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30/01/2005 - DAY 26

Dear Family

First, though I know this won't get there beforehand, I just want to wish Mom a Happy Birthday coming up here soon on the third.  Oh, and welcome back Cate, I hope you had fun in Martinique (even though you will have come and gone by then as well).

I probably said something like this before, but it seems like time moves differently here.  On the one hand, it seems like an eternity has passed since I left.  I suppose the fact that it's hot and sunny and it's January, as well as all the other changes contribute to that effect.  Being at home in America seems like ages ago.  On the other hand, sometimes it feels like the days are slipping through my fingers like so much fine-grained Nigerien sand - three weeks already gone!  It's a weird thing to think about (and explain well evidently).

Last weekend was my "De-myst", wherein it was intended that I become "de-mystified" about what it means to be a Volunteer by visiting and staying with a Volunteer.  It was very informative, and I definitely can say I was demystified to a considerable degree.

Early, early, early Thursday morning, we hopped on the "Magic Bus" (one of the PC vehicles here at the training site), and headed towards Dosso.  That was about a three-hour trip (good thing we weren't on the S.S. Minnow, eh?).  It was nice to get to see some of the country other than around training site during the daytime.  To me, this place looks a lot like eastern Montana (at least along I-94), with all of the dry ranges as far as the eye can see (though not a whole lot of rolling hills).  The only difference is that people are trying to scrape out a living by trying to farm this sandy soil.  Anyways, we got to the hostel in Dosso and hung out there for a bit and then we packed 13 or so people inside this "ambulance" that's some Toyota 4x4 with two facing benches in the back.

As we got close to the village, the PCVs who were in the car started scaring me with stories about how everyone in this village was crazy, and how I shouldn't judge the people of Niger based on this village.  Needless to say, I was a little weirded out, but in the end, there wasn't too much craziness.

The guy I stayed with's name was Devon.  He's from Seattle, and even went to the same high school as Alex Bosworth (though he graduated 4 years earlier), so we had a few Washington stories to share.  Anyways, he was really laid back and was cool with just sitting around and hanging out if I felt like I needed a rest (and, having had PC classes or orientations for like 16 or 17 days, a break was kind of nice and needed).

Basically, the two days I was there, we spent going between his concession, the sammora's (technically the "young men's leader", but he was sort of the town's most prominent elder after the crazy village chief), and the town's school teachers', and avoiding the crazy people and loitering young men (since they don't do housework and it's the cold season, they do pretty much nothing all day, while their wife or wives do all the work). 

The second day - Friday - was the Muslim feast of Tabaski.  It's been described as the Muslim version of Christmas, but to my eyes, it appeared to be more like Thanksgiving.  One of the pillars of Islam is charity, and Tabaski is basically charity put into action.  Every family buys or raises a sheep, and then on Tabaski there is a mass prayer and everyone slaughters their sheep afterwards.  (I only watched one sheep get it - they slit the throat, which is the Muslim way - that was enough for me.)  Then they cook the meat and share it with everyone who visits or whom they visit until they run out (of course there's no refrigeration, so by day 4 or 5, you probably wouldn't want to touch the meat, unless you WANTED to get sick so you could go to Niamey to check your email).  However, on the day of the prayer, they're still cooking the meat, so we got tons and tons of rice with this certain sauce - like, we ate it six times, and from six different people, and every time the sauce was the same.  I don't think I can eat it again, I think I had a taste of it yesterday and it tasted like vomit to me - mmm, mmm, good!

The next day was a nice, relaxing day.  We got up kind of early, and thus were offered only a few pieces of what looked like partially cooked sheep meat (ironically, the first bite tasted a bit like bacon, though Muslims aren't allow to eat pork).  Oh, I forgot - we had some deep-fried sheep intestines (tasted like sausage) and lung (like "spongy, I'm pretending this isn't lung" meat) the night before.  We walked to the Falmay hostel, which was about a 1.5 hour walk to the "cluster" center at Falmay.  There we hung out and chilled all day, and I got to ride a camel for a little bit.  We had a really good meal; apparently one of the PCVs there went to culinary school - he made this great sauce with squash, onions, garlic, peanut butter and other things - it was definitely the best meal I've had in-country.

