Over the past month the potential title for this entry has changed multiple times, quite possibly the "sha biyar" (15) that it ended up being, but I will get to that in due time.
First, I am happy to say that I have officially survived my first month as a PCV, living in the Nigerien bush! I can't believe it has already been a month!!!! Believe it or not, the time really flew by!
Again there is so much to tell, a months worth of adventures, misadventures, mishaps, and heartwarming events, so don't be surprised if this is a bit chaotic.
Refering back to the title, during the first week I was thinking more along the lines of "it is tough all over." I can honestly say that my first week out in the bush was quite possibly the most challenging/difficult of my life. I was expecting it to be hard, so I don't think I was blind sided, but actually dealing with the difficulty of moving into a new village, in a new country, with the equivalent language of "Hausa II" was unlike any other moving in or adjusting I've ever done to date. It's 'slightly' different then moving down the street or even to a new state, and it was intense to say the least.
***For those of you who checked this out yesterday, here is where I left off (for the record I'm feeling much better now that I have medicine so hopefully I'll be heading back to the bush tomorrow).***
A combination of factors contributed to that first week in the bush being so challenging. It was the first time in 2+ months that I had time to think about missing the people I love back home. It was also the first time I really longed for how simple and easy it is to do daily things in the States. For that first week every step I took was a concious effort, and after thinking about how much water you need for the day, how to pull the water, what you should say to your villagers, how to say it....and the list goes on and on, was exhausting!!
The first week my body also switched into survival mode. It was impossible for me to get enough to drink. I was drinking multiple gallons of water a day but I just couldn't quench my thirst. When walking (actually nearly crawling) back from working in the gardens one day, while rationing the horrifically hot water in my Nalgene in order to make it back to my village, I decided then and there that it would be much worse to die of thirst than to die of hunger!
So the combination of getting acclimated to my village, having time to be homesick, not having any connections with anyone, trying to survive, and having way too much time to think all contributed to the stress that made that first week so tough.
When I went into Matameye for market the a week after I'd been out in the bush, another PCV in town just laughed when I came into our transit house with a breakfast of water, liquid yogurt, and tomatoes...hopefully you notice the liquid theme there. I also resolved that once I get back to the states I'm only going to eat fruit....I also have (still do) a strange desire to go to Noah's Ark, which is funny because I haven' thought about that place in years, but the thought of being surrounded by so much cool water is something that crosses my mind on a daily basis....did I mention I how much I love livining in the middle of the bush?!
Well, I survived the first week, in which I attended 2 naming ceremonies of 2 newborns in my village, I think I mentioned it before, but there are babies everywhere!!! Also because I'm new and considered to be a "guest" in the village I was also 'lucky' enough to be given the "choice cut" of the lamb that they slaughter for naming ceremonies, which happens to be the intestine. I didn't like it the first time, and it wasn't any better the second...I'll leave that one right there...
I remember thinking that if the first week was the hardest, of the first month (which everyone says is the hardest) I was going to be okay. And sure enough, each week progressively got better, to the point where on last Thursday before coming in to Zinder to celebrate our month at post, I realized that my thoughts from that initial week of "I'm going to be here for 2 whole years?!?!?!" have become "I only have 2 years to be with these amazing people"....so I think that pretty much sums up that the rest of the month went very well!
Each week got progressively better as I have begun to find my footing in bush life. I have been making some connections in my village and I really love and am so grateful to my villagers for accepting me and letting me come into their lives, I think we are going to have a great two years!
Well some people have asked what I do to occupy my days.... so I'll give a "brief" summary. I am now on the cycle of the sun/moon, which is nice. so I start my day @ 6 with the sunrise, I take a jog through the bush which is nice just to clear my head and get ready for the day. Then I walk through the village, which I have decided would fit inside of a super walmart (with room to spare....it is THAT tiny!) and I greet the villagers that are out and about and in their concessions. I stop by a few families concessions and chat and greet and then hold their newborns for a while (and typically end up getting at least peed on while there). That takes about an hour or so and then I head back to my concession and sweep it out. It's kind of like mowing a lawn, but instead I think of it as manicuring my sandbox (it really does look nice when I'm all done!)
A couple times a week I switch it up by going to the gardens to work. The men there are so funny, the always stop by the plot I work in and say things along the line of "she can do it?!" she can pull and give water?!" It's pretty entertaining, and sure enough I am able to pull water in a calabash bowl and then proceed to give that water to the plants....good thing I spent 4 years in college, not sure I would be able to do this without it ;)
I normally stick fairly close to home in the late morning. It is nice to have some time to myself, I read and do some research for the upcoming farming season. Some days though I go to a woman's house in the village and make Dankuli (fried peanut butter balls) with her and some of the women in the village which she sells to people who come through our village on Thursdays to go to the night market in a neighboring village. It took me a while to get the hang of making them the "right way" but it's nice to sit with them and try to pick up what they're talking about.
Afternoons are by far my favorite in the village. I'm not sure how it came to be, but I have a little "posse/fada" that comes to my concession every afternoon. It is comprised of 5 or 6 guys between the ages of 16 and around 25. We play cards, lots of UNO, and I recently taught my friend Chilou how to play Cribbage, (which was a challenge in Hausa since the words pair and straight/runs don't exist), he has a hard time saying cribbage so now he just says we need to play 15 (sha biyar). We also play a lot of UNO and I am so excited to have brought the game of "spoons" to my village. Although, since we eat with our hands, (no spoons here) I have coined the Nigerien version as HATSI, which is millet in Hausa. So we play with millet stalks, and for all of you familiar with the game you know how crazy it can get, well these guys take it up a notch by hitting whom ever doesn't get a stalk...it is too funny!
