and tries to get a good spot. We had been told, but didn’t fully understand that the best spot, besides inside the cabin, is on top of the cabin. I thought I had gotten a cozy spot behind the cabin and Alex and Sean were, perhaps not without some inkling of concern, moved to the side of the truck, legs hanging off. That ride was good in the sense that it made me appreciate Sarah’s kokari -willpower or effort or general bad-assness- for living in such a bush village. It was not good in that we were in extreme discomfort or fear of falling off the whole time. I had my butt scooted further and further under a bar because of the crowding and slipperiness of the bags, hence my spine cracking comment. Eventually I just stood up and tried to duck the thorny tree branches occasionally whizzing by. That worked well and I was a lot more comfortable except that the trees did get me full on in the face once. We let off some people a little while later and then I got room to sit down facing forward and watching the scenery. Finally it felt like a great theme park adventure ride, for me at least. On the way back, like I said, we sat on top of our bags on top of the cabin and it was adventuresome and pleasant and as comfortable as a bush taxi ride in Niger ever is except for the few errant thorn branches. Eventually I will have pictures of this bush taxi and you will see that you would have never ever believed people actually ride in the way that they are piled up on top of the truck like they are unless I had told you that that‘s how it is.

When we arrived in Zermou, we randomly met a guy who is a friend of Sarah’s and he (of course) knew right away where we wanted to go and took us to her house. Her house is much smaller than mine and made of mud brick, but it is so adorably and comfortably decorated, I am immensely jealous of her interior design skills. She has a dog, Lela, that she also inherited from Jill. Lela is sweet and has wonky legs. Jill rescued her as a puppy in the Zermou taxi station in Zinder from kids who were beating her. After resting a bit we went out and met the people Sarah works with; her mayor, the lady at the radio station, etc. and we went to her market to buy some things for dinner. I saw prepared crickets in the market so a bought the smallest amount that I could and ate one. Lela’s dog got the rest of them. I am pretty sure I told you about my cricket in Magaria that wasn’t cooked and that I would be on the lookout for a proper cricket to give them a fair shake, since Cindy told me they are pretty good. Well I really should learn to think the opposite of everything Cindy says. This one also tasted like grass and felt like cricket just saltier and a little easier to eat; so I wont be trying them anymore. We walked over to Jill’s old town that evening to see the map space and to mark out the grid. The walk is about 20 or 30 minutes and some of it in deep sand is hard but good exercise and fun to do with friends. A few days before we got there, a big river had formed next to Zermou because they had released a dam several miles away. There wasn’t any way to cross it except to wade through almost up to the knees with all the villagers around laughing at the americans walking through nasty, cold water.

Saturday, we got up and, after breakfast, walked over to Bankareto to draw the map with chalk and start painting. We brought lunch and listened to Sean and Sarah’s Ipods and didn’t leave until the late afternoon. They discovered that I hate Simon and Garfunkle and made me listen to a whole album. We got about halfway done that day. When we got back, the others were talking about Sarah’s ‘rock’ which I had obliviously never heard them talking of before. So, spontaneously, we decided to trek out there and see it. It was a huge outcropping of granite the size of a hill jutting up from the sand. It was really pretty and we were there for most of the sunset. The others were lamenting not bringing their cameras and I jokingly suggested we go back for them and spend the night out here to take pictures of the dawn. They took to that idea though and thought we should do it the next day, though it’s really cold at night now and I thought I would freeze. We ended up not doing it the next night because of an interruption, but we are talking about making another trip out there when Niger warms up a bit(I can‘t believe I can say that and be serious!). It was really pretty out in the middle of the desert, on top of a huge rock, looking at the setting sun, and I think it would be great fun if we get to do it.

The next day, before we trekked back out to the map, we heard the little baby goats right outside Sarahs house making exceptionally unusual noises. When we went out, we saw this baby goat jabbing another baby goat while making the silliest noise we have yet heard in Niger. It was reminiscent of a mom doing that ‘coochy coochy coo’ thing and wiggling her nose in a baby’s face, -except for a very strong element of random absurdness. We watched this happen for five minutes or so and took a video of it which will one day be on you tube and I will send y‘all the link. We think it should go viral and become the next ‘hamster eating popcorn’, it is that bizarre and hilarious.

Finally, we made it to the map and spent most of the day finishing it, complete with sea monster in the south pacific and baby dragon in the heavens. Sarah only has to glaze and label all (or most..) of the countries. The PCVs we talked to seemed surprised that we got our project done so fast. We have kokari, what can I say? We were visited that day by Jill’s other dog, Leo, who was acting spastic and then, to poor Sarah’s horror, followed us all the way to Sarah’s house, terrorizing the geese and goats of Zermou all the way. Sarah kept telling all the villagers she passed that it was not her dog. Finally, this crazy wild dog was jumping up onto the very high wall to sarah’s concession and would have come in if we weren’t yelling it back to the other side each time he jumped up. So Sarah and Sean decided to walk Leo back to Bankareto while Alex and I cooked. When they got back we had banana pancakes and popcorn and watched my new Star Trek dvd (thanks josh!) because we were too exhausted to go up to the rock.

We left the next morning and spent Monday night in Zinder. It was a thoroughly fulfilling trip. I really felt like I was an actual PCV for the first time. I don’t know what it was, actually doing work, seeing another PCV doing her stuff in her own town, adventuring out on the crazy bush taxi, maybe just the magic of Zermou.

The only sad part of the trip was talking a lot about the changes that had happened during and since the last time we saw each other, consolidation. We are very sad about loosing the new training group to Madagascar and the COSers, who are such great people and who left this month. I have lost 3 of 4 of the most promising counterparts (Nigeriens who do our projects with us) in my town this month, they all left for work elsewhere. Also, a lot of our training group (one third has now gone home) has elected to take interrupted service which was offered to us due to the security scare. We have very conflicted feelings about their decisions, but ultimately are sad to see them go and wish them well. We are really worried about not getting a new CYE/MCD group in July, though it isn’t likely that we wouldn’t get one if we are still here. The specter of evacuation is still hanging over a lot of us, although we are all doing better, feeling more confident that things have calmed down and that we‘ll be staying. We had a visit from Peace Corps to assure us all individually about us staying and about plans to start augmenting the program again and to talk over the specifics of the security thing(for example, evidently Americans weren‘t being specifically targeted as was thought). Now, after having this quintessential Peace Corps experience, I really don’t want a repeat of November. We have such a good team and we have so much to do as individuals and as a team. It feels like Niger is a bit swiss cheesy, not empty but full of holes. Madam Country Director, Mary Abrams, please send Zinder some great new teammates!

It was also very good to see Sarah so happy and at home in her town. It’s due I’m sure largely to her warm personality and hard work but she chalked it up to the genius of the MCD director. (She and Sean are MCD- municipal and community development and Alex and I are CYE-community and youth education). The MCD director is Oussman and he is a fun guy. Like all Nigeriens, no matter how well they can speak English, they have the funniest expressions. My favorite of Oussman’s is his coinage “coke-astic”. He says this because he hates Fanta (who can blame him?) and prefers coke, therefore, he cannot say fanta-stic, because Fanta is not fantastic, so he says cokastic.

Well I’ll leave you with that little nugget of silliness. Next time I write, in sha allah, I’ll be heading off to IST-in service training-(finally!).

