Hey everyone! So the Peace Corps did something very smart and bought every peace corps volunteer and staff member in Niger a phone and we can all call and text each other for free! (Too bad I can't call home for free) So I now have another number which is a pain. Here is my new (and final?) number!
227 98 70 00 79
I just swore in today! We had our ceremony at the US ambassadors house which was on the Niger river and her yard had grass! I wanted to run around in it and then play baseball.
So I am now an official Peace Corps volunteer. Monday morning I am moving to my village. So, if anyone wants to call me, Monday night might be a good time to do it (I'll be all alone!) Ok I love you all Happy New Years!
P.S. Yesterday morning I received a package from my family and my best pal Mo and some letters :) Thank you everyone for your continuing support! God Bless.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Merry Christmas
Merry Belated Christmas! I hope everyone got what they wanted :)
All of us trainees spent Christmas eve on site which was nice because we were able to be together for the night. We ate a fabulous dinner of chicken, potatoes, sautéed vegetables, fruit and bread, and Phil was nice enough to share chocolate and Oreos with everyone. Christmas day we did a secret santa gift exchange between us 41 trainees. It was really fun and kind of made it feel a little more like Christmas. I got cookies, orange juice and some phone credit. I also taught some cool kids how to play Euchre so we have been killing time that way.
Unfortunately, despite some Christmas hope, none of us have received letters or packages for the last few weeks. This has been a pretty big bummer, but maybe we will get them soon. If you did send them, thank you so much and don’t worry, I will get them. Things here just run on Nigerien time. This is like my mom’s time, except 5,000 times worse Hahaha.
All of us trainees spent Christmas eve on site which was nice because we were able to be together for the night. We ate a fabulous dinner of chicken, potatoes, sautéed vegetables, fruit and bread, and Phil was nice enough to share chocolate and Oreos with everyone. Christmas day we did a secret santa gift exchange between us 41 trainees. It was really fun and kind of made it feel a little more like Christmas. I got cookies, orange juice and some phone credit. I also taught some cool kids how to play Euchre so we have been killing time that way.
Unfortunately, despite some Christmas hope, none of us have received letters or packages for the last few weeks. This has been a pretty big bummer, but maybe we will get them soon. If you did send them, thank you so much and don’t worry, I will get them. Things here just run on Nigerien time. This is like my mom’s time, except 5,000 times worse Hahaha.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Site Placements
We found out where our villages are today! And for security reasons I am not allowed to post the name of it online but I am super excited! My permanent address is now officially the same as the one I have posted on this blog and on Facebook under my picture. So that should make it easy for everyone.
I do know that I am in a small village, kind of like the one I am in now. I have a one room hut with a newly built millet stalk concession and a new latrine. And my village has a health hut and a primary school.
I am also pretty pumped because our second LPI (Language placement interview) was last Monday and I managed to jump up two levels to Intermediate Mid which is where I need to be to swear in on the 30th. So I essentially already passed my final with over two weeks left. That is a huge load off my back and now I can just look forward to getting installed in my village and the swear- in ceremony at the embassy. I do have the final LPI but that is just to see how much I’ve Improved since the last one.
The first couple of weeks seemed like a lifetime, but since we left for language immersion time has flown by! (Sometimes though, the days are sooo slow) One of the things I’m looking forward to the most is getting my freedom back. It’s been kind of difficult not having control of what I eat and when I eat and having to tell my family where I’m going and if I’ll be back for lunch (and if I say I won’t they are not happy at all). I imagine it will be kind of lonely at first being the only American in my village and living all by myself, but I know I’ll make friends with the villagers… hopefully it won’t take too long.
Once I’m installed in my village I am not allowed to go anywhere for a month, after that I am allowed to to go into the regional capitol to do banking and shopping and such. We are allowed 4 days a month to travel and other than that if we want to go anywhere we either have to have some sort of work reason or take our vacation days (24 per year). After 3 months in village we are allowed to start using our vacation days to travel in or out of country or travel for work if we have permission.
So if anyone wants to visit me you can officially come beginning in March. However, that is when hot season begins and I’m pretty sure no one wants to be in this country between march and may (even the Nigeriens) It is like up to 140 degrees and it doesn’t cool off during the night. I am really not looking forward to that. But anyways, June-Oct would be a great time to have visitors. (I’m not saying Nov-Jan because I’m coming home for about 3 weeks next December for Christmas) So come on over. We can go see giraffes and hippos and ill teach you Zarma. So much fun!
I do know that I am in a small village, kind of like the one I am in now. I have a one room hut with a newly built millet stalk concession and a new latrine. And my village has a health hut and a primary school.
