First blog entry from Kate: A ga kanu ay se, a ga bori ay se!

After four weeks in Niger, I am happy I came. And maybe I am starting to adjust, just maybe. Definitely because my mom writes to me every week so that I always have mail. Definitely because life without running water or electricity in my house isn't that bad (going back to my roots, my dad would say. Definitely because the night sky is incomparable. Maybe because I have a mosquito net, an iPod and now a cell phone. Maybe because I am starting to understand the language. Maybe because I am realizing how lucky I have been. Maybe because I have amazing friends both in Niger and America. Hopefully because I am going to last the whole two years here. Hopefully because joining the Peace Corps was the right decision. And hopefully because I am figuring out how to be myself, just myself in Africa.

Philadelphia is the beginning. Aside from the obvious nervous awkwardness, everyone seemingly hit it off right away. And after two days of receiving limited amounts of information, worrying about chariot spiders and lack of toilet paper, and getting our first round of vaccines, we boarded the plane a makeshift family. And somewhat surprisingly, I managed to pack less than 100 pounds of luggage and while I didn't have the least luggage I certainly didn't have the most. The first good omen for the trip was the American flag debit card containing 180 dollars to pay for our Philadelphia expenses. The second good omen for the next two years was that all of the bags made it to Niger. The first week went by extremely slowly but the last three have flown by. I am almost half way through training!

My day usually starts at about 5:30 am, when the prayer call blares over the town speaker system. An African alarm clock, the prayer call, lets me know I need to get out of bed in 30 minutes- the roosters are the reason I actually get out of bed at 6. I head into town at 7 to buy breakfast which normally consists of coffee and a beignet typefood (fari masa). Then I head up to the training site where I have a full day of technical (municipal community development), medical (howto deal with diarrhea, skin infections and malaria), cross cultural (what not to do in public), and most importantly language (ZARMA!) training. We eat lunch at the site and then get kicked out after a full day of learning at 615. I then go home to my host family for dinner. Sometimes I go for a run and other times I read or write in my journal. I take a bucket bath just as it is about to go dark and then I am in bed by 930.

A few things that happened this week: a cow died in the neighboring field and smelled up the neighborhood, I looked into buying a small donkey (to be purchased when I am at my post), I got some phone calls from America!, I reached intermediate level at Zarma during my first language assessment (which means I can swear in to be a volunteer on time), I visited a maire and learned about budgets, decentralization and taxes, and tonight I am going out to dinner in the capital!

Next Week: I find out where my post is!!!!!!!

Funny Story of the Week. The title of this blog entry is a direct quote from my seven year old neighbor. Literally it means, "it's good to me, it's great to me". My friend Hamas lives with this family and he woke up one morning to the kid dancing naked under a floral umbrella singing it. It's a pretty good way to start your Sunday morning and now we sing it about five times a day.Thanks to everyone who called and sent me mail! It makes my days! (If you want to call me from Skype my number here is 011-227-96349589,-I put it up wrong before sorry! and the best times are either at midnight east coast time or 2 PM east coast time)

Email from Kate on July 29th

Hey you guys!

This is the first time I have been able to access the internet and only have a few minutes so here is the lowdown really quick on africa so far.

1. I have no electricity
2. I have no running water
3. I live in a hut
4. I poop in a hole
5. I shower with a cup and a bucket
6. my african name is fadila
7. I have 6.5 weeks of training left
8. i am learning a language called zarma
9. the sky at night is amazing
10. I can see mars
11. it is really hot
12. I am always dirty
13. the people are amazing
14. I wake up at sunrise and go to sleep at 930
15. the food is terrible
thats all i can think of for now. hopefully i will be able to write you all a letter soon I miss you all terribly send me mail letters packages (us postal flat rate envelopes are best)
I feel out of the loop so keep writing!
much african love
-kate

More News About Kate!

I just realized that there were posts in the comments section, and there's some news from Kate that was posted in the comments. Here's the letters from Kate, reposted.

From July 29, 2008

Fo Fo Family!

This note has to be short because I have limited internet use, but i happen to be in the capital traveling back from a weekend away from training. Everything is going well so far. I live with a host family in a rural compound right outside the town of hamdallaye. We dont have any running water or electricity. My house consists of a round thatch roof hut and a walled in concession. my shower and latrine are seperate. the latrine is clearly just a hole, and the shower is cement room. there is a letter in the mail with some more details so you should be receiving that soon.
Everything is going pretty well- It definitely is harder than anyone says it is but it is also more amazing than I could describe. I am practicing my new language everyday and am already getting the hang of it. I have made a solid group of really good friends and all the people in my training group are really supportive. The trainers and the language teachers are all really great and have been helping us through all the difficult times. My family has given me the name fadila so everyone in hamdallaye calls me that. I either here fadila or anasara (white person) being yelled across the feilds wherever i go. at first being called white person all the time sucked but now i respond by calling them borobi which is black person and is a pretty good joke.
I miss you all tons and hope everything is well at home. I should be getting a new cellphone number soon so i will text you all when i have it. Happy Birthday James! and send me letters everyone with all your news because i feel really out of the loop.

I love you guys
-kate (perhaps a little more african, but still kate)

Here's the second letter...

Today we got a Kate letter.She wrote it before we talked to her so some of it you've heard before. One of her fellow PCT's has developed a severe peanut allergy and is returning to the US so he offerred to mail a letter from his home in California. Another letter is somewhere in the mail from Niger.

excerpts from her letter...The night sky is amazing,I have never seen stars stars like this! I went for my first run, the landscape is amazing. You can see for miles and it is very green as it is the rainy season. She has no electricity or running water but takes a bucket bath every day. She says that she still wears her good clothes, wears makeup and brushes her hair everyday. Still Kate!!She is learning a new language 'Zarma' and is beginning to make some sense of what people are saying to her. She has some good friends and lives near 2 PCT guys, who keep her company, walk her to school etc.

She is quite homesick but determined to get over it. She loves to get letters about our everyday stuff so if you have a chance drop her a line. A stamp is about $1:00. Make sure you write 'Air Mail' on the envelope.

Email from Peace Corps Niger Director

(Here's an email that Kate's mom forwarded to me, from the Peace Corps Niger director. You can click on the picture above to see a bigger image. Kate is on the bottom left-ish - Melody)

Hello all - I am pleased to announce the safe arrival of the Peace Corps Niger July Training Group for the beginning of their training to become Peace Corps Volunteers.? Everyone is in good spirits and, as you can see from the attached photo, settling in well to our training site.? They are also, as I type this, experiencing their first really big African monsoon storm!

We are thrilled to have this new set of trainees and look forward to working with them over the next 2 years.

Cheers,
Mary Abrams
Country Director
Peace Corps Niger