The best part though occured last week. One of the guys brought his 2 or 3 year old niece with him. So I brought out a coloring book and some crayons that I brought with me from the States so she had something to do while we played cards. Well, as the afternoon progressed, one by one each of the guys stopped playing cards and started coloring. And for my last three days in the bush before coming into Zinder they asked if we could just color, so for 2 or 3 hours each afternoon these adult guys just sit quitely and contentendly and color their little hearts out!!! I love it so much, it is so cute!!!! They are very good at it and love to make each object about 10 different colors...needless to say we've been having a good time!!!
Around 5pm each day I "kick" all the guys out to go pull water from the well with the women. I started by pulling my water with my own guga (water bucket) but week two it fell off my rope into the well where it still sits, so now I pull together with the women and then take my water back to my concession, on my head. I still have to use my hands to help balance, but hopefully by the time all is said and done, I will be able to walk with "no hands" as gracefully as my villagers do....and most times they have a baby strapped onto their backs!!! (I definitely won't be doing that!!!)
Around 6 I take another round through the village and do evening greetings with the people who are out and about. I play with the kids who are gathered in the "streets" playing local games in the sand.
I then go to eat with a teacher and his wife. I hold their 2 mos old son and try to entertain him/keep him from crying while Binta makes dinner. I eat tuwo with them and then in the past couple of weeks I've been "moonlighting" by eating with my friend Chilou and his wife. It is an interesting story, but everyone is just so eager to feed me tuwo, and no one will accept that I only can eat with one family each night...man that's a lot of tuwo. I tried to let Binta's family know I am only going to eat with them a couple of days a week because I need to get to know other families in the village, well then she guilted me to come over and have "conversation" before going to the other family...well she then forced me to eat her tuwo...and now the new family insisted that I eat with them "always always"....it's nice to be loved, but man I'm not sure how much tuwo I can take ;)
I am back at my concession by 8:30 and asleep by 9:30 almost everynight. And then start the whole thing over again in the morning. While the activities can be a little mundane sounding, I've yet to tire of them and the days and weeks just fly by. I am sure as I begin to undertake actual projects and begin the farming season they will only go faster!!!
In reference to that, the first month was dedicated to adjusting, learning Hausa (which is a daily struggle, I'm not sure if I am getting any better at all, my villagers speak quickly and don't enunciate, so I often think that if they actual spoke Hausa I'd be able to hear it ;), and getting to know my villagers. The second half of May all of us newbies will be going back to Hamdalleye for more intensive technical trainning. Once that's done we will be appraoching the rainy season so we will beging preparing our fields. I am hoping to grow soybeans and try to introduce tofu (lots of protien!!! which my body has really been craving, since hardly any meat is consumed in the village, only on special occasions) to the village. They have it in the bigger cities, and inaddition to offering protein it will also be a good income generating project. I am also contemplating a bee keeping project which also has lots of income generating potential...but we'll see.
I'm looking forward to the farming season, it is going to be a lot of work, but i'm looking forward to being physically busy on a daily basis. I also mentioned to some of you that i was hoping to get a camel or a donkey, but neither are really in my area, so as a consolation I am hoping to get a horse sometime this summer. I've alwayvince my dad we could keep one in our yard, more than once) and I figure if the opportunity never arises again, at least I can at least say I owned a horse once in my life!
Fridays are also great days in the bush. Those are the days I go into Matameye for the market. For the next month I have a PCV neighbor, we live about 2 hours walk from each other, but in June she's ending her service and moving to Sudan. After that I won't have any "close" neighbors. The nearest one will be the PCV living in Matameye (which is an hour walk and a 30-45 min. bush taxi ride from me). But anyway, Fridays are the days I venture into Matameye and get to see the other PCV's in the region. It is nice to be able to speak English and communicate so effortlessly and to just catch my breath and recharge for the next week in the bush. It is also great to be able to have a cold soda and cold water. I never realized how much I would miss cold beverages...pee warm water can be swallowed if necessary (and it's necessary) but it isn't enjoyable!
I typically stay at the transit house Friday night and head back to my village early Sat morning so I am doing my walking before the sun gets too hot. I could go back on Friday nights but I'm normally beat and the thought of walking the hour back to the village isn't altogether appealing then. The first week though, I got a little lost in the bush and was luckily "saved" by this nice little Fulani man who took me to his family's compound, offered me hura (millet/water drink) and then took me back to my village. It was way more scary at the time it was happening, as I realized that all those little "roads" don't eventually meet up, but I survived it and can laugh about my little adventure now...but let me tell you that it wasn't so wonderful coming on the heels of my first week!
Well, I've been rambling for sometime now, so I'll wrap things up. On Friday all of us newbies (in the region) came back into Zinder and all 6 of us survived our first month, all with similar stories of survival and misadventure and the general concensus that the first week was one of the hardest of our lives! We then had a team meeting in Saturday followed by a mango eating contest....which I will again refer to the 'sha biyar' or 15 of the title. So it is an annual tradition to hold a mango eating contest after the newbies 1st month at post. Last year my neighbor Gina and another girl won by eating 12 mangos. The contest isn't timed, its just eat mangos until you can't anymore. Well, this time there was an infiltrator from team Maradi (the nearest region to my West) and he was bound and determined to take the title away from Zinder. My competitive spirit got the best of me and 3 hours and 15 mangos later Corey and I decided to tie at 15 because neither of us were capable of putting another mango into our stomachs...so I am the reigning co-champ of the mango eating contest, but it was the most painful and arguably one of the most dumb things I've done. I can't describe how painfully full the two of us were, and instead of "celebrate" the victory we were sprawled out unable to move....but hey, I didn't get beat and the title is still in Zinder.
Since that fateful event the last 72 hours have been quite unpleasant as inaddition to dealing with digesting all of those mangos...I still can't believe I ate 15 (it will be a long long time until I eat another, let me tell you!), but i also have a touch of e.coli. I'm not sure if it came from the mangos or if it was lying dormant for awhile, but I've been quite a sick little pup for the last few days. Things are one the up swing though and I'll be going back to my village in the morning, health pending.
