We leave for Ayorou tomorrow!!! We are so excited! We will start our literacy classes next week. This week we will be getting to know some of the people we will be teaching and other people in the village. The only sad thing about moving to the village is leaving behind our friends here and our family that we’ve been with for the past month. L We left our family Saturday and it was really hard. We plan on visiting them every time we come into town though, so we are really looking forward to that!
Our language learning has gone really well, but now we are not so sure about going out and talking to people on our own! We can speak pretty well and our teacher did very well in teaching us how to think of Zarma words to use instead of trying to directly translate from English to Zarma. The difficult part is understanding everything people say. Most people talk a lot faster than what we can hear right now. If there is a word we don’t know, that one word can totally change the meaning of the sentence which makes it hard to give them the right response. We may think they said one thing when they actually said something totally different! Because our people speak a different dialect of Zarma, one thing we’ll encounter in the village is different pronunciation of certain words. Our supervisor was telling us that the words we learned that start with an “f” will start with an “h”. Like “foy” (sauce) will be “hoy”. We’ll have to be paying a lot of attention and we’ll probably end up playing the “sounds like” game… Learning a new language is so fun, but it also fries your brain at the same time! Lol What’s crazy is the capacity little kids have to learn multiple languages. There have been quite a few times when Crystal and I have said something in English and one of the kids around us would repeat it exactly! And it could be a big word that is very different from any word they have, but they still caught on to it! We have a hard time repeating some small words in Zarma!
Last Sunday we went to the museum with our sister and her fiancé. It’s more like a small zoo and museum mixed. There was a building with tools and artifacts from the villages that were used centuries ago and a lot of them are still used today, they just look a little different and have some modifications. They have lions, hippos, alligators, monkeys, hyenas, a different kind of owl that I’ve never seen before, and all kinds of African animals. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hyena before, unless I saw some at a zoo when I was really little. I was excited to see the hyenas, but disappointed because they were sleeping so I couldn’t hear if they actually do laugh or not. ;) The hippos were huge! Then we found out that the hippos around our village are actually bigger! Yikes… They also had 2 huge crocs. There were steps that led down to their cage, but the gate at the top of the steps was locked. However, you could easily jump over the gate and go down the steps to get a closer look at them, but Crystal and our big sister wouldn’t let me… Lol I still got some good pics of them though. ;) I promise I won’t get eaten by a croc or a hippo while I’m out here; but I can’t promise I won’t try to tame a zebra though… ;)
The language barrier here can be frustrating, but most of the time it’s just funny! The other night we showed our brother how to make the awkward turtle hand motion. When he finally got it all figured out and we explained with a mixture of Zarma and English what it meant, I said to Crystal, “We can write a 12-step book on teaching Africans the awkward turtle.” He wanted to know what I said, and I thought, “Oh, man! How are we gonna explain the 12-step thing to him?” So we tried, but in the end he thought we were saying that the turtle took 12 steps! We laughed so hard and he laughed ‘cause he thought we were just being weird (which we were Lol). After that it was time for the family to talk to JC, so we were spared from having to try to explain it better.
I really love the kids! The little boy who kept coming into our compound and calling us “anasara” finally started talking to us. Over this last week we got to kinda play with him, so that was fun. He has a LOT of energy! I think he’s around 4 or 5, so you can imagine what I mean when I say he’s got a lot of energy… ;) One of his friends would follow him into the compound and just smile real big at us! So cute! There was a little girl that would come in because she wanted me to make faces at her so she could copy me. The first evening she came by I made faces at her for about 10 minutes before she decided to leave and go get some more of her friends. While she was gone, one of the uncles of our family said that we were the first white people the girl had seen and she wanted us to be her friends. When she came back with a group of other kids, she came over to shake my hand, but was unsure about it. She grabbed the tips of my fingers then let go really fast and jumped back! Then after the other kids shook our hands she came back and shook my hand then went over and shook Crystal’s. They still like to holler “anasara” at us and want us to call them “boro bi”. The adults get a kick out of us calling the kids “boro bi” and will say to the kids something like, “Hey, there’s the anasara!” And they’ll point to the kids and call them “boro bi” too. What’s really funny is when we call the kids anasara. They look at their skin and then look at us and say, “Ay si anasara! Ni ga anasara! (I’m not anasara! You’re anasara!)” and giggle.
