So the advice of the experienced volunteers is right! The first two weeks truly crawled by - with the only a continuous barrage of Hausa language classes to separate the days. But, as we were told would happen, and starting with our 'demystification' trip, the last two weeks have flown by.
Demyst is a 5 day journey into the bush of Niger that trainees take to stay with a currently serving volunteer. The point is to give us a glimpse of what life might actually be like as a full volunteer at post. So our training group broke up into small groups (ours being 6 people but most just 2 or 3) to then take buses from Niamey out to wherever our host volunteers lived.
We took a 10 hour bus ride East to the Maradi region, also known as the start of Hausa-land. We spent three great nights getting spoiled with amazing food and the good company of Bob and Megan. We were excited to not only get to see part of Hausa-land but also get a couple's perspective on PC life. Bob and Megan have an impressive concession with 3 moringa trees they planted at the start of their service, (by the way if you've never heard of a moringa tree, google it, now, it could possibly be THE perfect tree) tomato plants, basil, and sweet potato that they water with diluted grey water. They took time to teach us how to make some incredible meals including: bean burgers with moringa leaves and laughing cow cheese, hummus with fresh garlic and onions, pasta, couscous with peanut sauce, sweet potato fries with homemade ketchup, eggs, and crepes. All made without running water or electricity mind you - Fantastic!! We are so excited for when we can start experimenting with new foods and recipes in our own concession.
Bob and Megan have done incredible work in their community as well, including: farmer field school - where people in the village planted various plots of similar seeds to determine the best option for their particular soil. They are now planting a naturally selected improved bean that they call 'kadija' (megan's Hausa name). They have also planted several new trees, helped fund a grain grinder, and helped fix and get men from the village trained in how to fix the foot-pump for the well. So basically they are a spectacular couple who we were very excited to get to know and spend some time asking questions about the volunteer life. Bob and Megan are heading home next month with the intent of future grad studies and the hope of starting a family of their own - we wish them the best and hope they understand how much we appreciated their generosity during our time with them, not to mention the incredible impact they have had on their community.
Today we are spending the morning at the PC training site for our first one-on-one oral language test (LPI) and our site interviews where we are able to speak with our program manager's about site preferences.
The next big thing on the horizon is our 2 weeks of language immersion starting next saturday. After our LPI today they will split us into new language groups based on our abilities (similar levels together) which will also be the group we travel in for immersion. All Hausaphones will be traveling East to Hausa-land (Maradi, Zinder, & og) and the Zarmaphones will stay here in the Western part of Niger.
Oh! And if anyone feels like sending something, dried fruit and/or granola bars would be amazing! (or any other yumminess you can think of) :) Our address is on the first blog and padded envelopes seem to be the best bet.
So that's it for now! Sai anjima :)
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Nigerian Tea Making
Created October 30th; posted November 9th, 2010
How to make shai
Shai is the traditional Nigerien tea that we've been served a few times by our host father and since the process really is a process, we thought everyone needs to know :)
Ingredients:
We'll label the bigger pot, POTA, the smaller pot, POTB, and the cups CUPA, CUPB, and CUPC.
First, place 1/2 (or whole) bag of tea into POTA, fill with water, and bring to a boil. This is best done outside, in the heat - which goes without saying in Niger - and in a tiny charcoal pit where there is only enough room for one pot atop the coals. you also need to fan the coals by hand.
Pour tea into CUPA and set aside for later. Fill POTA (with the leaves still in it) with water and boil again for second batch. While batch #2 is heating, put approx 1/8 cup of sugar in POTB. Once boiling, pour POTA tea into POTB and place on coals. Fill POTA (still has original leaves in it) once more and set aside, ready to heat.
Now for the tricky part - don't worry, you'll get to drink some soon - when POTB boils, you're going to start making foam by pouring the tea back and forth between POTB and CUPC. But first put POTA back on the coals to boil!
As you're pouring the tea back and forth, try to make the tea fall as far as possible into the pot or cup to form the foam. You'll have to do this probably at least 10-20 times. The more sugar you have, the better the foam; the better the foam, the better the presentation to your guests. And its all about the presentation :)
Once you have good foam, pour the tea equally between CUPB and CUPC and enjoy :) Ideally, you would have two or three small glasses (like shot glasses) so people could see the good foam, but we don't think most people have those here.