I am also pretty pumped because our second LPI (Language placement interview) was last Monday and I managed to jump up two levels to Intermediate Mid which is where I need to be to swear in on the 30th. So I essentially already passed my final with over two weeks left. That is a huge load off my back and now I can just look forward to getting installed in my village and the swear- in ceremony at the embassy. I do have the final LPI but that is just to see how much I’ve Improved since the last one.
The first couple of weeks seemed like a lifetime, but since we left for language immersion time has flown by! (Sometimes though, the days are sooo slow) One of the things I’m looking forward to the most is getting my freedom back. It’s been kind of difficult not having control of what I eat and when I eat and having to tell my family where I’m going and if I’ll be back for lunch (and if I say I won’t they are not happy at all). I imagine it will be kind of lonely at first being the only American in my village and living all by myself, but I know I’ll make friends with the villagers… hopefully it won’t take too long.
Once I’m installed in my village I am not allowed to go anywhere for a month, after that I am allowed to to go into the regional capitol to do banking and shopping and such. We are allowed 4 days a month to travel and other than that if we want to go anywhere we either have to have some sort of work reason or take our vacation days (24 per year). After 3 months in village we are allowed to start using our vacation days to travel in or out of country or travel for work if we have permission.
So if anyone wants to visit me you can officially come beginning in March. However, that is when hot season begins and I’m pretty sure no one wants to be in this country between march and may (even the Nigeriens) It is like up to 140 degrees and it doesn’t cool off during the night. I am really not looking forward to that. But anyways, June-Oct would be a great time to have visitors. (I’m not saying Nov-Jan because I’m coming home for about 3 weeks next December for Christmas) So come on over. We can go see giraffes and hippos and ill teach you Zarma. So much fun!
I hate cockroaches.
So the other day when we got back from language immersion I was feeling pretty sweet because I passed my LPI and I was starting to feel like I was really getting the hang of the whole “living in Africa” thing. So I decided to use the latrine after dark, which I normally don’t do because of cockroaches. When I got inside there was only one cockroach so I decided to man up and pee anyway, keeping an eye on the little demon the whole time. He was only like a foot or two away from me and of course mid-pee he decides to charge at me. I of course screamed, jumped up, and tried to kill him, but he got away and I was left a mess and not at all pleased! Why did God invent cockroaches anyways?
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Language Immersion
So this is just a quick note about language immersion. It was a long two weeks but it went pretty well No sickness at all, so our group was happy about that. Our days went like this: wake up, make tea and eat anasara nwari (white people food; we bought cornflakes and powdered milk) 2 hours of class under our shade hangar, break, 2 more hours of language, lunch, then our daily activities where we had to go into the village and do health and farm demonstrations and speak to people in Zarma. We pulled our own water from the well most days, and then we cooked our own dinner which was really nice. It was the first thing we’ve had control over since we got here. We made a lot of pasta and managed to make some great sauces. Some of the few things you can find in almost all the markets are little cans of tomato paste, garlic, oil, onions and peppers. We also made pancakes (more like tortillas) with cinnamon and sugar. They were delicious! I can honestly say that most of my idle thoughts are about food. Wendy’s, arbys, ice cream, meat without flies all over it, chicken salad. Basically I just dream about anything that isn’t rice, maca or millet.
Village life is wild. Most mornings we woke up to chickens, goats or sheep that somehow snuck into our concession and we’d have to make Abdul Razak chase them away. There was one momma chicken and her baby chicks that would always walk around like they owned the place. I really wanted to eat them.
Our language instructor thought we were speaking too much English with eachother so every night we had to sit with all the village men and farkaray (Converse). One of them asked if I was married and when I said no, he said I could take my pick of all the Tchede men. I respectfully declined, saying that I would be too expensive. Kim is apparently getting married to some 60 year old man but he is supposed to be bringing back 500 camels for her...but we have yet to see them, so I guess the wedding is off.
Also, we hit a cow on the way in. He veered in front of the truck and the car jerked foreword and then made this final lurch and I thought for sure we killed him but he ended up limping away. It was CRAZY.
So that’s all I have time for now…check back next week, I may have a chance to get online Sunday. Friday is site announcement too so I should know where my village is going to be for the next 2 years!!! So excited! xoxoxoxoxoxox
Village life is wild. Most mornings we woke up to chickens, goats or sheep that somehow snuck into our concession and we’d have to make Abdul Razak chase them away. There was one momma chicken and her baby chicks that would always walk around like they owned the place. I really wanted to eat them.
Our language instructor thought we were speaking too much English with eachother so every night we had to sit with all the village men and farkaray (Converse). One of them asked if I was married and when I said no, he said I could take my pick of all the Tchede men. I respectfully declined, saying that I would be too expensive. Kim is apparently getting married to some 60 year old man but he is supposed to be bringing back 500 camels for her...but we have yet to see them, so I guess the wedding is off.
