Date:         Sat, 19 Feb 2005 02:21:05 -0800 (PST)
From:         Michael Redman <redmanma_pcvn@yahoo.com>
Subject:     Michael in Niger 19/02/200517/01/05

Hello all

So, after six weeks in country, I get my first crack at the internet, and now that I'm staring at the blank screen, I don't know what to say - there's just so much.

First off, it's amazing how quickly things that seemed totally shocking at the beginning have become so commonplace and expected as the past weeks have sped by. What struck me first was the filth of the country, just plastic bags strewn everywhere, piles of trash burning and smelling like refuse on the way into Niamey on the way from the airport. I thought, "My God, how do people live like this?" Now, as I ride in the bush taxi or PC vehicle into town, the heaps and heaps of discarded plastic no longer are items of shock; they are landmarks letting me know I am almost to the city. And the kids - there are millions of them in this country (half the population of 12 million is under 15), and so many of the youngest ones are stark naked and running around like skin and bones. Now I see a naked child, and it doesn't mean anything special. I guess you get used to it because things are the way they are.

As far as my own experience here, it's been great (perhaps it was ill-advised to start out with those depressing images, but I'm moving on). We are almost done with my pre-service training (stage), and I am pretty happy about that. After six weeks, I know an astounding amount of Zarma, considering I had never heard the language when I got off the plane; and yet, speaking with native speakers, it feels like I don't know a lick of the language. I feel they might as well throw me to the wolves and let me learn the language out at my site, rather than sitting in a classroom (on the other hard, I don't want to leave all my "anassara"s ("non-Africans," aka fellow PCTs) behind as my newly-formed friends get sent a thousand kilometers away from me. Right now I'm in Niamey at the PC bureau, but I can't wait to get back to the training site and hear everyone's stories from their live-in.

Oh! I just finished up my "live-in," which is the week during stage that you go out to your village and live there for a week, to sort of give everyone a taste of "real" village life, and to test their mettle. I was incredibly nervous on the ride out to my site, the same sorts of fears you have anytime you are about to start a new section of your life (heading off to college for the first time, for example - will they like me? will I be able to survive and fend for myself?) except this time there's vast chasms of cultural and language difference. However, with the help of my closest "neighbor" (she lives in a village 15 km to the east) on the first night, I was able to survive alright out in (my village) for the rest of the week. I spent most of the four full days I was out there hanging out with the men of the village, trying to help out with the work until they told me I needed to rest and get out of the hot, hot sun (it is "cold season" according to the calendar, but it got to around 105 degrees last week). The village seemed pretty laid back (according to stereotypes, the Zarmas are more laid back and lax in their attitudes than are the Hausas [the other national language I could have learned]), and it was refreshing to be away from Hamdallaye and not have kids asking me constantly for presents or a pen. My still don't have very good Zarma (though apparently it's grammatical structure is influencing my English here...), but the best parts were when I'd come up with a decent sentence, and my Emirou (village chief) would say "Uh-huh- Madalla!" (which is like, "Alright, you got it!") and shake my hand.

There're just so many cultural things that are different here that it's hard to know where to begin in talking about them. I guess if I was a real Minnesotan, all I should have to say, in my best Ole and Lena impersonation, "Well. That's different."

Well, it appears my time is running out here. I need to catch a bush taxi up to the training site today (I guess they're trying to push us out of the nest; up until now, they've been picking us up everywhere with Peace Corps vehicles). Maybe in another few weeks I'll get to the internet again, but if not, I may not get to it until June (which may or may not be the next time I come in to Niamey from my site).

So... that means, y'all should start writing me letters if you haven't already (I have only received letters from 3 people so far, though I haven't gotten any mail in a week, either). To make it easier on you, I've got a new address:

        Michael Redman, PCV
        Corps de la Paix
        Gotheye, NIGER
        WEST AFRICA

That's pretty simple, no? Keep those letters coming.  In the downtime this past week, I managed to write a few, and when I get out to site "for real" in two weeks, I should have tons of free time to write letters.

Alright, take care, and know that I am thinking of you all all the time out here in between Zarma lessons and hanging out with the host family and whatever else activities they have us do.

- Michael Redman

=====
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 10537
Niamey, Niger    www.redmanfamily.net/Peace_Corps
West Africa

Back to News page