The daughter of some friends of the family stayed with us the last 2 weeks we were in our homestay. She’s 4 and adorable! Toward the end of the first week she finally decided she would talk to us, then after that she wouldn’t leave us alone! Lol She likes to give hugs and kisses, but she also likes to pull hair… Luckily our Zarma is enough to tell kids “no” when we need to ;) She was a lot of fun, and she would sing and clap all the time. She helped out our homestay mom cook and clean and it seemed like her favorite thing to do was pounding the seasonings and leaves for the sauces. Hmmm, a little kid that likes to pound things… imagine that! Lol At least here when they’re pounding it’s actually helping! Haha She wasn’t happy with us when we left Saturday; I don’t think she understood that we really didn’t live there. L We kept telling her over the past couple weeks, “Ay ga ba ni” (I love you). So the last few days we were there she would ask, “Ni ga ba ay?” (You love me?) And we would say, “O’O (yes), ay ga ba ni”. We miss her. We can’t wait to meet the kids in Ayorou!
We met a couple guys the other day that wanted to marry us… I have a hard time not laughing at people when I think they’re being silly, so unfortunately for my “suitor”, I laughed at him a lot. I wasn’t laughing to be rude, and I don’t think he ever caught on as to why I was laughing. I think he thought I didn’t understand what he was getting at, but I did understand. So when they came back a couple days later, we stayed in our room the whole time they were visiting. We pretended to be napping. It was pathetic, but it was funny. Just another adventure! Lol We stayed in our room til our older brother came home from work and told us they were gone. He asked us why we were still in our room (since rest time had been over for awhile…) and when we told him why, his eyebrows shot up and he started laughing. He told his parents why we stayed in there and they laughed and said it was ok to come out ‘cause they were gone. They teased us a lot about it, but it’s all good. It’s not like we haven’t met silly guys before…. ;)
We were so excited to get our first care package last week! We had been saying a few nights earlier that we really wanted double-stuff oreo cookies. In the package were 3 packages of not just oreos, but double-stuff oreos! When we ate them we were in heaven! They tasted so good! ;) Ask and you will receive! ;)
I’m experiencing my first time of ever feeling homesick. It hasn’t been bad, but when I have time to stop and think about what everyone is doing and what’s going on back home, I really want to be a part of what’s going on. At the same time though, I’m so happy and grateful to be here. I’ve always been one to want everyone I know to be in one place together, and that’s what I’m experiencing now; I just want everyone back home to be here and meet everyone I’ve met here and then we can all be together and share in this as one ginormous family! One day… ;)
We are so excited to finally be moving to the village and settling into our house! Everything we’ve been preparing for will finally start to come about! We’ve been planning for this for so long, and it’s finally coming! I’m excited, but don’t know what all to expect. All I can expect are great and wonderful things to happen. I can’t wait to see what has been prepared for us and who is waiting when we get there. I should have plenty of things to post in my next blog. Probably quite a bit of cultural “oops’” and what-not. Since we’re staring our first week of literacy training next week, I’m sure we’ll have plenty of stories as we will be working through the kinks and discovering what works and doesn’t work. I keep thinking of that Indiana Jones scene in The Last Crusades when he crosses the bridge that doesn't seem to really be there. Not until he takes that first step does he see the bridge that's already built for him...
Yall take care, and again, thank you all for your support and your continued support while we are over here! Yall are the best!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Ay ma Amanda
Zerma: Ay ma Amanda. Ay ay Amerik boro no, amma soho ay go Niger ra. Ay gonda jiiri waranka cindi hinka.
English: My name is Amanda. I am an American person, but now I am in Niger. I am 22 years old (or I have 22 years).
Oh, wow! I have a long update this time! Shall we start with a funny story? We are more than a week into our homestay, and already so much has happened! We had already spent one night and 2 days with our homestay family at the beginning of the week to get to know them before moving in. Saturday night, our first official night with them, I lost a flip-flop. Can you guess how?............... Well, I went to the latrine to take care of business and to nu may (shower). I happened to drop my right flip-flop into the latrine hole! Ewe! I started laughing and was hoping someone had an extra pair of shoes until our supervisors could bring me one of mine on Sunday. I finished my shower and walked out barefoot, holding my lonely flip-flop. They began asking where my taamu (shoe) was. I told them I dropped it in the hole and made a circle with my hands. They repeated what I said in Zarma and used hand motions. I nodded, giggled, and said, “O’o” meaning “yes”. They all started laughing and every time someone else came home, they told them what I did… They would look over at me and start laughing. Crystal and I still think it’s hilarious. I would much rather lose my shoe in the hole than fall in myself. ;)
