Saturday, January 31, 2009
manger
alkamisa and i just returned from lunch at a nigerienne home.. we went to saratu's - a woman who works with the US embassy. she is 7 months pregnant with twins, has already got i think 4 children, and lives well in niamey. all i want to say on this post is that i foresee gaining more weight in the desert than losing! in reality it is extremely sad how much we americans are used to eating in comparison to the rest of the world. it's silly trying to exercise off the excess when everybody here is undernourished - but we are all being fed such delicious foods.. so don't judge when i return from africa a few pounds heavier. it's unexpected, and the man on airfrance was completely wrong, but at this rate, it's likely to happen. oh yeah, it's very hot today
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Un Mot: Barke.. but a reallllly long post
One word: Barke.
Barke is a former BU Niamey abroad student from 1998. That's his Nigerien name. In English, Bryan. Yes, he's white. He is easily the coolest person I have ever met. He did the program I am doing now for 3 semesters about 10 years ago - was studying anthropology and something else, I forget. Fluent in Zarma, he returned I think three years ago to do things with education, after working on his masters in the US? We are going to spend a lot more time with him, but if you could only see the place he lives now, you'd think the same thing - This guy's awesome.
His home only recently just got solar electricity. It has its own handmade well, a self sufficient garden, goats, and best of all, it sits on the edge of the Nigerien river. When we arrived by bus yesterday, we were greeted by a whole community of kids, a herd of cows, a camel, a mule cart. You could only actually see one other substantial hut/home nearby, but the amount of people hanging around was insane. Mostly children, we taught them some games and played with them for hours and hours. All kids (and adults for that matter) look far younger than they actually are here, and this was probably the most time we have spent time with kids so far - girls and boys from 2 to 18 and probably about 30 of them. I occupied myself with a little girl who stood about 1 and a half feet tall wearing a torn and stained pink sweatshirt - who I caught pick her nose and eat it. I thought, it's okay, we do that in the US too!
Yeah, It's super depressing if you are looking for something to be sad about, because WOW - their dark skin is dusted by the sand; kids don't even flinch when 7 flies are buzzing about their face, they play on the earth that serves as their toy and their toilet, their home lacks any of the amenities we are so used to, if they even have a home, and their lives are just so completely real and harsh. But if you can block the poverty out of your mind, one of these child's smile is truly the best thing to see in the whole world. They aren't just cute because they're beautiful and tragically pitiful - They are all resilient and happy and welcoming. I have officially decided that one of my field studies will be spending time with them.
So at Barke's we drank some traditional tea, played with kids, rode camels, and then took off for our canoe ride. The camel ride was interesting, nothing too exciting except I had to compensate for the crooked saddle by putting all my weight left while straddling Lare (Laura in English).. Needless to say our meaningful friendship has begun! We then went with local fishermen in their canoes for a magical ride on the Nigerienne River. Keeping close to the brush on the side, the river was pretty shallow. They mostly moved us around using sticks as opposed to oars, and even when they did use oars they were surprisingly unsubstantial. These guys know their way through the water better than most professionals probably know their own jobs. They typically fish at night, so are accustomed to spotting a hippo by ear. We saw one across the way who came above water a few times. The water was tres calme and peaceful, temperature perfect. I wore a t shirt and linen pants, occasionally had to scoop water out the bottom, and once again felt I had to lean a certain way to balance. The guy we were with spoke fluent french, helped us learn words for the birds, fish, etc in Hausa and Zarma. It was a fantastic and unusual experience that culminated in the dark. The water and the sky were indistinguishable, and it was the first time that visibility seemed to be hindered by water rather than dust. Everyone loved the sight. Won't lie, got somewhat nervous as we went through the brush. I would be lost for months if I tried to navigate with the lack of light there, but those guys are good, really good.
Later, we went to see a former peace corps volunteer perform with the local most popular musician. Ginger, the white lady, sang some sassy spoken poetry numbers. She wore a strapless Nigerienne fabric dress, and I was thinking, really? Isn't that a faux pas? The atmosphere was nice, it was at an outside bar area. We were thinking we'd be the awkward table of 14 white people, but to our surprise, the majority of the audience was white. French speaking and many Americans.. volunteers at the peace corps, NGOs, we don't know yet but we'll probably find out. The local musician was very good-played some flute type thing, a sitar type thing. When I start learning in a classroom I hope to know the real names, but the music was definitely good.
