Well, another week has passed in Niger. Last week, I got to swim at the American Recreation Center, which is right next to the American Embassy and the French Embassy. It may not sound glamorous to you, but I had french fries and 2 beers! It was the best food I’ve had in Niger so far. We have started a volleyball tournament as well in training. There are 4 teams: the staff, CHA (health trainees), MCD (community development trainees), and CYE (education trainees). The CHA are by far the worst team, but no need to fear, we are the most hardcore. We live in the bush, unlike the CYEs, with their electricity and running water. The CHAs lost in a blood bath in their 1st game, then on Thursday, we barely lost one game, and won another game. In our 2nd game, we were down 12 points, until I came to serve, where we went on a 10-point hot-streak.
Last week, we had interviews with our APCD (Associate Peace-Corps Director). There are 4 I believe, one for health volunteers CHA, education CYE, municipal and community development MCD, agricultural and natural resources AG/NRM. In my interview, I requested the only Hausa-speaking post in Zarmaland (Western Niger). So during my interview with Gaston (the CHA APCD), I requested the Hausa village in Dosso. I told Gaston and Souleymane (aka Soul Power, Gaston’s “second in command”) that me being the only male health volunteer that speaks Hausa (there are only 2 male health trainees, me-Hausa and Matt-Zarma), I could use it to my advantage to be able to work closer with men that many female volunteers wouldn't be able to. I also requested it because it would potentially put my post close to Jyoti’s, because she is a Zarma-speaking trainee, and all of the Zarma volunteers are put in South-Western Niger. In Jyoti’s interview, she requested another village ****, which is very close to the village I want. Both villages are in Dosso. Jyoti also requested to be posted close to me, because of our relationship and because we would like to do some health projects together. Upon hearing this, Souleymane said that it was good to know who would like to be posted close to who, because otherwise they would have no idea.
Thursday was the Big Day in training. Thursday was our Site Announcement day! Every PST (pre-service training) plays a game before finding our where their 2-year sites/posts will be. So we played musical chairs via iPOD, playing all-American dance party/hip-hop music. The entire week leading up to this point, every trainee has been talking about where they would like to be posted, how excited we are, and where we think we’ll end up at. There are so much irony and coincidence packed into this day. At one point during the game, I got a little too excited and fell onto my elbow from pretty high into the air. It didn’t hurt much at first, but it proceeded to get worse. It gradually began to swell and now I cannot extend my arm. I lasted until towards the end of the game before getting out. It was so ironic, because as I turned around, there was Jyoti, who was eliminated at the same time as me!! During the game, when one person was eliminated, they were told which group to move to. There were 5 groups present, each representing the 5 regions where Peace Corps assigns volunteers: Dosso (Zarma-speaking), Tillabery (Zarma), Konni (Hausa-speaking), Maradi (Hausa), and Zinder (Hausa). And just something to keep in mind, Jyoti and I had been the talk of the training site, especially at the beginning, because we were, and still are, the only trainee couple. A lot of people here have boyfriends and girlfriends back home, but each training group every year is notorious for having a couple or two formed during training. Everyone at the site knew that she and I wanted to be posted close to one another and that the odds of us being close were somewhat slim, because we speak different languages (Hausa and Zarma). So as we were eliminated, Jyoti and I made eye contact, held our breath as our hearts were racing, and Jyoti was told she was in the Dosso group. Then me…Dosso! Literally every single person at the site (every trainee, teacher, staff member, current volunteer, supervisors, etc…) cheering at full volume for us. So I walked over to Jyoti in the Dosso group, and we shared a much-needed hug amongst everyone. As people continued to cheer for us, Jyoti and I held hands and raised our clasped hands up into the air. So…in case you haven’t guess yet, I got the post I wanted and Jyoti got hers as well. My village is a village of about 1,500 (very small, even for a village). It is in the Dosso region, as is Jyoti's village. Unfortunately, I can't say what the names of our villages are for security purposes. The roads are TERRIBLE, but on a market day, it will take me only about 2 hours to get to her village.

