“Hot mess of fiery hot hotness” – My first impressions of Niger

Niger is hot. There. It’s been said. It’s funny because the volunteers that arrive at the airport to greet us give all the newbies a liter bottle of warm water as a welcoming gift, and then they tell us how lucky we are that we get to ride in the air conditioned “Magic Bus.” The first bus ride out of Niamey to the village where training takes place was like sitting in the middle of a movie. Flying over the sands of the Sahara desert was a sight unto itself, but driving past people clothed in bright colors from head to toe, women wearing babies on their backs, sand streets and mud-brick huts, herds of goats and cattle, camels and donkeys, and mounds of trash being burned on the side of the road was almost overwhelming. It’s immediately apparent that this place holds so much beautiful culture as well as its obvious problems.

Malaria is a really big threat here, so we were warned of how much trouble we would be in if we didn’t take our medications and use our mosquito net in order to prevent the disease. I don’t think we really knew what all we were in for when it came to the medications though. The side effects of some of the medications include, but are not limited to, hallucinations and vivid dreams. One of my friends keeps having hallucinations during the day of bugs running by her during class, and black crows swooping down on her while she’s walking. She is also having nightmares of bugs crawling on her at night. The PCVs I stayed with during Demyst told me that it varies from silly dreams of turtles eating roosters to people even hallucinating African ghost children. I sure hope to God that the worst thing that happens to me is the fact that I thought I woke up to my roommate crowing like a rooster the other morning. It took me a few minutes to realize that it was actually a rooster and not my roommate. And then again, I was told that the upside to meds is some crazy sex dreams. Haha…I know you all must be so jealous!

Although Niger is considered one of the more stable countries in western Africa, currently, PCVs aren’t allowed to travel to Agadez , a large city slightly north of the center of Niger, or anywhere further North. Much of this has to do with a Tuareg (nomadic group of the Sahara) rebellion against the government. I also discovered that many of the countries around Niger are off limits too. Despite all the fuss, I feel really safe here, and the people are very friendly and welcoming to outsiders. So if you guys plan to visit me, we will most likely have to fly in and out of the country if you wanted to see any other countries during your stay. I have decided that my ultimate African wish list includes: Togo, Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso (all on a 5 country visa – which a group of us are already looking into), Mali (how cool would it be to go to Timbuktu), Senegal, Morocco, Egypt, Mozambique (a friend’s boyfriend is going to be a Mozambique PCV and she’s going to do a Close of Service (COS) trip there – they have incredible beaches and scuba diving!), and South Africa. I realize I might not be able to do them all, but hey, why not set some goals!?! Hey Karla – I still think we should do Italy, Turkey, Greece, and Crete when I’m done in two years… “Ya Yi Kyau” (It’s good! – in Hausa)