This morning we did our windi windi, which was a tour around the local markets. Me and Lare went with Yahaya, our driver Sanni's younger brother. 22, he's real smart - spoke to us in French and taught us terms in Hausa and Zarma. Showed us a picture of his girlfriend and "god permitting, future wife" - how cute. The petit marche et grande marche sell variations of foods, fabrics, clothes, oils, spices, and accessories. I don't think much of anything in the way of accessories being sold here is new. I'm really curious to know whether it is imported by donation then sold or what - but purses, shoes, hats, coats, clothes, they are all noticably second hand. The meat is typical of a meat market I suppose. Saw pretty much a whole skinned dead goat, flies everywhere, stomachs, liver, etc. Non, merci. The chickens are sold live, actually not chickens but guinea-foul. There are a few recognizable spices: garlic, basil, bay leaves, etc. Our goal was to buy something we had never seen, so I bought something I originally thought was hookah smoking tobacco, smelt good, molasses covered. But it was actually Turaran Woota, an insense type thing to burn over a fire. At our little show and tell I ate a few weird things, used a piece of wood as a toothbrush, and toyed with clay that is eaten if you have a stomach ache.
We ate lunch Nigerienne style at the program director's abode with our guides. They were all young men with great personalities, and it was nice to dine with them - most of whom are either employed by this abroad program to drive, cook, guard, etc, or the friends or family of someone who is.
Nice, but rather exhausting day. I am starting to think, uh oh, if I got sweaty today when Sanu was walking around in all longsleeves and a wool hat, I'm going to have real trouble when hot season comes. I've been wearing capris or skirts and tee shirts, SPF and tons of bug spray, and I can't really shed any layers, so soon my euphoria with Niamey might turn a little sour. But so far, so good! There's so much to write about for what we do with our time in just two hours, I will never be able to convey all my emotions and experiences here... Sorry for the super long post. It's almost midnight and I'm hoping to get to sleep before morning prayer. As a last quick aside, last night I laughed hysterical with my room mate Zaure (Rachel)... until 5:30 am. I don't know if it was jet lag, or that I have been bathing at night, or what, but we have been having trouble falling asleep - which was only exacerbated by the country side drone of the morning prayer - which, don't get me wrong, is actually beautiful and fascinating. Anyway, we discovered we have tons in common. Her mother is Taiwanese, father American.. We like the same artists, share the same thoughts about things here, etc. I would love to say our views on life are identical, but I am not even 5% as amazing as she is. She took a little time off from school to study in Guatemala, volunteered at an orphanage, went back to visit the kids, helped open I think 2 schools there and in Ecuador, has started her own microfinance organization, and really just is the most driven do-gooder I've ever been able to spend so much time with. Despite the nice comfortable temperatures at night, we laughed so hard for so long last night that I was sweating. To be short and sweet, I lucked out on that one-I'm sharing my quarters with the next Nobel peace prize winner. More on our friendship later! Because our lack of sleep last night, and my 4 hour nap today, I'm hoping to get into some sort of a regular schedule. So, goodnight.
Barke is a former BU Niamey abroad student from 1998. That's his Nigerien name. In English, Bryan. Yes, he's white. He is easily the coolest person I have ever met. He did the program I am doing now for 3 semesters about 10 years ago - was studying anthropology and something else, I forget. Fluent in Zarma, he returned I think three years ago to do things with education, after working on his masters in the US? We are going to spend a lot more time with him, but if you could only see the place he lives now, you'd think the same thing - This guy's awesome.
His home only recently just got solar electricity. It has its own handmade well, a self sufficient garden, goats, and best of all, it sits on the edge of the Nigerien river. When we arrived by bus yesterday, we were greeted by a whole community of kids, a herd of cows, a camel, a mule cart. You could only actually see one other substantial hut/home nearby, but the amount of people hanging around was insane. Mostly children, we taught them some games and played with them for hours and hours. All kids (and adults for that matter) look far younger than they actually are here, and this was probably the most time we have spent time with kids so far - girls and boys from 2 to 18 and probably about 30 of them. I occupied myself with a little girl who stood about 1 and a half feet tall wearing a torn and stained pink sweatshirt - who I caught pick her nose and eat it. I thought, it's okay, we do that in the US too!
Yeah, It's super depressing if you are looking for something to be sad about, because WOW - their dark skin is dusted by the sand; kids don't even flinch when 7 flies are buzzing about their face, they play on the earth that serves as their toy and their toilet, their home lacks any of the amenities we are so used to, if they even have a home, and their lives are just so completely real and harsh. But if you can block the poverty out of your mind, one of these child's smile is truly the best thing to see in the whole world. They aren't just cute because they're beautiful and tragically pitiful - They are all resilient and happy and welcoming. I have officially decided that one of my field studies will be spending time with them.