Fare thee well, ~aj

Email 6

Dear folks,

I have just swung up to my friend Sarah L-H’s town, Zermou, for the weekend as 3 of us from my training group came to help her with a world map painting project that she inherited from her neighbor PCV who returned home this month and couldn’t finish before she left. I got time to shoot off an update for all of you because I am staying the night in Zinder- it’s a long trip that I could do in one day but feel much better splitting it up. Just wait till you see the picture of the bush taxi that we took to and from Zermou to Zinder, it‘s ridiculous and you wont believe I rode for 2 hours on it. Anyway, I will write up an thorough report on the trip for the Christmas letter, because it was such a good weekend and deserves pages in it’s recounting. PS what I would like from *everybody* for Christmas is an update on your lives/ America/ penguins, whatever you want to talk about. I’m serious, it sucks having 3ish hours of internet a month and loosing track of everyone’s lives back home. Send it email, snail mail, carrier pigeon, pterodactyl, whatever floats your boat.

Two days after Thanksgiving in America, we had Tabaski here in Niger. Tabaski is a Muslim holiday that celebrates the Old Testament Story of Abrahim and Issac. On Saturday, I got up and sat with some neighbors who took me to see the horse and camel races. I am really sad to say that I forgot my camera, but maybe one of my friends will have taken pictures of their town’s celebrations. I went to my Sarki’s house (the chief of the district) to bring a small gift of cookies and I had lunch with his daughters and took pictures of the whole family which I want to give to them as Christmas presents.

After that I cooked dates and brought them over to my neighbors. I watched them carve up the entrails of a goat that had been slaughtered that morning and people sent their kids around with platters of boiled pieces of meat to all the neighbors and I munched on un-identified goat morsels the whole day. The next morning I sat and watched my neighbor carve up the rest of the goat. They had told me that they would be eating the head that morning, and thankfully I missed that part. I saw some various male member of the family salting hides in a hut and I took a pic of him. Maybe that will make it onto the blog eventually. I watched the daughters cooking the meet and when it was done they gave me some pieces that I took back to my house and made some, maybe, pasta dish with. Watching a goat being carved was definitely a new experience that thoroughly weirded me out and enthralled me. I always wondered how the bowls were handled. Well in Niger, they pick them up, slice them open with the same knife used for everything else, scrape out (most of) the poop and cut them into little pieces which go, along with everything else, into the pot! I choose to believe that I consumed no goat poop this Tabaski, even if that’s a fairytale.

I knew before I came that one of the biggest (time-wise) parts of being a PCV is reading more than you ever have before in your life. I am a really slow reader and so finishing the 14 books that I have read since the plane touched down here is a real accomplishment for me. So I thought, since it’s nearly the end of the year and I probably wont finish another book before my Christmas trip to Zinder, I’d celebrate by including a book report in this email on what I have been spending large portions of my time on here.

My 14 books read in Niger:

1. Half the Sky, Kristof and Wudunn. This is about women and developing nations. It was really written more for people like you, sitting at home in america, to inspire you to travel abroad to these countries or at least support any of various organizations which help women economically, medically or educationally. Thus, it was a little frustrating to read as a PCV sitting in a region that was mentioned specifically in this book and not getting as many ideas or as much actionable knowledge as I was hoping for. That said, it is a great book which I will recommend to people, along with another good book about African development ‘Africa Doesn’t Matter’ by Giles Bolton, for years to come (particularly in the holiday season). And I’ll especially make a little nudge toward checking out those many good organizations mentioned in Half the Sky during your holiday tax write-off, check writing sessions.

2. The Silmarillion, by Tolkien- had started years ago but brought it so that I could finally finish it and I did!

3. V for Vandetta, Persepolis and PersepolisII. These are 3 graphic novels, the first 2 of which have been made into movies. I haven’t seen Persepolis yet (anybody good with pirating- wanna send me a copy?). These are really great books, if you want to read a graphic novel.

4. And Then There Were None, and Mystery on the Blue Train, Agatha Christie. This keeps my PBS Masterpiece Mystery cravings subdued, but not totally quenched. Oh PBS.

5. 3 books that are too bad to be named, but count none-the-less because they are books with pages, every last one of which I read.

6.Lost in a Good Book, Jasper Fforde. This is number 3 or 4 in a series, and I shouldn’t judge it when I havent read the series in the proper order, but it wasn’t quite my cup of tea. A good romp, but not as satisfying as some of these other books. The heroin is a literary detective who jumps in and out of books and sorts out all sorts of messes, literary and earthly. This one made me think I need to find a copy of Great Expectations so that I can meet Ms. Havisham for myself, which is something, considering I’ve never been inclined to read a Dickens book before.

7. Northanger Abbey (with Lady Susan, The Watsons, and Sanditon), Jane Austen. I think the Great Tragedy of my life is that the greatest character I have ever met belongs to an unfinished novel. Maybe someday a genius will channel Jane Austen and finish the Watsons so I can read all of Emma Watson’s story and not be left hanging at a few fleeting mentions of Mr. Howard and my heroin in a precarious financial situation. It makes me wish I could go exploring in Fforde’s ‘well of lost plots‘.

8. Guns, Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond. This is a popular history book that won the Pulitzer prize. I don’t really understand what it takes to win a Pulitzer, since this, tho an interesting book, wasn’t earth shattering and was poorly and repetitively written. It’s definitely worth a skim tho; the ideas are all interesting-the first time you read them, anyway, and if you don’t mind Diamond not fleshing out some claims.

9. West with the Night, Beryl Markham. I heard this was an interesting book (on NPR? That’s a safe assumption considering NPR was my source of 90% of my knowledge until I came here). But I can’t help thinking that I wouldn’t have liked this lady. I was telling someone that I had started this book and they mentioned that there was another bio written called ‘east with the dawn’ or something like that. Supposedly, it gives a completely different picture than the one Beryl paints, which is romantic and adventurous and no one connected to her has any personality flaws. It seems like an interesting contrast to read the two together, I might pick up the other sometime. Even though this book was a bit trite at times it was really fun to read, like “Half the Sky”, while on the same continent as the setting of the book.

letter 5

Update wed 25 nov

Yesterday we got word that consolidation is lifted and we can go back to our villages starting today. I am going out tomorrow on our sub-region shuttle. We have new rules to follow regarding travel which will make work harder in some respects, but they are manageable. We are all glad it’s over and are trying to get back into the village living mindset after a week and a half of american time. But today we got a text that the new training group which was going to be sworn in and installed in January is now cancelled and the PCTs are being given the choice of Early Termination or relocating to Madagascar! (which most of you will know was my original country invitation, ironically). We don’t feel like this is over at all now. More consolidation, more up in the air-ness and roller coaster emotions and more lack of information. That’s what I think I’ll be dealing with this month. ‘In Sha Allah’ I’m wrong and will enjoy a super boring, uneventful December.

At any rate and in the spirit of the season, truly, I am thankful I have such a great team that is so good at supporting one another through this, because none of the teams are having as easy a time with this as mine in Zinder. I am grateful that I had a wonderful and memorable thanksgiving (early), and a week of hanging out with these people (and we didn’t end up killing each other-30 people in 1 small house!). I am grateful that for now it looks like I will have a chance to fill out my service here. I’m grateful to all of you back home who have shared encouragement with me. Happy thanksgiving and eat lots of turkey for me. I’ll be back online just before Christmas.

Yours truly,

~aj

Letter 4

Dear folks,

So we aren’t allowed to blog about our status right now, but private email seems to be okay. Therefore, I’ll let you know about what is going on in Niger at the moment, at least as far as Americans are concerned. Last Saturday night I got back to Bande from a trip into Zinder only to be texted the next morning that I had to turn around because we were being ‘consolidated’. Consolidation means that we are all brought together in the country, for us in Niger that means we go to our regional capitols to the hostels. They use consolidation only if they are worried about safety in our villages throughout the country or if they want communication to be very easy or if they are strongly considering evacuation.

