It was a lovely day indeed. The official ceremony was held at the Ambassador's residence, and approximately 200 embassy officials, current PCVs, Peace Corps staff, and friends attended. My friends gave speeches in Hausa, French, and Zarma, and those were quickly broadcast on Nigerien radio and TV!
Here's a picture of my new (smaller) regional family (only some of us pictured are new PCVS). Our "Nigerien dad" (our training manager) is in the back row. I think we were all a little choked up bidding him farewell at the crack of dawn yesterday, but we'll see him in a few months.
We are now in our regional hostels awaiting "installation" in our villages. I'm both excited and terrified for the moment when the car drives away, and I'm on my own. Courage and confidence, Erinie.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
One week left of training
The Hausa love their proverbs. One of my favorites is “Little by little, the bird builds its nest.” Slowly but surely we fledgling Nigerien birdies have been building a community, learning to chirp in Hausa and/or Zarma (with some French thrown in for good measure), and preparing for time in our own nests. Pre-Service Training ends in five or six days, and we will swear-in as Peace Corps Volunteers on Thursday morning (at 10am Nigerien time)! It’s amazing to think how far we have come as a group. The moment we stepped off the plane in Niamey in July, a tall dude named Tondi said, “Come with me right now,” and we did, partially given his stature and partially because he was instantly trustworthy. In a country like Niger, I think we all realized extraordinarily quickly we would need to trust each other and trust our training staff. We’ve had our moments of frustration (particularly with the “just-in-time” method of conveying necessary information), but it’s incredible how much each of us have grown and changed for the better (well, not nutritionally, but whatever) over the past 11 weeks. And really, the “just in time” method and presenting us with incremental challenges/hurdles worked pretty well for most of us. Gradually our “Nigerien Dad” and his crew let us step further and further away from our protective training nest, trusting always that we would learn from our missteps.
We move out to our sites next Saturday. Honestly, it’s a terrifying prospect, but it’s time to try life in Niger on our own. We now have to place trust in our communities, that they will befriend us, help keep us safe, and help us help them.
In grand Sellards style, we created paper bags for each person in our stage to fill with comments/compliments written by our fellow stagieres. We will read them in times of trial, when we remember that crying alone in our huts/houses will get us nowhere. We’re in for a challenging first month in our new homes, but really, we’ll be fine. We have each other, we have our staff, we have those who will become great friends in our villages, and we have all of you at home. Thanks for being there.
PS - My address is now:
Erin Lockley, PCV
Corps de la Paix
BP 641
Zinder, Niger
West Africa
Oh, also, please consider sending news and/or fitness related articles with your letters. I hope to get a radio soon, so that I can at least listen to the BBC and have a clue about what’s going on in the world.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Almost finished with training
Hello my lovelies!
I just finished my second language proficiency interview, and I have advanced to an intermediate level in Hausa, miraculously. We have just returned from language immersion (mentioned in the last post), which was intense but totally worth it.
We went to a small town (3-4,000 ppl) within about 50 miles of the Nigerian border. I really bonded with the people there, actually more than I have with my homestay family, so that's weird. I definitely would have just moved right in, had PC chosen that particular post for me, but my friend Casey will do well there. I decided when I got here that I need to be willing to try anything because no matter what, as an "anasara," I'm going to look like an idiot doing it. Women here pound millet with these huge mortar and pestle thingies (which weigh like 25 pounds) all the live-long day. I decided to ask my new friend Assama to teach me how to do it, partially because I wanted to win them over and partially because I knew they'd find it HILARIOUS. Oh, and they did. Within 4.3 seconds of my pounding attempts, a crowd of about 8 women had gathered, and the laughter commenced. I kept saying, "Amma ina da kokari dayawa!" ("But I have a lot of effort!). They kept making me stop to check my hands for blisters - very sweet of them! I tried to continue for about 20 minutes, and it did in fact win me some street cred. You can also use the same mortar/pestle combo (and again, they are huge) to make peanut butter (which I have also made, go me!), so I may have to purchase this equipment to supplement my physical fitness routine. You should see the arms on these women - they are toned, trust me.
What else? We have two weeks left of training, and I think most of us are ready to be done, like, yesterday. I'm pretty sure being all alone in a new house in town will be uber-stressful, but I've thought that of a lot of things so far. Luckily s a group we've gotten through every challenge rather gracefully.
Thanks, as always, for all the cards and letter. It means the world to me. Shouts to Am and Melissa for being my most frequent correspondents and for keeping me posted on matters large and small. In closing, I'd like to make you super jealous and report that on our bumpy bus ride back from Maradi on Tuesday, we spotted two wild giraffes as we passed through the Dosso region (the home of the last wild herd of giraffes in West Africa).
I hope, one day soon, to post pictures. Until then, sai hankuri. Love, EL
I just finished my second language proficiency interview, and I have advanced to an intermediate level in Hausa, miraculously. We have just returned from language immersion (mentioned in the last post), which was intense but totally worth it.
