The thing about learning a new language is that I don’t know which language to speak half the time! When we are in Ayorou, all we speak is Zarma because that is the only way to communicate with the people there. However, when we go to the city, there is a mixture of different people. The common language is French, of which I only know 9 words… So whenever I see someone, I automatically start to say “Fofo”, but the French and Lebanese people don’t speak Zarma, and not all Africans speak Zarma. We were in the store the other day in Niamey, and one of the guys that boxes/bags your groceries asked if we wanted our stuff in a box to put in our car or in bags to carry. Even though he was speaking in English, I automatically began telling him in Zarma that we didn’t have a car and we came in a taxi so we would needs bags. I stopped halfway through my sentence when I realized the guy wasn’t listening to me and the Lebanese guy behind the counter had no clue what I was saying. Also, when we are staying in the guesthouse and run into volunteers and coworkers, who are almost all American, I have to stop and think about what language I need to speak to them in. It’s so crazy on my brain! Lol One time we were staying in the guesthouse with a team from Brazil. They spoke Portuguese, French, and Zarma. We speak English and Zarma. In order to communicate with each other, we had to use an African language! The times we talked to each other we would start out chuckling because of the irony of the situation. Our countries are so close to each other, but we have to have an African language to be able to communicate with each other.
We also had some yos from Kentucky stay in our village for a week. A “yo” in Zarma can mean camel or stranger (visitor from another country). In this case it means stranger. We had 2 men come and talk with the family and encourage them. During that time, around 7 people were added to the family. Our family here has been taking the time and initiative to invite others into the family. It has been an awesome experience to watch!
The other day one of our students walked home with us after we had done some morning visiting. He wanted to have some early reading lessons; guess he couldn’t wait til the afternoon. We love his eagerness to learn! I have this redneck whiteboard that I rigged up that he likes to write on. I had just enough lamination paper to cover one side of 4 sheets of paper. I covered the back side with duct tape to keep it sturdy and straight. You really can use duct tape for everything… So he decided he wanted to practice writing so he copied down one of the stories we use in class onto the whiteboard. He was so proud of himself, he had me take a couple photos of him with his work. He’s an awesome kid and learning very well. Afterward he took my camera and climbed up our tree so he could take pictures. He took a lot of people’s picture without them knowing it. I kept hearing him giggling softly in the tree. I could see him looking for people and then taking funny pictures. He also stuck his head underneath our gate and took pictures of some of the young people who sit outside our wall and talk all day. One of the girls caught him and he quickly ran back into the middle of the yard cracking up at himself. We also had a kitten, and he quietly put the kitten in the tree when we weren’t watching. We heard a little “meow” and looked around. Then we realized it was coming from the tree. We laughed but told him to get the cat down. He of course thought he was hilarious. Boys will be boys no matter what their culture is, Lol. I think guys have a whole culture of their own… ;)
We had a kitten for exactly 2 weeks. Our guard’s family had a kitten that had been left by its mother and they told us we could take him. He slept with me at night (we gave him a bath the first day…). He liked to sleep on top of my shoulder for some reason instead of curled up next to me. He was funny. The word for “cat” is “muusu”, but we called him Moussa, or Mous for short. We could carry him around in the palm of our hands, he was so tiny. He was kind of sickly when we first got him, but then he started getting real frisky and playful and we thought he’d be alright. Our guard even shared some chicken with him one night and he stuffed himself. But last Wednesday he got sick and wouldn’t eat or drink. He just laid around and had no energy to move. Our guard said he didn’t want the kitten do die because he was his friend and he shared his chicken with him. Finally, Friday afternoon when we came home from classes he was lying in his favorite spot, dead. I went and borrowed our supervisor’s shovel and buried him in the back yard. I cried a little bit, but then I did a mock burial and said a few words so I could laugh a little. It was definitely nice having a pet for awhile.
We also got one of the funniest proposals yet. There were two guys on their donkeys as we were walking on our way to class. One of them asked me if I wanted to buy his donkey. I actually did, but I said no. He asked if I knew how to ride, and said I did, but I didn’t want the donkey. So then after that he asked Crystal to marry him, but when we told him she had a boyfriend in America he said that wasn’t a problem because 2 husbands is “a boori (good)!” I laughed, shook my head and said, “A si boori (it’s not good)!” Then they disappeared behind a building and we were left alone to laugh and roll our eyes.
The other day we were certain we had encountered another scorpion. We were getting ready to leave the house and Crystal said. “Amanda! There’s something in my suitcase! It had a tail, I think it’s a scorpion!” I thought, “Oh, man, I hate those things!” I grabbed my pocket knife and we started grabbing clothes out of her suitcase and shaking them out. When we emptied the suitcase and didn’t find anything, we checked under her velcro liner; still nothing. Oh, man, where did it go? She started to reach down to shake out a towel when a head popped out! We jumped back, but then realized it was a baby lizard! Our scared voices turned into our “awe, he’s so cute” voices. We said, “Oh! It’s a baby lizard!” We tried to catch him with our hands, but he was too fast, so we caught him in an empty can, took a couple pictures and let him go. Our hearts had been beating so fast until we realized he was lizard and not a scorpion!
Well, we are headed back to Ayorou this afternoon. In a couple weeks we will be starting a study with some of our friends and sharing stories with them. We are hoping the language barrier will not be in the way because they will have many questions. It is hard to answer people’s questions directly when we don’t have a full vocabulary of the language, but we have the best Help we can ask for! ;) Thank you all again so much for your supports and your thoughts toward us! I miss you all and will see you soon! I’m sure we’ll have plenty more great and interesting things to report next time! Until then, kala tonton (see you later)!