The reason they have consolidated us is that there was an attempted kidnapping of some american embassy workers in a region called Tauha. The kidnappers mistakenly got 2 Canadians who were able to talk themselves out of the situation when they realized the mistake -I don’t know many details. Tauha is north and very far west of Zinder and is close to the line that we haven’t been allowed to cross for a while (since before I got here). Normally when things like this happen, we are put on ‘stand-fast’ which means we aren’t allowed to travel out of our villages. They make us do that a lot, but evidently they haven’t consolidated in Niger for 3 or 4 years. This time, I heard, the kidnappers were specifically targeting Americans and had been asking about our locations. That is why our villages, which are usually much safer than the bigger cities (not that all of Niger isn’t pretty safe already-compared to, say, America), are possibly less safe at the moment. Usually even for kidnappings, Americans are not at risk as much as, for example, Germans because our government doesn’t pay ransoms and doesn’t allow families to. And if americans are killed (I heard and have decided to believe for comfort’s sake) the marines are sent in after the kidnappers. So I would like to know what is up with the change in kidnappers’ strategy and if it is really true.

Even after having my invitation to PC-Madagascar last year and then watching the blogs as the PCVs were consolidated, sent back to post, consolidated again and finally evacuated, I still can’t believe we will be sent back home. Niger has never been evacuated, but also Americans have never been threatened specifically before, that I hear. Nobody knows what will happen right now, and -I am voicing the frustration I read about and didn’t understand in the Madagascar blogs- it’s starting to get annoying. The group that is COSing (finishing up) had about 2 more weeks to go and were going to be able to spend Tabaski, the most important holiday in Niger, with their villages one last time. Now, we have heard they will probably start being sent home as soon as possible and wont be able to go back to their villages to say goodbye. We are really sad to see them go sooner than intended.

In Zinder, we are allowed to go out with buddies, so cabin fever is kept to a minimum so far-Connie, which is just south of Tauha, was being kept in quarantine and now we‘ve heard they will shut down the connie region and relocate the people there! But we all kind of want to go back to villages now cuz we feel like we‘ve just been here too long. We had a wonderful thankgiving here on Monday. We weren’t having turkey because it is expensive here and I complained a lot about that before. But when we finally started gorging ourselves, I ended up not really missing it much. We had apple and pumpkin pies, a roast, stuffing, chicken, green bean cassarole, banana bread, salad, mashed potatoes etc and I made a fruit salad and 2 loaves of honey bread which vanished before dinner even started. During dinner we went around and said something we are thankful for, which was thoughtful and humorous and sometimes a little teary for a few ppl. It was very interesting to have a moment of looking around and feeling like you can clearly see that this is your new family for 2 years and how well you feel like you can know them at that moment. nice and homey like thanksgiving should be. there were even 2 moms and an aunt randomly visiting who talked about how it’s nice for family in the states to know how we have this makeshift but strong family here. Then we all got drunk and danced till 3 in the morning.

Speaking of eating, I thought I would tell you about my culinary adventures so far. I heard from a friend that they eat fried locusts here and that they taste like potato chips so after I heard that, it was my mission to find and manage to eat a fried locust. I didn’t see them ever in my town but when I was in the market in Magaria, saw a big basket of locusts and said, yes I am going to do this now. So I told the guy I only wanted to buy a little bit because I just wanted to try the thing and he gave me a bug to try. I was quite a spectacle in the market, screwing up the courage to stick a bug in my mouth but I did it and I ate the whole thing. But I think it was not fried yet but only dried because it was kind of a yucky texture and it tasted like grass and not like a potato chip at all. So a properly fried locust, unfortunately, is still on my list of things to try in Niger. I also had kosai (fried bean flour batter) with honey a few times and it made me think of when I was a little kid eating chicken McNuggets with honey. We like to try to find substitutes for nostalgic American food here. I suppose when I get back to the states and miss Niger, I’ll go get morning star chicken nuggets with honey and pretend its Kosai.

One thing I saw made in training that I was so excited to try on my own was making bush cheese. For this you need dried milk, water and vinegar. If it doesn’t sound really amazing, you are unfortunately, for the most part, right. It tasted like those re-hydrated scrambled eggs that I ate in elementary school sometimes, only a bit less eggy. I’ve asked a lot of people here if they remember that and it seems to be just me who ever had re-hydrated scrambled eggs as a child. Anyway, when you need cheese, it’s an option. Powdered milk does make a really good alfredo sauce for pasta. I am getting to be a really good bush cook when it comes to creamy stuff.

A friend here, Sarah, and I were talking about the merits of various illnesses -having giardia (a bacteria we all come to know well) versus amoebas. When I had amoebas my stomach felt a lot more icky than when I’ve had various bacterias, and giardia gives you sulfur burps. So my miserly and lazy reaction was that giardia is infinitely better because you get to have a taste like you ate eggs that morning without having had to bother with buying and cooking them. So there you go, if you ever have to have stomach problems, try to get giardia and not amoebas.

Send me questions you want to know about Niger! Cheers, ~aj

Letter home 3.

The Dear Audrey Column

These questions date from before swear-in when I was living in Hamdallye, but for some of them I’ll apply to Bande, my post, as well.

Gaye S

How far is your village from the capitol?

Hamdy, our training site for Pre-Service Training and again for In-Service Training, was about 2 hours by bush taxi or bus and about an hour by PC vehicle away from Niamey the capitol. My town Bande is in Zinder Reagion. Its about an hour-hour and a half away from the capitol of the region and former capitol of Niger, Zinder(ville). Zinder to Niamey is a grueling 13-17 hour bus ride. On our way here for ‘live-in’ the bus driver was some mad speedster and all the PCVs were impressed with our evidently record time of 12 hours 20 mins. I will be avoiding trips to Niamey.

How long will you stay/ will you get reassigned regularly?

Bande is my town until I leave. I could get reassigned to Zinder(ville) in a year (or 2 years if I were to extend) if I request and am granted that, but so far I like Bande, and altho it’s only been a month, I can see enough work here to keep me happy for 2 years.

Is Zarma a tribe or a language?

Zarma is both a tribe and a language. Niger has many different ethnic groups; without looking up in my culture manual, I think there are at least 7 or 8. The majority ethnic group is Hausa which has a large population in Nigeria as well. The next biggest is Zarma. Hausas and Zarmas live exclusively in the south in the Sahel region because their traditional culture is a farming one --Hausas in the east mostly and Zarmas in the west. In Agadez, which is the large sahara region in the north, the Tuaregs live, mostly in the western area where the Air Mountains are. They are hearders as are the Foulans who are scattered around and there are many in Zinder and around my town. I love the foulani style of make-up, scarification, hair and dress. Its really really exotic, and they all ride camels which I cant stop staring at. Someday I’ll get some pics to y’all but for now google-pics it.

Does PC provide you with fiber?

I think I have seen Metamucil or something in the med cabinets, but my parents sent me some yummy chewable tablets that I’m trying not to eat like candy (lower standards folks, lower standards) lest I have the opposite problem of Mr. D.

Ilene G

Did you fly to Niamey directly from the US?

No. Most flights go through Paris as did ours. My flight was Philly (for orientation) to Paris to Niamey. The flights were awful and I got a fever.

Is Niamey a modern city?

Let me put it this way. There are sit down toilets, lovely grass in front of the bank and good pain au chocolats. But Niamey is the last capitol in Africa to allow herding through its streets and I’ve seen people riding donkey cartes while motorcycles are zipping by, I’ve tried not to see dudes using the restroom on the median, and even the PC vehicle I’m riding in has decided the faster root will be through oncoming traffic on the other side of the raised median.

Is Hamdallye a village or a city?

Hamdallye was a village of about 5-700 people I think? I’m not the best with numbers, but I think that’s right. Bande is about 3 times its size at about 1500. Also regarding numbers, officials here don’t even know quite frankly, not everyone registers properly. That becomes a problem when they want to send their kid to school whom they hadn’t gotten a birth certificate for.

What transportation and living quarters do you have?

