hey guys!

so its been awhile but ill figured it would be nice to update a bit. anyways, i've been living in niger for about 4.5 months now and am having a great time. malbaza is great, even though theres even less there than here in niamey- no running water, no electricity in my house, and no good 'grocery' stores or places to eat. oh well, i pass most of my time with my villagers, eating what they do and hanging out. so i had this conversation with a friend the other day, and we get to eat the most interesting things here, some of which include: tuwo (which is like pounded up millet mixed with water, served in sauce... yummy), meat, such as goat head (actually, forehead), cow intestines, and grasshoppers (which i will not touch!) and drink lots of hura (millet drink). so basically, i get to eat alot of millet and some potatoes or rice. buts its all good, i appreciate the company.

 some interesting things about niger. one: the kids are exactly as you see them in those christian adds, naked and with flies all over their faces, but they are also super happy. they run around, and most of them flock to me (never having seen a white girl before) and all want me to play with them. cute thing, i actually had a baby touch me and then look at her hand, thinking that perhaps my whiteness would come off onto her! two: the information gap is huuuge here, like ive told many people, so im constantly trying to explain to people that stars exist all over the world, america is not a city in nigeria, and touching a skinny person will not give you aids, but poking yourself with a needle til you bleed to cure a blister will give you aids, most likely. also, most people are convinced that i am here to marry a nigerien, but let me tell you, i feel soo bad for nigerien wives here. they work all day (physical labor) pounding millet, carrying 20 lbs buckets of water on their heads, and cooking (which is not easy when all you have is a giant cauldron over a fire) while men go out to the fields or to their respective jobs for a few hours. the rest of the time, men just sit around and prepare the traditional tea, while women still do housework. in some cases, i've seen men even insult their wives about how lazy they are, you know, having one child tied to her back, another one pulling at her skirt, and all the while pounding millet (which is hard, let me tell you). what tops this all off is that in the evening, men get to go out and search for girlfriends and/or other wives while women are expected to stay home or at least just go to a friends house. lame. sorry guys, but nigerien men suck, and the idea of me marrying one makes me laugh. also, they dont know how to talk to women.

but not all of them are bad. some of them are really cool and happy to see me, and know how to treat women, which i appreciate. in fact, some of my best friends in country are men. but i gotta hand it to the women. i tended to hang around men more bc they spoke french, but now that i speak some hausa, im hanging more around women. its funny bc at times i think they see me as a doll: trying to dress me up, give me braids, put henna on my hands and feet, and trot me around the town. it can get annoying at times to be constantly monitored, literally, all the time. and nigeriens have no sense of etiquette either. i'll be sick in my house and they'll walk in and try speaking to me, ill be asleep and they'll wake me up, i'll be in the latrine and they'll look over the wall and tell me hello. ridiculuous at times, but hey, thats life here. but the people are great, and i love the diversity- the fulans (whose women i think are the most beautiful), the tauregs (who i think have the most handsome men! they're soo mysterious looking- look them up sometime), the hausas, the zarmas, the berri berri and the tubu, to name a few. and most of them in my village stick to traditional garb, so you can recognize them. they are soo cool. also, here, the kids are freaking adorable, with their big eyes and beautiful smiles, i just wish that i could give them the world, which i cant (instead, i just give some of my favorites bon-bons :) and some of the food here is unlike anything i've tasted, in a good way. i love koko- a millet based drink, tsalla- like a fried cake, and their tsurundu, which is like this mexican rice thing. yum.... i'm actually going thru a mild withdrawal now that im in niamey bc not only am i am away from hausa-land cuisine (niamey is in zarma-land), but its far from being the bush, so the same food i can't even find. (Tear), but ill be back in a few weeks. until then, i'll be kicking it at my in-service training, learning about all the stuff i can do with the education system here (im pretty sure i'll be doing some trainings in the bush about the importance of education- my counterpart is really into that) and chilling with friends from different regions. and after that, i'll be in zinder for xmas. but i'll be back at post in time for tabaski, which is the biggest festival for the muslims here, something i can't afford to miss ;) i hope everything is going well for you all and i will talk to you later (in sha allah) ;)

peace, 

one last one

okay, this is going to be my last post for a while.

went to church today with the famiglia and how crazy,  it was an african themed mass. i was so excited! they sang songs in swahili (maybe?) and french and it was so animated! im taking this as a good sign though :)

also, my mom wants to take me to lincoln's tomb tomorrow morning to rub the lincoln nose for good luck. i had explained to them that i got a blessing from the synagogue and that should be fine, but according to my father "the jews don't hold a candle to lincoln's head"... hak hak hak..