We also had our first experience with a rain storm. That was a hoot! You know when it’s coming: the sky turns red-orange because it’s blowing a dust storm at first. After the dust storm, the rain may or not come right away. Sometimes it comes the next day. The other night, we were all snug in our cots, but the wind was blowing and the air smelled like rain. So I kept waking up and looking at the sky. One time I woke up and the sky was orange. I looked over at our friend’s cot next to us and she was rolling up her mosquito net. She looked at me and said, “Get up.” So I woke Crystal up and we folded up our cots and ran inside just before the dust storm hit. About 20 minutes after the dust storm passed, she told us we could all go back outside because it wasn’t raining. We were glad to go outside because it was very hot inside. Because of the weather, it was nice and cool outside. They laid a mat on the ground for us and we rolled our cot mattresses on it and tucked in the mosquito net. We were sleeping very comfortably in the cool weather when I woke up and felt rain drops. I woke Crystal up again and told her it was raining. We started to pack up again and our friend woke up and started laughing and we were all laughing as we ran back inside just before the rain hit! Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep that night, but the weather was so nice and cool the next day! Which also made for a very cold shower that morning. ;)
We’ve also completed our first week of language classes. Whew! Our brains hurt! Lol We have 3 weeks left of language learning and our homestay before we go to the village. By the time we get there, we should be able to have a good conversation with a comfortable flow. Between our language teacher and our homestay family, we are learning a lot, and they won’t let us revert back to English! We have to find a way around our limited vocabulary to answer questions. It’s really good for us and it helps us to try and think in Zarma. Our orientation supervisor told us that for a while we were going to be like 2 year olds because we were learning a culture and learning a language. We have to have people teach us and correct us like parents have to do with toddlers. It makes sense, but I realized that real 2 year olds have it a bit easier: 2 year olds don’t already have a set vocabulary and way of doing things. They aren’t trying to forget what the English word is for something so they can remember the Zarma word for it. One word we have learned very well is “Anasara!” It means “white person”, and the kids holler it every time we walk by. We just smile and say “Fofo!” (hello). Now when the kids call out “Anasara!” we say back “Boro bi!” which is “black person”. They get a kick out of it and keep wanting us to say it again. The other day we had a large group of kids following us. When they shouted “Anasara”, Crystal hollered “Boro bi!” So they came up to us and were holding our hands and arms. They pointed to their arms and said, “Say color.” Crystal said, “Color.” They pointed to their arms and said, “No, say color.” So she said, “Boro bi” and they busted up laughing again.
Friday we sat outside and visited with people around our age. We didn’t realize at first that they spoke mostly Hausa instead of Zarma. They knew we were learning Zarma and tried to talk to us in what Zarma they knew, but we didn’t understand everything they were saying. We would respond in Zarma, and they would be confused too. Then we realized they were speaking Hausa and Zarma together! We were catching words here and there, and they were catching some of our words, but none of us were able to completely understand the other. It was crazy and funny, but we made it through and they wanted us to visit with them again, so we felt pretty good about it. We were able to have some conversation, it just didn’t flow nicely, but, hey, ya gotta start somewhere!
I really love being out here, but I’m starting to have cravings. Like, right now I drink powdered milk in the mornings… I’m dying for a nice, cold glass of vitamin D cow’s milk! And with the heat, I would love some DQ right now! Reese’s blizzard or cookie dough! Yum! Awe, just pure chocolate ice cream would be amazing! The ice cream here is $8-$10. So the craving goes away rather quickly. I’ll probly break down around August or September and get some. I don’t know, we’ll see. Oh, and iced tea, not hot tea. It’s hard drinking hot tea when it’s 115 degrees, lol. The funny thing is though, I LOVE black-eyed peas, but I don’t have them a lot in the States. So, I actually crave them a lot. On the plane over here I thought, “I won’t be able to buy black-eyed peas or grits!” Well, I’ve had black-eyed peas at least twice a week, and oh, man! I love it! And we found out that our supervisors brought a LOT of grits with them because he loves them too. They brought so many that they haven’t gone through them all in the 2 ½ years they’ve been here. So they said I could have some grits. J
I think food is the only American thing I’m missing right now, because I get to be outside all the time. We hang out outside, go walking, eat outside and sleep outside. And even though our language learning is in a building, the doors are wide open and the table is right by the doors, so we basically have class outside. And being outside means there are kids and animals everywhere! My two absolute favorites! Crystal makes fun of me because of all my animal pics. And I can name most of the animals in Zarma! I do miss dogs though. The dogs here are all wild, and people don’t like dogs at all. They eat livestock and are not pets. So the only dog I’ve been able to pet is our director’s German Shepherd. But our homestay family has a cat who likes to play and cuddle and catch lizards and mice.
Heehee there were 2 little boys Friday that would peek into the door of our gate and either stare at us or say “Anasara!” and giggle and run away. So we started playing peek-a-boo with them and peeking our heads around the other side of the door and they’d run away and giggle and come back. One of them was really brave and would come really close to us before running away. Sometimes he would walk into the compound and walk to the other side. As he would walk by, he would turn his head and not look at us, and just before he would get on the other side of the building, he would quick look, then walk faster cause we were looking at him. A few times he crawled under the bench we were sitting on and we would tickle him. He would squirm and giggle, but he scampered away rather slowly… he wasn’t in a hurry to run away. He’s been walking back and forth in the compound the last few days. He makes us laugh. We know his name too, so when we call to him he grins and runs away.