Also, we hit a cow on the way in. He veered in front of the truck and the car jerked foreword and then made this final lurch and I thought for sure we killed him but he ended up limping away. It was CRAZY.
So that’s all I have time for now…check back next week, I may have a chance to get online Sunday. Friday is site announcement too so I should know where my village is going to be for the next 2 years!!! So excited! xoxoxoxoxoxox
Saturday, November 27, 2010
I have a phone. This is the bee's knees.
Good news!!! I finally got a cell phone so if anyone wants to call me I would be absolutely thrilled to receive some calls! The easiest/cheapest way I’ve heard is to buy either a phone card or but some minutes on Skype and call from your computer.
This is exactly what you have to dial from the states 011 227 98 700 079
*Some people say that whether or not you have to press 011 depends on if you call from skype or a phone and I don't know which is which so try them both)
***This is the updated phone number as of 12/30/2010
This is exactly what you have to dial from the states 011 227 98 700 079
*Some people say that whether or not you have to press 011 depends on if you call from skype or a phone and I don't know which is which so try them both)
***This is the updated phone number as of 12/30/2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
So today is Thanksgiving Day!!! (When I actually post this it won’t be, but it is as I type)
There are a lot of things in Niger that could cause one to complain, like the heat, the poop everywhere, the lack of any common American comforts, and the children incessantly yelling “fo fo” at us. However, in honor of the holiday, and as a good way to keep my sanity, I decided to make a list of all the things I am thankful for here in Niger. So here it is:
• A supportive family back home
• My awesome new friends
• Mosquito net
• American deodorant
• Oriba yeno (a yummy pop here)
• Core day lunches (twice a week we get fruit and salad!)
• Letters and packages!!!! (It’s seriously the best thing ever)
• The American Rec. Center
• My Nigerien family <3 they are super nice
• The most beautiful sunrises/sunsets imaginable
• Internet (which doesn’t really happen, but for like 5 minutes when it does I am super thankful)
• Headlamp
• Battery powered fan
• The orange store and the friendly man who works there (this is where we buy drinks and snacks)
• Egg sandwich guy (Nigerien version of Micky d’s)
• Petit surprises
• Tondi’s amazing laugh (He is our training director, aka. Nigerien dad)
• AC in the infirmary
• Not having to be working a boring desk job
• Starry nights
• *A recent addition: Last and not least I am so eternally thankful for my wonderful grandfather who recently passed away. I would give anything to be home with my family, but I will always have a million memories of his friendly smile and twinkling blue eyes. The last thing he ever said to me was that I was beautiful and he loved me, so I couldn’t ask for anything better. Rest peacefully with the angels Grandpa. I love you.
This is the first major holiday I have ever not been with my family so it’s been rough, but the staff here in Peace Corps and all the trainees have been great and we came up with our own thanksgiving dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, fruit salad and some yellow cake. It was delicious! (Not even close to Louie’s though :)
Being away from everyone really puts a perspective on the importance of family and I am so thankful to have such an amazing one! And thanks again to all my wonderful friends who have been so great over the years. I have always had such good friends and so many awesome memories and I don’t want to miss out on your lives for the next 2 years, so send me letters or emails or Facebook messages… anything to keep me in the loop! Because even though I am so far away and am having great amazing experiences I still really care about what’s going on back home. And believe me, we have a lot of opportunities here to just think about stuff and I mostly just wonder what everyone I care about is doing.
There are a lot of things in Niger that could cause one to complain, like the heat, the poop everywhere, the lack of any common American comforts, and the children incessantly yelling “fo fo” at us. However, in honor of the holiday, and as a good way to keep my sanity, I decided to make a list of all the things I am thankful for here in Niger. So here it is:
• A supportive family back home
• My awesome new friends
• Mosquito net
• American deodorant
• Oriba yeno (a yummy pop here)
• Core day lunches (twice a week we get fruit and salad!)
• Letters and packages!!!! (It’s seriously the best thing ever)
• The American Rec. Center
• My Nigerien family <3 they are super nice
• The most beautiful sunrises/sunsets imaginable
• Internet (which doesn’t really happen, but for like 5 minutes when it does I am super thankful)
• Headlamp
• Battery powered fan
• The orange store and the friendly man who works there (this is where we buy drinks and snacks)
• Egg sandwich guy (Nigerien version of Micky d’s)
• Petit surprises
• Tondi’s amazing laugh (He is our training director, aka. Nigerien dad)
• AC in the infirmary
• Not having to be working a boring desk job
• Starry nights
• *A recent addition: Last and not least I am so eternally thankful for my wonderful grandfather who recently passed away. I would give anything to be home with my family, but I will always have a million memories of his friendly smile and twinkling blue eyes. The last thing he ever said to me was that I was beautiful and he loved me, so I couldn’t ask for anything better. Rest peacefully with the angels Grandpa. I love you.