So that's what I've been up to, I hope you're all doing well and enjoying your Spring. I can only imagine how nice it must be to have green all around again. It is 110 and brown here today, and everyday until the rains come in June. Well I'll leave you with this list I've compiled during my 1st month in the bush....
- I've made myself honestly believe that Hura (millet, sour milk, and a little water) mixed with cinnamon is a dead ringer for blueberry pie...odd since blueberries have nothing in common with millet.
- I have a 'favorite' type of tuwo, which is corn
-I finally have perfect aim (I'll let you put two and two together on that one)
- I look forward to each bush taxi adventure (think livestock, gas pedals attached by strings, and starting them ala Little Miss Sunshine with a push start)
- I can pull and give water with the best of them
- Even when given the chance to sleep inside, I'd much rather sleep outside
- I don't remember the last time I had an actual shower, and won't mention how 'often' I bucket bathe
- I long for fruit and protien instead of for the ice cream and chocolate I anticipated craving
- I can now play UNO in 5 lanuages (English, Spanish, Croatian, French, and Hausa).
Here's to the next 3 weeks in the bush, and hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to you all real soon!
Ciao,
Jamie
Contact Info
Monday, April 23, 2007
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Almost Official....
Hey Everyone! By this time next week I will officially be a Peace Corps Volunteer, (in sha`allah!)! I can`t believe there is only one week left of stagè. I feel like I have been in Niger forever, at the same time, I can`t believe the nine weeks have gone so fast! When I left WI everything was brown and drab (my how things have changed since then!) and soon you will be welcoming the green and warmth of spring,(it`s a weird concept to think about when it is sunny and hot on a daily basis here). I, on the other hand, will be in the midst of hot season, where vegetables will no longer be found and if it`s possible, everything will become a bit more brown :) (at least there will be mangoes!)
After next week`s swear-in, I will be heading out east to Zinder! I am really excited to have been posted out there, I couldn`t be happier about my placement. The PCV team in Zinder/Matameye is great and really laid back, they really made the six of us newbies feel very welcome, I look forward to getting to know them all in our `home away from home, away from home!`
I am in the Zinder region, but I am actually a few hours from Zinder right along the Nigerian border, e-mail me if you want to know the name of the village, although you won`t be able to locate it on a map because I live in a 400 person village smack dab in the middle of nowhere. I am south-west of Zinder in the Matameye sub-region.
Last week I got to visit my village for the first time! It was so exciting/overwhelming as we were approaching my sleepy but beautiful little village. It is smack dab in the middle of no where, it is an hour`s walk from the paved road (i have a very sandy foot path to lead me to the village). and an hour's walk through the sand (the sand is actually quite deep out there, it was eerily similar to trudging through snow) to this amazing little haven of a gully where there are acres upon acres of gardens lined with a fence made of mango, date, and guava trees. It is gorgeous!!! I really look forward to working with the gardeners from the surrounding villages, and I hope by the time I leave I will no longer be the only woman allowed to work/play in the dirt there.
Each trainee got to visit their village last week. It took us a day and a half to get out to Zinder since we had to drop off the Konni and Maradi kids. We got to spend Monday in Zinder at our FANTASTIC regional hostel, where we met our new teammates, and go to the local market to get a few essential supplies for our week out at post. We then had an amazing dinner of corn/potato chowder, salad, and yes, even key lime pie!!! It was amazing, but then again anything that does not involve okra sauce (aka snot sauce) and tuwo lubshi (which is a hardly swallowable lump of ground up rice/corn/millet) is considered amazing. However, to the dismay of use new kids, we've been told we will learn to love love love the stuff, along with a millet flour and water drink called Hura, or 'hurl'a by some. The next day there were two different trips out into the bush taking us to our villages. There are two of us out in the Matameye region and we had to sit around the hostel anxiously awaiting our turn to go to our villages.
Even looking back at it, I can't describe how it felt to finally be heading out to my new home. One of the current PCV's was so excited for us and his excitement was contagious, I could barely sit still/hold back the tears of excitement as we approached my village. Once we turned off the paved road (which is one of the very few smooth ones in Niger, thanks to Nigeria) I was overcome with goosebumps as I knew any moment my village would come into site....Well then, we continued to navigate our way through the sand (much like driving through snow, think spinning and swerving) for about 5-6 KM, and then at last there was my village!!!
My closest PCV neighbor did my live-in with me, which entailed helping me with introductions to some of my villagers and spending the first night at post with me, she was really helpful and it help to put my mind at ease to settle in, although temporarily in the old pcv's gida. The next morning she left, and I was on my own for the next two days. It was a little intimidating at first, but I couldn't help but flash forward to two years from now when these people I was meeting for the first time would become the people I love and will have to say goodbye to. Although, I guess I shouldn't put the jaki (donkey) before the cart as I am so looking forward to having all of the learning and living I have the opportunity to do in my new village.
I am the third and final PCV that my village will have, the last volunteer just left the week before my visit. I am very grateful to him and his kokari (effort) as he pettioned to have a new house built "across town" beause the current house is the recipient of the exhaust and noise pollution of the petrol grain grinder in the village. The new concession still needed a fence and a latrine/shower stall when I visited, but I've been told in sha allah, it will be ready for me to move into when I come back for installation. Even though my new concession/one room mud brick hut is across town it takes me a total of one minute to walk there, so that puts the size of the village into perspective
I am really excited to get to know my new villagers and the next few months will be devoted to improvimg my language skills and becoming very accustomed to bush life. It should be interesting, saboda ina kadai jin Hausa kadan kadan (because I only hear hausa a little). However, I do hear it enough to have passed my language exam. Apparently they`re ready to send me out into the bush!!