The next day was the first time I took a bush taxi.  That is quite an experience.  We got up around 6 a.m. or so, so we could get ready to head to the "Tessum" (the market area of town where one can pick up the bush taxi) by 7 a.m.  We got there then to assume a spot on the taxi, which was basically a medium sized, say, Ryder truck except the back of the truck is open air.  When we finally took off around 9:30, there maybe 10 or so people in the back of the truck in the truck bed.  However, we'd stop every couple of km and pick up more people.  By the end, there were something like 35 people crammed in the back of that bus.  Needless to say, there's not a lot of room for personal space.  I have a great picture of a fellow Minnesotan with an aged Nigerien draped across his knee.  And, as we picked up our last few people, one guy climbed through the side of the truck and plopped himself down right under the girl who was right next to me - and this with maybe 45 minutes left in the ride.  It's crazy times.  By the end, my leg was dead asleep (so much so that I was irrationally afraid that I had killed it because I couldn't feel any blood going into it for the last 15 or so minutes).  And what was next?  Why, another bush taxi ride!  We managed to catch a conversion van-sized vehicle (two front bucket seats and 4 rows of 4 seats) that could fit the 9 whiteys that were coming up from De-Myst, plus 15 or so Nigeriens.  That ride was a bit more tolerable, as it was only 45 minutes and I was sitting down.  After that, we took a regular ol' taxi within Dosso.  That one was pretty easy.

That night was pretty fun, hanging out with and getting to know the PCVs in that region.  Surprise, surprise, almost everyone in Peace Corps is really cool.

02/02/2005 - See how easy it is to get interrupted while writing a letter?

Anyway, it's Groundhog Day, I'm in Aftrica, and it was 95 degress in my language class earlier today - yes, it's still cold season here!

Tomorrow, we have our first language placement interview.  We need to attain a certain level before they send us out to our villages before the end of stage in early March.  Things are going well enough in the language classes, but we'll see soon enough come tomorrow.

On Friday (two days), we go on our "tech field trip", wherein we'll visit a tree nursery and get to ride a camel and all that jazz - it should be a fun break from the day-to-day of going to language and other classes up on the hill (our training center).

Almost forgot, next week (five days) we find out our site placement, aka where we'll be placed for the next two years.  I'm trying not to have a preference in an effort to stave off disappointment.  We have an interview tomorrow that will maybe go a little ways in determining where we end up (for all we know, our sites could already be set in stone).

So, you may ask, what am I eating here in Niger?  Actually, I've been eating a lot of rice and - whatever - sauce (some with meat, most without nowadays).  In fact, with the host family, there've been only two times in 3+ weeks where I haven't had any rice as the meal's base; those two times I had kurba-kurba, which is this gelatinous corn, uh, stuff (can't say I'm a fan).  At site, they feed us well and often (breakfast + lunch + 2 snacks!).  At home here, I generally eat with only my host brother, though not over the past few days (as he has malaria); now I'm eating with cousins or whatever they are (don't ask me about the family structure, I have absolutely no idea).  And the body is still holding up pretty well, I haven't had any bouts with Mr. D (diarrhea - apparently "he" will be visiting often, so the medical staff decided to personify him).

So, I tried out the solar charger, and it didn't seem to do the trick - I couldn't get any batteries to charge.  I know someone here has another type of solar charger that works, so I'll look into it.  Oh, and as I hung up a ton of pictures in my hut, I'll probably need some more of that sticky tacky blue stuff.  Just, y'know, if you want to send something or whatever.

Otherwise, all is mostly well here in Niger.  I miss you guys and all my other family and friends, but so far I haven't been heartbreakingly homesick (I haven't even had all that many food cravings yet, but those will surely come.  I had some beef last night for probably the first time, and it tasted like the best beef I've ever had).

Alright, take care, and I'll talk to you soon!

Michael

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