This is the first major holiday I have ever not been with my family so it’s been rough, but the staff here in Peace Corps and all the trainees have been great and we came up with our own thanksgiving dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, fruit salad and some yellow cake. It was delicious! (Not even close to Louie’s though :)
Being away from everyone really puts a perspective on the importance of family and I am so thankful to have such an amazing one! And thanks again to all my wonderful friends who have been so great over the years. I have always had such good friends and so many awesome memories and I don’t want to miss out on your lives for the next 2 years, so send me letters or emails or Facebook messages… anything to keep me in the loop! Because even though I am so far away and am having great amazing experiences I still really care about what’s going on back home. And believe me, we have a lot of opportunities here to just think about stuff and I mostly just wonder what everyone I care about is doing.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Si boori
The hammer finally dropped. I got my first bout of illness. Basically I had the works, and I won’t go into detail but it was not pretty. Then, once I got over my stomach issues I came down with a cold. It’s 115 degrees and I have a cold. C’est ma vie. But I’m okay, nothing to be worried about…more of an inconvenience actually.
Saturday was our first language placement exam, I don’t know how I did yet but my friend Phoebe said our teacher Aicha said everyone in our class (Me, Eric and Phoebs) did pretty well. Yay. The reason they do the exam at all is to break us up into new language classes for language immersion. *Update: I placed in level 3, I only need to get to level 5 to pass so I’m feeling alright.
Language immersion is supposedly going to be a super intense 2 weeks of language classes where we live in a village with only our class of 3 or 4, and our teacher. English is bu (dead) and Zarma reins as king. For some reason I’m not extremely optimistic about this.
What I am happy about however is discovering the American Rec. Center in Niemay where they have cable television with ESPN and milkshakes (Heaven). Unfortunately, I will probably only be able to frequent this paradise no more than once every month or two. It’s just comforting knowing that it’s there because every time I’ve had internet it either was super slow, really spotty, or just did not work on my computer at all so It’s been difficult to know how my teams are doing. (I cried here for the first time with happiness when I got a letter from matt saying that the browns beat the saints)
Sorry about not getting up pictures. I have bad internets luck so have patience. Kala suuru. (This is something I tell myself about 20 times a day and am not good with to begin) It took me like two hours to upload my profile picture a couple weeks ago.
Saturday was our first language placement exam, I don’t know how I did yet but my friend Phoebe said our teacher Aicha said everyone in our class (Me, Eric and Phoebs) did pretty well. Yay. The reason they do the exam at all is to break us up into new language classes for language immersion. *Update: I placed in level 3, I only need to get to level 5 to pass so I’m feeling alright.
Language immersion is supposedly going to be a super intense 2 weeks of language classes where we live in a village with only our class of 3 or 4, and our teacher. English is bu (dead) and Zarma reins as king. For some reason I’m not extremely optimistic about this.
What I am happy about however is discovering the American Rec. Center in Niemay where they have cable television with ESPN and milkshakes (Heaven). Unfortunately, I will probably only be able to frequent this paradise no more than once every month or two. It’s just comforting knowing that it’s there because every time I’ve had internet it either was super slow, really spotty, or just did not work on my computer at all so It’s been difficult to know how my teams are doing. (I cried here for the first time with happiness when I got a letter from matt saying that the browns beat the saints)
Sorry about not getting up pictures. I have bad internets luck so have patience. Kala suuru. (This is something I tell myself about 20 times a day and am not good with to begin) It took me like two hours to upload my profile picture a couple weeks ago.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Fonda Farkaray!
So the entry I already posted was just a summary of the main things that I thought people would want to hear about right away, and I would like to make a real blog with accounts of my daily activites….unfortunately, I live in a hut…so that’s not gonna happen. So I will continue to write when I can and hopefully my thoughts and accounts are not too scattered.
So week three has now passed and I feel pretty happy to have made it this far, and without any illnesses either (knock on wood) . And for those of you who are worried about safety and security I thought I would let you know that almost all of the problems occur in the more northern parts of Niger and we are not even allowed to travel there. I feel very safe here and so far Nigeriens have been incredibly friendly and welcoming. I will also feel much happier when we receive our cell phones.
Also, to address those of you who assumed that I would come back super tan let me just say that 99% of the time I am avoiding the sun like the plague. It’s kind of hot. Also Nigerien women do not show their shoulders or knees and if we want to fully integrate and not attract too much attention we need to dress modestly. Which really sucks quite a bit because I love shorts. I really love shorts.