Since the Zinder folk are so far out we only got to spend 3 nights at post. We then had the task of making our way back, which was an adventure in and of itself. Some of you have had the opportunity to hear about my bush taxi experiences, and I must say I have truly been luckier than most! I left my village at 7am and walked for just over an hour to the road. I briefly introduced myself to the villagers of the roadside village and litterally seconds after getting to the road a bush taxi van pulled up (I'm in a lucky spot since there is a lot of traffic coming from Nigeria into Zinder, so getting transport will be much eaiser for me to get). I had the best ride to date, as there were only 3 people in a seat (those vans can"easily" hold over 20 people) and it only took about 30 mins to get into Matameye. The other newbie and I met up with the PCV in Matameye and he showed us around the city and took us to the market in town. After lunch we took another bush taxi, another surprisingly/relatively comfortable 2 hour ride into Zinder. We then had the afternoon to chillout and hang out in Zinder (which is a great, and completely unchaotic city...a true oddity in Niger), but then one of my good friends (who I am truly lucky to be posted in the same region as) decided to get a Kossum which is liquid yogurt in a bag...which I love love loved, until not 10 minutes after consuming we found ourselves rushing back to the hostel...no food is safe here...even the refrigerated stuff can give you an unpleasant surprise revisit.
Luckily it was a bout that quickly passed, this is something all of us are learning to deal with. We then had PIZZA and meat without the vertabre attached ( a true treat) at a restaurant in Zinder, then it was early to bed/or not sleeping at all, since 3:30 am would come quickly. Our bus left @ 4:30am and we were crammed onto a bus until 6pm when we finally arrived back in Niamey....since Zinder is such a great place we get to endure the 14 hour treck across the country to get there ;)....it's definitely worth it!
Well I'm in Niamey today for one of the last times for a while ( I don't forsee making the journey too often) it's great to read the e-mails some of you have sent and to give you and update, after this it's off to the American rec center for swimming, milkshakes, and hamburgers!!! It's a nice treat after our first two months of discovering and living life in Niger.
All is well and I am really looking forward to the next 24 months of adventure, learning, mistake making, and being a Nigerien...I hope all is well where you are and feel free to send me a line or better yet a letter when you can!
All my love! Rama
After next week`s swear-in, I will be heading out east to Zinder! I am really excited to have been posted out there, I couldn`t be happier about my placement. The PCV team in Zinder/Matameye is great and really laid back, they really made the six of us newbies feel very welcome, I look forward to getting to know them all in our `home away from home, away from home!`
I am in the Zinder region, but I am actually a few hours from Zinder right along the Nigerian border, e-mail me if you want to know the name of the village, although you won`t be able to locate it on a map because I live in a 400 person village smack dab in the middle of nowhere. I am south-west of Zinder in the Matameye sub-region.
Last week I got to visit my village for the first time! It was so exciting/overwhelming as we were approaching my sleepy but beautiful little village. It is smack dab in the middle of no where, it is an hour`s walk from the paved road (i have a very sandy foot path to lead me to the village). and an hour's walk through the sand (the sand is actually quite deep out there, it was eerily similar to trudging through snow) to this amazing little haven of a gully where there are acres upon acres of gardens lined with a fence made of mango, date, and guava trees. It is gorgeous!!! I really look forward to working with the gardeners from the surrounding villages, and I hope by the time I leave I will no longer be the only woman allowed to work/play in the dirt there.
Each trainee got to visit their village last week. It took us a day and a half to get out to Zinder since we had to drop off the Konni and Maradi kids. We got to spend Monday in Zinder at our FANTASTIC regional hostel, where we met our new teammates, and go to the local market to get a few essential supplies for our week out at post. We then had an amazing dinner of corn/potato chowder, salad, and yes, even key lime pie!!! It was amazing, but then again anything that does not involve okra sauce (aka snot sauce) and tuwo lubshi (which is a hardly swallowable lump of ground up rice/corn/millet) is considered amazing. However, to the dismay of use new kids, we've been told we will learn to love love love the stuff, along with a millet flour and water drink called Hura, or 'hurl'a by some. The next day there were two different trips out into the bush taking us to our villages. There are two of us out in the Matameye region and we had to sit around the hostel anxiously awaiting our turn to go to our villages.
Even looking back at it, I can't describe how it felt to finally be heading out to my new home. One of the current PCV's was so excited for us and his excitement was contagious, I could barely sit still/hold back the tears of excitement as we approached my village. Once we turned off the paved road (which is one of the very few smooth ones in Niger, thanks to Nigeria) I was overcome with goosebumps as I knew any moment my village would come into site....Well then, we continued to navigate our way through the sand (much like driving through snow, think spinning and swerving) for about 5-6 KM, and then at last there was my village!!!
My closest PCV neighbor did my live-in with me, which entailed helping me with introductions to some of my villagers and spending the first night at post with me, she was really helpful and it help to put my mind at ease to settle in, although temporarily in the old pcv's gida. The next morning she left, and I was on my own for the next two days. It was a little intimidating at first, but I couldn't help but flash forward to two years from now when these people I was meeting for the first time would become the people I love and will have to say goodbye to. Although, I guess I shouldn't put the jaki (donkey) before the cart as I am so looking forward to having all of the learning and living I have the opportunity to do in my new village.
I am the third and final PCV that my village will have, the last volunteer just left the week before my visit. I am very grateful to him and his kokari (effort) as he pettioned to have a new house built "across town" beause the current house is the recipient of the exhaust and noise pollution of the petrol grain grinder in the village. The new concession still needed a fence and a latrine/shower stall when I visited, but I've been told in sha allah, it will be ready for me to move into when I come back for installation. Even though my new concession/one room mud brick hut is across town it takes me a total of one minute to walk there, so that puts the size of the village into perspective
I am really excited to get to know my new villagers and the next few months will be devoted to improvimg my language skills and becoming very accustomed to bush life. It should be interesting, saboda ina kadai jin Hausa kadan kadan (because I only hear hausa a little). However, I do hear it enough to have passed my language exam. Apparently they`re ready to send me out into the bush!!