So at Barke's we drank some traditional tea, played with kids, rode camels, and then took off for our canoe ride. The camel ride was interesting, nothing too exciting except I had to compensate for the crooked saddle by putting all my weight left while straddling Lare (Laura in English).. Needless to say our meaningful friendship has begun! We then went with local fishermen in their canoes for a magical ride on the Nigerienne River. Keeping close to the brush on the side, the river was pretty shallow. They mostly moved us around using sticks as opposed to oars, and even when they did use oars they were surprisingly unsubstantial. These guys know their way through the water better than most professionals probably know their own jobs. They typically fish at night, so are accustomed to spotting a hippo by ear. We saw one across the way who came above water a few times. The water was tres calme and peaceful, temperature perfect. I wore a t shirt and linen pants, occasionally had to scoop water out the bottom, and once again felt I had to lean a certain way to balance. The guy we were with spoke fluent french, helped us learn words for the birds, fish, etc in Hausa and Zarma. It was a fantastic and unusual experience that culminated in the dark. The water and the sky were indistinguishable, and it was the first time that visibility seemed to be hindered by water rather than dust. Everyone loved the sight. Won't lie, got somewhat nervous as we went through the brush. I would be lost for months if I tried to navigate with the lack of light there, but those guys are good, really good.
Later, we went to see a former peace corps volunteer perform with the local most popular musician. Ginger, the white lady, sang some sassy spoken poetry numbers. She wore a strapless Nigerienne fabric dress, and I was thinking, really? Isn't that a faux pas? The atmosphere was nice, it was at an outside bar area. We were thinking we'd be the awkward table of 14 white people, but to our surprise, the majority of the audience was white. French speaking and many Americans.. volunteers at the peace corps, NGOs, we don't know yet but we'll probably find out. The local musician was very good-played some flute type thing, a sitar type thing. When I start learning in a classroom I hope to know the real names, but the music was definitely good.
This morning we did our windi windi, which was a tour around the local markets. Me and Lare went with Yahaya, our driver Sanni's younger brother. 22, he's real smart - spoke to us in French and taught us terms in Hausa and Zarma. Showed us a picture of his girlfriend and "god permitting, future wife" - how cute. The petit marche et grande marche sell variations of foods, fabrics, clothes, oils, spices, and accessories. I don't think much of anything in the way of accessories being sold here is new. I'm really curious to know whether it is imported by donation then sold or what - but purses, shoes, hats, coats, clothes, they are all noticably second hand. The meat is typical of a meat market I suppose. Saw pretty much a whole skinned dead goat, flies everywhere, stomachs, liver, etc. Non, merci. The chickens are sold live, actually not chickens but guinea-foul. There are a few recognizable spices: garlic, basil, bay leaves, etc. Our goal was to buy something we had never seen, so I bought something I originally thought was hookah smoking tobacco, smelt good, molasses covered. But it was actually Turaran Woota, an insense type thing to burn over a fire. At our little show and tell I ate a few weird things, used a piece of wood as a toothbrush, and toyed with clay that is eaten if you have a stomach ache.
We ate lunch Nigerienne style at the program director's abode with our guides. They were all young men with great personalities, and it was nice to dine with them - most of whom are either employed by this abroad program to drive, cook, guard, etc, or the friends or family of someone who is.
Nice, but rather exhausting day. I am starting to think, uh oh, if I got sweaty today when Sanu was walking around in all longsleeves and a wool hat, I'm going to have real trouble when hot season comes. I've been wearing capris or skirts and tee shirts, SPF and tons of bug spray, and I can't really shed any layers, so soon my euphoria with Niamey might turn a little sour. But so far, so good! There's so much to write about for what we do with our time in just two hours, I will never be able to convey all my emotions and experiences here... Sorry for the super long post. It's almost midnight and I'm hoping to get to sleep before morning prayer. As a last quick aside, last night I laughed hysterical with my room mate Zaure (Rachel)... until 5:30 am. I don't know if it was jet lag, or that I have been bathing at night, or what, but we have been having trouble falling asleep - which was only exacerbated by the country side drone of the morning prayer - which, don't get me wrong, is actually beautiful and fascinating. Anyway, we discovered we have tons in common. Her mother is Taiwanese, father American.. We like the same artists, share the same thoughts about things here, etc. I would love to say our views on life are identical, but I am not even 5% as amazing as she is. She took a little time off from school to study in Guatemala, volunteered at an orphanage, went back to visit the kids, helped open I think 2 schools there and in Ecuador, has started her own microfinance organization, and really just is the most driven do-gooder I've ever been able to spend so much time with. Despite the nice comfortable temperatures at night, we laughed so hard for so long last night that I was sweating. To be short and sweet, I lucked out on that one-I'm sharing my quarters with the next Nobel peace prize winner. More on our friendship later! Because our lack of sleep last night, and my 4 hour nap today, I'm hoping to get into some sort of a regular schedule. So, goodnight.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Dans le prochaine deux jours...