Bush taxis! Bush taxis are private vehicles that go from village to village. We also have a PC shuttle once a month on a day and to locations of our choosing. I have a bike from PC which I am using to go into Magaria once a week (40k round trip). Magaria is my market town and is a pretty big city for Niger. There, I can buy luxuries like canned tuna, a soccer ball, a cooking pot and rat poison. I also get the luxury of talking to my PC friends in *English*!

My accommodations are very nice for PC and for Niger. Sarcasm aside, it is probably bigger than anything I will live in for the next 30 years. There are three rooms in back which I’m not currently using, nor do I need to use really. There is one long room in front and then a front porch. It is all concrete with a metal roof and a drop ceiling-very unusual for Bande. My bed is outside under the porch because it’s been hot till recently and the dudes haven’t come to install my *ceiling fans!* yet. I have a mat -soon to buy another, two chairs, a book shelf, buckets for washing cloths or carrying water, two tables for kitchen stuff, a table top gas stove and a trunk. I also have a Karhe which is a big, ceramic vessel for storing water and keeping it really cool. I filter my water with my big water filter, even tho my supervisor in Bande looked practically hurt when I told him that I did that, because Bande- no country bumpkin town- filters its water! I have a pump in the yard and until recently I had corn growing all over my yard. My land lady and I harvested a few days ago, finally. I planted my own garden my first week here so I hope I start seeing sprouts soon. There is a latrine across the yard and a separate room for bucket baths, but I don’t use it because I take mine in a big plastic basin in my house. I always feel like I have a very modest amount of things, filling up only a trunk and a bookshelf and the furniture filling only about 15x7 feet, but everyone who comes over seems super curious about what the American has in her house. It’s something that’s hard to get used to even if I get it intellectually.

Kat M

Do you like it so far/ what have you been doing?

I do like it so far and I have not been doing all that much. I go out and walk about town, buy tomatoes and onions in the market, greet, greet, greet, sit in my house and read a book or the Hausa manual or I sit with a neighbors family, I cook and sweep and various other tiny activities that wouldn’t even be worth mentioning in America. I go to the school now and I’ve taught beginning English a few periods and I am becoming the towns official portrait artist since the fateful day I took out my sketchbook and drew some girls visiting my house. I guess it was inevitable that I would fine my own strange way to ‘integrate’-one portrait at a time.

How is learning Hausa?

Hausa akwai wuya! It’s hard! But since sitting with this neighbor family I have slowly gotten fewer “she doesn’t hear Hausa”’s and more “She hears Hausa small small! She’s learning!”’s.

Hausa is weird too. It has no adjectives, things just have Somethingness. Josh is not tall, he has tallness. I am not white, I am a ‘whiteperson’.

Also, like any language, there are very odd quirks of grammar and expressions. For example, you can say Niger has more heat than snow, but you cant say Niger has less mud than sand-you have to say it does not have more mud than sand or it has more sand than mud. Also, when I was in hamdalli the guard at the Peace Corps training site would say “see you a lot later” in response to our “see you later” (in Hausa) and I was so affronted for the longest time; he said it with such friendliness but he didn’t want to see me sooner than later? Then a friend explained to me, it’s supposed to mean something like “may we live a long time to see each other much later”. So I walk around confused most of the time, but I’m learning.

Seen any weird bugs yet?

Oh dear me. Better not to ask.

I will say tho that the very generous and neighborly spiders who live in my house have graciously decorated my porch just in time for Halloween. I was going to take the cobwebs down but then I thought it was festive, and a reminder of what time of year it is in American terms. Its hard to believe that it’s October because the days are as long here as in July and the leaves are not red and orange and its not cold! I did take down the spiders’ decorations in my house because I just thought that was going overboard.

Also apropos of bugs; this is the first place I have ever seen people literally have ants in their pants. And did you know that when you turn on the light at night grasshoppers become kamakazies? This is true; I have reenacted Pearl Harbor several times with them. I have heard that people fry them and eat them. I want to try this-one of my friends said it tasted like chips!

How are your fellow PCVs? Do you get to work together or are you somewhat separated while living with your host families?

During training, I saw the other PCTs everyday for class and hanging out. I wouldn’t call it “work”. It was like high school. You go to see your friends, you try to screw around in class as much as possible, you spend the time in the evening that you should be studying hanging out with friends instead and you cram for the tests. At post we all live in separate towns. We see sub region people every week and region teammates every month. We can work on projects together; for example, in Zinder a lot of people come in and do radio shows that are written by us to help get out some message or other. I’ll sit in on one whenever they do that next. Or for example, a sub region friend who has done journalism for several years and I are thinking about talking to the teachers about doing a journalism club together or something of that nature.

Dad

Where were you at 1 pm on July 18th?

My daily planner entry for that day reads: “3 mins of yogurt makes an entire hot boring day scrumptious. Today we sat on goat poop under a thorny tree and watched kids beat each other up and swim in the nasty ‘lake’. I’m gonna see about helping with dinner now {written later:] ßthat was fun.” So that means at 1 I was probably finishing up lunch or laundry and walking down to the “lake” or visiting friends before walking down there.

Other notes:

Dear folks,

Well if I am sending this I probably have not solved world hunger or found a cure for AIDS but I have at last made it through my first month at post and then some. It has been overall pretty positive, if at times hard. I had set two small integration goals for myself, one was being invited to tea with a group of dudes and the other was to be invited to dinner with my neighbor family. I have more or less completed both with a week to go. Men here sit around on mats under trees and drink tea at all hours of the day, but I was worried at first because I didn’t see any teapots anywhere. Then slowly after harvest started winding down I saw one teapot and then two and now I’m seeing quite a few and several dudes called me over once to drink tea with them; goal 1, check. As for the family dinner, I knew I had been invited to come help cook, but I thought also we would eat dinner together because they had been asking me a lot if I ate ‘tuwo’ and I always responded yes. But then after I had finished helping my friend, I walked out to where I had left my stuff and one of the little girls said “kay see you tomorrow” and so I wasn’t sure about my invitation anymore and I left. But then we made popcorn at my house and they fed me a slimey but good boiled bean dough thing called dan wake. So I am counting this as being invited to dinner.

One thing I will say about Niger is that it has an awful lot of Hankuri. ‘Sai hankuri is one of the first expressions that I learned here and it means ‘have patience’. This place is awash with patience. If Niger could bottle its hankuri and export it, this would be the richest country in the world instead of the poorest. Sometimes it’s just too hot to be anything but patient and sometimes there is so much to be impatient about you’d go crazy if you weren’t practicing massive amounts of hankuri. But sometimes I am impressed by the hankuri I see daily. It’s a double edged sward tho, because it leads to another much used Nigerien expression that we heard the first day, ‘en principe’. ‘En principe’ school should be free here and there shouldn’t be schools made out of falling down grass thatch. ‘En principe’ school was supposed to start a week ago; ‘if god wills it‘, it will start tomorrow. ‘En principe’ this is a democratically elected government. But Nigeriens have so much hankuri that when things don’t go according to plan, nothing happens. A lot of times when I talk to Nigeriens, their hankuri starts taking on a defeatist and apathetic tinge. I think this is another hurdle to get over -figuring out how much of that is just a lack of inspiration which I can try to change in a small way and how much is legitimately based in tough facts. For now tho, I am a bit frustrated and trying to try on this hankuri for size.

Here are a few stories, randomly assorted, that I find funny. At the end of training, we were riding in the PC vehicle and I was listening to a conversation that Shuruq a PCV friend and Tondi our training director were having in English French and Hausa. Shuruq is very personable and outgoing and Tondi is a legend among us PCVs- I‘ve never sensed a shred of his personality that I couldn‘t admire. Shuruq asked Tondi, if he could be anywhere in the world where would he be and Tondi replied “Los Angeles, because it’s cool there”.