Since the Zinder folk are so far out we only got to spend 3 nights at post. We then had the task of making our way back, which was an adventure in and of itself. Some of you have had the opportunity to hear about my bush taxi experiences, and I must say I have truly been luckier than most! I left my village at 7am and walked for just over an hour to the road. I briefly introduced myself to the villagers of the roadside village and litterally seconds after getting to the road a bush taxi van pulled up (I'm in a lucky spot since there is a lot of traffic coming from Nigeria into Zinder, so getting transport will be much eaiser for me to get). I had the best ride to date, as there were only 3 people in a seat (those vans can"easily" hold over 20 people) and it only took about 30 mins to get into Matameye. The other newbie and I met up with the PCV in Matameye and he showed us around the city and took us to the market in town. After lunch we took another bush taxi, another surprisingly/relatively comfortable 2 hour ride into Zinder. We then had the afternoon to chillout and hang out in Zinder (which is a great, and completely unchaotic city...a true oddity in Niger), but then one of my good friends (who I am truly lucky to be posted in the same region as) decided to get a Kossum which is liquid yogurt in a bag...which I love love loved, until not 10 minutes after consuming we found ourselves rushing back to the hostel...no food is safe here...even the refrigerated stuff can give you an unpleasant surprise revisit.
Luckily it was a bout that quickly passed, this is something all of us are learning to deal with. We then had PIZZA and meat without the vertabre attached ( a true treat) at a restaurant in Zinder, then it was early to bed/or not sleeping at all, since 3:30 am would come quickly. Our bus left @ 4:30am and we were crammed onto a bus until 6pm when we finally arrived back in Niamey....since Zinder is such a great place we get to endure the 14 hour treck across the country to get there ;)....it's definitely worth it!
Well I'm in Niamey today for one of the last times for a while ( I don't forsee making the journey too often) it's great to read the e-mails some of you have sent and to give you and update, after this it's off to the American rec center for swimming, milkshakes, and hamburgers!!! It's a nice treat after our first two months of discovering and living life in Niger.
All is well and I am really looking forward to the next 24 months of adventure, learning, mistake making, and being a Nigerien...I hope all is well where you are and feel free to send me a line or better yet a letter when you can!
All my love! Rama
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Jamie's Phone Call Home
This is Jamie's mom, again with a quick update from the phone call we received from Jamie. First I must say it was terrific to hear her voice, we spoke for about an hour. There was so much excitement and enthusiasm in her vioce. Hearing this set our minds more at ease!
She was very happy and excited about her PVC location. She will be in a small village in the eastern part of the country. She will be in the Zinder region, where her main focus will be teaching environmental education. There will be 8 other people from her training group in the Zinder region, but none in her village. Jamie said that the eastern part of the country has more "green" not just the redish brown sand & dust, so that will be nice for her.
She is spending this full week in her new village, meeting people and start setting up for her permanent placement. Then the PCV trainee group will meet back at the training center, to continue with their formal training. March 16th is the date that has been set for being sworn in. After being officially sworn in as a PC volunteer she will move to her new village. After about a month she will return to the training site for more technical training.
Jamie also reports that the cool season has ended and the hottest season is just beginning, the temps will normally be 120 degrees or more....we are sending her a thermometer, (but perhaps it might be best if she doesn't know how hot it is)! We sent her some pictures of our last weekend's 19 inch snow fall....perhaps that might help her feel a little cooler!
I will close for now, perhaps Jamie will be able to update soon, if not, I will update again, once we hear from her again, which we hope will be very soon.........
She was very happy and excited about her PVC location. She will be in a small village in the eastern part of the country. She will be in the Zinder region, where her main focus will be teaching environmental education. There will be 8 other people from her training group in the Zinder region, but none in her village. Jamie said that the eastern part of the country has more "green" not just the redish brown sand & dust, so that will be nice for her.
She is spending this full week in her new village, meeting people and start setting up for her permanent placement. Then the PCV trainee group will meet back at the training center, to continue with their formal training. March 16th is the date that has been set for being sworn in. After being officially sworn in as a PC volunteer she will move to her new village. After about a month she will return to the training site for more technical training.
Jamie also reports that the cool season has ended and the hottest season is just beginning, the temps will normally be 120 degrees or more....we are sending her a thermometer, (but perhaps it might be best if she doesn't know how hot it is)! We sent her some pictures of our last weekend's 19 inch snow fall....perhaps that might help her feel a little cooler!
I will close for now, perhaps Jamie will be able to update soon, if not, I will update again, once we hear from her again, which we hope will be very soon.........
Friday, February 16, 2007
Mefloquine Dreaming, on a (hot) Winter's Day!
Hello from Niger!!!! More specifically from Niamey! I'm pretty excited to be writing you since it is not yet March!
I've been in-country for 5 weeks now and life in Niger is pretty good. I have a feeling this is going to be very random, but hopefully you can follow my ramblings to get a brief glimpse of the past month or so....
Hmmm, where to begin. Well as the subject line notes, it is already quite hot here. We are still technically in the cold season, but last week and the week before we were definitely clearing temps of 100 or more. And the mefloquine is regarding the medication most of us are on to prevent us from getting Malaria. Most of us have pretty lucid and bizarre dreams there are other side effects as well, but the dreams are the most noticable.
Let's see, there is so much to tell I don't even know where to start. I have approx 4.5 hours of language training most days, I am learning Hausa, which is coming along slowly but surely (sannu sannu in Hausa). A typical day is spent at the training site (Bisa duci - on the hill) where we have language, tech, medical, and cultural training. We spend evenings with our families. I live with a school teacher and his wife and 3 children (Abduwahab 12, Hacia 8, and Yasinne 1). I also have a hutmate (Ashley). We have our own hut in the concession that we share with our family and three others. It is really small, but is definitely adequate. We have slept outside, under the stars, each night since we arrived in country. It was a litle chilly at first, but we are quickly progressing into the hot season, but it is beautiful and if you don't mind the chickens and donkeys squawking randomly at night and waking up to the 5am call to prayer, I'd say it is the absolute best way to sleep! (You can practically read by the full moon here!)
