Email update from Alex

Wheeeeeee!

So, this weekend is Demystification weekend, and as I'm going to the Gaya region (very southern tip of Niger), I'm staying in a PC transit house along the way with some other volunteers. And luckily, all the transit houses have basic email, so I'm loving being able to send this off.

So, things have been speeding up lately. Days aren't going by so slowly and this last week went by relatively fast. Language class started getting better the end of this week. Still nothing new, but some more advanced tenses/conjugations that I had mostly forgotten along the way. So, feeling far less frustrated now than when we were going over the very basics (like "Bonjour Monsieur. Comment allez-vous?").

The host family situation is going well, the family that I am with (along with my fellow PCV Shane) consists of a husband, wife and one child. Last night I had to go inside to get another sheet which I curled up under. Crazy thing is that, according to my alarm clock, the temperature was 74 degrees. Guess that means I'm adjusting, huh? But I am noticing that the days are seemingly less hot (especially compared to that first day we stepped off the plane), despite it still being around or over 100 most days. It is really nice to get the rains though. It does make things that much more humid, but a good rain cools everything down for the next two days.

Got to cook tonight in the regional transit house here in Dosso. Made up spaghetti with a tomato paste/squash sauce. Turned out well enough, though I certainly would have liked some meat to go with it. But, with this Demyst (Demystification) weekend, even so far, it has made things seem a lot more real and quite bearable. Hearing one PCV talk about what his diet consists of, others how they like to get together to be 'American', etc. This certainly is starting to look like a good opportunity to get a glimpse of what the real thing is like, as in the day-to-day living, activities, small projects (not just the big ones), interactions with other PCVs, etc.

Granted, things go a lot slower here and things may be in the mail, but any letters with news from home or the like would certainly be welcome. I know not much time or events have elapsed, but everyone is liking the communication they get from home. And I have heard that, for care packages (Skittles, sweets, etc) and the like, send things in large boxes instead of several smaller ones as the customs fee isn't different except from the small padded enveloped to larger size; any size box should be the same fee. I'm not in terrible need of a care package, but for if/when anyone plans to send one. Also, not sure what all I can get in Niamey (trip there in 2 weeks time), esp. sweets-related, or even in the larger regional capitals (depending on how close I am and how often I make the trip to Maradi, Zinder).

Hope/expect to get a cell phone when I go to Niamey. It will be nice to hear friendly voices again. It is crazy though, to see cell towers sitting on the edge of town (there is one right next to the PC training site on the edge of Hamdallaye).

Well, that really is all I can think of at the moment. I feel like I should have a lot more to say, but it just seems that everything that is new/strange is really as a matter of lifestyle, not specific events to report.

Alex