Food: As a Kacsandi I feel as though it is my duty to fully address the topic of food here in Niger. Lets see….the staple food here is millet which is actually a seed that people in the states put in their bird feed, but here it is pounded for hours and hours a day (by the women of course because they work their butts off) then they usually boil the pounded grain and eat it as a mush with sauce or they mix it with milk and sugar which is called doonu. This is something that they eat a lot and since it is liquidy and makes their bellies feel full a lot of people think that it’s all they need despite there is a very small amount of nutritional value. Rice is also eaten alllooooot here, sometimes with beans which I am a big fan of although it gets tiring after awhile. Wealthier families are the ones who will buy beef or goat meat sometimes chicken, and put vegetables in their sauces. I really don’t think people understand nutritional needs at all here, which is one of the main reasons 75% of the children here have the classic protruding bellies like you see on TV. My life is literally right out of National Geographic.
Today I took my first bush taxi ride. I don’t really feel like there’s a good way to explain it…you just have to experience it for yourself…but I’ll try. So a PCT (peace corps trainee) Alison and I stayed for 3 days with a girl named Sara and we got to see the life of a real live Peace Corps Volunteer who lives in a village in Dosso. This morning we stood in the back of an open back truck with about 20 people, luggage, and 3 goats with very pointy horns. This wasn’t that bad in itself it was the stopping and going and potholes that were a pain in the bootay. But we caught another taxi in a different village which was a van so that was better. However, if you’re in a bush taxi and you think there is no possible way they can fit another person into the cab, they will fit three more. It’s kind of amazing really. One row of this van that was supposed to fit 3 people MAX had 4 men and two children. Wild.
Hmm let’s see what else about my life is interesting…..Apparently there are hippos and elephants and giraffes in the region I am in. Some of the volunteers saw elephants but I wasn’t so lucky I will soon though! There’s a Parc National Du Niger that I’ll make it to eventually. Oh, and yesterday I carried a bucket of water on my head, which is harder than it looks!
Now that we are done with Demyst we go back to the training site and continue our language and other training then the next major thing we have will be our first language interview (essentially our midterm) and then we will spend 2 weeks in a different village with our language trainer for “language immersion” which I am not looking forward to, but I’m sure we’ll survive.
I wrote this post really quickly because I wanted to get it up so I’ll probably add on and edit it later so don’t judge ;) And I will try to post pictures soon but I’m leaving to go back to site now so I won’t be able to get online for maybe a week or two.
Thanks for all the wonderful facebook posts… those and letters and packages make me so happy I can’t even explain!
So week three has now passed and I feel pretty happy to have made it this far, and without any illnesses either (knock on wood) . And for those of you who are worried about safety and security I thought I would let you know that almost all of the problems occur in the more northern parts of Niger and we are not even allowed to travel there. I feel very safe here and so far Nigeriens have been incredibly friendly and welcoming. I will also feel much happier when we receive our cell phones.
Also, to address those of you who assumed that I would come back super tan let me just say that 99% of the time I am avoiding the sun like the plague. It’s kind of hot. Also Nigerien women do not show their shoulders or knees and if we want to fully integrate and not attract too much attention we need to dress modestly. Which really sucks quite a bit because I love shorts. I really love shorts.
Food: As a Kacsandi I feel as though it is my duty to fully address the topic of food here in Niger. Lets see….the staple food here is millet which is actually a seed that people in the states put in their bird feed, but here it is pounded for hours and hours a day (by the women of course because they work their butts off) then they usually boil the pounded grain and eat it as a mush with sauce or they mix it with milk and sugar which is called doonu. This is something that they eat a lot and since it is liquidy and makes their bellies feel full a lot of people think that it’s all they need despite there is a very small amount of nutritional value. Rice is also eaten alllooooot here, sometimes with beans which I am a big fan of although it gets tiring after awhile. Wealthier families are the ones who will buy beef or goat meat sometimes chicken, and put vegetables in their sauces. I really don’t think people understand nutritional needs at all here, which is one of the main reasons 75% of the children here have the classic protruding bellies like you see on TV. My life is literally right out of National Geographic.
Today I took my first bush taxi ride. I don’t really feel like there’s a good way to explain it…you just have to experience it for yourself…but I’ll try. So a PCT (peace corps trainee) Alison and I stayed for 3 days with a girl named Sara and we got to see the life of a real live Peace Corps Volunteer who lives in a village in Dosso. This morning we stood in the back of an open back truck with about 20 people, luggage, and 3 goats with very pointy horns. This wasn’t that bad in itself it was the stopping and going and potholes that were a pain in the bootay. But we caught another taxi in a different village which was a van so that was better. However, if you’re in a bush taxi and you think there is no possible way they can fit another person into the cab, they will fit three more. It’s kind of amazing really. One row of this van that was supposed to fit 3 people MAX had 4 men and two children. Wild.