We’re getting anxious to head out to our village and start the literacy training, but we are enjoying our time here as well. We started our 2nd week of language learning today, which means we only have 2 Mondays left! Today was hard starting out; we were tired and our brains weren’t quite ready for language study. But he had a lighter load for us today, so that was nice. Tomorrow we should be ready to dive right in! We are doing pretty well when it comes to conversations, we just have to think about it or ask people to repeat themselves. It’s especially hard when they throw in a new word! And it helps when they use hand gestures Lol
The heat isn’t too bad; either that or I’m getting used to it. I really don’t know what the temperature’s been, but I don’t really want to know. We bathe 3 times a day. Once in the morning after we wake up, once in the afternoon after naptime, and once in the evening. It’s nice because we can rinse all that sweat and dirt off and feel refreshed throughout the day. At first they used to carry the water bucket in for us; I think they thought we were fragile because they carried everything for us. I just giggled to myself because I had to carry two of those water buckets at one time to water my horse twice a day in the winter Lol.
Yesterday we made lunch, which was mo (rice) and foy (sauce). The foy is a tomato-like sauce, but mixed with peanut butter! Don't make an "ick face", I promise it's really good! It's sounds wierd, but it's amazing! :)
Well, I hope everything is going well back home. We have heard some news and are thinking about those a lot. It would be nice to hear some happy news about our country, so if you’ve got any, please let me know! You are yall in my thoughts daily and I miss you all! Wish yall could be here to share all this with! Take care!
English: My name is Amanda. I am an American person, but now I am in Niger. I am 22 years old (or I have 22 years).
Oh, wow! I have a long update this time! Shall we start with a funny story? We are more than a week into our homestay, and already so much has happened! We had already spent one night and 2 days with our homestay family at the beginning of the week to get to know them before moving in. Saturday night, our first official night with them, I lost a flip-flop. Can you guess how?............... Well, I went to the latrine to take care of business and to nu may (shower). I happened to drop my right flip-flop into the latrine hole! Ewe! I started laughing and was hoping someone had an extra pair of shoes until our supervisors could bring me one of mine on Sunday. I finished my shower and walked out barefoot, holding my lonely flip-flop. They began asking where my taamu (shoe) was. I told them I dropped it in the hole and made a circle with my hands. They repeated what I said in Zarma and used hand motions. I nodded, giggled, and said, “O’o” meaning “yes”. They all started laughing and every time someone else came home, they told them what I did… They would look over at me and start laughing. Crystal and I still think it’s hilarious. I would much rather lose my shoe in the hole than fall in myself. ;)
We also had our first experience with a rain storm. That was a hoot! You know when it’s coming: the sky turns red-orange because it’s blowing a dust storm at first. After the dust storm, the rain may or not come right away. Sometimes it comes the next day. The other night, we were all snug in our cots, but the wind was blowing and the air smelled like rain. So I kept waking up and looking at the sky. One time I woke up and the sky was orange. I looked over at our friend’s cot next to us and she was rolling up her mosquito net. She looked at me and said, “Get up.” So I woke Crystal up and we folded up our cots and ran inside just before the dust storm hit. About 20 minutes after the dust storm passed, she told us we could all go back outside because it wasn’t raining. We were glad to go outside because it was very hot inside. Because of the weather, it was nice and cool outside. They laid a mat on the ground for us and we rolled our cot mattresses on it and tucked in the mosquito net. We were sleeping very comfortably in the cool weather when I woke up and felt rain drops. I woke Crystal up again and told her it was raining. We started to pack up again and our friend woke up and started laughing and we were all laughing as we ran back inside just before the rain hit! Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep that night, but the weather was so nice and cool the next day! Which also made for a very cold shower that morning. ;)
We’ve also completed our first week of language classes. Whew! Our brains hurt! Lol We have 3 weeks left of language learning and our homestay before we go to the village. By the time we get there, we should be able to have a good conversation with a comfortable flow. Between our language teacher and our homestay family, we are learning a lot, and they won’t let us revert back to English! We have to find a way around our limited vocabulary to answer questions. It’s really good for us and it helps us to try and think in Zarma. Our orientation supervisor told us that for a while we were going to be like 2 year olds because we were learning a culture and learning a language. We have to have people teach us and correct us like parents have to do with toddlers. It makes sense, but I realized that real 2 year olds have it a bit easier: 2 year olds don’t already have a set vocabulary and way of doing things. They aren’t trying to forget what the English word is for something so they can remember the Zarma word for it. One word we have learned very well is “Anasara!” It means “white person”, and the kids holler it every time we walk by. We just smile and say “Fofo!” (hello). Now when the kids call out “Anasara!” we say back “Boro bi!” which is “black person”. They get a kick out of it and keep wanting us to say it again. The other day we had a large group of kids following us. When they shouted “Anasara”, Crystal hollered “Boro bi!” So they came up to us and were holding our hands and arms. They pointed to their arms and said, “Say color.” Crystal said, “Color.” They pointed to their arms and said, “No, say color.” So she said, “Boro bi” and they busted up laughing again.