By now POTA is boiling again with batch #2. Add sugar to POTB then pour POTA tea into POTB and bring to a boil. Repeat the foaming process, but in the middle, incorporate the tea from CUPA to strengthen the flavor.
This whole process is meant to take quite awhile and each set of tea leaves should make 4 batches to drink, each one following the foaming and such. We have yet to try this ourselves, but we'll let you know how it goes!
Love to all :)
How to make shai
Shai is the traditional Nigerien tea that we've been served a few times by our host father and since the process really is a process, we thought everyone needs to know :)
Ingredients:
- 2 small metal teapots (approximately 8oz & 10oz) = 2500cfa
- 3 metal cups (or cups able to hold hot water) = 750cfa
- 1 bag of loose leaf tea = 125cfa
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup of sugar = 50cfa
- Stove top or tiny wire charcoal pit
- Patience!!
We'll label the bigger pot, POTA, the smaller pot, POTB, and the cups CUPA, CUPB, and CUPC.
First, place 1/2 (or whole) bag of tea into POTA, fill with water, and bring to a boil. This is best done outside, in the heat - which goes without saying in Niger - and in a tiny charcoal pit where there is only enough room for one pot atop the coals. you also need to fan the coals by hand.
Pour tea into CUPA and set aside for later. Fill POTA (with the leaves still in it) with water and boil again for second batch. While batch #2 is heating, put approx 1/8 cup of sugar in POTB. Once boiling, pour POTA tea into POTB and place on coals. Fill POTA (still has original leaves in it) once more and set aside, ready to heat.
Now for the tricky part - don't worry, you'll get to drink some soon - when POTB boils, you're going to start making foam by pouring the tea back and forth between POTB and CUPC. But first put POTA back on the coals to boil!
As you're pouring the tea back and forth, try to make the tea fall as far as possible into the pot or cup to form the foam. You'll have to do this probably at least 10-20 times. The more sugar you have, the better the foam; the better the foam, the better the presentation to your guests. And its all about the presentation :)
Once you have good foam, pour the tea equally between CUPB and CUPC and enjoy :) Ideally, you would have two or three small glasses (like shot glasses) so people could see the good foam, but we don't think most people have those here.
By now POTA is boiling again with batch #2. Add sugar to POTB then pour POTA tea into POTB and bring to a boil. Repeat the foaming process, but in the middle, incorporate the tea from CUPA to strengthen the flavor.
This whole process is meant to take quite awhile and each set of tea leaves should make 4 batches to drink, each one following the foaming and such. We have yet to try this ourselves, but we'll let you know how it goes!
Love to all :)
Day 8: Donkey stomachs :)
Created October 30th, posted November 9th, 2010.
"Why can't we have animal stomaches?"
This is the question Ash posed after lunch today while watching our donkey drink dirty water and daydreaming of the ice cold bags of water we aren't supposed to buy because even though they say "pure water" they have a reputation for being bagged tap water. So, her thinking went, if we had donkey stomaches, we'd be able to buy ice cold water in the more than 100 degree heat.
By 'our donkey' we mean the donkey that belongs to our host family. We're in PST (pre-service training) and are staying with a Hausa speaking Nigerian family (not to be confused with a family from Nigeria...). Most days we wake up at or close to 6:12 to the sound of a rooster crowing just outside our hut. Then we lay around for a few minutes and wait for the cries of the baby goats (hilarious!).
We sleep on thick foam mattresses which lay on frames built with twigs link-n-log style. We're in a tiny "yard" - just big enough for our bed - which is enclosed on one side by a thatched hut where we keep our things, and on the other three sides by a 5 foot tall fence of dry reeds. Our door in and out is a reed mat hanging over an opening in the fence and our mosquito net hangs from wire running between the tall branches that are the fence posts.
So we sleep under the net under the stars and listen to all of the crazy noises happening all around us. We already mentioned the rooster (which does NOT just crow at 6:12 and whom we may or may not be plotting to subtly poison) and the goats (okay, just kidding about poisoning the rooster). But there are also radios, donkeys, birds, and bats. Needless to say, sleeping straight through the night is quite the challenge.
