Demystification

We have now been in Niger for a full three weeks and I’m thinking about the possibility of calling this country home for the next two years. Last week we had intense language and crosscultural sessions as usual but there was anticipation in the air because this past weekend our entire stage was bussed off to something so eloquently termed as ‘demystification’ or simply ’demyst’. As the name implies, it is an event that served to unveil some of the mysteries as to what being a Peace Corps volunteer is really like.

In groups of two or three, the Peace Corps Trainees (that’s us) were matched up with a current volunteer in the general area of Niamey and we spent a weekend quizzing the current volunteers, getting introduced to Peace Corps gossip and eating the closest things we’ve had to Western food thus far: pasta with tomato sauce and cheese! Well, if truth be told, it was laughing cow cheese which might or might not count as real cheese but it made the sauce the yummiest I’ve had in Niger and I immediately decided that the laughing cow and I would become close friends for the next two years.

I was assigned to demyst with Kate, a very nice girl from New York that’s also in my language class. Together we traveled slightly north of Niamey to the department of Say and a small village called Youri. The village consisted of several small groups of huts dispersed over an area spanning 30 square kilometers. Quite the village! In such a remote place, it shouldn’t be a surprise that our demyster (the current PCV) is in the agriculture sector which involves advocating more efficient farming techniques and the use of improved seeds. She had started a garden of her own and seeing that lead to another realization; I can’t wait to plant my own garden and eat fresh vegetables of my own. Haha. You can laugh if you want to. This is the farm girl speaking who swore that after 14 years on a farm, she’d had enough and never wanted to get her hands dirty again. Well the reward of a more balanced diet and the opportunity to have another hobby to occupy what I’m sure will be very long days, is worth sacrificing long fingernails for. Speaking of fresh vegetables and fruit. I just learned today that there is no word for them in Zarma. Both fruit and vegetables go by a word that literally translates to “little garden things”.

While at demyst I got a first close look at a mayor’s office. As you might now, I am an MCD which means my job will involve going to the mayor’s office for a few hours every day, getting to know and take part in the execution of local affairs such as tax collection, population records and community development projects. I was very excited about this trip and our MCD technical trainers had given us a set of questions to ask the mayor or his staff. We left our demisters hut-group around 9 am and hiked the 30 minutes it took to get to the mayor’s hut-group only to find the building locked up with no one in site; mayor or otherwise. Definitely a testimony to the importance of the Nigerien expression; “Kala Suuru” (Have Patience). A few kids had come to check out what was going on since the excitement of having a white person close by can best be understood if compared to the thrill of the circus coming to town. The kids stared us down for a while and our demister asked if they knew where they mayor was and when he was coming back. In good Nigerien humor. They responded “Now!” which then turned in to
“soon” when 5 minutes later the place was still locked. As Peace Corps had warned us about the differences in how Nigeriens and Americans perceive time, we waited only a total of 15 minutes and then headed back to the demyster’s hut because it was already approaching midday at which the heat becomes nearly unbearable and we had to spend the rest of the day inside in the cool shade. No wonder things happen so slowly in Niger. It’s too hot to do anything during most of the day and without light, no one can work at night!

In addition to getting out of Hamdallaye for a weekend and seeing what a real post is all about, I had the chance to talk to my mom and boyfriend. That made the already terrific weekend perfect. As you probably have gathered from my previous posts; making the adjustment to Niger culture and learning the language spoken is no easy task. To top that off, the only people I’ve been able to communicate with are other volunteers that despite our current bond were strangers a mere month ago. Needless to say I desperately missed being able to share my frustrations and obtain support from people that I know and trust. It felt like a major weight was lifted off my shoulders after speaking to family.

This week has mostly been spent recovering from demyst in addition to the usual sessions. Things are starting to become more interesting though as we become more accustomed to Niger and can take more liberties in what we do. Tomorrow we are doing a safety and security tour of Niamey and after that we can go in to the capital on our own when we have free time. Tomorrow might be the day that I finally get to upload all these blog entries to site and it might also be the day that I finally get my own cellphone!!! Our concession in Hamdallaye is close to the cellphone tower so reception shouldn’t be a problem during PST and I can only hope it won’t be a problem at post.

Time to go eat the infamous korbo korba – a millet mush that is quite far from my favorite ish here but is increasingly becoming eatable.

