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.