Hi,
It has again been some time since I last posted. I have been living in Bloomington, Indiana the past month as I begin the new adventure of grad school. As I have been re-inserting myself into the academic world, I sometimes feel Niger slip further and further away. While it can be sad, a few things have brought new reflections: reading a book documenting the five years of Country Director James Bullington in Niger (http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Service-Peace-Corps-Niger/dp/1419679376), calling back to Niger, or finding some Zarma and Hausa newscasts online. The passing of our Regional Driver in Dosso, Seyni, hit all his volunteers very hard despite our physical distance from Niger.
Back to the book. I would highly recommend the book as a way to get to know Niger and Peace Corps life there, though it may difficult to place all the events in the book without a map by your side. For me, it brought to light how much things had changed organizationally since this director left in 2005. Whether it was working directly with volunteers to think up new projects, travel to parts of Niger and West Africa always off limits for us in 2009-11, or encouragement to think outside the box, it made me wish more of my Peace Corps service. On the other hand, despite the lack of depth that I may perceive in my own experiences in Niger, I can still appreciate the experience of two different villages and the friendships and projects I pursued.
After watching the documentary, "Niger '66" (http://www.niger66.com/) I appreciated how much Peace Corps and Niger have changed - training practices, population growth, technology, etc. While much has changed, their experiences had motifs remarkably similar to my own: weather, friendliness, cultural barriers. While these ideas seemed unremarkable after a year of life in Niger they now seem significant challenges. Even as I write this I don't feel as if I can think quite as clearly as I could when in Niger. Vegetable are too easy to find and too watery to have real taste, nothing ever seems all that dirty or genuine, the nicest people don't seem as friendly as I once thought, and so on. That isn't to say that I can't enjoy myself, it just seems harder to make life as vibrant of an experience as it should be...so that's why I've included a few photos I took last November that show some of the pure joy I experienced among kids in my village. They may seem cliche, but it was kids like this that could make the unbearable bearable.
Enjoy.
