day 7!

OKAY SO TIME TO BLOG.

in my defense its been a bit hectic (internets been shotty and i've been taking advantage of naptime from 12-3). current state of things. its 11, and im sweating. i'm actually sweating all the time, and i have a coat of sweat, baby powder, deet bug spray and dirt all over. i love niamey, but its wayyy too hot.

tomorrow is the last day of orientation. this past week we were in intensive zarma and hausa classes, and we familiarized ourselves with the city a bit. zarma is easier than hausa, and zarma is spoken by everyone in niamey.... sooo i will be takign zarma. i can speak some already, and i practice my newly learned skills with the kids and the staff at the cfca.

fofo!
mate ni go?
banay samay samay walla!
ay ya amerik boro no! ni binde?
ay fun boston kwara!
ay ma naye!!
to.... kala tonton!
its such a cute language.

back to the cfca. disregard the map i put in the beginngn of this blog. its inaccurate. i live closer to the stad, and i take classes where i live. the bridge is the most unsafe spot in the whole city, and they told us to never go there unless we're in a taxi. apparently ppl live under the bridge. the taxi fare is fixed. its 200cfa, which is about 50 cents. SWEET DEAL. if youre going really far though, its 400 cfa.
some highlights thus far:

-peace corps day: we learned about the peace corps and went to the bar that the peace corps ppl hang out in. we've been goign to a lot of bars. since not a lot of ppl drink anyway and its ramadan we see the same ppl everywhere we go. i get a fanta, which costs just a bit less than a dollar.

-haro banda: we went to haro banda, these huge sand dunes that are mesa-like. ill put up pics i swear. haro banda is on the other side of the river. i thought we were just going to get out of the van and take pictures of us standing in front of them, but our prof took us up to the top. half of us were in flip flops and skirts, and all of us were slipping down the mountain. the cliffs are pretty steep and the pebbles arent held in place bc the rainy season washed the mud away. it was an awesome view.

-embassy day: met the ambassador, cool woman. we ate fries, met george the giant turtle, and swam in their pool. hottest pool ive ever been in im pretty sure it was 85 degrees if i remember correctly. the embassy is weird, its a little america that you can stay in forever if you choose to do so.

- bellisimo: HOOKAH BAR AND DANCE CLUB so fun. i didnt smoke, dont worry, its ramadan. but i did dance to songs like "barbie girl" it was so funny. highlight of the night: all of us on the dance floor singing no woman no cry.

okay thats some stuff, im being so antisocial so ill update soon! with pics hopefully :)

love naye