Even though we have lots of intense classes we also have gotten to spend some time offsite (or away from "camp" as I like to refer to it). At the end of Week 2 we had "Demyst." All of the Hausa speakers went to Konni and we were split into groups of 2 or 3 and then matched up with a current volunteer in the field. I absloutely LOVED my demyst experience, I stayed with a great volunteer, who has an amazing relationship with his town (I demysted in Madoua which is acutally a city of 15000 or so). I got to go to a really large outdoor market (well they're all outdoors here) and went to a traditional wrestling qualifying match. It was a really surreal experience, as I was one of 2 women who got a seat (0ut of about 1000 people in attendence) and the organizers of the event made Chris (my demyster) and Lachlan (fellow trainee) sit in the fron row along with the regional governors and dignitaries. I have never been as aware of being a woman or an American in my entire life. It was embarassing that 3 American 'kids' were given that opportunity, clad in jeans and t-shirts, sitting among men and armed guards in their finest atire.
All but 3 other trainees headed back into the Konni PC hostel the 3rd night, but I decided to stay out in the field, and I am so glad I did. It was nice just to have exposure to what everday life is like. Chris has some really great neighbor kids that taught me a new Nigerien card game, and that last night we ended up having a "gangsta dance party" with a couple of 6 year olds a 1 yr old and a couple of teenage boys. We spent the evening listening to Chris's iPod, taking funny/random pictures and mini camera films, and laughing a lot! It was definitely one of those moments when you realize there is no where on earth you'd rather be then "here in this moment"
My demyst definitely has motiviated me to keep plugging through stage (training) as I realized this experience is deifnitely mine to make, and I look so forward to it!!! Our demyst was only 3 days but it certainly left a lasting impression on me.
Last Thurs-Sat I had my Natural Resource Management (NRM for short) Tech Trip. We started out in Goethe and then went toward Dosso (see the map link on the left hand side of the blog for a visual reference). It was a great trip!! We spent 3 days off-roading on sand dunes and through dried out river beds. We planted trees to help stabilize sand dunes, sat in on a french environmental ed class, planted live fencing with some school children, went to a women's literacy class, we were treated to 2 nights of local dancing, and last but CERTAINLY not least, our group was fortunate enough to see about 7 or 8 GIRAFFES in their natural habitat!! The pictures are amazing! (Unfortuantely I can't upload them here, but I will send them/post them when I can). It was a very surreal experience, I kept looking for the fencing! We NRMS are definitely HARD CORE! as we didn't get to take the luxurious "magic bus", instead we crammed into Land Cruiser ambulences and had a blast getting stuck in the sand and cheering our vehicle up the sandy dunes with our AMAZING nrm trainer Haoua!
Also, I am extremely excited to announce that yesterday we had our sites announced.
First a little back ground, there are currently 36 of us at training (1 girl had to go home for medical reasons) we are split into 2 sectors, Agriculture and NRM. We are also split into 2 language groups, Hausa and Zarma. I noted above that I am learning Hausa, which is spoken east of Niamey and Dosso (Konni is the nearest "west" region for Hausa speakers to be posted). So we are technically in 4 groups.
It has been a very tense/anxious week as we have all been anticipating and not so patiently awating word on where we will be spend the next two years of our lives. Which will undoubtedly shape/influence the rest of our lives. So yesterday, we were all on pins and needles, and around 1pm the festivities began. A current PCV read a description of each of us that started out general but got more and more specific until only one of us was left standing, then our regional representative stood up to welcome us to our particular region (there are 7 regions PC is in). They continue to test our patience on a regular basis here ;)
Which is actually what I am going to do to you now.... we get to call home tomorrow morning, and I would like my mom and dad to be the first to know where I will be living, but you can be sure that I'll have my mom post my future where abouts as soon as she knows.
Today we had a small group scavenger hunt around Niamey in which we were sent out to locate local areas of importance and most imporatntly find our way back to the PC bureau. We will offically have rights to travel into Niamey on our Sunday days off now, as we all made it back :)
So, now that there is some suspense, (do you hate me yet?), I'll ask how things are with you. What's new and exciting in your neck of the woods? I've heard that Hilary and Obama are running for '08, (thanks mom, I actually was the first to break the news about that here at stage! )
I also hear that WI has gotten a bunch of snow, and the last I heard our basketball boys were ranked #2!!!!
Do you guys have any specific questions for me? I should have planned what I was going to write, I know I'm leaving tons of stuff out, but I've sent a few letters home so they can help to fill in the blanks after I chat with them tomorrow.
Oh, but I hope you will all check out the following link about the great developments in Niger! This article, while not specifically mentioning the Peace Corps, gives a really good synopsis of what the NRMs are involved in and what we are trying to accomplish here in Niger.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/world/africa/11niger.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Oh, just a correction on my part, I know my mom let some of your know that I had a small bought of food poisioning, it actually turned out to be a bug that a bunch of us trainees got, I was just 'lucky' to be one of the first to get it, but after a few days of fever and all the fun stuff that goes along with a stomach trying to adjust to a new continent, vomiting and the like, and a night in the Niamey infirmary, all is well. I've adjusted to the low maintence life and I'm not completely sick of rice and sauce yet, but I must say eating with my right hand (literally with my hand) has proven to be a little challenging...but it's all part of the adventure right?!
Well send me an e-mail or post a comment if you have any specific questions about anything Niger....my experiences, tech stuff, the climate, the people, etc. I'd be happy to entertain them, there is just so much to share I don't even know what I should try to address first.
Oh I've been asked this a couple of times: There are 4 of us originally from WI, and another one who went to college at Marquette. So WI is definitely well represented. Washington and Missouri also sent 4.
I hope all is well with you, I think of you guys a lot when there are great little daily victories or exciting events that I want to share. Well I guess this is it for now, but I'll hopefullyhear from you all soon!
I've been in-country for 5 weeks now and life in Niger is pretty good. I have a feeling this is going to be very random, but hopefully you can follow my ramblings to get a brief glimpse of the past month or so....