Missing Home

We’ve now been in Niger almost two full weeks. The second one definitely passed by quicker than the first which to be expected as we get used to things. The language is a huge struggle but I’m slowly picking up stray words when my host family speaks in their extremely fast manner and our classes are now almost entirely taught in Zarma.

I picked up my new Nigerien dress yesterday and if I may say so myself, I look smashing hot. A total business suit, African style. Craziness that for a three piece outfit, paid no more than 3000 CFA which the equivalent of approximately $7. Yet if I were to convert everything to $US, I would quickly fall in to a dangerous trap because converted to US dollars, things cost no more than a few pennies but because our salary from Peace Corps is meant to match living expenses we don’t get more than 6000 CFA to spend a week. So to offer some perspective, I spent half a week’s salary on one outfit which is still totally worth it because it’s so gorgeous!

The heat, the lack of protein and fresh vegetables, the bugs and the lack of communication can certainly be frustrating at times but given that this second week has been much easier than the first and given that I’m slowly opening the door to communication with my host family, there is a small light in the horizon that this desert, isolated place could grow to become my home.

After a long day of language classes today, I stayed on the training site and played a couple games of volleyball with a few of the other trainees and it was amazing how much tension was released in that simple act of hitting a ball back and forth over the net. I wasn’t even very good but am determined to get better.

Another trainee had to leave Niger yesterday because of an unbeknownst allergy and it was sad for all of us because we’re already becoming a tight group. He promised to act as postman though and mail our letters from the US so I made sure to include a couple. Presently we are down to 46 volunteers out of the original 48. I wonder how many of those still around will swear in on September 12. I certainly hope to be one of them. All I have to do is live through PST and achieve intermediate-mid on the language exam. At this point both of those tasks seem doable!

I hope friends and family are doing alright. If you have a moment to write a quick note, I will certainly appreciate it since snail mail may be my only access to outside communication for the next 5 weeks…. You can ask one of my family members for the address since I’m reluctant to publish it online.

A Typical Day

On Tuesday I did buy some beautiful Nigerien fabric and on Wednesday I proceeded to visit our neighbor who is a taylor, or tako as they say in Zarma. My three-piece dress it won’t be ready until Tuesday but I’m sure it’ll be beautiful in every way when it is done. And if it’s not it’ll be my own fault since I designed it.

We have now been in Niger one full week but by god it feels like longer since we’ve had such intense days packed with sessions. A typical day will be as follows:

7am – Teri wakes me up - I finally figured out how to fall asleep and now I am sleeping like a baby every night
8am – We head to the market for breakfast which usually consists of solani, (i.e. drinking yoghurt in a bag), Faria masa which is like balls of fried dough with sugar, a mango and a latte. Today I also discovered this amazing café au lait that I hadn’t known of before. Because of the high risk of bacteria in milk, the beverage is actually is made with instant coffee and a mix of powdered sugar and milk but it still tastes delicious and it could easily become my new vice.
8:30 our first session begins.
10am we break and on Tuesdays and Thursdays they provide a snack
10:30am second session
12 lunch
1pm third session
2:30 break
2:45 fourth session
4:15 our day is over

My language hut.....

Sessions are broken up in five areas. They are:

1. Language,
2. Cross cultural
3. Medical
4. Safety and Security
5. Technical

Language is pretty straightforward. We will go through numbers, money, daily activities, expressing needs and technical terminology specific to our sector. Every week we will rotate instructors since they are not al at the same level of teaching. Luckily I am in the more advanced language group so if the teacher isn’t keeping up, we can learn from each other.

Cross Culture includes a mini skit by the language teachers that highlight some aspect of Nigerien culture which may be anything from gender roles to do’s and don’t’s the home as well religious practices and perceptions on alcohol. Following the ‘petite surprise’ (i.e. skit) we have a discussion and VAT input (Volunteer Assistant Trainers – current volunteers that come to bridge the gap between training and actual peace Corps work)

Medical Sessions are lead by one of the two PSMO’s (Peace Corps Medical Officer). They include information on every disease under the sun we may be exposed to in Niger. Malaria and Diarrhea are covered of course but so are things like STD’s, bites, burns and skin diseases. Today our medical consisted of how to use our water filter. Peace Corps invests over $100 per volunteer so that we can filter all water that comes in contact with our face. It looks like two buckets stashed on each other and apparently it was developed specifically for Peace Corps use. Naturally Nigeriens don’t filter their water and once again I am amazed by how sturdy their bodies are compared to ours. That’s evolution in action for you since infant mortality is extremely high meaning the weak ones don’t live to grown age.