A few weeks ago, there was a lot of haze in the air. Now I know that it was the end of the rains and there’s just dust in the air for a few days, but at that time, I was wondering if perhaps the farmers were burning the fields or something. I was sitting with my neighbor family and wanted to ask them about it with my limited vocabulary. I couldn’t say “why is the sky all hazy like that? Are the farmers burning the fields?” but I thought I could say “Why is there dust/dirt in the sky?”. Unfortunately the word for dirt is also the word for ground and I guess a Hausa wouldn’t ask my question that way. I think this because I know that to them I said “Why is there ground in the sky?” because they laughed their asses off for minutes about my question. “Why is there ground in the sky? She says! Why is there ground in the sky!”. Well I speak small small Hausa after all, so I joined in the humor and laughed too.

Last week we had a few days of ‘stand-fast’ where we have to be in our villages and couldn’t leave because there *might* be protests in the regional capitols. I’ll be back again for Halloween. Thanks for all the letters I’ve been getting, and its fine to email now as long as you don’t need a reply for 2 or 3 weeks.

~aj

2nd email home

Aug.11

Dear everyone,

Last weekend was our official Niamey tour and the first weekend we were allowed to go to Niamey on our own. On Sunday Tom and I went on our own to a French café for internet and a pain au chocolate- every bite like paris. The internet there wasn’t working, but I grabbed a tiny sliver of internet that was coming from far away and got 2 emails out and tried for a third (destined for Gen, sorry it didn’t work). Tom didn’t get any out, cuz his computer wasn’t as tenacious as mine.

Then we went to the american embassy’s rec center for the pool. It was just like an American suburb’s neighborhood pool (which, considering where I have been for a month and 2 days, that should be interpreted as gushing not sarcastic), only this place had a food bar and a giant turtle! I had a chicken caesar salad and a veggie fajita. The nigerien making everything wasn’t very good at organization, but he made good food. Maybe my standards have dropped tho. Next week I will have a milkshake. I also found an avocado in the market on Saturday which I shared with friends on Sunday tho I should have eaten it right away because part of it was just past prime by the day after.

Sept 1-5ish

Hello Folks,

The biggest headline for this letter is that I am no longer in the healthy pool. I’m pretty sure I am the first person in my stage to have the honor of taking the malaria meds, coartem. I almost definitely didn’t have Malaria, but they wanted to be sure so I had to take them. I got a fever the first night of live-ins, so the first night in my town, Bande, and the next day it wouldn’t go down. Once it hit 103 I got a hold of my regional rep and she came down with the Peace Corps driver. My highest that I measured was 104.4- might be a PR! To those of you at home who are more sensitive to my health issues, stop worrying. I’m just bragging, cuz that’s what you get to do when you have to take malaria meds.

We had site announcements a few weeks ago, so some of you know where I’ll be living after swear-in. I am in Bande, Zinder. Zinder is the region furthest east in Niger that Peace Corps currently serves in, although they are planning to open up Diffa, which boarders Chad, in a year or two. Due to my mystery illness, which may or may not have been officially “rainy season virus” (that has a ring --somebody should make up a song about that, kidos), I had only about 30 hours in my town, but I got to see a good part of it and I met the important people and several of my neighbors. The town is really pretty, which I had given up on hoping for in Niger. There is not a lot of trash in the streets and there are lots or huge trees and park-ish places. There is even a mango grove that, during mango season, everyone just gets free mangos from. The market is pretty okay and I’m only 20k away from Magaria, my “market town” where I can get more variety and possibly do eating out and/or internet, I’m not sure. There is another volunteer from my stage who got posted there, so I can stay over sometimes if I want to bike there and make a long day of it. Everybody I met in town seems really friendly, even for Ramadan --everyone is fasting now and no food or water makes people grumpy. My house is bigger than I’ll probly have in my future life for the next 30 years. It has a big front room and two pretty big back rooms and a small room or really large walk in closet. I don’t think I’ll be able to fill this place up. I have a big shade hanger, front porch, sadly the trees are shorter than me, I have a covered latrine, separate from my covered shower area, a pump in the yard, a drop ceiling in the house and there will eventually be electricity and ceiling fans.

The Zinder hostel is palatial compared to the Dosso one I saw over demyst. I feel really cheesy saying this but I walked in and I thought it felt like coming home. Maybe that was only because it was the closest thing to an American house I’ve seen in 2 months. The zinder hostel, evidently has the best library in country, it has couches and comfy chairs (maybe not quite the pinnacle of comfort that American comfy chair design has reached), a full kitchen minus a microwave, which I hate anyway, 2 full bathrooms and one half –and my friends, these bathrooms, all 3, have sit down toilettes, which is not the case at all the hostels. It has a large front porch and big yard with a grill, and a tv room with an awesome selection of dvds and videos. I really like team Zinder. They seem like a close team, and I hear the other teams don’t have quite as much of a tight team feeling. It is also full of really good cooks, so we are called team fat. I think there was a low voter turnout for my new name election, but I couldn’t get the total soon enough anyway so I just chose for myself. I went with Fatima, so now I am the Fati-est of all of Team Fat.

Coming back to Hamdy after that week was not horrible, but not much fun either. I really enjoyed a week with no “FoFo anasara” and “donne-moi un cadeau” and “comment tu t’appelles?”. We are all going a little insane from the incessant litany of the Hamdallai children’s chorus everywhere we walk. It was getting to us the first few weeks. One day during a break, some people were playing four-square and their phrases for the game were the above mentioned. They were shouting psychotically by the end and I was cracking up. I’m sure I’ll get that a little in bande and zinder, but it’s definitely different in Hamdy, because there are so many of us at once and they’ve had PCTs for so many years, that FoFo anasaraing has become the sport of choice for hamdy kids.

So there is a Brazilian soap opera here named Au Coeur du Peche, but everyone just calls it Barbara, one of the characters’ names. This is as much of what I can make out is going on so far, since I only see it some nights: There is Paco for whom I am sure I saw at least three of the female characters professing love. The nigeriens told me that Paco is the twin of a guy named Apollon who died but had been dating Barbara who, last night, was going a little crazy and insisting that he was Apollon. The poor guy had been gravely hurt in a car accident too --he seems to have a lot of problems. He has a new girlfriend who may be having health problems, but then again, maybe she just fainted into Paco’s arms because, why wouldn’t she? He also has a son whom people are trying to kidnap which was the cause of the car crash last night. The car crash really impressed the nigeriens, they really like bloody action scenes. As a cultural ambassador from western civ, Barbara seems like a strange representative but not the worst. I like to think about what the Nigeriens think of brazil or america or Europe when they see this show.

I still haven’t gotten used to basic sounds in Hausa. “No” is fairly easy; it’s “ah-ah” like “uh-uh” but with ah. What trips me up about that is that in america we say “uh-uh” only for certain informal situations, but you wouldn’t say that to say your governor if she asked you a question. Here, it’s “ah-ah” for chastising little kids or responding to your new boss. Also there is “awo” for “yes”. that is pronounced sometimes like “ooh!” like you just understood something in america. So conversations often sound like to me: one person rattling off a bunch of ordinary stuff and the other person having revelation after revelation, like it’s the most interesting day ever. In fact, last night I figured out a question they asked me and said “oh!” and then responded, “ah-ah”. To them, I said “yes! No” and they laughed. You can also say “eee” for yes. Less common is “eh” like the Canadian eh-bomb. I have been partial to the Canadian eh-bomb for a few years so I am kind of used to that sound and that is the one I use here for yes a lot. Every time I use it tho I wonder if the nigeriens think I’m weird for saying “eh” and not “ee”. I’m trying to break myself of my Canadian ways.