But we're in Niger!! It's still not quite setting in that we're in our new home. It is very hot (someone said it was 113 the other day - and this is 'cold' season), and the landscape is harsh; reddish sand all over with sparse trees and wild grasses. We've never seen sunsets like these though... A huge orange ball floating as if propped up on its own heat waves. Slowly lowering itself towards the horizon through the haze. The people are absolutely wonderful, with contagious smiles and laughter.
The poverty and filth are hard to adjust to bit we both enjoyed our first (and second and third...) bucket baths and we agree that we'll get the hang of using the hole-in-the-ground sooner or later.
We have Hausa language classes every day and are actually picking it up pretty quickly considering we've only been here 8 days. We are already capable of greeting people and getting/ giving basic info. We are excited to be learning Hausa as it is spoken in other parts of West Africa as well.
Oh! And our host family has a pregnant cat which we named Mussa (mooooosa), which might or might not be the Hausa word for cat.
Peace Corps gives us 250 cefa (about $.50) each per day for breakfast monies. So we walk onto the main road and choose from mostly fried foods to buy from street vendors. We usually get about 100 cefa worth of masa (basically small millet pancakes), although this morning we finally found a woman selling bananas too. Yay bananas!! We usually eat lunch and dinner (typically rice with veggie sauce) with our host family period.
Well, that's it for now! We love you all and thank you so much! To those who have sent letters (yay mail!!!), they only took 2-3 weeks to get here!
"Why can't we have animal stomaches?"
This is the question Ash posed after lunch today while watching our donkey drink dirty water and daydreaming of the ice cold bags of water we aren't supposed to buy because even though they say "pure water" they have a reputation for being bagged tap water. So, her thinking went, if we had donkey stomaches, we'd be able to buy ice cold water in the more than 100 degree heat.
By 'our donkey' we mean the donkey that belongs to our host family. We're in PST (pre-service training) and are staying with a Hausa speaking Nigerian family (not to be confused with a family from Nigeria...). Most days we wake up at or close to 6:12 to the sound of a rooster crowing just outside our hut. Then we lay around for a few minutes and wait for the cries of the baby goats (hilarious!).
We sleep on thick foam mattresses which lay on frames built with twigs link-n-log style. We're in a tiny "yard" - just big enough for our bed - which is enclosed on one side by a thatched hut where we keep our things, and on the other three sides by a 5 foot tall fence of dry reeds. Our door in and out is a reed mat hanging over an opening in the fence and our mosquito net hangs from wire running between the tall branches that are the fence posts.
So we sleep under the net under the stars and listen to all of the crazy noises happening all around us. We already mentioned the rooster (which does NOT just crow at 6:12 and whom we may or may not be plotting to subtly poison) and the goats (okay, just kidding about poisoning the rooster). But there are also radios, donkeys, birds, and bats. Needless to say, sleeping straight through the night is quite the challenge.
But we're in Niger!! It's still not quite setting in that we're in our new home. It is very hot (someone said it was 113 the other day - and this is 'cold' season), and the landscape is harsh; reddish sand all over with sparse trees and wild grasses. We've never seen sunsets like these though... A huge orange ball floating as if propped up on its own heat waves. Slowly lowering itself towards the horizon through the haze. The people are absolutely wonderful, with contagious smiles and laughter.
The poverty and filth are hard to adjust to bit we both enjoyed our first (and second and third...) bucket baths and we agree that we'll get the hang of using the hole-in-the-ground sooner or later.
We have Hausa language classes every day and are actually picking it up pretty quickly considering we've only been here 8 days. We are already capable of greeting people and getting/ giving basic info. We are excited to be learning Hausa as it is spoken in other parts of West Africa as well.
Oh! And our host family has a pregnant cat which we named Mussa (mooooosa), which might or might not be the Hausa word for cat.
Peace Corps gives us 250 cefa (about $.50) each per day for breakfast monies. So we walk onto the main road and choose from mostly fried foods to buy from street vendors. We usually get about 100 cefa worth of masa (basically small millet pancakes), although this morning we finally found a woman selling bananas too. Yay bananas!! We usually eat lunch and dinner (typically rice with veggie sauce) with our host family period.
Well, that's it for now! We love you all and thank you so much! To those who have sent letters (yay mail!!!), they only took 2-3 weeks to get here!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)