July 8, 2010
Well folks, I’ve made it to Niger and boy is it HOT! It was around 34 degrees today, which we were told was a “nice” day - not too hot. I thought I was escaping the humidity of the Northeast, but I was wrong. It’s hot and muggy during the rainy season (which has just begun). The trade off for this is worth it though- GREEN! Not like in the US, but green in the desert is good!
We were welcomed to Niamey as superstars, greeted outside the airport by current PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) hooting, hollering and cheering for each one of us. It was wonderful!
Here are a few pictures from my first week in Niger.
1. Our housing and mosquito nets
2. Getting henna
3. A view of Hamdallaye from the training center (on top of the hill)
Tomorrow is our first day of “training light” filled with interviews, tests and meetings, then on Saturday we will move from the training center to stay with our homestay families. This means we should know which local language we will be learning (Hausa or Zarma), this will give us some idea of where we’ll ultimately be placed.
I’m off to sleep now, the only thing between me and the stars is my mosquito net. Time to let the sounds of the area lull me to sleep…goats, donkeys, birds, insects…goodnight.
July 10, 2010
I am now in what will be my home for the next 11 weeks. I am in a homestay with a fellow PCT named Erin (also a vegetarian). We are living with a couple and their two children. I have been given the Hausa name “Zooera” after the 3 year old daughter. This is a customary tradition.
Here are some pictures of my temporary home.
1. The outside of our concession
2. Our hut
3. The family yard
I had my first Hausa language lesson today and between that and the evening in my homestay-I am completely lost!
We have tomorrow off and then the language lessons start for real. Hopefully my uptake will improve. Until next time…
July 17, 2010
I’ve been at my homestay for a week now. There have been many ups and downs and I’ve learned a lot (luckily some of it Hausa). It’s been a very busy week, full of language lessons, cultural activities and safety/health training. In addition to the many shots they keep giving me, yesterday they made me “lance” my finger to draw blood so that I could learn how to make a malaria test slide for myself. I have two things to say about this:
1. OW!
2. No thank you!
With only two more rabies shots I get to play with animals!
I have another super-full week ahead of me and then I’m off to “demystification” next week. I’ll let you know just how demystified I am next time!
DATE
Demyst was good. I stayed in the home of a volunteer named Teri that is currently wrapping up her two years of service. She will be heading back to the states after an extended trip around this side of the world. Everything was about what I expected - in fact, nicer than I expected. Teri has a large 3-room house with electricity for a few hours during the night. She was a great hostess and I enjoyed some great downtime.
July 30, 2010
Today we had the GAD Olympics (Gender and Development). I must say, my team kicked butt! The first activity was a relay race. With a “sand baby” strapped to our backs, we had to run to the water source, fill up a bucket of water and carry it on our heads as we ran through an obstacle course. We were judged on our speed and how much water we collected. (My team won).
We had to make peanut butter for the second activity. We had a mortar and pestle, a plate of peanuts and 20 minutes. (Again, my team won).
In the final activity we had to make traditional Nigerien tea (light the fire, etc). (We won).
As a prize for winning the Olympics we all received chocolate. It was the best prize ever!!!!!!
August 2, 2010
I have experienced something in Niger that I had hoped to never experience in my life. Yes, yesterday I discovered I had lice. What a mess. I spent the day disinfecting everything, washing my hair and sitting as my hair was combed out - inch by inch (thank you to my roommate Erin!) Unfortunately, I’m not convinced that that’s the end of it, but I sincerely hope it is!
Tomorrow we will be celebrating Nigerian Independence Day by planting trees. That’s the way the country officially celebrates the holiday-by helping to mitigate desertification.
August 15, 2010
It’s been a very busy week! Last Tuesday I found out where I’ll be permanently placed while in Niger. It’s a medium size town in the Maradi region. I’m scheduled to be there visiting this weekend, but do to some potential unsavory activity targeted at Westerners we’ve been placed on a “Standfast”. Basically, we’re on hold. In the meantime we’re in good spirits while hanging out at the training center, reading, playing volleyball and eating good food. Last night we even had a talent show. I did not perform, but everyone that did was excellent. This is a very, very funny group of people! So we wait. Tomorrow we will find out what our next step is (return to our homestay families? Go to our sites? Go directly to language immersion?). Until then, we are spending the afternoon at the American Rec Center in Niamey (aka - the pool). I was hoping to get online, but alas the wireless is down and therefore my posting will have to wait yet again.
The Muslim world is currently celebrating Ramadan by fasting from sun-up to sun-down. I’ve learned quite a lot about Islam since arriving in Niger. It’s a very interesting (and peaceful) religion. Several of my fellow Peace Corps trainees have decided to join the fasting in solidarity with their homestay families and for their own private reasons (this means not even having water during the day).
In my downtime, I’m fitting in a lot of reading, and from what I hear, I can expect to go through several books a month (there’s a lot of downtime - especially in the hot season). Just for fun, I’ve started a list of the books I’ve read while in-country (see the side bar). The Peace Corps hostels in each region have a pretty good selection of books in their libraries, so I anticipate it will be a pretty diverse list at the end of my 27 months. In addition to reading, I’m soliciting ideas for other projects I can do to enrich myself during this time. If you have any ideas, please send them my way!
I miss you all, stay well!
Alynn
August 16, 2010
I have some disappointing news. The standfast that I previously mentioned has been lifted, but our live-in has been cancelled just the same. Four people from my team will be living in my village/house during language immersion, but I won’t see my new home until installation in September.
September 1, 2010
Well, I’m fresh back from two weeks in a town called Gabi where I had Language Immersion. It was very hard (and hot), but hopefully my language skills are at least a little better now.
The best part of the whole experience (which was pretty harried), was on the 10-hour drive back. I was looking out the window and what do I see? GIRAFFES!!! As you may know, while giraffes used to be quite common in West Africa, due to human and environmental implications the population has dropped to dangerously low levels. The only remaining herd of wild giraffes is in Niger - and I saw them! It was wonderful!
This week we have a Supervisor’s Conference, so I will be able to meet my primary counterpart in Tchadoua.
