Day 61 (ish) - Pictures!!

Hello! So here are a few photos that we were thankfully able to upload!!

 

So above is me with our host mom and dad in Hamdallaye, traditional tea-making stuff in the foreground :)

And Ash with them... :)

A horribly blurred picture of our host family's donkeys (jaki in Hausa)

Sorry for the blurriness, we haven't used our nice camera at all yet... this is where we slept for all of PST... under the stars :)

Easily the biggest tree we've seen in Niger so far and its in our host family's gida (Hausa for household)!!

We had class (not together) in our host family's gida with one or two other trainees and a language teacher. From left to right: Chelsea, Michael, and Aschaitou

Us !!

Our host dad, Isoufou, took us out to his field on the donkey cart!!

This is when we were on demyst... walking for an hour and a half to get to the market town almost right on the border with Nigeria.

Thank goodness for ox carts!!!

The entire village of Hamdallaye gathered for prayer on the first morning of Tabaski, a major Muslim celebration.

Our entire host family, including extended relatives on our dad's side.

It is tradition to slaughter sheep after morning prayer on Tabaski, then they skin, and gut them, then cook them like this, slowly and all day close to a very hot fire.

 Our host family had a pregnant cat who gave birth about 6 weeks ago, and this is the one we're taking with us to our post!! Sunanshi Charlie (his name is Charlie!!)

Ash and I at the hostel in the city of Maradi...

We had a cultural fashion show in which Ash and I dressed up in traditional Tuareg outfits...




Me posing for the camera in my tailor-made traditional outfit called a Jabba... so comfy!!

 


Blake and Elisa, thank you SO MUCH for the French press... we have gone through about a pound of coffee during PST...

 

new address!

Hello all!!
 We have our new address for the next two years!! And for those of you who have asked about what to send we will always welcome things like granola, organic dried fruit, and nuts!! :D but, we also look forward to letters! Or any source of news - newsweek, time, the economist, national geographic, major newspapers (would be awesome! - says jos) :) I am also a fan of real simple, just a thought :)
Just a reminder that we have to pay on this end for whatever the value says on the packages. So please be conservative with the estimates... Wink wink ;)
Love to all!!!

Here's the address:
Corps de la Paix 
BP 144
Dosso, Niger

Surprise!! it's a mini blog within a blog!!  :)  (it's called having limited access to internet) haha
Anyway...
We passed our final language exams and will officially be able to swear-in as volunteers on the 30th!!  So excited! :)  (just for the record Jos rocked his LPI and got to "intermediate high" and i made it in with "intermediate mid") :D

Life is grand!!
Missing you all bunches and we hope you are having a relaxing and fulfilling holiday season... take cares!

A Day in the Life of a Niger Peace Corps Trainee...

A day in the life of a Niger PC trainee starts with what we like to
call the Nigerian symphony - a splendid mix of the local call to
prayer and the not so local call to prayer blaring from the radio in
our neighbor's concession, (usually starting around 5am). Not to
mention the cry of the 'jaki' our donkey and the usually surprisingly
off-key 'zakara' or rooster, blend with a smattering of howling dogs
for the perfect cacophony of sound. Zero need for an alarm :)
 Enter the potentially graceful, but more than likely not so graceful
exit from the mosquito net before entering your hut to fish around in
semidarkness for culturally appropriate attire. Ladies, that means
covering of the knees and shoulders.
If you were feeling particularly unkempt you may have thought about
taking a bucket bath as well before heading down to the main road to
find breakfast.
Onto breakfast... One may opt for some 'farimasa' which is the
equivalent of fresh handmade donut holes. There is also 'masa' up for
grabs across the street from the farimasa woman which are mini
pancakes made with millet and a whole lot of oil, just down the way
you can find 'cicena' -fried bean flour. Another favorite of the PC
trainee is the egg sandwich - a bit more spendy but worth every cfa,
finish it off with a 'sulani' (liquid yogurt) and you have yourself
the best breakfast combination THIS trainee has yet to find.
If it's a CORE day you'll find many a trainee making their way up to
bisa dutsi (the top of the hill, i.e. The training site) and preparing
themselves for another rousing day of med sessions, tech sessions, and
language. The best part about CORE day - aside from hearing Tondi's
laugh and finding 'the energy ball' - brings us back to the basics,
FOoD and CoLD drink!!
If it's a nonCORE day one can find several trainees milling about the
main road chatting before heading off to our respective language
classes. Go team Hausa!! :)
At the end of the day one typically finds their way back to their host
family and may spend time attempting to chat in Hausa or Zarma before
dinner.
Dinner, not much variety here (read: we've had the same thing almost
every night - white rice with a red sauce. If we're lucky, the sauce
will have sweet potato!
Then, the sun has gone down and the moon has come out, we retire to
the coziness of our mosquito net and usually fall asleep around 9 ish
after reading or studying (don't judge! We get tired!).