Large Bats and Giraffes and Amoebas, Oh My……

[The village of Yeni north of Kiota]

Hey, I’m back!  I returned from Niamey Sunday morning and I am still recovering from something along the lines of a sinus infection.  I’m feeling much better now.  Nearly two weeks have passed since my last blog entry and a lot has happened.  Last Monday, before I even went to Niamey I joined a group of Jica (Japanese Peace Corps) volunteers in a small village north of Kiota.  They were there to produce a series of radio discussions about Malaria and mosquito nets.  The long ride to the village was offset by beautiful landscapes of orange/red mesas surrounded by seas of millet, ready for harvest.  The photo below shows the group of participants in the village of Yeni.  My counter part in Dosso is the guy with the tape recorder and the tan suit. He facilitated the event.  On the way back we visited the Jica office in Birni.  They have several volunteers in the Birni region whose main focus is malaria awareness and prevention.

Tuesday afternoon I headed to Niamey on a bus.  The bus left about an hour late and made several stops including one prolonged stop for 16h prayer.  On the way, I saw a young giraffe running along the road not far from Koure.  On Monday, the Jica volunteers said that they had seen nearly a dozen along the road on their way from Niamey.  During rainy season giraffes congregate in the area of Koure where the land is harder and drier.  The smaller hoofs of giraffes are not adapted to easily travel through muddy areas. I arrived in Niamey a few hours before sunset and got settled in at the hostel.  A lot of people were already there.  I got the last towel, the last bed sheet and the last bed.  I considered myself lucky and celebrated with the closest thing I could get to cheap chinese delivery: a mixture of rice, chicken, onions, and cashews with hint of a taste of the orient from Indrissa’s restaurant.

Wednesday I set off early in the morning to the bank, I visited an international bazaar and attempted to track down an affordable map of Niger to help plan some of my radio trips out east.  Besides getting some much needed money from the bank, the morning outing was fruitless.  The bazaar had very little in the way of artisanal goods and the IGN office in Niger wanted the equivalent of about $40 for a map of the country.  On the way to the office, I did walk down a street lined with bat filled trees.  Hundreds of large bats filled the trees for the length of an entire block.  I tried to get some pictures but I didn’t have much success.  The brown blurs in the picture are small groups of several bats. 

Later that morning I met up with my friend Kim to find a hammer and supplies for our dish for the BBQ later that evening.  I successfully found a small hammer for 1000CFA and purchased some beans, kudaku, and some strange beans/nuts that look surprisingly like my favorite European snack, Twinuts.  The vendor said that they were great boiled with salt.  I took them home and boiled them for lunch hoping for a delicious Nigerien version of boiled peanuts.  The large shells held a single nut with a second husky skin that also had to be removed.  The process was time consuming and the taste was slightly bitter and reminded me of a something between a boiled peanut and a garbanzo bean.  After lunch Kim and I continued our cooking adventure by making a large pot of refried beans and some tortillas. 

The new volunteer BBQ held Wednesday evening was a delicious success (although it probably gave some of the newbies bacteria and amoebas). Volunteers brought a variety of dishes including hummus, banana bread and pasta salad.  We also made cheese burgers.  I was charged with the task of slicing the large block of cheddar cheese.  I admit I ate a few pieces that weren’t quite the right size or shape for melting on burgers.  A block of cheddar that you would pay about $5 for in the US costs about $25 here.  I have food on the mind a little too much don’t I?  I really do get enough to eat here.  I’m not starving and my friends and family supplement my diet every few weeks with a small box of food from the US.  The food is probably what I miss most from the US.  OK, no more talk about food…  At the BBQ, I got to see all of the new volunteers together for the first time.  Overall they seemed younger than the group I came over with.  However they were just as excited to be done with training and ready to move to their new homes out in the bush.

Thursday, was the Gender, Aids and Development fundraiser at the American Embassy Rec Center.  Unlike many strictly development organizations, Peace Corps does not have funds set aside to actually fund development projects.  If we want funding for a project we typically must find it ourselves.  There are a variety of sources for funding and the GAD fund is one that is mainly funded from within Niger.  The bi-annual fundraiser includes an enchilada dinner, entertainment, silent auction, raffle, and live auction.  Luckily someone donated funds to hire a DJ.  Otherwise, I would have been responsible for setting the sound equipment up.  Instead I setup the slideshow and tested all of the electronics that were donated for the silent auction. The event raised nearly 2 Million CFA.  I spent about $20 at the auction and came away with some great deals.  I brought home two cases of ZipFizz, a clay piggy bank, and a satellite radio.  Since they stopped subscription satellite services in Africa at the end of 2007, they continued offering about 20 stations free of charge.  I can now listen to NPR in Africa for free!  Although, perhaps I would be happier if I didn’t keep track of American politics.  Many of the new volunteers came over with Obamma tshirts of which I’m slightly envious.  I decided that the best I could do was add a little banner to my blog (see right).  I hope that doesn’t bother my republican readership too much.  Sorry, but I find the possibility of Sarah Palin leading the country unsettling (don’t forget, McCain is 72). 

Friday was swear-in at the American ambassador’s house.  I did not attend the event since I was sick and keeping my friend Kaylee company.  She was very sick.  I didn’t miss out on too much.  Since PC is in the poor house (another reason to vote Obamma, OK I’ll stop), they couldn’t afford to provide attendees with dinner.  Saturday I bought what grocery items I needed for Dosso and took it easy for the rest of the day.  Sunday a PC vehicle was heading back to Dosso with the new volunteers so I left with them.  The trip included a stop in Hamdallaye and I was amazed at how Green it had become.  The pictures to the left and below are both of hamdallaye.  The entrie area basically looked like the first picture when I was there at the beginning of the year. The picture below was taken last weekend. Rainy season is virtually over which means no more rain until next May. 

Since sunday, I can’t say that I’ve been extremely productive.  Wednesday night I made an incredible squash soup with the local squah which is very cheap.  I added a little cinnamon and cardamom and it was delicious.  Thursday morning I made blueberry pancakes with blueberry syrup thanks to a large bag of blueberries that magically arrived at the Dosso hostel.  The food was also enjoyed by some of the new volunteers still waiting to be installed. After breakfast I headed to Birni to assist with a radio show introducing some of the new volunteers (the Dosso region got 10) and stressing the importance of school, which begins after Ramadan.  We also talked a little about what languages are spoken in America.  While in Birni, I met Kaylee’s new Neighbor Emmanuel.  He is one of the first volunteers from a new German version of Peace Corps.  He is a recent high school graduate and is here working with an NGO that helps protect Niger’s giraffes.  I told him that he was a braver person than me since he came here without any dedicated medical staff and will return to Germany in a year without a dime in his pocket.  He’s a very knowledgeable guy who will undoubtedly do some good for Niger.

There’s not much on the radar for the next few weeks.  Prirority #1 is to finish the user interface for my Peace Corps radio database so I can move on to more interesting projects.  Kala Tonton!

Menu du Jour

Labtanda Holiday Soup

• 200CFA of Labtanda (Nigerienne Squash)
  
• 1 Maggi Poulet Cube
  
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Boil the squash for about 10-15 minutes.  If possible, place squash in blender w/ small amount of water.  You can also mash the squash or cut into small pieces.  Add additional seasonings and simmer for a few minutes.  It remined everyone of the holidays.