Skip this paragraph if you don’t care about insightful factoids on hausa grammar. Hausa is the first language I have studied that doesn’t have the subject verb structure. In hausa, usually the subject determines the tense and there are three sets of pronouns in present tense. Sometimes also, the negation is combined with the pronoun. Here are all the ‘I’s: ni, ina, kina, zani, bani, ban, na. But once you have the pronouns you can muddle thru all of the tenses without having to conjugate verbs in every wonky way. You have to do things to the “verbs” sometimes in the different tenses, but if you mess it up, people will still understand what you meant. There are verbs, but in some constructions you just use the pronoun and a noun and then some constructions you use the pronoun, the verb for “to do” and the noun. Also, you don’t speak hausa, you hear it.

One amusing and really random anecdote: there has been a series of a few wayward letters sent from america and intended for some place near DC on a street called “Niamey Place”. Somehow, they end up in Niamey at the Peace Corps mail box. We can’t figure out how that happens. Another weird quirk of Peace Corps Niger is that there is a Ricky Martin PCV and a Will Smith in our stage.

Today shuruq and I went via bicycle to bartchawal to visit the other PCTs again for the last time. They will be moving back to site with us in hamdy on Monday which will be tomorrow when I send this -in sha allah. We got in and ate rice with *spooons* in Chad’s hut and then we munched my trail mix all day (thanks mom and dad!). We went over to Bruce-katy’s hut and played pictionary in the sand and threw rocks across the concession into a tin can. I laughed at how entertained we were with rocks and a tin can. That sounds really lame but it was fun, just trust me.

Shuruq has a thermometer and the other day she asked a few of us who were over at her hut what we thought the temperature is. We all thought it was in the 80s and she said nope, somewhere in the upper 90s. I guess I have adjusted, -sannu da acclimation me!

Speaking of adjustment, there are not many opportunities to forget how poor this country is, but you spend enough time in a grass hut and wedged in among 10 people in a station wagon on a bumpy road and you start to think of a metal folding chair and a toilet that flushes as luxury. It happens. One day I had forgotten my american standards and I was watching my family do cooking-type chores. One of them, maybe hadiza I don’t remember, dropped 20 or 30 grains of rice on the ground. I thought to myself, “assha! Well, oh well, the chicken will come around and eat those so they wont be wasted.” But then I watched the girl who cooks my dinners and lunches pick them all up, throw them in the sifter, sift out the dirt and throw them back in the rice bowl. And then I remembered where I was in the context of where I came from. In the states, if I drop a carrot on the floor, I lament it and throw it in the garbage disposal, here if they drop a chunk of gourd in the dirt, they wash off the dirt and throw it in the sauce pot. I’m not throwing this in to harangue about poverty or to blather on about the conditions of living here, because I wasn’t really depressed about it and I don’t think I’ll wash off carrots when I get back to the US. It’s just an illustration that I thought was striking and a little jarring, but mostly just culturally interesting.

Several people have written me letters with questions in them and, while I plan to respond individually -eventually- to everyone who writes, I thought I would include some of these questions, if I haven’t already answered them, in my next mass email. In a month and half I’ll have access to internet again because I’ll be allowed to leave my town and travel to Zinder-city -unless there is internet in Magaria, then I can get online sooner. So anyone who would like to have a question appear in next month’s Ask Audrey, write to me at: Audrey Jacobs PCV /Corps de la Paix /BP 641 /Zinder, Niger. This is my new addy. Hopefully it wont end up someplace near DC.

PS, next time I write -In Sha Allah- I’ll be writing to you as an actual real-life PCV!

Yours truly, ~AJ

1st email home

I haven’t been able to get this email sent twice now, so hopefully I can get this to you today. It is aug 9th. The first order of business is a vote. I want to decide what nigerien name I should take when I go to post (I find out where I’ll be posted this Friday!

In hamdalley I am Sharifa, but I think there are other names I might like better. Here they are, vote for your fav. Ps most have meanings that I cant get rt now to you bc I did ask to see the translation page before I came to Niamey, but whatever, I don’t know what they mean so you don’t have to either.

Fati(ma) bc this is the only place I would ever like being called a fati.

Sharifa, cuz I am that now

Feiza

Aicha (Aysha, sp?)-eye-yee-sha

Also, I have a telephone now. If you do skype, its relatively cheap to call me. I am 6 hrs ahead of Midwest time. Get the number from my mom or dad, I don’t have it on me.

Okay really long email time:

Dear Everyone,

If I survive this and don’t come back early, all of you should know that I am indeed the baddest-ass person you know. This is Peace Corps hard core- that is what the people here said not us newly arrived. Really, it’s Mauritania, Mongolia, and here which vie for hardest PC countries. The first two days I had a fever without knowing it from the god-awful plane ride and everything seemed normal and exactly as it should be, aka I was numb. Everyday last week though after we moved from the sequestered peace corps site to our family’s complexes in Hamdalli I had the culture shock plus heat shock. From 11 am- 5pm everyday I hated this place and I was getting on a plane very soon. Every morning and evening I liked Niger and I could see myself living here for 2 years. But since the second weekend I’ve gotten through the days better so maybe I got over the first bit of culture shock- knock on grass thatch...

Speaking of grass thatch, that is what my hut is made out of. I am going to request concrete for my post. I sleep outside except when the midnight storms roll in, and then I tear down my mosquito net, roll up my sheet, throw my mattress and sheet and mosquito net and book and flashlight in the hut and reassemble inside. Last night I didn’t get any warning before the rain started so my mattress and sheet were kind of wet, which was slightly south of neat. The first night here, there was a huge storm which was prefaced by really fierce wind, which, here, is full of sand. I swear I thought it must have looked like that scene in the mummy where there’s a huge wall of sand flying at you, but it was midnight and I was right in it, scrambling to get inside so I can’t tell you if that’s really what the sand storm looked like.

My host family consists of an old grandma, and by old I mean she is 55 and looks like 83- Haoua-, a young granddaughter, Hadiza, about 18, and a girl who is another granddaughter by a different parent and is 10 named Sharifa. We all get nigerien names our first night here and I am named Sharifa, I assume after this girl. I try to talk to her cuz she hangs out w me the most, but she only speaks Zarma and I am learning Hausa. Her laugh is like the long awaited and needed rain bursts in this dessert, and will take her far in this life, but it’s really sad to see her and the other girls around here who, clearly, would have so much going for them if they could have just a few opportunities. All day long, from when they get up to when they fall asleep they listen to the radio, pretty loud. I thought it might get annoying the first day, but I’ve found that its not that much to get over when I consider that that is their only media unless a neighbor invites them over to watch the Brazilian soap opera on tv at night. Also sometimes the programs are in French and I can get snippets of news, tho the French is hard to understand thru the grass fence and heavy African accent. I eat rice almost every day, I might get pasta if I’m lucky or a corn-mealy thing -all with sauces. The closest I’ve had to veggies except for 2ice a week at the peace corps site was some gourd thing, which I totally copped myself with a machete and no chopping board. I hope I can include pics in this email, so refer to those for more description. I probably wont label them, maybe when I get more time.

Guys, I have toilet paper. It does exist, but right now the peace corps is supplying it to us. I hear it is expensive tho. I will do some pricing and depending on the econ of the situation, kat, mom and dad, I might actually request that, even tho I can’t believe it might be worthwhile.