Hmmm, where to begin. Well as the subject line notes, it is already quite hot here. We are still technically in the cold season, but last week and the week before we were definitely clearing temps of 100 or more. And the mefloquine is regarding the medication most of us are on to prevent us from getting Malaria. Most of us have pretty lucid and bizarre dreams there are other side effects as well, but the dreams are the most noticable.
Let's see, there is so much to tell I don't even know where to start. I have approx 4.5 hours of language training most days, I am learning Hausa, which is coming along slowly but surely (sannu sannu in Hausa). A typical day is spent at the training site (Bisa duci - on the hill) where we have language, tech, medical, and cultural training. We spend evenings with our families. I live with a school teacher and his wife and 3 children (Abduwahab 12, Hacia 8, and Yasinne 1). I also have a hutmate (Ashley). We have our own hut in the concession that we share with our family and three others. It is really small, but is definitely adequate. We have slept outside, under the stars, each night since we arrived in country. It was a litle chilly at first, but we are quickly progressing into the hot season, but it is beautiful and if you don't mind the chickens and donkeys squawking randomly at night and waking up to the 5am call to prayer, I'd say it is the absolute best way to sleep! (You can practically read by the full moon here!)
Even though we have lots of intense classes we also have gotten to spend some time offsite (or away from "camp" as I like to refer to it). At the end of Week 2 we had "Demyst." All of the Hausa speakers went to Konni and we were split into groups of 2 or 3 and then matched up with a current volunteer in the field. I absloutely LOVED my demyst experience, I stayed with a great volunteer, who has an amazing relationship with his town (I demysted in Madoua which is acutally a city of 15000 or so). I got to go to a really large outdoor market (well they're all outdoors here) and went to a traditional wrestling qualifying match. It was a really surreal experience, as I was one of 2 women who got a seat (0ut of about 1000 people in attendence) and the organizers of the event made Chris (my demyster) and Lachlan (fellow trainee) sit in the fron row along with the regional governors and dignitaries. I have never been as aware of being a woman or an American in my entire life. It was embarassing that 3 American 'kids' were given that opportunity, clad in jeans and t-shirts, sitting among men and armed guards in their finest atire.
All but 3 other trainees headed back into the Konni PC hostel the 3rd night, but I decided to stay out in the field, and I am so glad I did. It was nice just to have exposure to what everday life is like. Chris has some really great neighbor kids that taught me a new Nigerien card game, and that last night we ended up having a "gangsta dance party" with a couple of 6 year olds a 1 yr old and a couple of teenage boys. We spent the evening listening to Chris's iPod, taking funny/random pictures and mini camera films, and laughing a lot! It was definitely one of those moments when you realize there is no where on earth you'd rather be then "here in this moment"
My demyst definitely has motiviated me to keep plugging through stage (training) as I realized this experience is deifnitely mine to make, and I look so forward to it!!! Our demyst was only 3 days but it certainly left a lasting impression on me.
Last Thurs-Sat I had my Natural Resource Management (NRM for short) Tech Trip. We started out in Goethe and then went toward Dosso (see the map link on the left hand side of the blog for a visual reference). It was a great trip!! We spent 3 days off-roading on sand dunes and through dried out river beds. We planted trees to help stabilize sand dunes, sat in on a french environmental ed class, planted live fencing with some school children, went to a women's literacy class, we were treated to 2 nights of local dancing, and last but CERTAINLY not least, our group was fortunate enough to see about 7 or 8 GIRAFFES in their natural habitat!! The pictures are amazing! (Unfortuantely I can't upload them here, but I will send them/post them when I can). It was a very surreal experience, I kept looking for the fencing! We NRMS are definitely HARD CORE! as we didn't get to take the luxurious "magic bus", instead we crammed into Land Cruiser ambulences and had a blast getting stuck in the sand and cheering our vehicle up the sandy dunes with our AMAZING nrm trainer Haoua!
Also, I am extremely excited to announce that yesterday we had our sites announced.
First a little back ground, there are currently 36 of us at training (1 girl had to go home for medical reasons) we are split into 2 sectors, Agriculture and NRM. We are also split into 2 language groups, Hausa and Zarma. I noted above that I am learning Hausa, which is spoken east of Niamey and Dosso (Konni is the nearest "west" region for Hausa speakers to be posted). So we are technically in 4 groups.
It has been a very tense/anxious week as we have all been anticipating and not so patiently awating word on where we will be spend the next two years of our lives. Which will undoubtedly shape/influence the rest of our lives. So yesterday, we were all on pins and needles, and around 1pm the festivities began. A current PCV read a description of each of us that started out general but got more and more specific until only one of us was left standing, then our regional representative stood up to welcome us to our particular region (there are 7 regions PC is in). They continue to test our patience on a regular basis here ;)
Which is actually what I am going to do to you now.... we get to call home tomorrow morning, and I would like my mom and dad to be the first to know where I will be living, but you can be sure that I'll have my mom post my future where abouts as soon as she knows.
Today we had a small group scavenger hunt around Niamey in which we were sent out to locate local areas of importance and most imporatntly find our way back to the PC bureau. We will offically have rights to travel into Niamey on our Sunday days off now, as we all made it back :)
So, now that there is some suspense, (do you hate me yet?), I'll ask how things are with you. What's new and exciting in your neck of the woods? I've heard that Hilary and Obama are running for '08, (thanks mom, I actually was the first to break the news about that here at stage! )
I also hear that WI has gotten a bunch of snow, and the last I heard our basketball boys were ranked #2!!!!
Do you guys have any specific questions for me? I should have planned what I was going to write, I know I'm leaving tons of stuff out, but I've sent a few letters home so they can help to fill in the blanks after I chat with them tomorrow.