For the next 2 days:
We arrive at the CFCA, which is nicer than I thought. Soon I will try to put up pictures, but I share a small bedroom with Rachel Rothgery, a senior from Oberlin, originally from Eugene Oregon. The room is probably 10 x 10 with twin beds, mosquito nets, a small table, and a closet. There are REAL bathrooms, with somewhat real showers. I only bathed for the first time last night, after I could no longer bear layers of sunscreen, bug spray and sand... There's no hot water so I boiled some, mixed it in a bucket, and poured it over myself. Although it is a nice 80 degrees in the day, the water stays cooler than desirable for a shower. First day we got here there was a lizard in the bathroom, so I won't say it is a completely enjoyable room. But to be honest, it's nice here. And after seeing what a "toilette" is at a local bar? WHOA... we live in luxury.
The city is charming. The tallest building is 12 stories, and there are very few things that stand tall. The markets are very crowded, but our street is a little more quiet. Roads are paved until you get a certain distance away from the center of the city. We did a bus tour with our RAs but I'm sure I'll have more to report on about that later.
Last night was the bapteme, or our welcoming ceromony au Niger. I think 200 or so people were invited. Most came to enjoy the soda, popcorn and nuts, and watched as we all received our Nigerienne names. My name is Kauje (Koh-Jai I think!?) and some people have told me it is a traditional Hausa name. The man who gave it to me said it was Touareg, however. The ceremony was a great introduction to the culture here. There was traditional prayer, music and dance, and afterwards we were able to talk to a lot of the guests. I must say I'm truly impressed with the children here, and conversed mostly with them. They're all so charming and friendly - most know up to 4 languages if they attend school. We have already hackey sacked with a few of them, and have frisbee play dates with others. Most are either the guards' or housekeepers' children who live relatively close. They're so beautiful, and I look forward to spending lots of time with them.
Many people here don't speak english, so we're working on our French. Despite the fact that I haven't spoke the language in 3 years, I am surprised at how much I am able to comprehend. It comes to me and bits and pieces, but I am able to apologize for my mistakes and communicate somewhat! There's a lot of nodding and, Oui, and Cava, but it will definitely improve with time. Already more terms are coming to mind.. We went to the bar with our RA - one which I don't have the time now to describe, but the one with the horrifying toilet - and found that the bar is a great place to converse. I spoke with about 5 different Nigeriennes, and one French artist, all who were very patient with the communication barrier. I think that's the nicest thing about it here so far. In America people don't tolerate foreigners who don't know how to ask for something ..but here, at least from my experience so far, people are mostly kind and willing to assist you! Maybe that's because we are SO different to them... It was cute.. on the bus tour - we passed a school with a bunch of little girls. The word for foreigner (or white person) is anasara, so little girls were freakin out screaming, giggling and pointing at us.. Not in a bad way though! Smiling and waving hello. C'est jolie
There's so much more to write on, and I'll do my best to post as often as I can. But I'm trying to keep a hard copy journal at least to remember what we do. It's SO dry and I have to drink tons of water in order for my brain and memory to work possible.. oh yeah, there is like a triple filter system here for us so we can drink the water. and the food prepared is all safe, and so far all good - nothing traditional yet, but that will come as we ease in. Right now we're going to hang out with a BU alum who came to Niamey something like 7 years ago, returned now lives among the locals. To us in America, Yes - he is the epitome of a hippie. But real cool, real nice. We're going canoeing/piogeting and may spot some hippos! AH! Afterwards we are going to a concert. Oh and today we went to the musee and spoke with the local artists, saw lions mating, etc. For real!
Promise my subsequent blogs will be a little more reflective.. A bientot!