Friday we sat outside and visited with people around our age. We didn’t realize at first that they spoke mostly Hausa instead of Zarma. They knew we were learning Zarma and tried to talk to us in what Zarma they knew, but we didn’t understand everything they were saying. We would respond in Zarma, and they would be confused too. Then we realized they were speaking Hausa and Zarma together! We were catching words here and there, and they were catching some of our words, but none of us were able to completely understand the other. It was crazy and funny, but we made it through and they wanted us to visit with them again, so we felt pretty good about it. We were able to have some conversation, it just didn’t flow nicely, but, hey, ya gotta start somewhere!
I really love being out here, but I’m starting to have cravings. Like, right now I drink powdered milk in the mornings… I’m dying for a nice, cold glass of vitamin D cow’s milk! And with the heat, I would love some DQ right now! Reese’s blizzard or cookie dough! Yum! Awe, just pure chocolate ice cream would be amazing! The ice cream here is $8-$10. So the craving goes away rather quickly. I’ll probly break down around August or September and get some. I don’t know, we’ll see. Oh, and iced tea, not hot tea. It’s hard drinking hot tea when it’s 115 degrees, lol. The funny thing is though, I LOVE black-eyed peas, but I don’t have them a lot in the States. So, I actually crave them a lot. On the plane over here I thought, “I won’t be able to buy black-eyed peas or grits!” Well, I’ve had black-eyed peas at least twice a week, and oh, man! I love it! And we found out that our supervisors brought a LOT of grits with them because he loves them too. They brought so many that they haven’t gone through them all in the 2 ½ years they’ve been here. So they said I could have some grits. J
I think food is the only American thing I’m missing right now, because I get to be outside all the time. We hang out outside, go walking, eat outside and sleep outside. And even though our language learning is in a building, the doors are wide open and the table is right by the doors, so we basically have class outside. And being outside means there are kids and animals everywhere! My two absolute favorites! Crystal makes fun of me because of all my animal pics. And I can name most of the animals in Zarma! I do miss dogs though. The dogs here are all wild, and people don’t like dogs at all. They eat livestock and are not pets. So the only dog I’ve been able to pet is our director’s German Shepherd. But our homestay family has a cat who likes to play and cuddle and catch lizards and mice.
Heehee there were 2 little boys Friday that would peek into the door of our gate and either stare at us or say “Anasara!” and giggle and run away. So we started playing peek-a-boo with them and peeking our heads around the other side of the door and they’d run away and giggle and come back. One of them was really brave and would come really close to us before running away. Sometimes he would walk into the compound and walk to the other side. As he would walk by, he would turn his head and not look at us, and just before he would get on the other side of the building, he would quick look, then walk faster cause we were looking at him. A few times he crawled under the bench we were sitting on and we would tickle him. He would squirm and giggle, but he scampered away rather slowly… he wasn’t in a hurry to run away. He’s been walking back and forth in the compound the last few days. He makes us laugh. We know his name too, so when we call to him he grins and runs away.
We’re getting anxious to head out to our village and start the literacy training, but we are enjoying our time here as well. We started our 2nd week of language learning today, which means we only have 2 Mondays left! Today was hard starting out; we were tired and our brains weren’t quite ready for language study. But he had a lighter load for us today, so that was nice. Tomorrow we should be ready to dive right in! We are doing pretty well when it comes to conversations, we just have to think about it or ask people to repeat themselves. It’s especially hard when they throw in a new word! And it helps when they use hand gestures Lol
The heat isn’t too bad; either that or I’m getting used to it. I really don’t know what the temperature’s been, but I don’t really want to know. We bathe 3 times a day. Once in the morning after we wake up, once in the afternoon after naptime, and once in the evening. It’s nice because we can rinse all that sweat and dirt off and feel refreshed throughout the day. At first they used to carry the water bucket in for us; I think they thought we were fragile because they carried everything for us. I just giggled to myself because I had to carry two of those water buckets at one time to water my horse twice a day in the winter Lol.
Yesterday we made lunch, which was mo (rice) and foy (sauce). The foy is a tomato-like sauce, but mixed with peanut butter! Don't make an "ick face", I promise it's really good! It's sounds wierd, but it's amazing! :)
Well, I hope everything is going well back home. We have heard some news and are thinking about those a lot. It would be nice to hear some happy news about our country, so if you’ve got any, please let me know! You are yall in my thoughts daily and I miss you all! Wish yall could be here to share all this with! Take care!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Stories, Stories, Stories!
