Letter #2

8/16/07

Mom, Dad, Mike and Nickie,

Hey guys! Just got your card and package today. Thanks a bunch! I was getting a little discouraged that I wasn't getting any mail... It's such a good feeling getting a letter; it reminds me of Camp Allen. Things are still going great here. I just got over my first (of many) spells of diarrhea! Fun stuff, I know!

This past weekend (Sunday-Tuesday) we went on "demyst," where we live with another volunteer to get a better grasp of daily life at post. It was great! My host, Kevin, was very gracious and fed me well - spaghetti one night and raviolis (from a can) the second night! Amazing considering that I have been eating millet or rice with sauce every night since I've been here. I got tired of the sauce so now I eat plain white rice or "millet mash" by itself. (The fruit bars and beef jerky have saved me on more than one ocassion.) If the food is the worst thing, then I really don't have much to complain about! Al hamdalaylay (thanks be to God) that I have been healthy and fit since I've been here.

Back to "demyst." We didn't do much at all other than chat, relax and read, which was a nice vacation from the structure of training. On Monday, we hiked up this huge mesa that overlooks Kevin's village and spent two hours walking around and taking pictures. It was one of the most amazing sights I've ever seen. The landscape is beautiful (especially since it's rainy season and everything is green); it's not all sands like we thought (only up north).

Since I'm a Zarma speaker, I'll be in "Zarmaland" once I get posted. This means I'll be on the Western side of the country. Exciting!

One of the other trainees went to UNT and is from Houston. Actually, she lives off of WLY near Westheimer, which is crazy. Also, another volunteer played football for Vanderbilt with one of my roommate's older brother. What a small world.

We're having a fashion show tonight where our host family dresses us in local dress and we walk on the "cat walk" at our compound! This will be followed by a dance so I'm really excited!

The other night I watched a storm approach for about 45 minutes. The lighting was like nothing I have ever seen before and I captured some amazing video! My new camera is amazing and I have taken tons of photos already! Tomorrow we get to travel to another town to take a tour and eat at a restaurant so I'm very excited! Language and tech classes are going smoothly and steadily. Each day I have more to say and I understand more at home.

Well, that's about it for now. Make sure to ask questions in your letters if you are curious about certain things. Otherwise, I'll just ramble on about day-to-day life here. Keep me updated of any US news that you think I would be interested in. I love you guys so much and miss you all! I'll talk to you guys soon! James