Safety and Security Sessions are generally lead by our SSC (Safety and Security Coordinator) and will range from discussing personal safety at post to what streets to avoid in Niamey. Peace Corps makes no joke about Safety and it is quite impressive how fast communication can travel if needed. They will reimburse you r any costs related to your safety and once again I am happy about joining the Peace Corps because it is the safest way to live in one of the least developed places in the world.

Technical Sessions are my favorite so far because they directly pertain to the Municipal and Community Development Sector (MCD). Our technical session today included more about the MCD (Municapilty and Community Development) Project Plan. It lists two goals and 8 objectives that we should strive to achieve once we begin our service. I am so excited to get started but know that I have a lot of learning to do before then.
Another tech session included a summary of the political history of Niger and it is really quite sad that in the 40 years of independence, Nigeriens have still to take charge of their own country’s destiny. I won’t be able to change that but I know that the technical sessions will be good in discerning what our actual job will be like and what potential we have for making a real difference in peoples’ lives.

Aside from the aforementioned topics, we also have various other sessions relating to our successful integration into Niger and today the American Ambassador to Niger visited to talk about the US and Nigerien relationship on more political terms. American presence in Niger includes development work, military assistance, missionaries and business investment. A total of 650(give or take) Americans live in Niger. It was most interesting and very inspiration given that the ambassador is a black women who’s spent her life as a career diplomat having worked her way up the ladder.

I am starting to get the hang of Zarma and feel like I have a strong advantage in terms of pronunciation abilities given my previous language knowledge. I still can’t hold a consistent conversation with my host family but am fairly certain I’ll be able to do so in the next week or two.´

...and language class

Figuring Out the Family

Fofo (greetings in Zarma)
First day of official PST (Pre-Service Training) is over. It consisted of lots of language studies, a cross culture session on what we’ve observed among the host families so far and a general check in on our first weekend on our own. I don’t think anyone in the Niger July 2008 PC class has ever been so motivated to learn a foreign language before and all day long we absorbed words, grammar and phrases like a sponge. I felt like a took a leap in Zarma knowledge and was eager to practice on my host family. Naturally I had forgotten most of it by the time I got home but I rewrote all my notes from class and that helped organize my thoughts and make sense of the various components.


Although we spent all day together yesterday I had still not learned all the names of my host family so today I gave up and asked Yamila, my darling little host sister to help me write down everyone’s name and ages. I still haven’t figured out the structure since there is one man in his mid sixties who supposedly is the father of all the children but the women over 50 couldn’t possibly be the mother to everyone since the youngest boy is 4. Polygamy is not uncommon in Niger but I have not come across anyone that could be the second wife and mother to Yamila and her younger brother. In any case; these are the people that most commonly inhabit the concession:
















Abraman – father of house in his late sixties (my guess)
Kadilla – mother in house around 50
Nafissa – 14
Yamila – 12
Abdukarim – 4

There may be more family members that I have not yet met since family here is rarely restricted merely to the core and other people are constantly trickling in and out so discerning the core family is actually really hard.

Tomorrow is market day so I’ll finally be able to buy some proper Nigerien clothing. It is also medical day so I will be receiving shots for rabies and typhoid. Yikes.

Going Local

It’s Sunday and the Hamdallaye training site is closed. A little strange since it’s the only day it’s closed and Niger is a Muslim country so Friday, not Sunday should be the day of rest. This means that all volunteers have had to test their language with our host families all living in and around Hamdallaye. All of yesterday was spent preparing for this meet including a very amusing ‘how-to’ session consisting of latrine usage, tying the mosquito net, bucket baths and lighting a lantern. Not to mention that we also were served our very first native Nigerien dish. As custom has it, food is displayed on a large tray and placed in the center of a mat. All hungry family members are required to wash their hands and take off their shoes before sitting down around the bowl and digging in. And I mean digging it quite literally although only the right hand is permitted since the left is usually the hand used for the latrine.

That’s right folks. People here are unaccustomed to toilet paper (although I am quite certain I am willing to spend the 300 Nigerien Franks (approxmitaley 75 cents) per roll to not forego this luxury.) At this point I have exercised all the skills I learned and must say that bucket bathing is by far my favorite. It was quite wonderful to sit out in the open air with the sun baking down with cool water splashing all over. It felt better than an outdoor shower since I could control the waterflow.