Ok, we've been here for a week and it already feels like we've been here a long time! But it's not a bad thing, we've just been doing a lot! Each team has been to 2 different markets with our outstanding guide. He tests us on our language and taxi skills, and especially our math skills while using cfa. One market is a little more low key, meaning there aren't beggars following you everywhere. The other one has more activity and beggars are everywhere. The beggars aren't what everyone normally thinks. Sometimes you can say "no" once and they move on to someone else. Others you have to say it a few times, but if you keep walking they eventually move on. We still don't understand what the guys are saying when we pass by, but I figured I'm going to miss being ignorant when I finally know the language enough to understand what they're saying. Lol Right now, I can just say "no" because it works for whatever they are saying. "No, I don't have money. No, I won't marry you. No, I'm not French." That's another thing I didn't expect here. I really thought everyone would assume we were Americans, but everyone tries to speak French to us! None of us know French! It's funny, cause for some of them, we know as much as they do, which is only "Bonjour!" Crystal and I met a group of kids playing yesterday and they all stopped to wave at us and say hello. They started with bonjour, but one little boy said "Hey!" Finally, an American greeting! Haha It was cute, so of course we said "hey" back. ;)
Yesterday evening we got to venture out on our own to the market without our guide... But we made it! We even bargained a little, and we basically did it without using the language, cause we just don't have the language down. And in the market are all kinds of people from the different tribes, so whatever words we do know aren't guaranteed to be understood by everyone. The first place we went to was a grocery store that we had gone to before, but unfortunately it was closed when we got there. We started to cross the street, but all of these men who had things to sell crowded around us and said, "Come! Come!" So we went with the crowd, and I ended up playing a game of mancala with one of them. I tried not to at first so we could just keep walking and go to the market instead, but while the girls stopped to look at the earrings, I went ahead and played the game. We were getting to the end of the game (not sure if I was winning or not), when the girls came up and said, "We're leaving right now." Apparently they were having a stressful time cause everyone was trying to sell them everything, and there I was playing a game! The poor guy probly thought I was going to buy it, but they were asking more than what we had to spend. I've been wanting to buy one anyway, so I'll look for him the next time we're on that corner. After that we found a store where we could buy a coke. The guy that helped us was around our age and knew some english so we were able to visit with him while we drank our cokes. Then he said he had a song to play for us. It was an American rap song about our president. We laughed, but it was fun hearing American music for a change.
The other day we practiced carrying water on our heads. It looks simple enough... but it's not as easy as it looks at first Lol Lifting the huge bucket off the ground and onto your head gets you a little wet. Then if the water hasn't finished sloshing before you start walking, gets you a little more wet. But we got our water in the barrel and filled it. We actually didn't spill a lot of water. We used that water for our bucket baths the next night. That was intersting too. But easy. We each used a half bucket or less of water to wash our hair and everything else! Yes, ladies, it's totally possible!
Our orientation leader decided we should use the latrine out back (a.k.a the nice little hole) to go to the bathroom for a couple days... After the 2nd day she gave us the plastic teapot I told yall about so we could clean ourselves (instead of using toilet paper) and to wash our hands. I will tell more of those stories later... ;) I will say that accomplishing this feat made me feel like a 3 yr old on those pull-ups commercials, "Mommy, Mommy! I'm a big kid now!" Lol
We will be going to our homestays next weekend where we will start our in-depth language learning and cultural learning that is more true to our village. Right now we are growing accustomed to the city life. Thus the reason for all the training with the water and the "hole." We'll be staying with a family who will speak only Zarma with us and show us how to wash our clothes, cook, and master carrying water on our heads. Our language teacher will start teaching us then as well. We'll be there for about a month, then we will head to our village and settle in to our hut. We're anxious to just be settled and be in our home and around our neighbors. Along with the goat we plan to buy, we're going to plant a garden too. The women in our village garden, so we thought that would be a good way to get to know them and they can help us too. That will also help in learning the language as well. Anything we can think of to build relationships with them, we are going to try. Even just going to fetch water will bring opportunities to get to know the women better. There's a water pump that everyone goes to, so you have to wait in line for your turn at the pump, so there will be plenty of time for visiting.
Well, I will end here for now. Hopefully we'll be able to get online next weekend and give you one more update before we head to the village! If not, then I will have some homestay stories as well!
Thank you for all your support and getting us here!