Oh, but I hope you will all check out the following link about the great developments in Niger! This article, while not specifically mentioning the Peace Corps, gives a really good synopsis of what the NRMs are involved in and what we are trying to accomplish here in Niger.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/world/africa/11niger.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Oh, just a correction on my part, I know my mom let some of your know that I had a small bought of food poisioning, it actually turned out to be a bug that a bunch of us trainees got, I was just 'lucky' to be one of the first to get it, but after a few days of fever and all the fun stuff that goes along with a stomach trying to adjust to a new continent, vomiting and the like, and a night in the Niamey infirmary, all is well. I've adjusted to the low maintence life and I'm not completely sick of rice and sauce yet, but I must say eating with my right hand (literally with my hand) has proven to be a little challenging...but it's all part of the adventure right?!
Well send me an e-mail or post a comment if you have any specific questions about anything Niger....my experiences, tech stuff, the climate, the people, etc. I'd be happy to entertain them, there is just so much to share I don't even know what I should try to address first.
Oh I've been asked this a couple of times: There are 4 of us originally from WI, and another one who went to college at Marquette. So WI is definitely well represented. Washington and Missouri also sent 4.
I hope all is well with you, I think of you guys a lot when there are great little daily victories or exciting events that I want to share. Well I guess this is it for now, but I'll hopefullyhear from you all soon!
Friday, February 02, 2007
News from Niger
Hello, this is Jamie's mom with an update, from Jamie's first letter home, (she does not have access to phone nor internet during her initial training).
The trip to Niger was long, beginning with a couple days in Philadelphia for orientation and the beginning of the immunization process, (immunizing continued in Niger and as of 1/18/06 there were still more to come). Jamie and 36 other volunteer trainees had an 8 hour flight to Paris and then onto Niamey, Niger.
She wrote: "I was in much disbelief that I was finally going to Africa, after years of talking about it....the 1st sight of the Sahara made it real for all of us."
The group was greeted by Peace Corps staff and volunteers who have already been in country for awhile. The group are at the Niger PC training center for about two months, where they will spend many hours in culture & "intense" language training. They are currently learning the languages of Zarma and Hausa, those along with French will be the basic means of communication.
All trainees have been placed with host families, who also work with them on language and customs, etc. Jamie wrote: "the kids are great and they are willing to humor us be repeating everthing about a million times before we actually get it."
She is quickly adjusting to not having all the comforts that she grew up with, but finding her way and comfort in becoming a part of this wonderful opportunity in her new home.
I will share more info about my daughter's journey, as it becomes available. Until next time.....
The trip to Niger was long, beginning with a couple days in Philadelphia for orientation and the beginning of the immunization process, (immunizing continued in Niger and as of 1/18/06 there were still more to come). Jamie and 36 other volunteer trainees had an 8 hour flight to Paris and then onto Niamey, Niger.
She wrote: "I was in much disbelief that I was finally going to Africa, after years of talking about it....the 1st sight of the Sahara made it real for all of us."
The group was greeted by Peace Corps staff and volunteers who have already been in country for awhile. The group are at the Niger PC training center for about two months, where they will spend many hours in culture & "intense" language training. They are currently learning the languages of Zarma and Hausa, those along with French will be the basic means of communication.
All trainees have been placed with host families, who also work with them on language and customs, etc. Jamie wrote: "the kids are great and they are willing to humor us be repeating everthing about a million times before we actually get it."
She is quickly adjusting to not having all the comforts that she grew up with, but finding her way and comfort in becoming a part of this wonderful opportunity in her new home.
I will share more info about my daughter's journey, as it becomes available. Until next time.....
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Farewell
It is hard to believe that my Peace Corps journey began over a year ago. While I've yet to leave Wisconsin, I began my preperations for service last winter, and arguably, the Peace Corps has been on my radar since high school. It seems almost impossible that I am actually leaving for Niger in three very short days. It has become somewhat of a token response, but it is surely "going to be an adventure."
I'm not heading into this experience completely blind, but to be honest, I'm not even remotely sure what to expect. In one moment that is an exhilarating feeling, but I would be lying if I didn't say it slightly terrifies me in the next. :0)
It will be a couple of months before I am able to communicate by more than the means of an old-fashioned pen and paper; so in addition to saying farewell, I just wanted to extend my sincere gratitude to each of you who were able to attend my going away last week, as well as to those who have sent warm wishes my way.
You strengthen my spirit and determination to enter into this experience, to live and learn as much as is humany possible to do. I wish there was more I could say or do to express my gratitude, but just know I will be thinking of you often. I cannot wait to share the adventures and the mishaps (there will be many that is for certain) that occur along the way.
So for now, I guess this is farewell, I look forward to seeing you in March 2009!
With love and best wishes for a happy 2007,
Jamie
I'm not heading into this experience completely blind, but to be honest, I'm not even remotely sure what to expect. In one moment that is an exhilarating feeling, but I would be lying if I didn't say it slightly terrifies me in the next. :0)
It will be a couple of months before I am able to communicate by more than the means of an old-fashioned pen and paper; so in addition to saying farewell, I just wanted to extend my sincere gratitude to each of you who were able to attend my going away last week, as well as to those who have sent warm wishes my way.
You strengthen my spirit and determination to enter into this experience, to live and learn as much as is humany possible to do. I wish there was more I could say or do to express my gratitude, but just know I will be thinking of you often. I cannot wait to share the adventures and the mishaps (there will be many that is for certain) that occur along the way.
So for now, I guess this is farewell, I look forward to seeing you in March 2009!
With love and best wishes for a happy 2007,
Jamie
Monday, December 11, 2006
Not Scrambling, Yet
So it's officially under the 30 day mark, and oddly enough, I've begun the packing process. This is slightly atypical for me. I distinctly remember cutting it down to the wire for Croatia, but I guess packing for two years adds a bit more pressure. Anyway, this is a friendly reminder to send me your addresses so I can write you. Also, a little research yesterday on the USPS website noted that it will cost about $0.84 to send a letter to Niger, so that is there for your info should you so desire it.
If I don't get a chance to talk to you/see you before, happy holidays!!
If I don't get a chance to talk to you/see you before, happy holidays!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
