America - for a little while...

Ok, so I know that I was a terrible blogger during my time in Peace Corps, I chalk it up to bush living, slow internet, and hot days. Nonetheless I apologize to anyone who was trying to keep up with me through my blog. Currently I am back in America - I finished up my Peace Corps service about two months ago, and after a 12 day trip to Tunisa (before the rioting started) and Barcelona, I arrived home. For the past six weeks I have been hanging out, seeing friends and family, relaxing, and readjusting to life in America. So far I think my biggest readjustment issues have been missing my Nigerian friends and family and food in America. Food has been an issue, because in Niger I knew exactly where all of my food was coming from, I was present for every process from the time it was planted to the time it was eaten. In America I have no idea where my food has come from, so many things are processed or have unnecessary  ingredients I don't need or want to put into my body. The variety of food here is also so overwhelming! Despite the hardships of readjusting, I have been enjoying seeing friends and family here, having water and electricity everyday, and driving!

As good as it has been to be back in America, I am planning on shipping out again. This time I'm heading for Prague, Czech Republic. I'll be participating in a Teaching English as a Foreign Language program for four weeks and after that I'm hoping to find a job teaching. I'm so excited for this wonderful opportunity to learn something new and to travel and live in a different place. Because I'll have internet access daily I'll hopefully be updating my blog more regularly. (Inshallah!) So... stay tuned, I'll keep you posted on what I'm doing and where I'm at.

Hope all is well!

Caio!!

Ari

A Little Bit of This and That

Hey All!

So it has been quite a while since I last wrote, and I apologize profusely. :) There have been some big changes to Peace Corps Niger since I last wrote. We had some issues with attempted kidnappings in the Tahoua Region, which obviously caused a little bit of pandemonium here. The bureau was forced to shut down the entire Tahoua Region, which lies right smack dab in the middle of the route from Niamey to Zinder. Shutting down the region meant that all the PCVs there could no longer live there. Not only was the Tahoua Region completely closed, a few other clusters in the Tilliberry Region, and Maradi Region also had to close. This caused even more people to be displaced, forcing them all to relocate or go home. It was a pretty sad state of affairs, seeing that most had already been at their posts for over year, a lot of people chose to go home, and we had to say goodbye to a lot of really amazing people. On top of this loss, our sister stage who was due to COS (Close of Service) in December, was asked to leave earlier than expected. This lead to a lot of hasty goodbyes, and was also really unfortunate because a lot of people were not able to return to their sites and say goodbye to the people they had just spent the last two years of their lives with. On top of all of this loss of old friends, we also had to send all 37 of the new trainees, our future friends, to Madagascar. Overall it was a pretty sad time in Peace Corps Niger. We went from 123 people down to 73.

As of now we are still recovering from the loss of so many people. It is really unfortunate that we had to say goodbye to so many people, and it sucks that our new sister stage was sent to a different country, but I think a lot of us are happy that we are still here. It would have been devastating to say goodbye to the village, as I know it was for a lot of friends who had to leave. So while we are down, we are not out.

As for me, I am doing fine. Village life is going pretty good. Liz and I are planning a women's health fair for both of our villages next week. We are going to teach the women home remedies for conjunctivitis and diarrhea for their children, we are also going to cover basic wound care, talk about AIDS, and provide them with Moringa seeds for planting in their concessions. (Moringa is this incredible plant that provides much needed nutrients for Nigerien diets from eating the leaves. It is really tasty too!) I'm excited for the health fair, not only are we providing them with great information, it will be really nice to have something to do. Things around the village have been pretty slow lately. Its cold season, so there isn't a lot of work available for the men, so a lot go on exode to Nigeria. There are not a lot of people around, so life has been a little boring.

Right now Liz and I are in Niamey for our mid service exams. I never thought I would be so excited to go to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned! We have had a pretty nice time here though, it is always nice to see our western friends, and they have really great restaurants in Niamey, so I think I have gained like five pounds from all the food we have been eating. It is totally worth it! :)

Well, until we meet again. Hope all is well with everyone!