Yesterday evening we got to venture out on our own to the market without our guide... But we made it! We even bargained a little, and we basically did it without using the language, cause we just don't have the language down. And in the market are all kinds of people from the different tribes, so whatever words we do know aren't guaranteed to be understood by everyone. The first place we went to was a grocery store that we had gone to before, but unfortunately it was closed when we got there. We started to cross the street, but all of these men who had things to sell crowded around us and said, "Come! Come!" So we went with the crowd, and I ended up playing a game of mancala with one of them. I tried not to at first so we could just keep walking and go to the market instead, but while the girls stopped to look at the earrings, I went ahead and played the game. We were getting to the end of the game (not sure if I was winning or not), when the girls came up and said, "We're leaving right now." Apparently they were having a stressful time cause everyone was trying to sell them everything, and there I was playing a game! The poor guy probly thought I was going to buy it, but they were asking more than what we had to spend. I've been wanting to buy one anyway, so I'll look for him the next time we're on that corner. After that we found a store where we could buy a coke. The guy that helped us was around our age and knew some english so we were able to visit with him while we drank our cokes. Then he said he had a song to play for us. It was an American rap song about our president. We laughed, but it was fun hearing American music for a change.
The other day we practiced carrying water on our heads. It looks simple enough... but it's not as easy as it looks at first Lol Lifting the huge bucket off the ground and onto your head gets you a little wet. Then if the water hasn't finished sloshing before you start walking, gets you a little more wet. But we got our water in the barrel and filled it. We actually didn't spill a lot of water. We used that water for our bucket baths the next night. That was intersting too. But easy. We each used a half bucket or less of water to wash our hair and everything else! Yes, ladies, it's totally possible!
Our orientation leader decided we should use the latrine out back (a.k.a the nice little hole) to go to the bathroom for a couple days... After the 2nd day she gave us the plastic teapot I told yall about so we could clean ourselves (instead of using toilet paper) and to wash our hands. I will tell more of those stories later... ;) I will say that accomplishing this feat made me feel like a 3 yr old on those pull-ups commercials, "Mommy, Mommy! I'm a big kid now!" Lol
We will be going to our homestays next weekend where we will start our in-depth language learning and cultural learning that is more true to our village. Right now we are growing accustomed to the city life. Thus the reason for all the training with the water and the "hole." We'll be staying with a family who will speak only Zarma with us and show us how to wash our clothes, cook, and master carrying water on our heads. Our language teacher will start teaching us then as well. We'll be there for about a month, then we will head to our village and settle in to our hut. We're anxious to just be settled and be in our home and around our neighbors. Along with the goat we plan to buy, we're going to plant a garden too. The women in our village garden, so we thought that would be a good way to get to know them and they can help us too. That will also help in learning the language as well. Anything we can think of to build relationships with them, we are going to try. Even just going to fetch water will bring opportunities to get to know the women better. There's a water pump that everyone goes to, so you have to wait in line for your turn at the pump, so there will be plenty of time for visiting.
Well, I will end here for now. Hopefully we'll be able to get online next weekend and give you one more update before we head to the village! If not, then I will have some homestay stories as well!
Thank you for all your support and getting us here!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
First Day!
Well, we are finally here! The plane rides and layovers were so long, the layovers way longer than the plane rides. But it worked out because we were exhausted when we got here so we were able to sleep through till the morning, even though in the states we would have still been up. It's a 6 hour difference here from central time.
Yesterday we started right in on observing the culture. Two friends from the University came and were our guides for the day. Lindsay and I were paired up, and our guide took us to spend a good part of the day with his family. They prepare food and cook all day long. They make extra so they can sell it in the evenings. There are 13 children in his family. He was quite surpised when we told him that Lindsay had only 2 siblings and I only had 1!
His mother had a large bucket of corn that she was preparing. She would rub the kernals with her fingers to get the loose stuff off of it (I don't know what it's called; like chafe?), then she would scoop it into a flat dish with a lip on it and separate the corn from the chafe stuff. Then she would flip the plate up so the chafe would fall off the plate into a bowl; she never lost a corn kernal. She was diligent and fast with it that the chafe was the only thing that spilled off the plate, no matter how close the corn got to the edge! All the extra stuff that they didn't use in the cooking went to the animals. They had a few goats and a couple cows.
The cows here a brauma, and like the goats, they just walk around freely. The goats will come home on their own in the evening. The first day you have a goat, you're sposed to show him where his home is. The next day, you go and get him when it's time to come home and show him where home is. Everyday after that, he goes home by himself. I wish all animals were like that! Goats and sheep look the same here. You will think all you see are goats, but you are also looking at sheep. To tell the difference, you have to look at the tail. Sheep tails go down, goat tails go up. Once I get some goat and sheep pics posted, you'll know what I mean. I guarentee you won't notice the sheep without looking at the tails. Lol
Crystal and I are going to get a goat when we get to the village so we'll have milk. We can also give the milk to our neighbors and to mothers with little kids. We have to milk it everyday, so we'll have extra to share since it's just the 2 of us. We'll probly learn how to make butter too, which would be awesome!
