Christmas in the capital...of Niger

December 26, 2007
Merry Christmas guys! I hope you all are enjoying the holidays back home. Just a quick update on Christmas here in Niger. On Christmas Eve I went to mass at the Cathedral Notre Dame in Niamey, the capital, with a couple of friends. The church was packed and the service was nice, especially the upbeat music. Everything was in French but I recognized a few prayers and Christmas hymns. Afterwards, we came back to the hostel where a crazy dance party was going on which lasted well into Christmas morning! There were quite a few volunteers who had come into town for the holidays so it was a great time! Christmas morning we all opened our stockings and then had a big breakfast which included pancakes, cinnamon rolls, banana bread, snickerdoodle cookies, and hot cocoa! Good stuff. We watched A Christmas Carol and later A Christmas Story, two holiday favorites. That afternoon most of us went to a PC staff member's house to hang out there and eat more food. Even the country director showed up so we all had a great time over there! Most of us took it easy that evening and hung around the hostel because we were all too full to do anything or go anywhere. Even though I was away from home and my family and friends, it was a better Christmas than I could have asked for. Tomorrow afternoon I plan on taking off for my post...finally back to the bush and to a more relaxed pace. I plan on spending the New Year down south with a few close friends so it should be a good time. I'm not sure when I'll be back in civilization but keep the letters coming and I'll update y'all again as soon as I can. Take care and have a happy new year!

Christmas in Niger

December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas to all! I hope you all are enjoying the holiday season back home. I am excited about Christmas even though it will be much different than in the states. I'm planning on heading to Christmas Eve mass at a Christian church here in the capital, but I'm not sure if the service will be in English or French. Afterwards the volunteers are supposed to have a potluck "feast" at the hostel; anything will be better than millet, sorghum, or rice and beans so I can't wait. Yesterday I went to the zoo with some friends and took a bunch of pictures; it is surprising how close you can get to the cages- I could have reached out and touched the lions, hyenas or baboons which is great but scary at the same time. I got a little to close to the stork's cage trying to take a picture and he snapped at my hand; it didn't hurt but it scared the heck out of me! We also browsed through the artisan's center where there were silver smiths, leather workers, and cloth makers. I bought some Francs (coins) from the 1930s that I am sure are pretty rare. Last night I went out to a chinese place (yeah, in Niger) with some friends and had a really good meal. We saw a local dressed up in a Santa outfit with the beard and all, ringing a bell- very random to see in this country, but funny at the same time. Tomorrow will be spent with good friends just hanging out and hopefully eating well. Wednesday I'll head back to the bush which I'm very excited and anxious about. I believe that's about it for now, I need to get my home made banana bread ready for our feast tonight. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Until next time, kala hanfo.

Update on Events

December 21, 2007

Family and Friends,

Just wanted to give you all an update about events that have recently occurred in Niger. I returned to the training site for the second week of IST on the 11th of December. On the 12th we got word that a bush taxi ran over a land mine in a large city in the south of the country killing the driver. That evening we heard that a passenger vehicle ran over another land mine in a different city killing the driver and two other passengers. Peace Corps Niger was put on "stand fast" after the incident, meaning all of the volunteers were to stay put until further notice. We ended up having to stay an extra week at the training site because of fear of more terrorist activity during Tabaski, a Muslim holiday. We were shuttled to the capital today because the "stand fast" was supposed to be lifted but we still haven't heard confirmation yet. Another incident happened on Monday the 17th, where Police intercepted two young men trying to plant a land mine in the east. Tensions are high here in Niger since no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks. As it stands now, I will head back to my village tomorrow and resume life in the bush. I plan on spending Christmas day with some friends in southern Niger, near the Niger River. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday back home and keep in mind why we are actually celebrating Christmas. I'll try to update you again with the latest from Niger. Kala Hanfo!

Update

December 6, 2007
Just a quick update to let you all know that I'm alive and well. Just another day in Niger, living the dream. I'm back at the training site for Inservice Training for 2 weeks and then it's back to the bush! Things are great here now; the weather is amazing in the mornings and evenings and I'm having a great time with the other 40 volunteers with whom I arrived in July. I plan on heading out east for Christmas and who knows where for the New Year. I have a lot of project ideas in mind and plan on getting started at the first of the year. Other than that I'm just trying to take it day by day and enjoy my time here. I'll get a long post up soon.

Email - December 9, 2007

December 9, 2007

Family and friends-

Finally made it back to the capital, Niamey, for a weekend of fun in between our 2-week inservice training. It's so great to be back in "civilization," after spending so much time in the bush, although I do miss my village and villagers. I've felt like a king this past week at the training site - we get meals cooked for us (with meat!), snack twice a day, air conditioning where I sleep, Americans to speak english with, my laundry gets taken care of, movies, electricity, and actual showers and toilets. It's amazing what becomes a treat once you've been out in the boonies for a while. I wouldn't change it for the world, though.

So I have one more week of training to go and then I'll spend a couple of days in the capital before heading back to my village to celebrate Tabaski (Muslim holiday) with my villagers. I haven't quite decided what I'm doing for X-Mas but I'll probably head out east because they have a Christmas party at the hostel there. I'm unsure where I'll spend New Year's eve.