Peace
Ari

Pangea

Hey all! It has been a busy week in Niamey, we've all been working really hard at Pangea. Pangea is a week long musical festival, it is a conglomeration of music, dancing, and education in which the material gathered in Niger is sent to New York, where they then have an event to raise money for the Young Girls Scholarship Program here is Niger. (The Young Girls Scholarship Program, aka YGSP, is a program that gives money to middle school aged girls to help they continue their education after primary school.) The weekend starts off with a young girls weekend, which involves a group of about 12 middle school aged girls, who come together and receive writing classes, voice lessons, dance classes, self defense classes, yoga, and most importantly are put in an atmosphere that encourages them to be strong women. I worked with Haley and Liz, who choreographed a dance routine, taught it to me, and then we taught it to the girls. It was a lot of fun! The girls were a lot of fun to be around, and really had a lot of energy and spirit. After the girls weekend, Pangea starts 5 days of free musical education for whomever would like to come. It involves yoga, dance classes, drumming classes, guitar classes, voice lessons, and musical theory. As some one who is not musically inclined whatsoever, but loves music, it was so awesome to be able to take part in it. Every morning started off with a yoga session, to loosen up our bodies and free our minds, and then we would attended the class of our choosing. I took the African dance class, which was basically African Dance for White Girls 101 (there were about 5 or 6 of us PCVs), but it was awesome! Our dance teacher was so amazing, just to watch her dance was a gift, her face would just light up and everything just flowed so perfectly when she moved. The classes were tough, some of the movements were so foreign to us, but eventually we caught on to the best of our abiltiy and learned a pretty awesome dance routine. It really was so much fun! And it was so exhausting! The week ended with a concert, where everyone who had put together songs, dances, or poetry got the chance to perform. The show was so good! Our girls, whom we taught a dance to, performed, and rocked it! We had some slight last minute changes but the girls took everything in stride, and did a great job performing. Overall it was an amazing week! An awesome opportunity to be around so many talented musicians and dancers.

Now that Pangea is over I'm taking a much needed rest, and this coming Wednesday I'm heading to Hamdallaye to VAT for the new stagiers. I'm really looking forward to getting out of Niamey and I'm excited to get to know all the new people!

Until we meet again!
Sai Anjima!
Ari

Hey Friends!! It has been a while since I last wrote, and so much has happened. A few weeks ago I experienced the full spectrum of life, all in one week. It started with the death of one of my best friend's daughters. The little girls name was Cheriffa, she was three years old, and died of malaria. I had known that she had been sick for a few days, but Bare (her mom, my friend) had taken her to the doctor, and usually people get medicine and then recover. Unfortunately, recovery is not always the case. I was at the pump, when all of a sudden all the girls at the pump were like, "Jamila, did you hear that Cheriffa died?" My face just fell, I couldn't believe it. I immediately left the pump, and hurried over to Bare's house choking back tears the entire way. As soon as I entered her concession, I knew the news was true. Not many people were at the concession yet, but all the women who were there were my close friends, and everyone just stared at me when I walked in, they knew how much I loved Cheriffa. I walked straight over to Bare, who was sitting on a mat, sat down next to her, put my hand on hers and said, "Bare, really? Cherrifa..." I couldn't hold back my tears any more, they just started pouring down my face. This was the first time my women had ever seen me cry, so when I started crying, they all started crying, and we just sat there and cried together for a few minutes. The next hour was kind of a blur, the concession rapidly filled up with women, there was crying, wailing, pounding, and talking - death is something that everyone in the community comes together for, so a lot of activity was happening. When the men came to take out Cheriffa's body, we all sat as one and shared in each others grief. Over the next few days, I spent a lot of time hanging out at Bare's concession, just sitting with her, meeting her entire extended family, and talking about Cheriffa.

Despite the grief and despair of death, there is also the joy and happiness of life. A few days after Cheriffa's death, I was hanging out in my friend Angie's village, when I received some really happy news. My neighbor and great friend, Kaoula, his wife, Jummai, at given birth to their first child, a baby girl. I was so incredibly excited!! Of course, I rushed home the next day, I was just busting at the seams, everyone I talked to was like, "Did you hear Jummai had her baby!" I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. :) I threw my stuff in my house, and then ran over to Jummai's to see the new baby. I sat down on the bed, (Jummai was laying in the floor), and Jummai handed her right over to me - she was so beautiful!!!!!!! She was sound asleep, and looked so content. I visited Jummai every day, each time admiring her patience and calmness. (Jummai is probably around 17, and she handled things like she had been doing it for years.) In Niger once a woman gives birth, she stays inside her house with the baby for 7 full days, on the seventh day is the baby naming ceremony, when the baby finally receives their name, and the family has a party and basically welcomes this new child into the world. I was totally excited for the ceremony, I live inside of Kaoula and Jummai's concession, so it was basically a party at my house. Kaoula was such a proud papa, he talked to a friend, and was able to get a generator, and a TV, so that guests to the party could watch music videos, and he killed a goat and had incredible food made. So guess what they decided to name their baby girl?...JAMILA!! After me! I was so touched, to be some one's namesake is such a big deal! Jummai and Kaoula just gave me big smiles, when I thanked them for the honor. The old ladies were all teasing me and telling me that because she is named after me now I needed to take her back with me to America. Over all is was a great day, and a great way to welcome Jamila into the world.