We arrive at the CFCA, which is nicer than I thought. Soon I will try to put up pictures, but I share a small bedroom with Rachel Rothgery, a senior from Oberlin, originally from Eugene Oregon. The room is probably 10 x 10 with twin beds, mosquito nets, a small table, and a closet. There are REAL bathrooms, with somewhat real showers. I only bathed for the first time last night, after I could no longer bear layers of sunscreen, bug spray and sand... There's no hot water so I boiled some, mixed it in a bucket, and poured it over myself. Although it is a nice 80 degrees in the day, the water stays cooler than desirable for a shower. First day we got here there was a lizard in the bathroom, so I won't say it is a completely enjoyable room. But to be honest, it's nice here. And after seeing what a "toilette" is at a local bar? WHOA... we live in luxury.
The city is charming. The tallest building is 12 stories, and there are very few things that stand tall. The markets are very crowded, but our street is a little more quiet. Roads are paved until you get a certain distance away from the center of the city. We did a bus tour with our RAs but I'm sure I'll have more to report on about that later.
Last night was the bapteme, or our welcoming ceromony au Niger. I think 200 or so people were invited. Most came to enjoy the soda, popcorn and nuts, and watched as we all received our Nigerienne names. My name is Kauje (Koh-Jai I think!?) and some people have told me it is a traditional Hausa name. The man who gave it to me said it was Touareg, however. The ceremony was a great introduction to the culture here. There was traditional prayer, music and dance, and afterwards we were able to talk to a lot of the guests. I must say I'm truly impressed with the children here, and conversed mostly with them. They're all so charming and friendly - most know up to 4 languages if they attend school. We have already hackey sacked with a few of them, and have frisbee play dates with others. Most are either the guards' or housekeepers' children who live relatively close. They're so beautiful, and I look forward to spending lots of time with them.
Many people here don't speak english, so we're working on our French. Despite the fact that I haven't spoke the language in 3 years, I am surprised at how much I am able to comprehend. It comes to me and bits and pieces, but I am able to apologize for my mistakes and communicate somewhat! There's a lot of nodding and, Oui, and Cava, but it will definitely improve with time. Already more terms are coming to mind.. We went to the bar with our RA - one which I don't have the time now to describe, but the one with the horrifying toilet - and found that the bar is a great place to converse. I spoke with about 5 different Nigeriennes, and one French artist, all who were very patient with the communication barrier. I think that's the nicest thing about it here so far. In America people don't tolerate foreigners who don't know how to ask for something ..but here, at least from my experience so far, people are mostly kind and willing to assist you! Maybe that's because we are SO different to them... It was cute.. on the bus tour - we passed a school with a bunch of little girls. The word for foreigner (or white person) is anasara, so little girls were freakin out screaming, giggling and pointing at us.. Not in a bad way though! Smiling and waving hello. C'est jolie
There's so much more to write on, and I'll do my best to post as often as I can. But I'm trying to keep a hard copy journal at least to remember what we do. It's SO dry and I have to drink tons of water in order for my brain and memory to work possible.. oh yeah, there is like a triple filter system here for us so we can drink the water. and the food prepared is all safe, and so far all good - nothing traditional yet, but that will come as we ease in. Right now we're going to hang out with a BU alum who came to Niamey something like 7 years ago, returned now lives among the locals. To us in America, Yes - he is the epitome of a hippie. But real cool, real nice. We're going canoeing/piogeting and may spot some hippos! AH! Afterwards we are going to a concert. Oh and today we went to the musee and spoke with the local artists, saw lions mating, etc. For real!
Promise my subsequent blogs will be a little more reflective.. A bientot!
Nous Sommes Arrivees au Niger!
So we survived the flights and are at the CFCA (literature or learning center here) in Niamey. The flights were fine-from JFK to Paris we were super speedy because we boarded the plane later than expected and managed to arrive at Charles De Gaule an hour early. Got NO sleep on that flight because I sat way close to a Trinidad musician who wanted to read my magazines and listen to my ipod! Slightly annoying.. To compensate for the absence of rest on that plane, I took Nyquil anndd benadryl - thus slept on the floor at the airport, and was completely conked on the way to Niger! Was awoken by a nice French flight attendant who said, ''Mademoiselle, some macaroni?'' I declined because I was BARELY awake, but he insisted that I would be hungry and Africa, needed to put some food in my stomach, and at least try... then I got a little scared! But we arrived full and safe to what is the Niamey National Airport. There was a small dust storm I think because it was pretty cloudy.. and by cloudy I mean dusty in the air. But that was day 1. Just trying to catch up since it's now day 3.
PS the punctuation marks on this computer are off, or not like on American computers at least, so I may avoid being gramatically correct until I figure it out!
PS the punctuation marks on this computer are off, or not like on American computers at least, so I may avoid being gramatically correct until I figure it out!
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