New post!!

Gaisuwa! (Greetings in Hausa) David aka Kader (my Nigerien name) here. Niger is absolutely amazing. First and foremost, it is HOT, but love the heat here. Nigeriens are the most social, extroverted people I have ever come across. EVERYONE greets everyone here, especially the anasaras (foreigners as they call us), but it doesn’t have the same negative connotation as it does in the States. Strangely enough, Nasara (minus the A) means white person. I am currently learning the Hausa language, and the Hausa ethnic group make up about 55% of the population and mostly reside in South-Central and South-Eastern Niger. The Songhai/Zarma speak the Zarma language, make up 22% of the population and live in South-Western Niger. I will not know where I am posted for another week and unfortunately, I am not allowed to post the name of my 2-year village on my blog because of security reasons. But I will let you all know via word of mouth and/or email. I’m not exactly sure where to start! There is red sand everywhere, of course. We have a lot of animals around here: GOATS, sheep, cows, bulls, chickens, roosters, cats, dogs, snakes, scorpions, spiders (including chariot spiders that are the size of basketballs), camels, horses, donkeys, flies, mosquitoes, beetles, dung beetles, cockroaches, mice, bats, TONS of frogs at night, and lizards (and a few monkeys, which I have yet to see). My language training has been going very well, and I can actually carry on legitimate conversations with my host family. I know present tense, past, future, imperative, commands, possessions, etc…French is the official language and a lot of people speak it, but it’s mostly men and older women. The girls marry at very young ages: 15 is the average age, but it’s about 13 in rural areas. The boys/men usually marry between 18-25. 5 times a day, I hear the call to prayer. Actually, I enjoy hearing the call to prayer/salla, with the exception of the call at 5am. Here, they are usually around 5am, 2pm, 4pm 7pm and 8-9pm. Once a week, we have a market day, where merchants from all over the area come to sell their items. It’s a crazy, fun experience. People are expected to bargain, and as my language gets better, the bargaining gets easier. So far, I haven’t gotten sick AT ALL. The bugs haven’t bothered me. The heat hasn’t bothered me. I live in a hut with a thatch roof, and most of the time, I sleep outside, that is, when it doesn’t rain. My new favorite activity is taking bucket baths at night. My least favorite activity, which gets a little easier everyday, is using a squat latrine. I enjoy the food very much here. The Peace Corps pays my family to feed and cook for me during training, so usually we’ll eat rice, beans, onions, and sauce made with tomatoes and pepper. Only once have a eaten millet, the staple food of Niger. The average Nigerien eats millet most of the time, because rice is even too expensive for them to buy. The Peace Corps Training Site sells Coca-Cola, which is made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, Sprite and Orange Fanta. I never used to be a Coke fan, but it tastes AMAZING! Everyone here knows Barack Obama, and I mean everyone! Even the poorest villagers living in the bush know about Obama. I have yet to hear McCain’s name mentioned once, and Bush has only been mentioned by my language trainers/teachers, who asked us what we thought of Bush and Obama. In Niamey, the capital of Niger, a lot of people know a lot about the political situation in America, via radio. Family status is very confusing here, especially because cousins are called brothers and sisters, and uncles and aunts can be called mother and father as well. My host father is Yakuba (52 years old), who I have yet to meet, and he works in Zinder (very very far east) for a cell phone company. My mother is Fatima (25 years old, I think), and she sells Fari Masa (Nigerien doughnuts) in the market. They have 4 host children, Aisha (13 years old), who takes care of everyone all the time, and cooks all the time, Yasmina (5), Bashir (10), and Mama Sani (7 years old), who currently has malaria, but it slowly getting better. My mailing address is:

David Bell
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 10537
Niamey, Niger, West Africa
Air Mail

And I suggest buying an international phone card if you want to call me. You dial:

011-227-96-97-25-74

I’m sure I’m forgetting something, but that’s it for now. Take care, and I’ll try to keep in touch as best as I can!