My host family is very nice. The mother has already adopted me has her daughter and the little girls are so adorable and so patient with my non-existent language skills. Before arriving yesterday evening we had only had one brief language course where we only learned five basic greetings. As I’m sure you are all dying to know; my language is Zarma. Aside from Niger it is also spoken in parts of Benin, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Approximately 22% of the population in Niger speak Zarma and they are more or less centered around the capital. In my interview to determine my language placement I requested a larger community close to the capital (for easier travel and visits) so even though Hausa is spoken by more people in Africa, I am happy with my Zarma placement. Besides, how cool is it to be learning language beginning with Z. totally!

I am living with another American girl and as far as I can tell we’ll get along just fine. Her name is Teri and she’s from California. I’ve had luck with room mates in the past so I have high hopes for this one.

As for integrating to Niger’s culture, I feel like a full integration is far off but I don’t think I could have been better prepared after given my childhood on the farm including lots of exposure to strange food and people all my life (thank you mama!) In short, I have had no major problems with food which includes taste and gastronomical process. Diarrhea is the most common disease here and human waste is said to become a completely natural topic of conversation. We’ll see about that. The humidity still makes sleeping hard and even though the temperature may rise, I long for the dry season when at least I won’t have to go to bed sweating like a water fountain.

We live in what’s called a concession because it is a set of houses and stands all within a larger enclosed area. Teri and have our own little enclosed space in the concession where we have our beds but also our own little hut to store or stuff and sleep in if it rains. It is very nice to have our own private space within the larger context but it is also nice that as soon as we open the door, we are surrounded by our adoptive family. The first thing our Nigerien sisters did once we’d settled in to our hut was give teri and me new, Zarma names; I am Fa’iza and Teri is Nadiya. I haven’t quite decided if I like my new name yet but I’ll let it be for now and if it hasn’t grown on me by the time I get to my site, I’ll return to Maria which is still a common name around here.

Tomorrow our official training begins and it will focus on several technical, medical, language and culture studies. We will also be learning more about our jobs so that when we get to our site we will actually have some skills to share with people.


The Nigerien Sky- as seen from my concession

First in Country

First day in Niger. It's hot. And humid. And lizards everywhere. But overall totally awesome. I slept under the skies last night with only a mosquito net between me and the African night. 'Slept' is maybe a little strong since I didn't do much more than doze for 10 hours. New surroundings are always tricky and I can't wait for the night when I don't wake up once to the noise of the desert night. Roosters, crickets, donkeys, goats prayer call and people shouting will certainly take some time getting used to. As by a miracle, all volunteers arrived safely in Niamey as did all luggage! Quite extraordinary apparently since AirFrance is known for loosing stuff in transit. Exiting the airport we were greeted by a hoard of current volunteers holding a big welcome sign with all our names and passing out warm bottles of water. At the time I didn't appreciate that water much but since the water at our training site in Hamdallaye is cleaned with iodine, I'll take warm but pure tasting water any day and I'm currently devouring the last of my bottled water. It took 45 minutes to come to our training camp which really is like a mini village much resembling the sites of children's summer camps. We have a dining hall, an infirmary, bathrooms (with running water) and several huts for classes to be taught in. I can't wait to start learning a local language but still don't know if that will be Hausa or Zarma. If it is Zarma I will most likely be closer to Niamey which makes for easier visits and travel but it also means that I could never use my African language after Peace Corps. Hausa is spoken in Nigeria as well as the majority of Niger. I am a little worried about not having a clear preference but I think I'll leave it to the Peace Corps staff to place me where they think I belong. After setting up our mosquito nets and retrieving our luggage we gathered for brief introductions and a couple announcements. Dinner was surprisingly delicious consisting of pasta, a meat stew and salad. People started going to bed shortly after dark which falls around 8pm. Today is superbusy. Thus far we have taken a tour of the camp site, met the country director who seems firm but fair and are about to be introduced to the culture of Niger by means of a Culture Fair. Even though this blog entry won't be posted for a couple weeks, I have promised a certain someone to keep a close journal of events and I never break a promise. Today is my brother's birthday. Happy Birthday Andreas! I already gave you a present but hope you are doing good in California and that you will have a fun and productive rest of the summer.