Hmm let’s see what else about my life is interesting…..Apparently there are hippos and elephants and giraffes in the region I am in. Some of the volunteers saw elephants but I wasn’t so lucky I will soon though! There’s a Parc National Du Niger that I’ll make it to eventually. Oh, and yesterday I carried a bucket of water on my head, which is harder than it looks!
Now that we are done with Demyst we go back to the training site and continue our language and other training then the next major thing we have will be our first language interview (essentially our midterm) and then we will spend 2 weeks in a different village with our language trainer for “language immersion” which I am not looking forward to, but I’m sure we’ll survive.
I wrote this post really quickly because I wanted to get it up so I’ll probably add on and edit it later so don’t judge ;) And I will try to post pictures soon but I’m leaving to go back to site now so I won’t be able to get online for maybe a week or two.
Thanks for all the wonderful facebook posts… those and letters and packages make me so happy I can’t even explain!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Yay Internet....kinda
Fo Fo Family, Friends, and random people reading this blog.
I am safe and sound in Peace Corps training in Niger, West Africa. Right now I am at Demyst which means I am staying in a current volunteer’s hut to see how they live and what life will be like for me once I am an official volunteer. I am using the internet at the hostel here in the Dosso capitol which will not happen again for awhile unless I get an opportunity when we take our tour of Niamey.
What can I say about Africa? Africa is incredible. It's incredibly different than anything I’ve ever seen, incredibly hot, incredibly eye opening, incredibly depressing, incredibly frustrating, incredibly humbling and makes me incredibly grateful for everything that I have. Africa is incredibly wild. I love it.
I miss all of my family and friends soooo much but we have been kept extremely busy so luckily I have been distracted from home sickness. We have language classes almost every day along with safety, health and cross cultural training. Two days a week our classes are at the Peace Corps training site and the rest of the week we take our classes in a small hut in the village where we are staying. I’m living in a village about a mile or so away from the training center so it’s a pretty nice walk…this morning I saw the most beautiful sunrise over the lake on my way to site.
I live in a hut within the compound of my host family but I get the round thatched roof hut all to myself I sleep outside on a foam mattress on top of a bed made of sticks and I have a mosquito net all around me (gotta watch out for that malaria).
I eat most meals with my host family on a mat outside everyday. So far I’ve had rice, rice and beans, rice and sauce, and today a very special treat, spaghetti! (With a weird sauce) It’s very sandy here so I think a little sand usually gets into the food, so that’s yummy.
My host family is pretty nice, they are a good family. There’s the older couple then they have like 5 kids two of which have children of their own. The first night with my host family I was given a Nigerien name Malika which means “Queen” in Zarma (Apparently it also means promiscuous, but we’ll forget that for now) So, I am now Malika Zalika.
The stars here are pretty amazing, last night I saw a shooting star that shot across the entire sky and it almost took my breath away! I really enjoy sleeping outside, it’s much cooler and pretty relaxing except for I wake up an average of 5-7 times a night because the roosters, goats and donkey that chill about 10 feet from where I sleep are always freaking out for no good reason and waking me up. Grr. I wonder what donkey tastes like. Coq au vin sounds pretty good right now too.
I’m learning Zarma which is really cool but it’s super intense and my teacher is mean so that spoils the fun, luckily though, I get a different teacher next week.
I probably won’t be speaking French all the time here, mainly Zarma in my village, but they do speak French in schools and hospitals (Or clinics, where I’ll probably be working) and I’ve had to talk to my Zarma teacher in French to explain things or ask questions. Since they only speak Zarma in a small part Niger I know for sure that I won’t be more than 1-6 hours or so from Niamey (which is the capitol) which is nice, because some volunteers who are learning Hausa will be placed in villages up to 14 hours away.
December 30th is when training is completed and we are sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers officially, then I will be placed in a village where I will begin work as a community health agent. I’m just trying to make it through training because I’m excited to begin work.
So I’ve only been here a short time and I have already been woken up in the middle of the night by a sandstorm, been relieved that today was only 95 degrees (a cooler day) learned how to pound millet, learned a fair amount of Zarma, mastered the art of mosquito net hanging, and eaten dinner on a mat outside with my family, out of the same bowl, with our hands. It’s so weird to me how my host family can live in huts, with no bathroom except for a hole (Which is what I also use) and have a cell phone. It’s the strangest mix of two worlds. Some other volunteer’s families have electricity and a television. They are super fancy though….most people aren’t fancy.
