a little bit late

At the end of September my new neighbor, Carlo, arrived. I was with him for most of his first month, but my vacation overlapped. I brought him to our market and gave him a brief tour of ville, but with his Zarma language skills I wouldn’t doubt it if he ends up teaching me a few things about Torodi. He’ll be working with the Mayor’s office and partnering with local NGOs. It is very uncommon to have two volunteers in the same village so I’ll use that to my advantage. Neither of us goes far when we need American time.

On a gloomier note, the new PCVs experienced something very rare in PC Niger. A fellow PCV passed away only two weeks into their first month. Stephanie was an MCD volunteer living in the Zinder region. She, like Carlo and I, had another PCV living in her ville. She was a very bubble young woman with a bit of sass, which I enjoyed. I had brought her to my tailor only a few weeks before to get her swear in dress made. This loss was hard on all of us in the country. It’s like losing a family member. In PC Niger history (50 years) there have only been 6 deaths. We held a memorial service for her, where her closed friends shared stories and photos. Our country director, Valerie, traveled to Arizona to bring Stephanie home. There Val took part in the family’s services. We still don’t know the cause of death, but foul play was ruled out. Please keep her family in your thoughts and prays.

Only a weeks after this experience I left for my trip to Spain. I felt very blessed to get the opportunity to be with my family so soon after this tragedy occurred. I definitely hugged my parents a bit longer. I originally just thought it was going to be a group of ten, a mix of family and friends, but on the day they all arrived my Uncle Ben and Aunt Cindy surprised me at the hotel. It was a wonderful reunion involving a delicious shadow cake and my Aunt Mary’s hermits. It felt as if no time had passed. We slipped into our familiar ways, teasing and pestering. I shared some recent stories and they exchanged their life updates.

The tour began on a Saturday and finished up the following Friday. We had a very cute guide and driver. Of course I noticed! We traveled first to Portugal then made our way back to Spain. The landscapes were so beautiful and green; I didn’t miss all the sand back in Niger. I unlike most of the family I enjoyed the food, but to be honest I’m not so picking anymore. While on vacation I made sure I ate as many ice-cream sundaes, donuts, and cheese treats as possible. My family was very sweet with their compliments on my appearance, but I did my best to pack on some extra pounds during our trip. It was worth every calorie. I’ll be back to my running routine soon enough.

Now that I am back in Africa I will be focusing on the next 8 months of village work. I am starting up my English club again and adding another level for high school students. In addition I am in the final drafts of my book project proposal.

My team is getting ready to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. We have already made our carepackage requests to our families. Cranberry sauce, stuffing mix, etc. Holidays here can be a reminder that you are away from home, but we do our best to distract ourselves and spend time together. Mushy I know, but true.