Staging Day 2

Wow,
Staging has come and gone. This morning a looked ahead at the extremely looong day in front of me and thought it would never end. My previous experience with training days are that they are long and boring and that I need to struggle to keep myself awake. Not this one. Right from start Kate, Leonard and Jessica established a pattern of fun, interesting and useful exercises. Today we watched two videos, one on how to deal with unwanted attention and another celebrating Peace Corp's 45th anniversary. We also did group exercises on risk and threat aversion, adhearing to Peace Corp's policies and Crossing Cultural bounderies. We played plenty of games and I've laughed harder today than I've done in a long time. (not counting the juggler in the magic show in Vegas last Friday). This really is a great group and I am excited to get to know every one much better over the next 9 weeks.

Staging has been in Philadelphia with Betsy Ross' House around the corner (she sewed the first American flag) and the liberty bell a block away. Freedom and Liberty is printed all over and it is kind of inspiring knowing that my mission for the next two years is to advocate the same ideas that people faught for on this very spot hundreds of years ago. I know that my impact in Niger will be minimal on the grand scale but I hope to expand the opportunities for at least a few people as well as learn more about who I am and what I can contribute to achieving a world were all people are free to pursue their dreams, whatever those dreams may be.

And so, my friends, I clock out for a while. I will be writing blog entries but will not have access to internet for at least two weeks. If you want to be added to the email list to recieve updates of when I post, please let me know and I'll do that the next opportunity I get.

It's actually happening. Somebody pinch me.

yours truly,
Maria

Staging, Day 1

Here I am in Philadelphia completely exhausted after 6 hours of intense mingling, information overload and no food. Let me back to to give you a better sense of today's events.

At 6 am I waike up in Boston nervous that I've forgotten to pack things, I get up start getting ready to leave, change my mind and go back to bed.

At 8 am I realize that I need to go to the post office and mail my cellphone to my brother or else he will not be able to take over my plan that doesn't run out until October.

I get back from the post office at 9:15am and with only an hour until my plane is scheduled to leave for Philadelphia, Ryan and I hurry down the stairs and hop in a cab. No real breakfast.

We get to he airport and I run in to check my two suitcases. They are both overweight (big surprise, this is me after all). I had anticipated this and had brought a bigger duffelbag to use as my carry-on. I give Ryan a big good-bye kiss - I won't see him until Christmas after all - and snap my suitcases wide open. Sure enough, the airline representative lets me slide by with 2 pounds over the limit on either suitcase and I am ready to board the plane.

Except first I have to go through security and it is taking FOREVER. With 10 minutes until departure, I run to the gate only to realize that the flight will be 20 minutes delayed so I take a deep breath and free my arm from the duffelbag which had pretty much cut off the bloodflow.

Arriving in Philadelphia I go from exiting the plane to baggage claim to the shuttle bus, arriving at the hotel just in time for registration. My lunch consisted of Peanut m&m's.

After turning in four forms, I start chatting with the people at my table, all whom seem very nice and from 3-7 we sit through several talks on safety, aspirations and anxieties, nuts and bolts intertwined with various icebreakers. It was all very interesting and quite useful. The things that I took away from that session are:
1. I am definitely allowed to keep a cat during my service!
2. I will almost definitely have access to cellphone coverage
3. Pre-Service Training (PST) is only 9 weeks which means I will be sworn in as a full volunteer on September 12 as compared to October 10. Yay for coming home a month earlier in September 2010.
4. They will be giving us ALL our shots on Wednesday morning, right before heading to the airport for our big journey. Luckily my sleeping pills also have a pain-killer component because that's going to HURT.

Finally, at 7:30 I join up with three girls for dinner and practically swallow a stuffed portobello mushhroom in a nice japanese restaurant. The gils were supernice and I was glad not to have joined the much larger group that set out for Philly Cheesesteaks.

Now I'm in bed in Holida Inn. I still have a handout to read for tomorrow and I started reading Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass on the plane. They certainly keep us busy though so Pullman might have to wait until the Africa plane on Wednesday.

Hopefully I can write tomorrow again. Please post a comment with any questions or just to say hi. I miss you all already but am excited to finally be on my way to the adventure of a lifetime.

'Twas the night before Peace Corps...

And all through the flat, it had all been packed -- including my hat.

Tomorrow is the big day. I am off to Philadelphia to meet thirty strangers whom I hope will become my great friends over the next two years.

Wish me luck. I am not sure how much internet access I will have, but emailing and blogging will ne my top priorities when I have access.

Al salaam aleikum!