The plan right now is that we are going to get cell phones on Nov. 20 (maybe sooner? Fingers crossed) so I will be able to call home for a minute. Then, if anyone wants to call me they can either use a phone card or buy minutes on Skype, which I heard is the best way to do it. So if you get a call from a crazy number buy a phone card or minutes on skype and call me back!
I hope you are all happy and healthy and safe and strong! I love you all so much! Keep me and the work I will be doing in your prayers. Feel free to leave comments and ask questions, if I can I will definitely respond! Kala Hanfo! God Bless.
Love, Hallie (aka Malika Zalika)
I am safe and sound in Peace Corps training in Niger, West Africa. Right now I am at Demyst which means I am staying in a current volunteer’s hut to see how they live and what life will be like for me once I am an official volunteer. I am using the internet at the hostel here in the Dosso capitol which will not happen again for awhile unless I get an opportunity when we take our tour of Niamey.
What can I say about Africa? Africa is incredible. It's incredibly different than anything I’ve ever seen, incredibly hot, incredibly eye opening, incredibly depressing, incredibly frustrating, incredibly humbling and makes me incredibly grateful for everything that I have. Africa is incredibly wild. I love it.
I miss all of my family and friends soooo much but we have been kept extremely busy so luckily I have been distracted from home sickness. We have language classes almost every day along with safety, health and cross cultural training. Two days a week our classes are at the Peace Corps training site and the rest of the week we take our classes in a small hut in the village where we are staying. I’m living in a village about a mile or so away from the training center so it’s a pretty nice walk…this morning I saw the most beautiful sunrise over the lake on my way to site.
I live in a hut within the compound of my host family but I get the round thatched roof hut all to myself I sleep outside on a foam mattress on top of a bed made of sticks and I have a mosquito net all around me (gotta watch out for that malaria).
I eat most meals with my host family on a mat outside everyday. So far I’ve had rice, rice and beans, rice and sauce, and today a very special treat, spaghetti! (With a weird sauce) It’s very sandy here so I think a little sand usually gets into the food, so that’s yummy.
My host family is pretty nice, they are a good family. There’s the older couple then they have like 5 kids two of which have children of their own. The first night with my host family I was given a Nigerien name Malika which means “Queen” in Zarma (Apparently it also means promiscuous, but we’ll forget that for now) So, I am now Malika Zalika.
The stars here are pretty amazing, last night I saw a shooting star that shot across the entire sky and it almost took my breath away! I really enjoy sleeping outside, it’s much cooler and pretty relaxing except for I wake up an average of 5-7 times a night because the roosters, goats and donkey that chill about 10 feet from where I sleep are always freaking out for no good reason and waking me up. Grr. I wonder what donkey tastes like. Coq au vin sounds pretty good right now too.
I’m learning Zarma which is really cool but it’s super intense and my teacher is mean so that spoils the fun, luckily though, I get a different teacher next week.
I probably won’t be speaking French all the time here, mainly Zarma in my village, but they do speak French in schools and hospitals (Or clinics, where I’ll probably be working) and I’ve had to talk to my Zarma teacher in French to explain things or ask questions. Since they only speak Zarma in a small part Niger I know for sure that I won’t be more than 1-6 hours or so from Niamey (which is the capitol) which is nice, because some volunteers who are learning Hausa will be placed in villages up to 14 hours away.
December 30th is when training is completed and we are sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers officially, then I will be placed in a village where I will begin work as a community health agent. I’m just trying to make it through training because I’m excited to begin work.
So I’ve only been here a short time and I have already been woken up in the middle of the night by a sandstorm, been relieved that today was only 95 degrees (a cooler day) learned how to pound millet, learned a fair amount of Zarma, mastered the art of mosquito net hanging, and eaten dinner on a mat outside with my family, out of the same bowl, with our hands. It’s so weird to me how my host family can live in huts, with no bathroom except for a hole (Which is what I also use) and have a cell phone. It’s the strangest mix of two worlds. Some other volunteer’s families have electricity and a television. They are super fancy though….most people aren’t fancy.
The plan right now is that we are going to get cell phones on Nov. 20 (maybe sooner? Fingers crossed) so I will be able to call home for a minute. Then, if anyone wants to call me they can either use a phone card or buy minutes on Skype, which I heard is the best way to do it. So if you get a call from a crazy number buy a phone card or minutes on skype and call me back!
I hope you are all happy and healthy and safe and strong! I love you all so much! Keep me and the work I will be doing in your prayers. Feel free to leave comments and ask questions, if I can I will definitely respond! Kala Hanfo! God Bless.
Love, Hallie (aka Malika Zalika)
Monday, August 23, 2010
Niger here I come
I really didn't think I would be going to Niger, but that's where I am headed October 20!
