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