On our second weekend in country started with a Halloween party! We hung out by the Hamdallaye lake (which will disappear in a matter of months after the “cold” season ends and the hot season begins), and played games, listened to music, watched volunteers do tricks, and danced. Then we watched 40 minutes of hocus pocus! Lots of fun!
The next morning, we attended a baby naming ceremony in Hamdallye of one of the volunteer’s host mom’s. We watched a goat get dragged away and then quietly sacrificed, and then we listened to a prayer for the baby then had dates and a little bit of bread and goat meat. The ceremony was performed without seeing the mom or the baby (I still don’t know its name), and all occurred before 9am!
During week two, the language classes progressed. We are all expected to have a intermediate-mid level of the language, which may be a challenge since the language is nothing like any language I’ve ever heard. But it’s coming along! Our weeks are also filled with security talks by Peace Corps staff about how to travel safely, how to shop safely, and how to be medically/physically safe and healthy! We’ve also received 4 shots so far, and are expected to continue getting shots (from anything to meningitis to rabies) for the next 8 weeks!
Home life has been ok, but there are some challenges to it. Even though my family has had Peace Corps volunteers stay before, they are still susceptible for asking me for things, such as the use of my cellphone, or for money, or for medicine. I’ve been able to hold them off, but it is frustrating, especially when I don’t have money to spend (we are given about a 20$/week), but I’m still a symbol of wealth here….it’s hard.
Also this week, we started our gardening practice! It was great! We found out that soooo many vegetables and fruits can be grown in Niger, in the sand! Can you believe it?!?! I’ve decided that I’m going to grow eggplants, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and green beans, at least! I made two huge plots and we’re going to start planting in the next week!
Otherwise, I’m just hanging out a lot, reading books, working out in my hut (pushups, bicep curls with my water jugs, sit ups, dance parties, whatever…I’ll start yoga soon!), taking long walks in the sand (which is still cluttered with green plants as the hot season hasn’t come, and supposedly the hot season is going to be HOT!), having long talks underneath the stars and the moon that makes incredible moon shadows from 12am-4am (it’s like a giant flashlight), and waking up to the sounds of animals such as roosters, donkeys, and goats!
We received a visit from the US ambassador to Niger, who was very interesting and talked about her love of education and cross-cultural work. We asked her tough questions about how she envisioned progress in Niger, and one of the things she said was that it would be good if education was improved as well as if resources such as oil could be discovered. Interesting, is what I say. I think it would also be good if there was some sort of infrastructure/manufacturing base here…among other things. Currently, there are very few careers that one could have in Niger, mostly involving being a health worker, teacher, government worker, or part of the Peace Corps.
This upcoming week will be Demystification, when us trainees go and stay with different current volunteers to see the work they are doing and see how their lives are in their posts. I’m going to supposedly a great site in Dosso with a female health volunteer who works at a district level health center and lives in a small village. I can’t wait! I hope it’s great!
some pictures: baby with dirty buta/teapot, me in the garden, me and mike dressed up for ambassador visit, in class with animals lurking around, and baby naming ceremony!
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