We got a few proposals yesterday. Each time, our guide would just laugh and tell us, "There's another.... and another..." Right now it's hard to tell the difference between a proposal, a greeting, or asking for money. We drove through the market, and people were coming to the window trying to sell things (like phone cards and such). One guy was sitting on a skateboard and rolled up to my window. I thought he wanted money, so I just kept saying no every time he said something. When our taxi drove forward again, the guy said something as we left. Our guide laughed and asked if I understood. I asked if he had wanted money, and he laughed again and said, "He said he'd be waiting right here for you when you came back! He wants to marry you!"
They eat with their hands here too. You scoop it up and throw it in your mouth. Lyndsay and I didn't experinence this yesterday, but the other girls did, and it sounded like a sight to see!
The heat isn't too bad yet, this is the cool season. It's like Arizona just before summer hits.
The layover in Casablanca was really fun. We met a few people and played with some kids. They were going to Africa to visit family. One girl we met is a student in NY, but lives here. She helped us a lot, especially when we needed a translator when the shuttle driver was speaking to us in French and we didn't understand him. Everyone speaks French, so of course, everyone automatically thinks since we're white we speak French. It's funny, but now I wish I knew French. I never thought I needed it, so I didn't bother with it. Oops... The girl we met gave us her number and wants us to come over sometime to visit and hang out in her pool. We are going to try to meet up with her before orientation ends.
Well, I'm going to end here for now. We will have internet access all day on Saturday, and I'm sure I will have some stories to tell!
Love you all!
Yesterday we started right in on observing the culture. Two friends from the University came and were our guides for the day. Lindsay and I were paired up, and our guide took us to spend a good part of the day with his family. They prepare food and cook all day long. They make extra so they can sell it in the evenings. There are 13 children in his family. He was quite surpised when we told him that Lindsay had only 2 siblings and I only had 1!
His mother had a large bucket of corn that she was preparing. She would rub the kernals with her fingers to get the loose stuff off of it (I don't know what it's called; like chafe?), then she would scoop it into a flat dish with a lip on it and separate the corn from the chafe stuff. Then she would flip the plate up so the chafe would fall off the plate into a bowl; she never lost a corn kernal. She was diligent and fast with it that the chafe was the only thing that spilled off the plate, no matter how close the corn got to the edge! All the extra stuff that they didn't use in the cooking went to the animals. They had a few goats and a couple cows.
The cows here a brauma, and like the goats, they just walk around freely. The goats will come home on their own in the evening. The first day you have a goat, you're sposed to show him where his home is. The next day, you go and get him when it's time to come home and show him where home is. Everyday after that, he goes home by himself. I wish all animals were like that! Goats and sheep look the same here. You will think all you see are goats, but you are also looking at sheep. To tell the difference, you have to look at the tail. Sheep tails go down, goat tails go up. Once I get some goat and sheep pics posted, you'll know what I mean. I guarentee you won't notice the sheep without looking at the tails. Lol
Crystal and I are going to get a goat when we get to the village so we'll have milk. We can also give the milk to our neighbors and to mothers with little kids. We have to milk it everyday, so we'll have extra to share since it's just the 2 of us. We'll probly learn how to make butter too, which would be awesome!
We got a few proposals yesterday. Each time, our guide would just laugh and tell us, "There's another.... and another..." Right now it's hard to tell the difference between a proposal, a greeting, or asking for money. We drove through the market, and people were coming to the window trying to sell things (like phone cards and such). One guy was sitting on a skateboard and rolled up to my window. I thought he wanted money, so I just kept saying no every time he said something. When our taxi drove forward again, the guy said something as we left. Our guide laughed and asked if I understood. I asked if he had wanted money, and he laughed again and said, "He said he'd be waiting right here for you when you came back! He wants to marry you!"
They eat with their hands here too. You scoop it up and throw it in your mouth. Lyndsay and I didn't experinence this yesterday, but the other girls did, and it sounded like a sight to see!
The heat isn't too bad yet, this is the cool season. It's like Arizona just before summer hits.
The layover in Casablanca was really fun. We met a few people and played with some kids. They were going to Africa to visit family. One girl we met is a student in NY, but lives here. She helped us a lot, especially when we needed a translator when the shuttle driver was speaking to us in French and we didn't understand him. Everyone speaks French, so of course, everyone automatically thinks since we're white we speak French. It's funny, but now I wish I knew French. I never thought I needed it, so I didn't bother with it. Oops... The girl we met gave us her number and wants us to come over sometime to visit and hang out in her pool. We are going to try to meet up with her before orientation ends.
Well, I'm going to end here for now. We will have internet access all day on Saturday, and I'm sure I will have some stories to tell!
Love you all!
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