9.16.2008

Vacation!


My stay in Niamey is almost over. Swear-In for the new volunteers went well. I had an excellent birthday. Thanks to all those in Niger, America, and elsewhere for all the birthday wishes.

I'm leaving tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 5:00 am. I'm headed to Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. It will be the first time I've left Niger since I arrived over a year ago.

I've posted some pictures recently and wanted you to have something to look at while I was gone. I'll get a post of my vacation travels when I return.

Science Camp (not finished uploading)
Map Project
Calendar

Read about these projects in the last two posts, here and here.

Enjoy!

9.04.2008

Calendars, Meetings, and Fasting Oh My!

These are just a few things I wrote in the village this past week. Enjoy!

Don't have a lot of time on the internet, please forgive me for errors. Will try to clean it up later.

Here goes nothing...

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Thursday I came back to the village by bush taxi after finding out that budget cuts had eliminated our shuttles until the start of the new fiscal year in October.

Friday we completed the calendar in the mayor’s office. Also, I set up a meeting to set commune priorities in construction projects of grain banks, classrooms, and wells within the commune. I also made the suggestion that we plant more trees in the 3 or 4 large markets in the commune, because in Serkin Hausa’s market, there is very little shade. This meeting is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday the 2nd and 3rd of September. It was a really great day and if for no other reason, it felt productive.

Saturday, the morning was spent reading and playing with my kids. In the afternoon I went to Mallam Ada’s shop on the main road to hang out with his son Saminou. Saminou claims that he was top of his 4eme (quatrième) class (approximately 7th grade) and will be in Serkin Hausa’s inaugural troisième class later this year. He usually speaks to me in French and I respond in Hausa which is his native tongue.

Sunday morning, I read a bit more and went and sat with Illa and tsoho, old man, under the tree outside of our concessions. After I was there for a small time the trainee that Illa had been hosting, a university student getting in some practical field work was preparing to leave. I walked them to the tasha, “bush taxi station”. Moussa the trainee and I exchanged contact information for when I’m in Niamey.

After that I went home and grabbed a few things and went off to Yaou’s shop. He had been in Maradi for a few days and he returned with a new sewing machine. He said, “It’s old, but it has a lot of kindness” in Hausa, meaning that it’s old but it is in good condition and will work hard. Yaou patched a couple of pairs of pants and we had tea for the better part of the morning. Around lunch time we looked through some magazines and I showed him pictures of Obama and McCain.

Once the pictures had been discussed, I returned home to get some things ready for the meetings to be had on Tuesday and Wednesday. I mostly just worked out a plan for how the meetings should go and familiarized myself with some French and Hausa vocabulary.

Hashem and Chaibou’s laundry was finished drying--they have the clothes washing business cornered in my area of town. In the afternoons we have tea and I help them with the ironing and folding of the clothes. If we have time, Chaibou and I play dara godegay a traditional game.


Monday, September 1, 2008

It’s 7:00 am and I’ve been awake for a couple of hours. Tsalla was the order of the day for breakfast. Today was supposed to be the start of Ramadan, but no one in my village could see the moon last night because it was below the horizon. I started my fast and some of my villagers did, but the people in my “neighborhood” didn’t see the moon. Those of us who started the fast received our information from the radio that Ramadan was starting.

I don’t know how many days I will successfully fast and I’ll only be in my village about a week during the fasting period. I have no intention of continuing during vacation.

The Islamic calendar is based on the lunar cycle and Ramadan is the 9th month of the year. Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Those who are fasting refrain from food and drink during daylight hours. Many men in my village walk around spitting all day so they don’t accidentally swallow their saliva. The other four pillars are Shahada, the confession of the creed: “There is one God and Mohammed is his prophet”, Salat, prayer five times a day facing Mecca, Zakat, charitable almsgiving, and the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca for all who can afford it.

In the morning, you can hear people starting around 4:00am chanting and shouting for others to wake up and eat. So, that’s when I’ll get up and start drinking water and kunu or koko (both millet porridge like drinks) and get ready to venture out in to the village flashlight in hand to find something a little more substantial. After that I take a little nap for a couple of hours.

During the day, most people can be found napping in the shade. That is after they return from the work in the fields.

In the evenings I plan to stay up drinking tea and eating for most of the night. Also, I found out ice will be available at five o’clock from Mayahi--what a treat!