Gestures

Gestures are one of my favorite parts of crossing cultures, so here is a little taste of Nigerien culture.

The Hammah Incident

Aichatou, Me, Hammah, and Aissa

Last week I attended a training for VATS (volunteer assistant trainers) in Niamey, the capitol.  There were ten volunteers selected to help train the new group of volunteer who arrived at the beginning of July and we spent a few days working with the training staff to prepare for the following [...]

Bush Taxi Quiz

Here is a short video quiz that I made for you to test your African transportation knowledge.  The question:  How many people can you fit into a bush taxi?  Post your guess in the comment box below before you start the viedo.  Good luck!

The 2009 World Cup…

Or it might as well have been.  Our regional girls’ soccer tournament has now come and gone and the girls are still talking about it.  In my eyes it was a mediocre event filled with lots of laughs and lots of stress, but in the girls’ eyes it was the 2009 world cup.  And they were [...]

5 O’Clock Blues

When 5pm rolls around, so do a plethora of mixed feelings.  It’s time to drop whatever I’m doing at home (doing laundry in a bucket, raking my sand, etc) and change my clothes, put on some extra deodorant, and lock up my house.   A long walk to the junior high (which is located at the [...]

Ballardisms

Homemade holidays…

This past weekend our region of volunteers celebrated Thanksgiving together.  It was a potluck style dinner that was fashioned from random findings in the city or from treasures shipped from home.  There was even stuffing, mashed potatoes, pie, deviled eggs, cookies, salad, turkey, cheese ball, gravy, and rolls to be had. 
The dilemma comes when everything [...]

Care packages :)

Hi friends and family.  A lot of people have been asking if there is anything I would like/need.  Thanks for asking, because there is!  Since my diet consists almost completely of starches (rice, millet, and pasta) and the fact that the only fruit/veggie available in my village is squash, I would love to have some [...]

Beans, beans, the magical fruit…

One of my goals for my first 3 months at post is to learn how to make some traditional Nigerien dishes.  In an attempt to do just that I spent an hour one afternoon with my host mom learning how to make rice and beans with at onion/peanut oil sauce.  The lesson went well so [...]

Hello city lights…

It was a two hour bush taxi ride that brought me back to the city.  Beginning with a 40 minute wait at the “taxi station” (i.e. the parking spot in front of the hodge-podge stand next to the road) the ensuing trip was filled with frequent stops (helping out other bush taxis who ran out [...]