also, saw emily last night and attempted to go to coldstone. unfortunately, the cs craze hasn't worn off in sfield so we didnt get any, due a ridiculously long line of people. so we went to baskin robbins instead. not as good :@ i hate saying goodbye. seriously. oh well, its not really goodbye as much as a see you in a year. i did, however, finally get the parentals to wish me luck on the trip :)

oh, and packing.. i hate it.. i found out i can only take 80 lbs with a total baggage dimensions being 107 inches or something like that. needless to say, my big bag was too big, so i had to switch to a medium suitcase and a duffle bag. im traveling light i guess

randomness, i started a jdate profile out of boredom (thanks to colleen for bringing it up). so its more for stalking purposes so the profile really sucks, but now im finding myself a little upset that no one is looking at my pro. so im debating whether or not im going to really update it, instead of just putting down, i like food. emily thinks i might be a little obsessive.. perhaps she is right...

okay, so goodbye for now to everyone .  i will try to write you all a letter, but we will see how buys things get. i'll miss you all :( if you want to write me, check the facebook, it has my address :) anyway, take care and the next time i post (if i decide to) it'll be in Niger!  a plus tard!

-much love ~ jen

because emily gets impatient waiting for updates ;)

warning: this is rather lengthy...

drama- thats all i have to say about the last month. bt family and others, i feel like going to africa is going to be a nice vacation ;)

however, as the departure date approaches, i realize that this time around, leaving is much harder. i've already said some goodbyes to friends, and this week i'll bid the rest goodbye. thanks to all of you for making my experience here so wonderfully entertaining and interesting... without you, i would have not become the person i am... or posted the things i have  

so i had to say goodbye to kim and demir last week, and kim had told me somehting interesting, that it wasn't a goodbye but a long see ya later.. so thats what it shall be...

back to the normal posting:

last night, marcy, nikki, and i were having a fabulous night thx to bailey's on the rocks and family guy, when my arch nemesis reared his ugly head. yes, ladies and gentlemen, it was the silverfish bug from earlier on in the year. i swear this thing had mutated though, bc this time around it was bigger, hairier, and faster.... and twice as scary!! both nikki and i were on the couch in fear. marcy being the calm one was sent to get it. after a mighty battle, the victor was determined: marcy. now, as it was my apartment, i was left to clean up, but whatever.. the 6 month battle is finally put to rest. talk about closure.

also, last weekend jessi and jenny came to visit me in town, and we had a high class weekend ;) the wine bars, chocolate bar, then the piano bar... catching onto the trend here? anyway, we went to the landing on saturday night, and as we had decided that all of us would be drinking, we thought it would be best to call a cab, which we did. funny, on the way down there, the cab driver warned us that the country kids come up on the weekend.. sure, no big deal right? wrong! okay, the big bang was our first destination.. despite the $6 cover and alcoholic drinks that we had bought, after innumerable patriotic songs and flannel shirts, we decided to get out of there. at the risk of sounding elitist, it was horribly country... remember the trip to jackson? anyway, jessi said she was used to it, living in indiana, but i could tell from the pained look on jenny's face that perhaps this was not the best place to be. so we moved onto morgan street. after having a run in with a fling and his girfriend (awkward!) we entered the bar and got drinks. well, we were victims to a bachelor's party there. so these annoying men, not realizing that we really didnt get the hint, spent the whole time hitting on us. :@ and i quote, "wanna fight? if not, we can wrestle... i'll even let you win."  this is actually what one guy said to me. i spent the night avoiding him and his wandering hand. oh, and did i mention that he was the one to get married? what a hoosier. anyway, props to my dg sister dara for coming up and saving me at one point... im beginning to better appreciate this sorority thing ;)

another cute thing: this black guy wearing sunglasses comes up to me at the bar and leans over to me. jessi, being slightly intoxicated goes, "hey! its kanye west!" haha. anyway, he was amused. it turns out that he came over to me to tell me that he wasnt goign to hit on me or anything, but just wanted to let me know how beautiful i was. awww :)

so we left the bar and took a cab home with the craziest cabby in the world. he just came from india a month ago and was all over the place. i thought we were going to die. the story is actually a little more complicated than that, but im too lazy to actually type it all down.  most memorable line..." do you like snakes?"  to which jess replies.. "no, not at all".. so he says "do you like roaches?" and i whisper to jessi "if there is a fucking cockroach in this car, i swear to god, i will jump"... interesting thing, we found a roach later on in the apt. it was dead, so one of us must ha ve dragged it in.. i think its from the cab.... :-$

okay, well thats all for now kids. i'm tired and am going to bed. beck is getting a cpap tomorrow to help her breathe at night, so i have to be up tomorrow to see that. interestingly, she found out that her breathing stops on average 52 times a minute while she sleeps... poor beck. so does that mean that she only breathes < 8 times a minute then?

good night and if you want a postcard from africa, email me your address.

happy now em? :@

Currently Reading The Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan see related

hak hak hak...