We went to a small town (3-4,000 ppl) within about 50 miles of the Nigerian border. I really bonded with the people there, actually more than I have with my homestay family, so that's weird. I definitely would have just moved right in, had PC chosen that particular post for me, but my friend Casey will do well there. I decided when I got here that I need to be willing to try anything because no matter what, as an "anasara," I'm going to look like an idiot doing it. Women here pound millet with these huge mortar and pestle thingies (which weigh like 25 pounds) all the live-long day. I decided to ask my new friend Assama to teach me how to do it, partially because I wanted to win them over and partially because I knew they'd find it HILARIOUS. Oh, and they did. Within 4.3 seconds of my pounding attempts, a crowd of about 8 women had gathered, and the laughter commenced. I kept saying, "Amma ina da kokari dayawa!" ("But I have a lot of effort!). They kept making me stop to check my hands for blisters - very sweet of them! I tried to continue for about 20 minutes, and it did in fact win me some street cred. You can also use the same mortar/pestle combo (and again, they are huge) to make peanut butter (which I have also made, go me!), so I may have to purchase this equipment to supplement my physical fitness routine. You should see the arms on these women - they are toned, trust me.
What else? We have two weeks left of training, and I think most of us are ready to be done, like, yesterday. I'm pretty sure being all alone in a new house in town will be uber-stressful, but I've thought that of a lot of things so far. Luckily s a group we've gotten through every challenge rather gracefully.
Thanks, as always, for all the cards and letter. It means the world to me. Shouts to Am and Melissa for being my most frequent correspondents and for keeping me posted on matters large and small. In closing, I'd like to make you super jealous and report that on our bumpy bus ride back from Maradi on Tuesday, we spotted two wild giraffes as we passed through the Dosso region (the home of the last wild herd of giraffes in West Africa).
I hope, one day soon, to post pictures. Until then, sai hankuri. Love, EL
My birthday, cikin Niger
Greetings earthlings!
Though I loathe the term, I appreciate the idea and creation of 'bucket lists.' I wrote an unofficial version circa 2002 but on this day (8/26), I find myself checking off two items from the list: 1) join the Peace Corps and 2) spend as many birthdays as possible in unusual locations. I think Niger qualifies as unusual. Today was possibly the best birthday I've had since at least 1999, when my Overland Park friends Lauren and Clay threw me a small party in the parlor (and it truly was) of Corbin Hall at KU. We were new college students, puppies really, and the fact that they thought of my birthday in all the hubub really touched me. It was one of the first times I realized that somehow I have an ability to make friends with people who are truly kind and lovely.
Flash forward to today. We are in the final stretch of a two week language immersion (in Hausa). I woke up to my roommate Alynn handing me a homemade birthday card under my mosquito net. Everyone in our stage (and a few language trainers) had signed it, and it was very Sellards-like in its, "I like Erin because..." I received a couple of birthday text messages from current volunteers, too. We started the day wandering off towards the millet fields and had language class in an nearly-outdoor classroom. Later on we enjoyed an impromptu visit from our training manager (Tondi) and medical officer (Walter), who were out making rounds to the different lang immersion sites. They brought me a small cake from some random bakery in Maradi; we enjoyed it after a dinner of potatoes and Rancho Gordo black beans (thanks Mom and Dad - Steve Sando would be proud to know his beans made it all the way to West Africa).
It was odd not to talk to my family or friends, but I'm so very fortunate to have over 50 more people in my life who I can call friends, confidantes, and co-workers. That's quite a birthday present. Despite minor annoyances like 115 degree heat and flies out the wazoo (or the latrine), I felt a lot of love today.
Though I loathe the term, I appreciate the idea and creation of 'bucket lists.' I wrote an unofficial version circa 2002 but on this day (8/26), I find myself checking off two items from the list: 1) join the Peace Corps and 2) spend as many birthdays as possible in unusual locations. I think Niger qualifies as unusual. Today was possibly the best birthday I've had since at least 1999, when my Overland Park friends Lauren and Clay threw me a small party in the parlor (and it truly was) of Corbin Hall at KU. We were new college students, puppies really, and the fact that they thought of my birthday in all the hubub really touched me. It was one of the first times I realized that somehow I have an ability to make friends with people who are truly kind and lovely.
Flash forward to today. We are in the final stretch of a two week language immersion (in Hausa). I woke up to my roommate Alynn handing me a homemade birthday card under my mosquito net. Everyone in our stage (and a few language trainers) had signed it, and it was very Sellards-like in its, "I like Erin because..." I received a couple of birthday text messages from current volunteers, too. We started the day wandering off towards the millet fields and had language class in an nearly-outdoor classroom. Later on we enjoyed an impromptu visit from our training manager (Tondi) and medical officer (Walter), who were out making rounds to the different lang immersion sites. They brought me a small cake from some random bakery in Maradi; we enjoyed it after a dinner of potatoes and Rancho Gordo black beans (thanks Mom and Dad - Steve Sando would be proud to know his beans made it all the way to West Africa).
It was odd not to talk to my family or friends, but I'm so very fortunate to have over 50 more people in my life who I can call friends, confidantes, and co-workers. That's quite a birthday present. Despite minor annoyances like 115 degree heat and flies out the wazoo (or the latrine), I felt a lot of love today.
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