Today
I have...
- (yesterday and day before) felt like a little kid, or at least a freshmen again in high school or college, because the older PCV's helped us buy a bunch of stuff for our homes and took us around Niamey. Also, from today and yesterday, the security guard at the bureau insists on walking us the 1000m to the hostel whenver we leave after dark
- helped put together a list, made a google group, and made a google doc for our stage. Feels just like doing xc stuff!
- wondered, do I just do silly, sophomorish, stupid, superficial stuff like birthdays, and speeches, emails, and songs. I mean, I hope not, but the next three months, then one month, then the rest of the two years will tell...
- running this morning, saw a guy crouched against a wall off the road washing his hands with a butta after he just peed. Only a few meters off the road.
- again, shopping n'ay fargandi (made me tired). Feel I'm spending waaaay too much money. Mostly done. Have a few things to get tomorrow, last day before heading to site, but could still spend a good deal of money depending on how things go. Just like when I was getting ready to come, it boggles my mind where the money goes sometimes. Also, it's more confusing here because, except when we go to a real store, the prices in the markets are fluid, so we're never sure if we're paying too much. I'm shopping for a month in some respects, for two years in other respects, and only for a week or two in other respects, but christ if the people knew how much we blew through this weekend from Niamey to Zinder...
- met some Americans in the leather market place thing. One was a dentist. Another was a women who had been here for like 11 years. She speaks Fulfulday (sp?) the language of the Fulani and had been living in their villages for a while. Pretty cool. Pretty crazy that she's been here for 11 years. They're here through some church mission thing. Fulfulday teacher they use now used to work for PC, but now gets paid more.
- met a guy in the market who said he has lived in America for 8 years. Spoke Eng seemingly without much difficulty. He was asking us to buy something or for something, and then a friend said we don't have a lot of money, and he said we're Americans, we're the richest people in the world, and my friend tried to explain how we're volunteers and we don't actually get paid a ton here and we're trying to live like everyone else, and he said "That's not a good idea." See two points up...
- bought a sick snake skin wallet. Really like the leather and other craft areas, maybe because I went there last week with a friend, and so I feel like I "know it". The guy with the wallets recognized me.
- been super pumped to buy paint to make my wall a chalkboard. Also procured multicolored chalk. Less pumped to learn I need two more cans maybe, and its oil base paint and the bottom is often hard and I will need to mix some petrol to use all the paint. But still, I'm closer to my dream of having a chalkboard wall with multicolored writing utensils.
- had soeme neat convo's with taxi people. Sometimes it seems they all know Peace Corps, which is luckily a good thing.
I have not...
- decided if I need to cut my hair before going to site. I scheduled a hair cutting for tomorrow, but I mean, I like my hair and my beard. Will look 16 again with mad short hair and clean shaven. Would be nice to know what will be most easily accepted in village.
- gotten enough sleep, but closer
- wrapped my head around the fact that I'm moving to a village by myself in like 36 hours now
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