Email - October 29, 2007

October 29, 2007

Family and Friends-

It's October 29th and I have just returned from a full month in the bush! Can't believe it! I've had my ups and downs, been through a few sick spells, but my spirits are high and I'm enjoying my time here. I'm definitely glad to be back with the other volunteers for a few days, have a cold drink, get a real shower, and watch a few movies. Oh, and speak English again! We're having a big Halloween party in a couple nights so I'm looking forward to that too. So...bush life...has its ups and downs for sure but I've gotten used to everyday life there.

I'll start with a typical day in the bush: I sleep outdoors on a cot under my shade hanger (the weather is getting cooler at night, some nights into the low 70s). I normally get up between 6:30 and 7:00, not because I'm done sleeping but because the roosters are going crazy, everyone else in the village is up and doing their morning chores, and there are usually several chickens running around my yard. Breakfast is next, usually oatmeal but sometimes fruit- oranges or Nigerien guavas. After I get done with my morning chores it's around 8:00 and I head out to greet the villagers. I sit down and hang out with different groups of men who hang out in a few spots around the village - near the Chief's quarters, under the big tree near the well, and by the small shop. It gets hot quickly so we hang out in the shade. Usually between 10:30 and 11:00, I head back to my place to read, listen to BBC, do some chores, and make lunch. I head back out around 1:00 pm and make my rounds again, finding some more shade to sit beneath. I hang out in the village until around 5:30 or 6:00 when I go back to my place for the long-awaited bucket bath! At 7:00, I head back out in the village and eat at the headmaster's (of the primary school) place and then drink tea or cocoa with him and his neighbor. If I'm not tired afterwards, I head to the Chief's quarters and hang out with his sons. I'm normally back at my place between 9 and 10. On other days I'll head out to the field with some of the men because it's harvest season now (beans, millet, and sorghoum) or travel to my market town which is about 10 km away.

I haven't begun what you would call "work" yet but learning the language is definitely work for me. That along with getting used to a different culture and way of life wears on you for sure. But as they say in Niger, "kala suuru" or "have patience". When I get back to my village after this mini-vacation I am going to help the women prepare their cold season garden as well as provide half of the seeds to them. I plan on starting a small garden in my concession- tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, and onions. We'll see how that goes. I also plan on doing some work at the primary school with the kids (school just now started today) which I'm really excited about!

Some of the cooler things that I've seen or done since I've been in the bush: chameleons, my first sight of a cobra- at the market with some guy selling medicine to ward off snakes, camels, amazing sunsets in the valley beyond my house, traditional Nigerien wrestling matches - they get pretty intense (not quite UFC though), shooting stars, the killing of cows for a celebration, blacksmiths making traditional tools, motorcycle rides through the bush, crammed "bush taxi" rides...the list goes on and on.

Cooking has been an interesting endeavor - I was never a culinary master, especially coming here right out of college. They do have some amazing food here in my region of Niger. Right now - palm fruits, oranges, bananas, guavas, limes, and sugarcane. I eat with my villagers whenever I can but I'm slowly learning!

Other than that, life is good. I love my village and my villagers, I couldn't have asked for a better post. I'll head back to my village on Friday and pick up where I left off. I plan on heading south in a couple of weeks to hang out with a volunteer there and we're supposed to make a trip across the Niger River into Benin to go to market there and hang out with some PC Benin volunteers so I'm really excited about that! All is well in Niger, my health is fine and I'm really enjoying my service. Over 3 months in, I can't believe it.

I guess that's about all for now, sorry that this is so long, I've just been out of touch from civilization for so long. I'll be in town for a few days so please reply if you have a chance. If you reply to this address, please put my name as the subject line or it won't get to me.

Also, please ask questions if I've left anything out. I love you guys and miss you all. Let me know about things going on back in the states; I'm excited to hear about your lives back home. Take care, I'll write again soon.

Love,

James