I've been trying to put away some money for my trip to Ghana in late January/early February for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. Very excited about that! So, a few stories to share with you guys about life here in Niger. Last week I heard rumor of a new "American" restaurant in the capital so a bunch of us went to check it out. BY FAR the best, nicest building/restaurant I have been in country. They had air conditioning, a flat screen tv, clean floors, lots of desserts and some great entrees. I ate some greek sandwich thing and later had some pizza! They even had napkins - no one in Niger has napkins. It was an excellent meal. So, last night as we were heading back from a bar/restaurant where we went dancing, we felt a couple of sprinkles - it was definitely coming down in Niger in December! The taxi driver said he had never seen it before. Once dry season comes around, the rain stops for a good 8 months - it hadn't rained but once since rainy season ended in late September. I set up my bed on the hostel's roof where we all sleep, but the rain started again and I ended up moving inside for the night. Yesterday I also went to the zoo in the capital- it was both a good and bad experience. On one hand it was terrible to see these majestic animals in extremely small compounds with no room to exercise at all, but on the other hand, they didn't have the guard rails set up 20 feet from the actual cage like they do in the states. I could have touched a lioness if I had wanted to; well, I did want to but I was afraid to. I saw lions, baboons- very clever animals, monkeys, an ostrich, gazelles - beautiful, crocs, hyenas - so much bigger than you would ever imagine, and some eagles. Overall it was a good experience and I'm glad I went.

Okay, I know I kind of got long winded on this one but I wanted to catch you all up on my life. I hope all is well back in the states; it's hard to imagine that X-Mas is right around the corner- I feel so distant from it all. I hope you all enjoy the Holiday Season and time off from work/school. Please keep in touch and continue sending letters, pictures, news, anything at all.

Take care,

James aka Zatara

Letter to Family - December 5, 2007

December 5, 2007

Wow, Christmas is coming, isn't it? Well, I guess it will come and go by the time you get this. I know I wrote you guys a small note with Nickie's package - not sure which will arrive first. Things are great here - just living the dream. I'm at the training site for two weeks for technical training. I'm not too excited about all of the sessions but it's great being back with all of the other volunteers from my stage. We've been having a blast together and have lots of games and activities to keep us busy during free time - late night hide and seek, soccer, frisbee, improv, a weight gain competition, and maybe even Christmas caroling and Secret Santa.

Well, I received your letters from late August and early September, along with two more care packages. Thanks, again! It helps so much when I'm out in the bush - beans, rice, noodles, and millet, all get old if you eat them often enough. I figured out how to make a dutch oven, so if you find some recipes for cakes, cookies, breads and pies, please send them my way. I'm especially looking for a mango pie/cake/bread recipe, because mango season will be here soon. I have plenty of honey in my village so I have been draining the comb and funneling it into bottles, so I'll have some for the future. I also plan to try to make my own fruit/granola bars - We'll see how that goes.

We have been learning about project proposals and I'm really anxious about getting started on a few in my village. I want to do a big map project for the school - a world map, a map of Africa, and a map of Niger. Also think I'm going to start a weekly health lesson at the school - nutrition and sanitation. I also plan on starting a weekly adult English class since many men have shown interest. And I plan on doing a well-repair project soon because there is a lot of dirty standing water around both wells in my village. A lot of work coming up but I'm ready to get started. My villagers have a lot of effort so in sha allah (God willing), things will work out.

Mom, that radio transmitter was the best gift ever! It's so nice listening to good music when I'm cooking or doing laundry... I even take it to the neighbor's place nightly and listen to Bob Marley's CDs after dinner.

I'm living on about $10 a week, on average. Crazy, I know! Hopefully, I'll get the window in my hut installed and my interior walls cemented so I can decorate it better - it's pretty plain now. The spiders and my mouse keep me company (smiley face).

I want to let you guys know that I have learned a great amount about the importance of being patient - You have to in this country or you would go crazy and early terminate from the Peace Corps. I have also learned to be resourceful - I'm sure I'll be a great hiker/camper by the time I return. I understand why they say that you take away more than you give in your service.

Well, I guess that's all for now. Gonna hop in a real shower and sit on a real toilet before bed - Yes, I'm excited about that! I love you guys and think about you daily. I miss you all so much. Please wish all of our family and friends a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year for me. Take care and try to enjoy that cold weather - I'm jealous! I love you all and will talk top you all soon.

Love,

James

Letter to Family - December 1, 2007

December 1, 2007

Hey you guys - How are you all doing? Merry X-Mas! I can't believe it's already December! I have been here for over four months! It's beginning to feel like "cold season" at night (mid-50's), but it's still extremely hot during the day (110oF in the sun around 3:00 pm yesterday).

Well, I guess you guys will have already celebrated the Holidays by the time you get this, so I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, filled with Holiday spirit, good food, cold weather (sorry, dad!) and awesome presents! I've already begun to reminisce of us decorating the house (inside and out), going to Christmas Eve service, opening presents, listening to Christmas carols, and just enjoying time together. It's true what they say - You don't know what you have until it's gone! I encourage you guys not to take things for granted, especially during the Holidays, where we realize how fortunate we all are. I miss you all and think about you daily.

I hope everything is great back home and you all are trying to live up to my legend (happy face). Christmas won't be the same without you guys but I know we'll have great times together when I return. Have a happy New Year and keep in touch. Take Holiday pictures and send me some. Tell all the friends and family that I send my love! Talk to you all soon!

Love,

James