Cindy's First Letter Home !

Monday 7/13/09

Sannu! (Hi) This place is crazy but so fun. We started out just getting to know each other in Philly, and the real training started today. My mind is already jumping around so ill just write out of order. The training camp we went to when we got off the plane was luxurious, compared to where we are living now. Training camp - showers, toilets, volleyball, lights. Saturday we all moved down to our host families in the village. We sleep outside under mosquito nets... So comfy! We have foam mattresses and stick platforms to keep us off the ground. By morning im cold, so im glad i brought my sleeping bag. Some people had to live with another PCV in the family. I got paired up with a girl named Shuruq. She's really cool and its alot less awkward at meals w/ two americans who cant speak Haussa- the local language which Im learning starting today.
My host family : 1 older man (the father) he is so nice but refuses to speak French with us. I dont think he really knows any. He has three wives... that live with him, and all there kids - about 8. The house is called a compound, and its basically a mud bricked wall yard with little huts in it for sleeping, latrines, and areas for bucket baths. The baths are easy, peeing into a 6 in. hole..... not so much! I have yet to pee without going all around the hole. Luckily the PCV's are required to have there own bathroom area within the compound.
We get up at 6:30 am, shower, pee around the hole, get breakfast at the market, go to language classes, go back to families for lunch, more class, breaktime, dinner with family, watch t.v ( Yes my fam. has a t.v ... only 4 stations which are mostly old music videos or Brazilian Soap Operas) , and sleep.
Meals we normally eat with the youngest wife, who is also 22, she doesnt have any kids yet. I think our family is rich because we have 2 cows, 6 goats, chickens, pigeons, 2 motorcycles, t.v., and 3 wives. We eat from a communal bowl. 1st we all wash hands in a bowl, then you sit on the ground on mats, and you eat from the part of the bowl/platter that is in front of you. The food is sooooo good! Suprise! Its just rice/millet and beans with some kind of sauce on it. They put the spicy stuff off to the side and the meat just stays in big pieces on top. I havent had any meat and i managed to explain that i was a vegetarian, and that wasnt an issue. The meat doesnt look to appetizing .. with all the bones in it, not to mention the goats and cows standing behind you watching you eat their friends = ( . To eat : using only your right hand, ball up some rice and pop it in your mouth. Its messy at first... i had more on my skirt the first time then what i ate.
No one has gotten sick yet, but they told us it usually takes two weeks for that. Its really hard to talk to the family because no one in my concession speaks French, but the kids are so good at teaching us Haussa. Yesterday i sat on a mat, on the side of the road, with about 12 kids teaching me how to count to 10 , and me drawing pics. in a notebook and them telling me the words. They play this hand game where they count in French with us over and over again. The girls in my compound ( they are about 6 and 8 years old) finally got up the courage to touch my hair last night!!! I showed one of them that i knew how to do a braid and let them play with my hair. I got to sift the millet with one of the wives yesterday too. They have the best mangos, but thats about it with fruits and veggies. We are going to get sick of rice fast.
The first night at camp it rained so hard and thundered louder than i have ever heard. Mom would have loved it! We had to move inside, so it was hott, but it was so much cooler the next day. The heat is so strong in the middle of the day, its incredible ... and this isnt even the hott season. We almost just had another thunderstorm, we all just had to run home to put our beds away. Im suprised by how much trash is everywhere. Everyone just throws it on the ground when they are done. The PCV's just cant do that, so the kids grab the trash from our hands and throw it down for us. On the road from the airport to our village, its just desert with a few trees and piles and piles of trash with goats among it.
The kids are dressed in whatever, some naked. One kid in my compound wears pants that is really a shirt with the neck around his waist. There is one main road that i live off of, my family makes pancakes and fried dough balls in the mornings at the market. I just realized that we actually have 5 cows! I im sitting in the compound now, w/ Zalika, Rahila, and Habiboo (the kids). I just showed one how to write her name! The wives are making dinner (millet and beans) , a 14 yr. old boy, who does all the work of the house, and also knows a little French, is carving up a water bucket. He is so young but acts so old. When he poses for pictures he always puts this serious face on. Everyone here looks so much older than they are. I met two girls in the street yesterday , who spoke French. They were 14 and 17 but looked 27ish. I went with them to get water that they carried in buckets on their heads. Then i walked home with them, and met their family. The wives spoke a little French and quizzed me on where i was living. Its an honor to host us for the families. They get mad if they dont get picked. We've only been here for a few days, but it feels like we've been here for months. Someone just came running out of the house with a ringing cell phone for one of the wives. Everyone was laughing because she started talking without answering it. Back to the two girls i met........ I got invited to dinner the next day, but i couldnt go because of class and i think i have to eat with my own family.
The name my family gave me the first day was Oomou. Everyone gets an African name, because they cant pronounce American names. Im named after one of their cousins (well i think she is ) she is about 5 and is so cute. She loves me because im named after her, she always wants to sit with me and looks up at me really shy. Zalika takes care of us. She is 9 ish. This little thing does her chores with such a little attitude and takes care of/picks on the other kids. Shes definitly the ring leader!! Its 7 p.m now and much cooler out. The only time its really hot is the 9 to 4 span, ive been trying to lay down as much as possible then. People sleep wherever there is shade, even under their parked cars in the road. The kids are playing with trash now, they dont have any real toys. We have class under trees, in the shade, in small groups of 3. The blackboard is a piece of wood with black paint. We rotate who's houses we go to for class... thats for language classes. Sometimes we go up to the main PC camp which is about a 5 minute walk. I keep hearing the Muslim call to prayer, but have never seen anyone praying yet. There is even a Mosque by my house. All the little kids love to wave and say hi to us on the streets. Most of the adults dont even care, they are so used to the PCV's because they always train and stay with volunteers here. The men and women always smell good and are clean. I think I might smell worse some days. Haha. They are very social, people are always coming and going. Greeting people is very important. People this poor are the happiest i've ever seen. They dont have many luxuries of course but it just seems like they're missing all the junk that we have.
The other volunteers are from all over the U.S, especially the mid west. They make fun of me saying "wooder" (water). There is some down time already, and we are "intensively" studying. I cant wait until i can speak Haussa, so i can actually talk with my family! Miss you guys ... wish you could come see how amazing this place is! Don't worry the heat will keep me from moving her forever!

Leaving for Niger, Africa

Tuesday, July 7th 2009
- Cindy left Blackwood NJ for PC orientation in Philadelphia, where she met 32 other PC volunteers who she will be spending the next 27 months with. Here's a quick letter she sent before she leaving for the airport :
Everyone her is so nice!!!! Im loving it already. I even have multiple friends willing to sit on my lap, to hold me down during the needles. Haha. The workers are really helpful and friendly and everyone brought 2 suitcases also .. so i dont feel so bad. Im almost tempted to call for the other stuff i left behind. Everyone here is cracking me up, the orientation was the funniest thing i ever witnessed.
Love ya Love ya miss ya already !!!
Cindy