The town, hamdalli -I am spelling that wrong- is our training town. I sent a letter to mom and dad that shows a map (my approximation of it) and also the size of the hole I pee and poop in. maybe mom will scan this letter and attach it to an email. The streets in hamdy are full of plastic and cloth trash and animal (and maybe kid) poop. It’s really gross. Visually, it was probably the hardest thing to adjust to. Some of the views around town or in the countryside tho are so quintessential Africa- old time traditional stereotyped Africa- grass thatched huts, some on stilts, and mud brick buildings in a southwest landscape. That part is pretty cool. The bajillion kids run around all day in these slummy streets. They play with trash and put anything in their mouths. I am continually telling sharifa not to put my flashlight or colored pencils in her mouth. They literally wear rags, or nothing if they’re really young. -It’s hot here, no kid would want to wear cloths no matter what their economic situation. One day last week, a kid came over with his mom and he was playing with an actual toy. And by actual toy I mean one that I totally remember me and my bro playing with when we were young. It was a little Tonka dump truck hot wheel and he was putting little red rocks in it and dumping them out. I couldn’t take my eyes off him, it was such a weird sight. Besides that toy, the 2 closest things I have seen to toys are a girl with a really dirty colorless bouncy ball and another girl with a really dirty car on a string that makes some sort of noise when it moves. Besides that, there are some boys who run around with sticks that have wheels that they attached to the end of them, kind of like those plastic vacuum toys kids at home sometimes have. My first night, there were some girls clustering around me and one was excitedly showing me a bone that had some hair tied to it. I guessed it was a toy, but I cant figure out how. Overall, the lifestyle here is completely medieval except with plastic and (a few) cars.

Every morning I get masa at the market for breakfast. Masa is a little pancake made of millet and is really good. It’s made in a large cast iron thing with dips -for those of you in the know, it’s like a shallower ableskeeber maker. Sometimes I get it with sugar and sometimes not. When it’s really hot and I’ve had a hard day, I get a refrigerated solani. This is a bag of liquid yogurt and it is delicious. Sometimes I get a cold sprite. This is the first time in my life that a bag of liquid yogurt or cold sprite has been something to dream about. They say veggie season is coming, so I’m holding out hope that there will be more variety soon. By variety I mean that I might get to eat vegetables on a daily basis. I had a conversation over lunch today with the Peace Corps director who was talking about tofu in this country. Evidently, it’s relatively prevalent in the large enough towns. I am hoping for a large community rather than a small town. I think I will hate it if I get a small town. Does anyone know if cactuses grow from seeds? Send me hardy plant seeds, those of you wanting to know what to send. And also maybe fertilizer pellets. So far, I have had maybe 4 oz of meat in this country, and it is really tasty, but I don’t think I need more than I get.

Training has been okay, but it falls within the time of the day that I hate niger and im coming home, so I can’t say many good things about it so far. You guys are lucky, it rained last night so it’s cooler today while im writing this, which means I am far less complainy than you might have gotten had this been yesterday. I tested out of French so im learning Hausa. Hausa is funny. You need to know sooo many greetings. I read a mock conversation script yesterday in a work book and there were maybe 7 lines of greetings and then “what is your name?”. all the villagers quiz me on the greetings, but that’s mostly because all the villagers greet everyone profusely anyway, so maybe I’m not special.

A few nights ago I got out the colored pencils for sharifa and some other girls. They love it and keep asking for them. I’ll get them out tonight again. I try to teach sharifa, whose 10 and doesn’t go to school, her abcs. She’s gotten to e without too much problem. We also play tic tac toe a lot at night. I always win cuz they don’t really get the strategy. I’ve taught them a little strategy mostly thru sign language.

I like cooking with hadiza. The other night we roasted peanuts for another family (the one with the tv). Hadiza put dirt in the big kettle and dumped batches of peanuts in. then we had to keep them moving with a metal ladle which they wrapped rags around because of course the metal got really hot. I did pretty well at it. The nigeriens don’t think americans can do any work, but compared to what they do, we really can’t.

There are some French nurses that come in for a few weeks in batches. We met and talked with the last batch last week and it was great -like taking a little 30 minute trip to paris. They had some mint syrup that you put in water and, even tho I don’t really like mint, I liked this- because it was not plain luke-warm water, which I drink practically intravenously all day long. I will meet the next batch of French nurses pretty soon, maybe tonight. Hope they’re as friendly and lovely as the last batch.

A fellow trainee, shuruq, and I walked 22 kilometers to and from the neighboring town where there are 5 trainees. Along the way we had tea with a road construction guy, which was a neat experience. It was after he mentioned that he sits around all day and dreams of romance that I decided I would be married whenever I travel from now on. Do I have any guy friends who will be married to me for the next 2 years while im in Africa? Can I have a pic? We decided we are among the hardest core of the hardest core of the peace corps for this trek. After that, solani was probably the closest thing to nirvana I will ever experience. We laughed really hard at ourselves because we say things here that we would never say state side. I said, for example, “when I get home, I’m going to do yoga in my shorts and I don’t care what the neighbors think!” (we are not supposed to show as much as our knees to the ppl in our compounds and in public our shoulders should not show and those who go to small conservative communities wont be able to show ankles or wear pants. -I don’t think I’ll be able to take the no pants thing, I hate the skirts here). They have since outlawed walking to that town.

Okay a ps now: mom please send a toothbrush case-full length and one that I can clean out preferably, and also the Japanese fan on my wall in my room by my window. Unless you’ve gutted my room already.

Also a package of cookie dough mix and orbitz wintermint gum.

Last weekend was demyst which was pretty fun. Demystification weekend is where we go stay with a volunteer to see what its like to be one in Niger. We rode in the Magic bus on the way there, it was a hilarious ride, just from conversations and some things that happened. The magic bus I think got its name because you can squeeze so many people in it. We had 22 people in it on our trip. No goats or children, just backpacks- re: the bush taxis paragraph below. We saw giraffes from afar, someone who stayed with a volunteer who works with a giraffe tour company got to see them up close. Lucky them.

On the way we were stopped for a while where the road turned one lane for road construction. There was a van in front of us that looked like it was some music band’s touring van. There was a guy chillin at the back of it with crazy bob marley dreds. He started making gestures to the 2 girls in front who were able to respond to him because we had had a seemingly useless training session on Nigerien non-verbal communication. They talked about how he wanted to marry them and they said that they were married to everyone in the van. It was very funny to watch, but I don’t think hand gestures translate well in verbal form. I thought it was crazy that that really useless session in fact came in handy.

We arrived at terri’s in fabriji. I stayed there with a fellow PCT named Shane and we had popcorn with honey and salt, popcorn has never tasted so good to me. She also made us a hot pocket tuna melt thing, and bush pizzas, dipping into her care package supplies even! Its good to know I can eat stuff other than spicy rice when I get to my post. We had some mms, evidently they travel well…

We met terri’s coworkers and friends. The little girl of terri’s best friend “in ville” was super cute and tiny for a year old. That family was kind of progressive and kind of not, in interesting ways. On the one hand the wife was taking birth control and they were planning on not having another kid till they can pay for her education. On the other hand, the husband had recently bought a goat and terri said the wife thinks he is angling to get a second wife.

Terri’s town has a middle school and an elementary. We saw the middle school and I almost cried. Its made out of material that my fence in Hamdy is made out of, several “buildings” were falling down, and girls from towns far away work hours and hours for room and board in that town just to go to school, if they’re lucky enough for that. I kept thinking about my middle school and this school and my middle school and this school and I had to stop thinking about it. It was shocking. Even Tondi, our training leader here, was interested to know we had seen that, I think because Tanja (Nigerian president) makes it seem like those kinds of schools don’t exist anymore. In the same town, there was a solar powered water pump. More towns need those, because if anywhere in the world should be powered by solar, it is niger. I just wish the middle school hadn’t been so sad.

