First of the Videos

I present my villagers saying goodbye to me and saying hello to all of my friends and family back home.

This is Illa, he was my landlord and neighbor. The setting is just outside of my house. I spent a lot of time with his family. In the background is Chaibou (next to the cart) and Moubarak (the little one to the left).

I'm hoping I'll get a few more of these up before I hit the road. So far this is the shortest of them and therefore the easiest to upload. One hour of uploading for a 6 second video. C'est la vie au Niger.

I can't promise I'll transcribe them all, but this one is short.

Illa: A gaida guida. Greet your family.

Haven't Posted in a While

From Giraffes!

Thanks to everyone who has reminded me that I haven't posted in a while. I'm currently in Niamey and I'm working on all the paperwork that I have to complete before I leave Niger. There is quite a lot of reports that Peace Corps requires and it's a bit difficult to concentrate in front of a computer when you spent most of your time in the bush. My eyes are getting tired.

I'm out of here in a week and I'll try to get a few more posts up before I leave.

Until then check out these pictures if you haven't seen them on facebook already.

Enjoy.

America!!!

So much to say, so many comparisons. I don't know where to start.

Since I'm on vacation, I'm not gonna write too much on here.

But, I did want to let you know that my friend Jeremy has internet at his post now and he's been working on a "Week in the Life of...". He's in a city post and thought people would be interested in reading something a little different.

Start here (day 1)

Then go here (day 2)

Then here (day 3)

Then go to his blog and check back.

Hope y'all enjoy.

Homecoming

From Kokowa - Traditional Wrestling

I'm going home to America for 3 weeks. I must admit that I frightened. It will be the first time I have left Africa since I arrived in July of 2007. Wow!

I haven't really decided what all I'll be doing (or more importantly eating) but these things will come together.

The past few weeks have been great. We've finished yet another draft on the proposal that the mayor's office is writing for grain banks. I feel really great about this project because I'm not actually writing the proposal. I wanted to teach them how to do it and so far it's going slow, but it's going. As they say here, "sannu sannu, ba ta hana zuwa". Going slowly doesn't prevent one from going.

Things are still going well with the student governments, but nothing major to report.

Ryan, Tim, and I did a radio show in Maradi last week. It was my first time to do a radio show in Maradi and the radio station there is really nice.

More to come soon. Check out these other photos. Sorry didn't have time to sort them properly and add captions, but coming soon... hopefully.

Kids
Traditional Wrestling - Kokowa
Zinder

Malam Ibro and Hyena

This is a folk tale that was written by Seyni Maïga Adama the head-master at the college (middle school level) in my village. He is originally from the other side of the country near the town of Tera. He wrote it and I edited it a bit. I hope you enjoy, more to come later.

Malam Ibro was a great Marabout. Talibé from different tribes and countries came to study Islamic theology in his school. One day he decided to go on pilgrimage to Mecca. At that time there were no cars and no motorocycles. People traveled on foot or by horse. Malam Ibro took a horse and went to Mecca. On his way he met Hyena. Hyena was very hungry. She asked Malam Ibro to kill for her, and then she would carry him to Mecca and back. Malam Ibro accepted and killed his horse for Hyena. When Hyena finished her meal, she ran away into the bushes laughing at him.

Malam Ibro took his baggage and went to sit hopelessly under a big baobab tree on the riverside. Hare came out from the bushes to drink from the river. When he saw Malam Ibro he went to greet him. After they greeted each other, Malam Ibro told him his problem. Hare knew exactly what to do. He told Malam Ibro to wait for him in the bushes and he would bring Hyena.

Hare went into the bush and met Hyena. He told Hyena that he had organized a great feast for his birthday celebration and nobody came. Hare did not know what to do with all of the food and all of the meat. Hare asked Hyena to take a message to all of the animals and to tell them to come quickly. Hyena told him that it would be of no use and that he himself would have to play the role of all of the animals of the bush.

On their way to the place where Malam Ibro was hidden, Hare moved slowly and Hyena asked him to hurry up. He told her that his leg was hurting him. Hyena asked Hare to ride her and he did it. He rode her to the river side and before he realized what was going on they reached the tree where Malam Ibro was hidden. Malam Ibro caught Hyena and rode her all the way to Mecca. When they reached Mecca, Malam Ibro tied up Hyena and performed his ritual washings before prayer.

During the journey, Hyena didn’t eat anything. People tried to give her vegetables and grass, but she could not eat them. In Mecca she saw some children eating meat and she begged them for the bones. Full of fear the children ran away and told their parents that the horse of Malam Ibro asked for the bones they were eating. When the adults arrived, they realized that it was not a real horse at all, but Hyena. They beat her and when she was free, she ran back to the bush.

Hyena came back to the bush very worn out, hungry, and correctly beaten. After she rested a while she went to the river to drink. At the river she met lady Tortoise. Hyena told Tortoise to go into the woods, fetch firewood, make a fire and kill and roast herself. Then, Hyena would eat her, because she was dying of hunger and fatigue. Tortoise went into the bush fetching wood to do what Hyena ordered her to do. She was fetching wood and crying. By fortune she came across Hare who asked her what was the matter. Hare told Tortoise to climb a tree and he would call to her and if Hyena asks you what was going on you should tell her that Malam Ibro was looking for Hyena.

Tortoise executed the plan and Hyena asked her who was calling. Tortoise told her that it was Malam Ibro. Upon hearing the name of Malam Ibro she ran like a fugitive into the bushes.

After helping Malam Ibro, Hare saved the life of Tortoise, proving once again that Tortoise and Hyena are two of the stupidest animals in the bush.