Since receiving my official invitation on Friday I have been reading like a crazy person about Niger's weather, history, food and culture etc. and it is all very interesting. The Saharan desert covers 80% of Niger! I don't usually do that well with heat but I guess I am going to have to adjust!
According to my invitation packet I will not have any running water or electricity and will most likely be living in a mud hut and sleeping under the stars. So my way of life and thinking is going to be making a drastic change, but I feel like I am ready for it.
My official job title is a Comunity Health Agent and I will be working as a liasion between health staff and the community. I will be teaching about the transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS and will also be promoting the consumption of healthy foods, evaluate household health practices, and educate in overall better sanitation, nutrition, and health practices.
It is also a good possiblility that I will be an extention worker in Niger's maternal and child care services, working with a health clinic to moniter health and growth of children and pregnant women, teaching nutritional health practices and rehabilitating malnourished children.
Since I recieved my degree in Communications I didn't think I would be qualified to do all of this health work, but I know Peace Corps has an intensive 2-3 months training in country before I begin my service so I will be learning alot during that time. Also, anyone who knows Susanne knows that having her for a mother has already helped me feel more prepared for this! :)
Since receiving my official invitation on Friday I have been reading like a crazy person about Niger's weather, history, food and culture etc. and it is all very interesting. The Saharan desert covers 80% of Niger! I don't usually do that well with heat but I guess I am going to have to adjust!
According to my invitation packet I will not have any running water or electricity and will most likely be living in a mud hut and sleeping under the stars. So my way of life and thinking is going to be making a drastic change, but I feel like I am ready for it.
My official job title is a Comunity Health Agent and I will be working as a liasion between health staff and the community. I will be teaching about the transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS and will also be promoting the consumption of healthy foods, evaluate household health practices, and educate in overall better sanitation, nutrition, and health practices.
It is also a good possiblility that I will be an extention worker in Niger's maternal and child care services, working with a health clinic to moniter health and growth of children and pregnant women, teaching nutritional health practices and rehabilitating malnourished children.
Since I recieved my degree in Communications I didn't think I would be qualified to do all of this health work, but I know Peace Corps has an intensive 2-3 months training in country before I begin my service so I will be learning alot during that time. Also, anyone who knows Susanne knows that having her for a mother has already helped me feel more prepared for this! :)
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Woohooo I'm finally in!
So today I received a call from a Peace Corps placement officer and had a "final interview" over the phone. At the end of the conversation he said that I sounded like I had the experience and maturity that the Peace Corps needs and so he sending my official invitation in the mail today!
Months, really years of waiting will end in 2 days...I am a pretty happy girl right now :)
Fun Fact: Hippos kill more humans in Africa than lions, tigers and crocodiles combined. Pretty fierce for being vegetarians.
Months, really years of waiting will end in 2 days...I am a pretty happy girl right now :)
Fun Fact: Hippos kill more humans in Africa than lions, tigers and crocodiles combined. Pretty fierce for being vegetarians.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
I am Going to...
There is a very very good chance that I will be going to either Burkina Faso Oct. 13, or Niger Oct. 18.
The Peace Corps will buy my plane ticket and I will leave for Africa and have 3 months of training, after that I will be going to a different village or city where I will begin my service.
So I will post again when I have any new information!
The Peace Corps will buy my plane ticket and I will leave for Africa and have 3 months of training, after that I will be going to a different village or city where I will begin my service.
So I will post again when I have any new information!
Peace Corp Application Proccess
I started my application May of 2009 and finished in October (Since I was in France for the summer I didn't work on it during that time).
After this I received a phone call asking for an interview. I went to OSU's recruiting office to have my interview in person. During the interview I had to answer questions aloud and also answer some in written essay form.
After the interview I received a nomination and my tentative assignment, which was sub-saharan Africa doing an HIV/AIDS focused community services project and leaving in October of this year.
Since then I have had appointments at all different types of doctors to get my medical clearance. This took me about 4 months and I was cleared a couple of months ago.
Since then I have been waiting for my official invitation where I will learn where and when I am going and what I'll be doing, and I am so excited to begin!!!!
After this I received a phone call asking for an interview. I went to OSU's recruiting office to have my interview in person. During the interview I had to answer questions aloud and also answer some in written essay form.
After the interview I received a nomination and my tentative assignment, which was sub-saharan Africa doing an HIV/AIDS focused community services project and leaving in October of this year.
Since then I have had appointments at all different types of doctors to get my medical clearance. This took me about 4 months and I was cleared a couple of months ago.
Since then I have been waiting for my official invitation where I will learn where and when I am going and what I'll be doing, and I am so excited to begin!!!!
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