The next day we went to the Peace Corps hostel in that region in Dosso city and the day after that we stopped by the Peace Corps bureau in Niamey before taking a bush taxi back to Hamdy. In Niamey we went to a restaurant for the first time in country. Lunch cost me more than a skirt that I had a tailor make cost me, but it was still just a few American bucks. We also had raw vegetables, which were delicious and worth anything but im sure will make me sick a day from now. I have not been sick yet, but several people have been. I am really luxuriating in my time as a non-sick person, it doesn’t look fun. We have a girl Early-Terminating tomorrow because she has had blood pressure problems since she got here among more normal problems. She is from New York state and trying to adjust to a place were some PCTs have made tea by leaving their nalgiene with a tea bag in the sun for a few minutes. I feel sad tho, cuz she was one of the cool people that I wish wouldn’t leave.

Bush taxis are the one thing in this country that I really shouldn’t tell any of you about, but I’m going to anyway. They are crazy. The drivers stuff like 20-30 people plus goats, chickens and children into a 12 person van. I’m not looking forward to being peed on but evidently its inevitable, like being sick. In the bush taxis that I took there were only like 15 anasaras and 2 or 3 Nigeriens. So it was pretty calm. Anasara is the commonly used word here for “white person” but it means “conqueror”. I have gotten used to it. The other week we yelled “Anasara!” to the French nurses one morning when they were walking down the street and the nigeriens looked around at us like “yeah, there you go”.

There was a VAT- a PCV who is helping out with our training- last week who is doing a photo project for the school textbooks and she talked about how she can’t do the drawings and they are having problems with the guy they hired for that in Niamey. So I might have parleyed my way into that project, doing the drawings, which would be exciting and fun for me, cuz I know I will need to be doing real work my first few months and not just “integrating” or I will have a harder time.

Aug4. This is turning into a diary entry letter because I have not been able to send emails when I meant to due to the Dark Ages. On Sunday Shuruq and I went to Bartchawal-the town 11k away with other PCTs- again, but this time we biked, because walking has been outlawed. Evidently, they feel bus taxies are safer than our own two legs. I am starting to understand how some people sometimes have problems with the being babied aspect of training. Lots of things will be better when I get to post. Bartchawal was fun. We played catchphrase and for lunch, chad’s host-mom made rice with onions and some sort of sundried tomato thing (that’s me ogling-sun dried tomatoes!). For dessert: Shuruq and Chad had procured the weekend before a jar of Nutella and Chad found some airplane cookies that he had forgotten about. We had chocolate glazed gingerbread cookies. It tasted like Christmas. Then we were invited over to the language trainer’s for shaiye (aka Chai, or Niger’s version of it). It is really fun to see made. I will get the teapots and basket necessary to make it when I get to post. Its very strong and very sugary and I couldn’t take more than one shot glass full on my empty stomach. They get and inch and a half of foam with no machine.

I was telling Shuruq on the way there, that when I was washing my unmentionables the day before I had been swirling them around in the bucket, wishing I had a washing machine, and I thought to myself “I am my own spin cycle”. Then I thought, “I am my own horse power.” Shuruq had been moaning about the bumpy road and I said, “we are our own shock absorbers”. And then later when we were sitting watching the chai making, I said to her, “when I make chai, I will be my own frappacino maker!”

When I got back to Hamdy, the kids were particularly interested in watching me and I had an audience for my tooth brushing routine. I had been spitting in an out of the way place in my concession, but I wasn’t sure if that would be culturally weird. The kids didn’t seem to care, they just thought my tooth brushing in general was entertaining (they chew on a certain kind of stick here for dental hygiene). I also figured out how to say “tomorrow morning Peace Corps is planting trees. Can (little) Sharifa come?” and said it to Haoua. I have said maybe 3 complete sentences to here so far.

On Saturday, some PCTs were sitting down by the “lake” and two of them started trying to get two bugs to fight. They drew a ring and pushed them toward each other with sticks. It was unappealing and I left soon after. When we were telling some other PCTs about the depths we had sunk to that day they said, “wait, the kids were playing with bugs?” and I said, “no, the anasaras were playing with bugs.” I am not a fan of the “lake”.

Some of my friends, Anna, Cindy and Shuruq, and I were hanging out later in Anna’s concession. Our conversation that day quite literally consisted of the following subjects: about 50% poop or lack there of, 20% foods that we can’t have here because it doesn’t exist, and 30% of home because we had gotten letters for the first time a day or 2 before. This is a fairly exhaustive survey of PCT conversations.

Robyn got Harry Potter in the mail and we watched it! I mean the Harry Potter movie that is out in theatres now! Her brother sent her a bootleg copy to here asap, and it was a damned fine bootleg copy! Robyn’s brother rocks J

Last week we had GAD-gender and development- Olympics. Our teams competed in the following events: tea making, bucket on head with baby (sand sac) on back in a skirt carrying, and peanut butter pounding. My team came in second over all by a half point and won the peanut pounding event because we are world class peanut pounders (and also maybe because we surreptitiously threw a handful of sugar into our batch). But hey, the judges chose our peanut butter and choosy mom’s would have chosen ours too.

[These pictures are being uploaded by Mom. Audrey has had trouble getting enough internet connection. Sometimes she can't get things uploaded to the blog, but they manage to get through by email.]

This was when she was in Hamdy. She was at the market, and heard there were hyenas in the market, but could hardly believe it. Another PC trainee got this photo and shared it with her.

"These are two pictures of foulani people who were part of our ethnic fair during training. They were the family who brought the skirt I'm modeling." [below]

a man on a camel. he saw that i was pointing my camera at him and he pulled up his camel to stand still. this was in Hamdy but we see these all over. just today i remarked that i love seeing camels casually being lead up the side of a busy street in Zinder as we were walking to the market

this is Jesse in Hamdallaye with his host mom. Jesse and Alice are our token married couple and good friends. they are posted in Maradi and i miss them, cant wait for In Service Training!

Cooking in Hamdy 1 & 2

Team Z at our Niger fashion show. The two girls in front were our VATs and are in Zinder.

Looking at my concession door from front porch

Looking at my house

Two pics of me with a cat. It was absolutely ridiculously tiny and cute; that's why I'm smiling so goofy.

Baby goats came to visit and eat my plants. They were harder to shoo away than kids

Proof that I planted my garden

They're stuccoing my walls. I liked the cute squigglies in the cement, though. :(

Dudes selling stuff in the market. I think this is a good example of something that I've gotten completely used to that I think y'all would find exotic.

This is the pic I took of all those kids when I was on the phone with Mom & Dad, and was waiting for my neighbors who eventually showed up.

[Note from Mom, who is posting these pictures for Audrey: It was so funny. We were talking to Audrey on the phone, and there was a lot of kid-noise, and she said that these kids had all come into her house all of a sudden, because she had left the door open for the neighbors she was expecting. We got to say "hi" to one of the kids in Hausa. It was funny listening to her trying to get the kids under control, in a language she still barely knows!]

This is a drawing I did of Hajia Dayba, whose family I hang out with most. Everyone always cracks up and comments a lot about how she's pounding in the picture.

This is a girl who came to my house to be drawn (like half the town). I happen to like this as one of the best I've done so far, which is why I'm posting it.

This is a girl named Mariama whom I met my first week here. She is 15, and she's getting married in January. I asked her if she'd still go to school, and she said yes, but I don't know if that's true. She probably won't go next year if she finishes this year.

This is me at swear in with the people from my training group (stage) who were posted in Zinder. the swear in was at the ambassadors house and we had nigerien fabric made into "complets" of varying levels of nigerien clothing designs. I thought we were doing a goofy pic for this shot, that is why i am being crazy and sean is laughing at me.

Cindy Me-Audrey Sean Sarah L-H Alex and Ashle ('ashley').

Sean and Alex are wearing traditional mens clothing called a boubou, with pants. the rest of us gave designs to the taylor that we created, so they arent necessarily very nigerien, but sarahs and ashles are probably closest.

the second pic is me with the family in hamdally. Houa me and Sharifa near the end my stay there.

maybe mom will post more pics here.

but im not in niger yet so i have nothing to say