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)