Now I am currently in Niamey. I am here to VAT for the new stage that just got here, which means I am a volunteer trainer for two weeks, and get to help the new kids with questions and concerns they have about Niger. I'm also helping out with the music festival, PANGEA. Liz and Haley put together a great dance routine, and we will be teaching it to about 20 middle school aged girls. I'm super excited.

Well, I guess for now, that is about it. I'm sure that since I'm in Niamey I'll be able to post sometime again soon. Hope that all is well!! :)

Ciao!
Ari

Viewing Pics

Hey All! So I set up a website at flickr so that you can see my photo albums. To get there from this web page you need to scroll down to my profile picture and click on the 'view complete profile'. From there click on the 'my web page'. That should take you to the flickr account. I haven't downloaded all my pictures, but I'm working on it. Hope you enjoy!!

Ari

Ramadan Salla

Hey Friends!! So since I last posted Ramadan has come to an end - thank God!! Fasting was really starting to get to me. I have to admit, I was expecting a little more from the fete. My villagers had told me that everyone gets all dressed up, and you spend a big part of the day greeting people, and at the end of the day we feast on meat. I was thinking that maybe there was more to it than that, maybe lots of dancing and singing, or a big morning prayer where everyone attends. Not so much. It really is exactly what they said it was, getting dressed up, greeting people, and eating meat. Here is how my day went...So I got up in the morning and put on normal everyday clothes to go out and get breakfast, I wanted to see what everyone else was wearing before I put on the outfit I had made for Salla. So I went out and some of the men were all dressed up, but that was about it. So I went home, and did my housework that needed to be done - carrying water, sweeping, pulling weeds - then I decided it was time, I just needed to suck it up and put on all my fancy clothes and step out. (I've never before worn a full complay out in my village, so I knew that as soon as people started seeing me all dressed up, it was going to be a big deal.) As soon as people saw me, they just got these goofy smiles on their faces, and were like, "Now you are like us! You need to dress like this all the time!" I was really happy that they were all happy, however, I was the only adult woman dressed up! I was like, "Why aren't you dressed up?" Well, I didn't get the memo, but the women didn't get dressed up until the evening. I got over it pretty quick. :) So I spent most of the day greeting people and taking pictures - I think I took like 150 pictures that day. It was fun, but it can get crazy, because everyone wants there picture taken. That evening we feasted on macaroni and goat meat - and it was so good!! That was pretty much it, there were some girls dancing for a little while, but that isn't unusual by any means. And that was it, the Ramadan Fete was over. So that was my day, it was enjoyable, but needless to say, I'm glad another Ramadan season is a whole year away!

Until we meet again.
Cheers
Ari

A Hard Month

Hi All! Just got back to Zinder, after almost three weeks of the village. It was probably up there has one of the hardest times out in the village. The Ramadan fast is hard! Let me explain... So I had originally planned to do the full 30 days of fasting along with my villagers, however that didn't work out because I wasn't in my village at the time the fast started. Not a big deal. So then I planned to fast along with my villagers the entire time I was out in my village. The plan had good intentions, however, once I got out there and started fasting, I quickly realized, I was definitely not going to be able to do it the entire time. When fasting the day starts at 4 am (my neighbor, Jummai, would wake me up everyone morning), I would get up and make myself some oatmeal and try to drink as much water as I could, after that I would go back to bed with the knowledge that I wasn't going to get anything else to put in my stomach until the sun went down at 6:45 pm. This is terrible! I am definitely one of those people, who has strict feeding times, and let me tell you I can get cranky really quickly if I don't get to eat. So not only was I not getting to eat, it was also well over 100 degrees out, I wanted to die! OK, so I'm exaggerating on the dying part, but it was terrible. As Washington couldn't tell a lie, nor can I, I did cheat a little, I usually broke down around noon and had to drink a little water, I have no will power. Still, those little sips of water got me through the day, which is what counts, plus whenever I stole a drink, I sent up a little prayer to Allah telling him I was sorry, so I drank with the heart of contrition. So far I have completed 14 days of fasting, and have one more to do. Luckily everyone is almost done, 5 more days! Despite the agony of fasting, there is a really awesome part of the day, that I think is greatly overlooked at most other times - dinnertime!! Everyday I go over to my family's house and bring along my water bottle and some delicious pankasou (fried balls of wheat flour dough, with squash sauce on the top - AMAZING!). My mom, my sister, and I would all just sit there and stare at each other, the look of hunger in our eyes - and every minute ask - "Is it time yet?!" It was the hardest part of the day, followed by such sweet bliss. Despite this, I am happy the fast is almost over, honestly fasting in the desert - crazy! Well I hope all is going well! Until we met again!

Cheers!
Ari